College Football Matchups; Sports in the ‘Burgh 2006-11-30 21:13:40 | By: Tom Zuck 
COLLEGE FOOTBALL MATCHUPS
We have this one last week before the bowl situation is figured out. There really should be some great games this year. But first the conference championships and a few stragglers have to be decided (rankings are BCS numbers). #33 Houston (7-1, 9-3) vs. Southern Mississippi (6-2, 8-4) Conference USA Championship In Houston 8 p.m. tonight I have been to a game in Houston once; that was with Pitt in 1997. It was wicked hot. My friend, and Pitt SID, E.J. Borghetti was almost killed by a TV that fell out of the press box and just about landed on his head. That same year Steve Sampsell and I covered the Liberty Bowl when Southern Mississippi crushed Pitt, the saving grace for each trip was the food; Mexican in Houston and Corky's ribs in Memphis. As for this game I love watching Houston QB Kevin Kolb; how about a 25:3 ratio of TD passes to interceptions. The Cougars have two backs with over 800 yards this year, and that is big. This game is a rematch. USM won by three in October, the third of Houston's three losses this year. Southern Miss has been up and down this year but two of its losses were to Florida and Va. Tech and those are pretty good teams. Both teams have won a bunch in a row, but this week I pick Houston. UConn (1-5, 4-7) at #6 Louisville (5-1, 10-1) Noon No chance in hell here that UConn wins. It would be a great game if this was March and we were at Madison Square Garden for the Big East Tournament. It isn't. Louisville has its "mojo" back after roughing up Pitt last week. Louisville's offense is very good. UConn's defense stopped Pitt, big deal. Look for Louisville to get to UConn QB Matt Bonislawski if D.J. Hernandez can't go because of the wrist. Bonislawski can't scramble like Hernandez. If he is in there it could get ugly. Louisville has to win to validate this season. Louisville romps in this one. Go Cards! #22 Georgia Tech (7-1, 9-3) vs. #17 Wake Forest (6-2, 10-2) ACC Championship Jacksonville, Fla. 1 p.m. Okay, all year I have been skeptical of the Demon Deacons. It's just that history told me not to trust them. Even when current Deacon Matt Hartford said they were a good team. I am a believer! But this week Wake is gunning for its first-ever 10-win season AND a spot in the Orange Bowl. The problem is the Deacons have trouble stopping the pass and Ga. Tech has Calvin Johnson. If Johnson was on Florida or USC we would all be talking about him. The problem is that Tech's QB Reggie Ball sometimes plays like, Reggie Ball. When he is on, he is very good. When he is not, Ball makes bad decisions. Wake has not won an ACC title since 1970. That, I believe, is the year our boy Pat McHenry played. The Deacons will get another one this weekend. Go Wake! New Hampshire (9-3) at UMass (11-1) 2:30 p.m. UMass exploded last week for a big win over Lafayette. Lafayette may have helped America win the Revolution but the Minutemen gave them no love. This week it's New Hampshire that comes to town. UMass is tough to run on and if the weather starts to turn up there it could get messy. This game is also a rematch. The first one was won by UMass, 28-20. These two finished one and two in the Atlantic 10 Northern Division this year. UMass is playing well, Jim Degnim is happy now, so it will be a big day in Amherst, UMass wins! Army (3-8) vs. Navy (8-3) Philadelphia 2:30 p.m. This is the battle between the Academies. Army is decidedly better than they have been. Bobby Ross has seen to that. The problem is that Navy is a very good football team. Navy has lost to three pretty good teams, ND, Rutgers and Tulsa. Army's signature win this year came against Baylor, not really something to hang your holster on. Look for Navy's running attack to keep rebounding. The Midshipmen average 333 yards a game RUSHING! Boy that would be cool if Pitt averaged just over half that! This one will be close because of the rivalry but in the end Navy wins. Anchors Aweigh! Stanford (1-7, 1-10) at #18 California (6-2, 8-3) 4:30 p.m. This has been a very difficult year for former Pitt coach Walt Harris. First off the Cardinal has been clobbered by injuries. Second of all the new stadium raised expectations and thirdly, the Pac 10 is more balanced than it has been for years. Coach Harris is on the hot seat. Cal is a good team, albeit a bit erratic, but good. Stanford can't run the ball, 65 ypg, and they can't stop the run, over 200 ypg so look for Marshawn Lynch to get off early in this one. The loss to