This week in college and professional football might finally shed some light on who’s good and who’s not, putting some distance between the contenders and the pretenders. Below are some of the game you should be watching.
South Florida at (18) Florida State – (Saturday, 12:00 pm – ESPN – FSU minus 14)
Once upon a time, three mighty giants ruled the sunshine state. Their names were Miami, Florida and Florida State. These three football powers accounted for 10 national championships in 26 years. It was nearly impossible for any smaller state schools to compete with these programs, both on the field and on the recruiting trail. But that’s exactly what the University of South Florida is trying to do. They’ll get their chance this weekend as they travel to Tallahassee to take on the Seminoles. FSU is coming off an emotional road win over 7th ranked BYU and looking to get their program back to national prominence. So is USF, who suffered an unfortunate setback when they lost senior quarterback Matt Grothe for the season to a torn left ACL last week. Grothe, who was well on his way to another successful season, will be replaced by freshman B.J. Daniels who hails from, you guessed it… Tallahassee. Don’t expect the Seminoles to throw him a welcome home party.
Iowa at (5) Penn State – (Saturday, 8:00 pm – ABC – Penn State minus 9.5)
Revenge is a dish best served Nittany. The Iowa Hawkeyes spoiled Penn State’s run at a national championship last year by stunning them 24-23 in Iowa City. Joe Paterno’s Penn State Nittany Lions will try to keep their 2009 hopes alive in this conference opener for both teams. Iowa is on seven-game winning streak but will have to play in front off 110,000 angry fans who are still bitter over last year’s defeat. Neither team has yet to be challenged this year, beating their six opponents by a combined 113 points. With Ohio State’s loss to USC who then lost to Washington, Penn State may not only need an undefeated season, but also some style points in these Big Ten conference games to get a BCS title shot.
(9) Miami at (11) Virginia Tech – (Saturday, 3:30 pm – ABC – Miami minus 2.5)
This article appears in Sep 2-8, 2009.
