#5 USC at Notre Dame

On paper this game looks like it could be another blowout in this contest, like earlier in the decade. But I think Notre Dame has too much pride on the line to let this one get out of control. It takes place later in the season (Oct 20), and that should give the young Irish core time to work the kinks out and get ready for a National Title contender in the Trojans.

John David Booty is back behind center for the Trojans but he’ll have new receivers to throw to with the loss of Steve Smith and Dwayne Jarrett. Patrick Turner and Vidal Hazelton are the two young guys that look to pick up where Smith and Jarrett left off. Pete Carroll will have to find carries for the seven first or second year tailbacks that he has, what a tough job for him! Look for Joe McKnight to make an immediate impact of offense too. I expect Carroll to use him the same way he used Reggie Bush early on.

On defense the Trojans are stacked. Returning are 3 linebackers LB Keith Rivers, LB Rey Maualuga, and LB Brian Cushing which could make up the best linebacking unit in the country. Also in the secondary the Trojans have a core that many NFL units wished they had with Taylor Mays, Josh Pinkard and Kevin Ellison. Pinkard could be in a bit of trouble with his recent arrest.

Emotion will only carry the Irish through the first quarter before the USC talent takes over. We thought the same thing a few years ago, and the Irish were a “Bush Push” away from a huge upset. This season USC will be just too much for them on both sides of the ball. But if there is one thing I’ve learned about Notre Dame, never count them out at home. USC by two touchdowns.

Ever wonder how the tradition with Lee Corso putting on the mascot head started? Well check out this You Tubesday clip to find out…

#6 Florida State at Florida

This match up between two teams in the Sunshine State should be the best one between two teams from the state of Florida this season. Last year they played at the end of the regular season, and even though the Seminoles had a down year they still put a scare in the Gators. The Gators came out victorious in the contest 21-14 and a few weeks later capture their second National Title by manhandling Ohio State.

With a lot of skilled athletes on both teams, this game could once again be a showdown for who still has a chance to play in the BCS National Title game as they meet on November 24, hopefully the game right before their respective conference championship games. Due to graduation the Gators lost QB Chris Leak; FS Reggie Nelson; WR Dallas Baker; RB DeShawn Wynn; DE Jarvis Moss; and CB Reggie Lewis, but with the recent recruiting success of the Gators, it will only be a matter of games before the new guys are back up to speed.

Tim Tebow will be the full-time starting quarterback, and his only question mark is his throwing ability. We all know he can run the ball, and do that well, but can he balance that with a passing attack that will keep the teams guessing. My thought is he will be fine with excellent receivers in Percy Harvin and Andre Caldwell to target.

The Seminoles on the other hand have some question marks at quarterback. Drew Weatherford was suppose to be the man, but after a lackluster season he still finds himself fighting Xavier Lee for the starting job. When that is settled, they will find two good receivers in Greg Carr and De’Cody Fagg to catch the ball. Antone Smith will take over at running back and hope to improve a rushing attack that was 103rd in the country last year.

The defense, led by their strong secondary should be the strong point for Bobby Bowden’s Seminoles. They will need to improve on their pass rush that only netted them 27 sacks last year.

This game will be a good with a lot of raw talent on the football field. 2007 should be a better season for the Seminoles, but I don’t think they will be up to the Gators’ level just yet. It will be a close one in the Swamp with the Gators pulling it out in the 4th quarter.

#7 Notre Dame at Penn State

The Nittany Lions will be looking for revenge on September 8 at 6pm since the Fighting Irish really put a beating on them last year 41-17. In my last post I explained all the new faces that will be starting for the Irish. This game will be a total role reversal from last season. It will be the Nittany Lions who are the veteran team while the Irish will have the young squad.

This game’s outcome will rest on the shoulders of Senior Quarterback Anthony Morelli. He showed signs of promise last year, especially in the Outback Bowl against Tennessee. If the offensive line can gel and give Morelli time, he should be able to take advantage of his game tested receivers against the young Irish secondary. Austin Scott will be the running back with the departure of Tony Hunt to the NFL.

The defense boasts one of the best linebackers in the country in Dan Connor, and Justin King is one of the better shutdown corners in the league. If the Irish are going to do any damage on this defense, they must find a way to take advantage of the young, inexperienced defensive line.

This is the Lions’ first test of the season and a loss against the Irish will not bode well since they travel to the Big House two weeks later. For the Irish this game is sandwiched between a home contest against Georgia Tech and road match up against Michigan. I expect this game to be a close one in the first half, with the Nittany Lions pulling away in the second half. Paterno is still stewing from the loss last year, but Weis always seems to have something up his sleeve.

#8 Notre Dame at Michigan

The game between the Fighting Irish, on September 15, is smack dab in the middle of contests between Oregon and Penn State for the Wolverines. On the plus side, all three games will be played in the Big House. The Irish will travel to Ann Arbor a week after playing Penn State in Happy Valley. Last season in South Bend, the Wolverines embarrassed the Irish 47-21. And looking at the directions these two teams are heading, it could be expect that the Irish could get beat that bad again this season.

Notre Dame must replace Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija, Darius Walker, and Rhema McKnight. That could be all well and good if the Irish had a solid defense to fall back on, but they don’t. This is going to be a tough year for Irish fans, as they break in a new QB, RB, and receivers. Defensively their top returning starter is safety Tom Zbikowski, and he really cannot play any worse than he did last year.