Arizona a couple weeks ago really wrecked the season. Look for the Bears to get back on track before its bowl game and really put it to Stanford. There will be no need for the five laterals used in the 1982 game, Cal wins. Air Force (3-4, 4-7) at #30 TCU (5-2, 9-2) 3:30 p.m. Is this the end of Fisher DeBerry at Air Force? The way the program has faltered the past few years it probably will be. TCU, hmmm, the Horned Frogs are in the Poinsettia Bowl, Air Force is in no bowl. TCU runs the ball well, 199 ypg and Air Force is having trouble stopping the run, 214 a game given up. That is not a good combination and TCU's three-headed running attack led by Aaron Brown should exploit that. Look for the TCU defense to force Air Force to pass. The Falcons have lost five of the last six games, make that six of seven, TCU wins. #2 Southern Cal (7-1, 10-1) at UCLA (4-4, 6-5) 4:30 p.m. I love UCLA's uniforms. But what does that have to do with this game? Not too much when USC is on a mission. The Trojans are looking good after three straight wins over Oregon, Cal and ND. John David Booty has been steady at QB and freshman running back C.J. Gable is coming on at the right time. Throw in the great receiving of Jarrett and Smith and USC's offense very tough to stop. UCLA was playing pretty well early before a four-game losing streak crushed the season. This game is in the Rose Bowl which may help some, but not enough. Once the USC defense shuts down Chris Markey the UCLA offense will be forced to throw the ball. That means it's tee-time for the Trojan linemen and backers. USC wins, setting up the BCS championship with the Buckeyes. #4 Florida (7-1, 11-1) vs. #9 Arkansas (7-1, 10-2) In Atlanta 6 p.m. Last week LSU, questionable offense for the Hogs aside, put it to Arkansas with the well-timed big plays. This week Arkansas has a chance to rebound against a really beaten up Florida team. The titanic battle of the game is Darren McFadden running against the UF defense. Something has to give. If McFadden was at a "big name" school he would be all over the news, he is that good. Throw in his teammate Felix Jones and Arkansas has the best duo in the country. We have already talked about all of the different formations they use to get McFadden in the play. The quarterback play is a big question mark for Houston Nutt and the whole Razorback Nation. In the second half last week Casey Dick was 0-8 passing the ball. They can't afford that against Florida. Florida's offense has not taken off yet and that is troublesome. Is it the insistence of Urban Meyer that he needs to use both Tim Tebow and Chris Leak. Tebow is a runner and Leak has been sacked 20 times this year. Leak throws Tebow runs. All in all this week I am going to go out on a limb and say that Arkansas will make more plays, Pig Sooey Hogs win. #13 Rutgers (5-1, 10-1) at #15 West Virginia (4-2, 9-2) 7:45 p.m. This one is sort of the Big East championship game, minus Louisville of course. If WVU wins the Mountaineers are champs, if not, Rutgers is. South Florida really exposed what a speed team can do to WVU, especially when Steve Slaton and Pat White are banged up. But hey, at this point of the season everyone is banged up, so that is not an excuse. White threw against Pitt but USF never gave him time to throw. The Rutgers defense likes to attack too so that could be interesting. I look for Rutgers to get a little bit of the swagger back this week. I am sure they are tired of hearing how they were pretenders. But then if you don't want that just go out and beat a well-coached Cincinnati team, which they did not. The Scarlet Knights need a great game from QB Mike Teel. That will allow Ray Rice and Brian Leonard to pound at the WVU defense. The weather is going to be cruddy, so that will be a factor. It will come down to who makes the fewest mistakes. WVU has been laying the ball on the carpet of late; I think they continue to do so. Rutgers wins and now Coach Greg Schiano will have to answer the questions about Miami just about every 48 seconds. #20 Nebraska (6-2, 9-3) vs. #12 Oklahoma (7-1, 10-2) Big 12 Championship In Kansas City 8 p.m. The biggest news for this game is that Adrian Peterson will NOT play. He has missed the last six games for Oklahoma, all wins by the way thanks to the stellar play of Allen Patrick and Chris Brown who have combined for over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns this year. Don't forget the steady play of quarterback Paul Thompson. He has been one of the big reasons OU is in the spot it is. Thompson