Posts Tagged ‘ Houston ’

Three More to Watch This Weekend

September 8, 2010
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College Football is back (FOOTBAW!) and Week Two promises to be one of the most enjoyable weekends of the season with huge games on the docket. You’ve got Miami (yes, that Miami) vs. Ohio State, Florida State and Oklahoma, Penn State and Alabama, and Michigan-Notre Dame for appointment viewing. There is nothing like a good weekend spent doing nothing but watching college football so here are three more games to get you to up that 12-pack to a case and not leave the house Friday to Sunday.

UTEP at Houston, 10:15 PM ET Friday, ESPN- If you like watching offense, you should not miss this game. Case Keenum had an impressive first week going 17-22 for 274 yards and 5 scores. UTEP’s defense is not equipped to stop Hosuton, but their offense is good enough to keep it interesting. Houston’s defense shouldn’t put up much of a struggle either, so this should be a shootout. Last year, UTEP upset Houston 58-41 so the Cougars will be looking for revenge at home and start their bid for a Conference USA title. QB Trevor Vittatoe leads the Miners, coming off of a 3,000+ yard season but a lackluster performance with no TD passes in Week One. It’s useless to analyze the defenses in this one, as the offenses should dominate. 100 total points is not out of the question, but the over/under is set at 73.5 currently. Amateur betting aside: take the over! It will be well worth tuning in whether you have money riding or not, especially with the late Friday start time making it perfect to pair up with a few brewdoggers.

South Florida at Florida, 12:21 ET Saturday, ESPN3- Might be tough to catch this one, but ESPN3 is highly recommended. Great picture quality, easy to use, and you can watch other games at the same time on your TV! So while you’re watching Georgia and South Carolina on ESPN2, fire up the computer and see if Florida’s offense can turn it around after a scary-bad performance last week against Miami OH. Florida is certainly teasing us by playing the wrong Miami, then the wrong school from southern Florida in back-to-back weeks (just play the Hurricanes!), but the Bulls should provide a good test. Under Skip Holtz, QB BJ Daniels and the offense provide much more of a scare than the Redhawks did last week. If Florida struggles offensively again, we could be in for a big upset. Daniels was able to knock off Florida State last year in his first start, so at least he has some relevant experience. No matter the result, it will be interesting to see how Florida responds after a rough first week.

BYU at Air Force, 4:00 PM ET Saturday, Versus- Wow, Versus is having a good start to the year. First they get Pitt at Utah, now a big Mountain West match-up in Week Two. Both of these teams travel to play bigger opponents next week (BYU @ Florida State, AF @ Oklahoma), but neither will look past this game that will have huge implications for the MWC top four. BYU won 38-21 last year and started the season off with a big win over Washington. Highly touted freshman Jake Heaps shared QB duties with junior Riley Nelson and each threw for 131 yards, with Nelson notching the only two TD passes. Whether or not BYU continues to use two QBs, the Cougars should have problems passing. Air Force has one of the better secondaries in the country led by Anthony Wright and Reggie Rembert at the corners who picked off a combined 10 passes last year.  BYU is a one point dog on the road here, but with the spread going back and forth it’s basically pick ‘em, and the oddsmakers are right about how close this one should be.  No doubt TCU and Utah will be watching to see who emerges as their main contender at the top of the MWC, and you should be too.

Happy viewing!

Five Teams Ready to Rise in College Football

September 1, 2010
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A Top-25 poll at the beginning of the season is bad for college football. In no other sport does a meritless ranking of teams have such an impact on who wins the championship. The landscape will look much different in October and will undoubtedly shift once again by the time the conference championship games take place. When a “top” team loses it has a better chance to bounce back, many times by virtue of these preseason polls.

On the eve of the college football season, let’s take a look at five teams outside the preseason guesses that will work their way into the Top 25 this season.

Houston- With Houston, you must start with Case Keenum. The Heisman hopeful quarterback led one of the most explosive offenses in the country last season and almost everyone returns. Keenum threw for over 5,600 yards with a completion percentage over 70 last season and will be hitting many of the same targets in 2010. James Cleveland, Tyrone Carrier, and Patrick Edwards may form the best receiving trio in the country. It’s not every year a team returns a 5,000 yard passer and three 1,000 yard receivers. Bryce Beall should carry the load at running back after his counterpart Charles Sims was ruled ineligible this season. The line will replace two, but expect the nation’s top scoring offense from 2009 to keep it going this year.

Houston’s concern, and reason for finding itself outside of the Top 25,  is on the opposite side of the ball. 95th in scoring defense a year ago, the unit simply could not stop the run (111th in rush defense).  New coordinator Brian Stewart comes from the NFL and will have the charge to be just below average. If he accomplishes that, Houston could be shooting for bigger goals than just finishing in the Top 25. The Cougars travel to Texas Tech and UCLA, play Mississippi State at home, and have a very important Conference USA date at Southern Miss in November. Split those games and it’s almost guaranteed you’ll see Houston in the polls come December.

Navy- Receiving just 12 votes in each poll, the Midshipmen are out to prove they belong. Well, they have proven it over and again recently, winning eight games in each of the last seven seasons.  Coach Ken Niumatalolo may have his best team yet, led by another star quarterback, Ricky Dobbs. Dobbs threw for and rushed for over 1,000 yards last season, adding 27 rushing touchdowns. The midshipmen have senior tackles, an experienced fullback and a young playmaker in Gee Gee Greene.

Unlike Houston, Navy doesn’t have a terrible defense, ranking 18th in scoring defense last season. In a 3-4 set, Navy will need to replace three linebackers but three star prospect Vinnie Mauro should help. Mauro had offers from the likes of Wisconsin and Vanderbilt and will be counted on to make an impact this season. Senior safety Wyatt Middleton returns for his fourth year as a starter and will need to continue his playmaking ways. Navy opens with Maryland, travels to Wake Forest, and hosts Notre Dame for their three biggest tests. Honestly, Navy could run the table. Really. More likely, we’re looking at 9-3 or even 10-2, which would mark the first back-to-back ten win seasons in school history.

Texas A&M- The Aggies were 6-7 last season, so a jump to the Top 25 would be a real accomplishment for Mike Sherman and his players. Senior QB Jerrod Johnson will have to be the one to take them there. Johnson was third in the nation in total offense last year, throwing for 30 TDs and just 8 INTs. This behind an offensive line that gave up almost 30 sacks. The O-line will be the only concern on offense, as underclassmen will see a lot of time. Still, Johnson showed last season that he could produce with little time and there is no reason to believe he will change this year with his top targets returning. Read more »