The Wolverines return all of their skilled players on offense, but they lost a lot in their front seven to the NFL. Henne, Hart, and Manningham should have a field day again with the Irish’s porous secondary. Michigan has hopes of a National Title while Notre Dame still has its pride. Don’t think they will not remember what happened to them last season on their home field. The Irish may have the potential talent to stay with the Wolverines, but they do not have the leadership and polished skill that the Wolverines possess. This game will not be a blowout as it could seem, but Michigan should win comfortably.

Phil Steele always puts out a quality college football magazine, some say (and I agree) that it is the best one out there. Here is his Top 25 for the 2007 season.

1. USC
2. LSU
3. Oklahoma
4. West Virginia
5. Michigan
6. Texas
7. Louisville
8. Florida State
9. Virginia Tech
10. Penn State
11. Georgia
12. Hawaii
13. South Carolina
14. Florida
15. Ohio State
16. Wisconsin
17. Alabama
18. Oregon
19. Missouri
20. Texas A&M
21. UCLA
22. Nebraska
23. TCU
24. South Florida
25. Tennessee

The first thing that jumps out to me is seeing Florida State ranked so high. Yes they only had one bad year, but outside their defense, they really didn’t show me anything that made me think that the Seminoles were a Top 10 team. Second, Hawaii at 12 is a bit of a stretch. I know they return Heisman Canidate Colt Brennan, but do they play enough quality opponents to warrant a high ranking? We do know one thing though, pollsters love high powered offenses and that is exactly what Hawaii has. The Sooners at 3 is a bit high for them. They still have questions marks at quarterback and linebacker that could plague them for the early part of the season.

I am a little surprised to see Wisconsin ranked below 3 other Big Ten teams. I think the Badgers are at worst 1a in the Big Ten with Michigan as the other team at the top. My last comment is Florida at 14. Maybe there was a typo by Steele, but the Gators should be at 8 instead of the Seminoles. Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin are going to cause SEC teams fits the upcoming two years.

#9 Miami at Oklahoma

If this was 1985, or even early in the 2000s, this game would easily be in the top 3. But after the year Miami had last year, I find it hard to believe they will be able to turn it completely around in just one year. The Hurricanes finished with a 7-6 record and a 1 point win over Nevada in the MPC Computers Bowl and have a new coach, Randy Shannon.

Oklahoma on the other hand started off 2006 with some issues as their QB Rhett Bomar was kicked off the team for taking money for a job he didn’t do, but Paul Thompson did a good job in replacing Bomar. The Sooners finished 11-3, but lost to Boise State in a thrilling Fiesta Bowl. The Sooners have National Title hopes for the 2007 season.

For Miami to have a chance in this game they must get get quality play out of their quarterback. Right now neither Kyle Wright nor Kirby Freeman have won the job. Whoever plays in this game on September 8, will have to limit turnovers and deal with the pressure defense that Bob Stoops plays.

Besides the battle for quarterback in Oklahoma, Sooner fans are wondering how life will be without Adrian Peterson. They got a little taste of it the past few years since Peterson was injury prone and they know that Allen Patrick is battle tested. The other question is who will come out top in the QB battle between Junior Joey Halzle and redshirt freshman Sam Bradford. Whoever comes out of that battle will have a solid offensive line in front of them with 4 starters returning from last year.

The Canes are thin on the offensive line and surprising do not have a real go to receiver. There is some serious lack of talent right now in Coral Gables and it looks at this point the Sooners look like the favorites in this one. The Canes will need to keep this a low scoring game and hope that the Sooners’ inexperience at QB costs them the game.

Since there isn’t much news, besides arrests, that occur between now and the beginning of August when camps start to open, I have decided to start looking ahead at the 2007 season. In this series I will take a look the Top 10 out of conference games that will shape the 2007 season. With most teams padding their schedule with lower level division 1 teams and division 1-aa teams, it was a little difficult to find some to fill out the list. There is no real criteria, these are just 10 games in which I think could be good match-ups, as a fan I would like to see, and have national title implications.

#10 - West Virginia at Maryland

This contest will take place on September 13 at 7:30 on ESPN in College Park, Maryland. Last year’s game in Morgantown was not much of a game as WVU rolled 45-24. The Terps were never really in the game scoring most of their points in the second half. That was one of four losses that the Terps had all year.

This is by far the toughest OOC game and arguably the toughest road game on the Mountaineers’s schedule this season. WVU will be returning their dynamic duo of Slaton and White; and adding blue-chip recruit Noel Devine to the backfield should make them one of the most feared teams to defend for the 2007 season if their offensive line can gel. Upstart WR Wes Lyons will surprise some teams with his size and speed. But the Mountaineers need to find a way to sure up their pass defense. Georgia Tech and to some extent Louisville showed that defending the pass was the weak point for WVU.

Bad news for Maryland is that they will be breaking in a new quarterback this season. Jr Jordan Steffy seemed to be on the verge on winning the job in the spring until a bad spring game hit. Now he finds himself still in competition with Chris Turner and transfer Josh Portis. Whoever is throwing the ball will find a nice receiver in Darrius Heyward-Bey who should be eevn more explosive as a sophomore.

In the end, I believe this game will turn into a track meet and West Virginia has too much firepower for Maryland to keep up with, but never discount the revenge factor. The Terps were embarrassed last year, and do not want that happening to them again, especially on their home turf.