isn't going to wow you but he has also NOT made the huge mistake yet. The Oregon game still hurts Oklahoma but this is a big opportunity against a hated Nebraska team. Is there another team in America as inconspicuous as Nebraska? I don't think so. Other than Zac Taylor can anyone name any starters? This is not your father's Nebraska team but the Cornhuskers do run for 180+ per game. The difference is Taylor leads the offense with 250 yards passing per game. Will the OU defense finally play like it was supposed to this year? That is the key. I think seven straight wins is nothing to sneeze about. This week it will be eight straight, Boomer Sooner, OU wins. #2 Pitt (7-0) at Auburn (6-2 assuming they win tonight against La. Monroe) 3 p.m. Sunday Yes, this is basketball. But since we are now a basketball school we might as well include it. We would not beat Auburn in football or swimming. Especially not swimming since the school got rid of Craig Ruby's uncle, who only won like 10 Big East titles IN A ROW and Auburn wins NCAA swimming championships as often as I eat grits for breakfast, which is a lot. Craig's brother Colin lives down in Newnan, Ga. And he is driving over to the game to give the boys a little support. Anyway, Auburn is one of the smaller teams in the NCAA. Former Pa. prepster Jeff Lebo (the one from UNC) is the head coach at Auburn. He has his work cut out for him. He has not seen this tenacious of a defense since Chip Kocur guarded him in the Pa. state championship game while Chip was playing for Kiski Area. Pitt wins, sorry Keith, to give us a little respite from the Steelers. Hail to Pitt. Other Matchups Nov. 30 Thu. Central Michigan vs. Ohio 7:30 p.m. ESPN Dec. 1 Fri. Houston vs. Southern Miss 8:00 p.m. ESPN2 Dec. 2 Sat. UConn @ Louisville Noon ESPN Dec. 2 Sat. GA Tech vs. Wake Forest 1:00 p.m. ABC Dec. 2 Sat. New Hampshire vs. UMass 2:30 p.m. Dec. 2 Sat. Army vs. Navy (Philadelphia) 2:30 p.m. CBS Dec. 2 Sat. Stanford @ California 3:00 p.m. FSN Dec. 2 Sat. Air Force @ TCU 3:30 p.m. CSTV Dec. 2 Sat. Southern California @ UCLA 4:30 p.m. ABC Dec. 2 Sat. Florida vs. Arkansas 6:00 p.m. CBS Dec. 2 Sat. Rutgers @ West Virginia 7:45 p.m. ESPN Dec. 2 Sat. Nebraska vs. Oklahoma 8:00 p.m. ABC Dec. 2 Sat. Oregon State @ Hawaii 11:00 p.m. ESPN SPORTS IN THE 'BURGH Last weekend was a mixed bag and it was tough for many of us Pittsburghers. If you were from one of the four winning teams from the WPIAL high school championships it started out great. Friday Chip Kocur and I went to see two of the games. Well, one and a half. We saw the Class A and Class AA games before heading over to the Pitt basketball game. It was fun watching some pretty good high school ball and then watching Pitt beat up on Florida State. The Seminoles needed Charlie Ward. But on to the Panthers and the gridiron; Pitt football is like a girl in a bar. The Panthers continued to show a little leg but around closing time they pull the leg back and you go home with an empty feeling. How else do you describe what the Panthers did against Rutgers, WVU and then this past week against Louisville? A nice first half followed by a meltdown. We are turning into Michigan State! The defense we know is a lost cause. The Pitt defense can't stop anyone. It is amazing. But it seems like the Panthers play the "West Coast" defense. We take what the other team's offense gives us and then we take some more and more. It remains to be seen what will happen with both coordinators. I like Paul Rhoads personally but I feel he may be the fall-guy here. As for Matt Cavanaugh, I know there are not enough linemen. That is true for both sides of the ball. But we just never seemed to try to take advantage of any of the skill players. Guys like Dorin Dickerson, who was good enough to use as Pat White to run scout team leading up to WVU but not good enough to get on the field in our offense. I also wanted to see more of Shane Brooks and Conredge Collins. Tight end Nate Byham caught a touchdown pass early against WVU and then he was not heard from again. I don't know what to think. I want to give these guys the benefit of the doubt. But you watch other games and see what other coaches do and you get mad. So that led to the Steelers Sunday. As they said in Monty Python a long time ago, "Say no more, say no more." The Ravens really smacked them. I didn't even watch the second half. I went up on the roof and cleaned out the gutters.
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Copyright © 2006 Write On Sports LLC. All rights reserved.