What Tennessee Has Going for Them

Contrary to popular belief there are a few things that the University of Tennessee football team has going for it. No it’s not creamsicle-colored pajamas. And no it’s not the fact that there are countless more donuts available in Knoxville now that Phil Fulmer is gone. There are truly football related things that are moving in the right direction for the Vols.

This does not mean they are working in their favor against the Gators on Saturday, but they are moving in the right direction nonetheless.

First off is Monte Kiffin. Yeah his son is a douche, and yes he somehow managed to raise one of the dumbest men in the world. However, there is no doubting the fact that Good ‘Ol Monte can coach. The elder Kiffin is a defensive genius. His schemes befuddled NFL coaches for nearly two decades. Now he’s attempting to do the same at the college level. There’s only one problem facing Monte at Tennessee. His schemes require a load of talent at nearly every position on the defensive side of the ball. While Tennessee has some talented defensive players, they don’t have show stoppers at every position. If Kiffin can keep his Vols’ defense competitive against the Gators on Saturday he would be showing just how great of a coach he is and that he may just deserve to be getting paid more than a lot of head coaches across the college football landscape today.

Another thing that Tennessee has working for them heading into Saturday is Eric Berry. This guy is a beast. He is, in my opinion, the best safety in all of college football. I know there are some Taylor Mays fans out there that would disagree with that statement but they are wrong. I actually had a friend of mine tell me that Ahmad Black and Major Wright are both better safeties than Berry. After punching him in the face, I helped him off the pavement and explained to him why Mr. Berry is in fact better. Trust me, I love Black and Eraser 2.0, but there is no way that they should even be mentioned in the same breath as Eric Berry.

The final thing that Tennessee has going for them is the extreme underdog role. In the whole history of this rivalry, there has never been a team that faced this much of an underdog status. No one, not even people in Knoxville, are clamoring for a UT victory. Normally this would help the underdog. However, thanks to Lane Kiffin opening his mouth, that won’t be the case this time. Kiffin’s off-season comments about Urban Meyer and the Florida program are feeding plenty of fuel to the fire for Saturday.

Even though all 3 of these things are pluses for Tennessee, it will not save them on Saturday. Monte Kiffin will grow increasingly senile as Tim Tebow and the Gators offense continuously rack up points, finally shutting up Rocky Top for longer than 10 seconds. Eric Berry will simultaneously have his ankles shattered by Chris Rainey while being viscously ravaged by a Riley Cooper block. I’ve already stated why the underdog status won’t help.

All in all, I can’t wait for Saturday. Look for my game preview to be posted by the next day.

Weekly Picks

Place your bets now...

Georgia Tech @ Miami(FL)
Boise St. @ Fresno St.
Temple @ Penn St.
California @ Minnesota
Ohio St. @ Toledo
Duke @ Kansas
East Carolina @ North Carolina
Eastern Michigan @ Michigan
Louisville @ Kentucky
Boston College @ Clemson
Wofford @ Wisconsin
Ball St. @ Army
Northern Illinois @ Purdue
North Texas @ Alabama
Furman @ Missouri
Tennessee @ Florida
USC @ Washington
Tulsa @ Oklahoma
Nebraska @ Virginia Tech
Utah @ Oregon
Wyoming @ Colorado
Michigan St. @ Notre Dame
Middle Tennessee @ Maryland
Indiana @ Akron
Alcorn St. @ Central Michigan
Virginia @ Southern Miss
UAB @ Troy
Arizona @ Iowa
Nevada @ Colorado St.
San Diego St. @ Idaho
FIU @ Rutgers
Connecticut @ Baylor
SMU @ Washington St.
Gardner-Webb @ NC State
Navy @ Pittsburgh
Buffalo @ UCF
Elon @ Wake Forest
Cincinnati @ Oregon St.
Florida St. @ BYU
UL-Lafayette @ LSU
Texas St. @ TCU
Rice @ Oklahoma St.
Cal Poly @ Ohio
Charleston Southern @ South Florida
Central Arkansas @ Western Kentucky
Northwestern @ Syracuse
Mississippi St. @ Vanderbilt
Utah St. @ Texas A&M
Bowling Green @ Marshall
Iowa St. @ Kent St.
Nicholls St. @ Louisiana Tech
Florida Atlantic @ South Carolina
Miami(OH) @ Western Michigan
SE Louisiana @ Ole Miss
Air Force @ New Mexico
Georgia @ Arkansas
West Virginia @ Auburn
Texas Tech @ Texas
UTEP @ New Mexico St.
UT-Martin @ Memphis
San Jose St. @ Stanford
UL-Monroe @ Arizona St.
Kansas St. @ UCLA
Hawaii @ UNLV

Urban's Free Pass

I look forward to singing Rocky Top all night long after we beat Florida in the Swamp next year....

- Lane Kiffin

I submit the above statement as Exhibit A. Those words were famously uttered by Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin during his introductory press conference. These are also the same words that are purportedly taped to every locker in the Gators locker room. It was also a sign of the pure, unadulterated idiocy to come from Knoxville.


I submit the following video as Exhibit B.



These words were infamously uttered by Bozo, errr Lane at a Tennessee Booster gathering. As we all know, Kiffin didn't exactly study his recruiting rules guide. If he had, perhaps he would have known that what he was accusing Meyer of was in fact perfectly legal. To make matters worse, while Kiffin was busy calling Meyer a cheater, he himself was committing about 273394 recruiting violations.

Exhibit A and Exhibit B both are being used here as evidence. This is probably the first time in a long while that one coach in a seemingly superior position has the capability of running up the score without the traditional media and fan backlash that follows.

Everyone in the world knows what Urban Meyer wants to do to Lane Kiffin's Vols. I don't think Meyer will be satisfied if his bunch doesn't beat the Creamsicle Crusaders by a half hundo. The funny part is, everyone in the world knows that Urban Meyer is completely justifiable.

Even last year against Georgia, when Urban seemed to have every right to want to exact revenge against Mark Richt for the "celebration" of the previous year, he still caught some heat for calling two late timeouts with Florida ahead big. Meyer had to try to defend his actions by stating that he was simply trying to get Manny Moody some more carries.

Ask these unfortunate few what Meyer's wrath looks like.

This game is different. Meyer will have no need to defend his actions after keeping Tebow in a 70 point blowout only to allow him to run through the Vols' fourth string linebacker for his 6th td of the day. After the game Meyer can look right into the collective media's eyes and say, I made that douche in the creamsicle jumpsuit shut his mouth. I expect the media to start the slowest of slow caps at this remark by Meyer and he will be exalted by all.

I just don't know if people realize how special of an opportunity this is for Urb. He has a free pass to do whatever he wants! He could walk over to Lane Kiffin and piss on his forehead while flicking off Ed Orgeron and mouthing a big "FUCK YOU!" to good 'ol Monte.

Not even Randy Shannon would cry if Meyer put up numbers against Tennessee that would make S.O.S. blush. As a matter of fact, I think Meyer should issue a directive to the student body to bumrush the Tennessee band when they start to play Rocky Top for the first of 9,000 times. As all of this is happening the camera should pan in to Urb's grill for a close-up to catch him saying "I hate that god damn song" into the headset.

I hope Urban takes full advantage of this once in a lifetime moment. For a man that once used a rival's logo as urinal cakes, who knows where Kiffin's mug is plastered at right now.

Ultimate Fantasy League Update

SEC

East

1.Florida 2-0 (2-0)
2.South Carolina 2-0 (0-0)
3. Georgia Tech 1-1 (1-1)
4. Georgia 1-1 (0-0)
5. Clemson 1-1 (0-1)
6.Tennessee 0-2 (0-2)


West

1.Alabama 2-0 (1-0)
2.Ole Miss 2-0 (1-0)
3.LSU 1-1 (1-0)
4. Kentucky 1-1 (1-1)
5. Auburn 1-1 (1-1)
6.Mississippi St. 0-2 (0-2)



Big XII

North

1.Nebraska 2-0 (2-0)
2. Kansas 2-0 (1-0)
3.Missouri 2-0 (0-0)
4.Colorado 0-2 (0-0)
5.Kansas St. 0-2 (0-1)
6.Arkansas 0-2 (0-2)

South

1.Texas 2-0 (1-0)
2.Oklahoma St. 2-0 (0-0)
3.Oklahoma 1-1 (1-0)
4.TCU 1-1 (1-1)
5. Texas Tech 1-1 (1-1)
6.Texas A&M 0-2 (0-2)


PAC 10

North

1.Oregon St. 2-0 (2-0)
2.Boise St. 2-0 (1-0)
3.Oregon 1-1 (1-0)
4.Stanford 1-1 (0-1)
5.Washington St. 0-2 (0-1)
6.Washington 0-2 (0-1)

South

1.Arizona 2-0 (1-0)
2.California 2-0 (0-0)
3. USC 1-1 (1-0)
4.UCLA 1-1 (1-1)
5.Arizona St. 0-2 (0-1)
6.San Diego St. 0-2 (0-2)


Big Ten

East

1.Northwestern 2-0 (2-0)
2.Wisconsin 2-0 (1-0)
3.Ohio St. 1-1 (1-1)
4.Illinois 0-2 (0-1)
5.Minnesota 0-2 (0-2)
6.Purdue 0-2 (0-2)

West

1.Notre Dame 2-0 (2-0)
2.Michigan 2-0 (1-0)
3.Michigan St. 1-1 (1-0)
4.Iowa 1-1 (0-1)
5.Iowa St. 1-1 (0-1)
6.Indiana 1-1 (0-1)


ACC

Atlantic

1.Miami 2-0 (2-0)
2.Virginia Tech 2-0 (1-0)
3.North Carolina 1-1 (1-0)
4.Virginia 0-2 (0-0)
5.Louisville 0-2 (0-1)
6.North Carolina St. 0-2 (0-1)

Coastal

1.South Florida 2-0 (1-0)
2.Maryland 1-1 (1-0)
3.Duke 0-2 (0-0)
4.East Carolina 0-2 (0-1)
5. Wake Forest 0-2 (0-1)
6.Florida St. 0-2 (0-2)


Big East

North

1.Penn St. 2-0 (2-0)
2.Boston College 2-0 (1-0)
3.Connecticut 0-2 (0-0)
4.Rutgers 0-2 (0-1)
5.Syracuse 0-2 (0-2)
6.Army 0-2 (0-2)

South

1.Cincinnati 2-0 (2-0)
2.Navy 2-0 (1-0)
3.West Virginia 1-1 (1-0)
4.Pittsburgh 1-1 (1-1)
5.Vanderbilt 1-1 (0-1)
6.Central Florida 0-2 (0-1)


Mountain West

Mountain

1.Southern Miss 2-0 (2-0)
2.Baylor 2-0 (2-0)
3.Colorado St. 2-0 (1-0)
4. Air Force 1-1 (1-0)
5.Louisiana Tech 1-1 (1-1)
6. Troy 0-2 (0-1)

West

1.Tulsa 2-0 (1-0)
2.Houston 2-0 (0-0)
3.BYU 1-1 (0-1)
4.UNLV 0-2 (0-2)
5.Utah 0-2 (0-2)
6.Wyoming 0-2 (0-2)

CFB 365's Top 25

Not too much change in this week's poll. There's only one new team as Houston jumps into the top 25. Michigan St. falls out after their loss to Central Michigan. Both Ohio St. and Oklahoma St. fall out of the top 10, making way for Cal and Penn St.


1. Florida Gators - The Gators defeated Troy 56-6 in the Swamp. Tebow's 5 touchdown led the way as he kept his Heisman hopes alive. The first somewhat halfway decent test comes next week when Tennessee comes to town.





2. Texas Longhorns - It took Colt McCoy and the Texas Longhorns a little while to show up against Wyoming. Once they got things rolling they were pretty hard to stop. Much like Tebow, Colt McCoy kept his Heisman hopes alive against an inferior opponent. Texas will face it's first true test next week against Tech.




3. USC Trojans - The Trojans barely escaped Columbus with a victory against the Buckeyes Saturday night. Matt Barkley did not impress anybody until the final SC drive of the night. Nonetheless, the Trojans got the best win of week 2.





4. LSU Tigers - The Tigers were able to put away a feisty Vandy team thanks in large part to Kieland Williams' running. Jordan Jefferson has looked pretty good for the Tigers. Like I've said since the season began, if the QB plays well, this team is pretty hard to beat.






5. Alabama Crimson Tide - The Tide were in a serious dog fight with Florida International for 2 and a half quarters Saturday night. Bama was able to pull away late for the 40-14 win. That's very impressive for a team that struggles against the Sun Belt...





6. Boise St. Broncos - The Broncos are inching ever closer to my top 5. Another impressive performance for Chris Petersen's bunch against Miami(OH). Boise St. still is in control of its own destiny as it pertains to a BCS bowl berth.





7. BYU Cougars - For the second straight week, two non-BCS teams go back-to-back in the top 10. I still think BYU's schedule may be too tough for them to go unbeaten. They still have TCU and Utah on the slate. That's much tougher than Boise's remaining games.





8. California Golden Bears - For the second straight week the Bears were the most impressive team to me. Granted it was against Eastern Washington, but Cal's offense looks pretty unstoppable. Jahvid Best is the best running back in the nation and Kevin Riley is becoming more than serviceable.




9. Penn St. Nittany Lions - If Jahvid Best is the best running back in the nation, Evan Royster is not too far behind him. Royster did everything for the Nittany Lions against the Orange on Saturday. Darryl Clark isn't so bad himself. It could be back-to-back Big Eleven titles for Penn St. this season.




10. Ole Miss Rebels - Ole Miss slips a bit after a bye week. It may not be fair, but that's how I roll. The Rebels still remain in the top ten so their shouldn't be too much complaining. Memphis' loss to Middle Tennessee St. makes Ole Miss' only victory look a little less impressive.





11. Ohio St. Buckeyes - The Buckeyes avoid sliding far after a loss by hanging tough with USC. Another loss in a big game is modus operandi for Ohio St. However, that's two straight close losses in big games. The vested one is making small steps in the right direction.






12. Virginia Tech Hokies - The Hokies are still the class of the ACC. That's still not saying much.








13. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets - Georgia Tech was 1B in the ACC coming into week 2. Struggling against Clemson at home diminishes their status slightly. The Yellow Jackets do have one more conference win than Virginia Tech as of now.





14. Oklahoma Sooners - Landry Jones and the Sooners looked really good this week. But.....it was against Idaho St. Tulsa should provide a tougher test next week.






15. Kansas Jayhawks - Who knew the Big XII North would be this good? Well at least the top half of the division. Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri are all very solid teams. Kansas St., Iowa St. and surprisingly Colorado are some of the worst BCS teams this season.





16. Houston Cougars - The Cougars are the new team to the top 25 this week. Case Keenum and company went into Stillwater and did something that Georgia could not do....upset Oklahoma St. Almost as impressive as Houston's second half offense was their defense shutting down the Cowboys when needed.




17. Cincinnati Bearcats - Cincy comes off a 70 point performance against poorly over matched SE Missouri St. Cincy is leading the charge of the Big East teams fighting for respectability. Pittsburgh and West Virginia are also looking like solid ball clubs.




18. TCU Horned Frogs - TCU finally made it onto the playing field on Saturday. Usually beating a BCS team is a big accomplishment for non-BCS schools. However, it is becoming common practice for Mountain West teams to knock off BCS opponents.





19. North Carolina Tar Heels - North Carolina barely snuck out a win against Connecticut. The close victory hurt their standing a little bit in my poll. I still believe the Tar Heels are the most talented team in the conference and we all know what Butch Davis is capable of with talent.





20. Oklahoma St. Cowboys - The Cowboys loss really screwed up things for me. I predicted that 3 Big XII South teams would be ranked in the top 5 at the same time at some point during the season. That's not gonna happen now. I also have stated that Bedlam could have been a qualifying game for the Big XII title game. That could still happen but I really don't have much faith in the Cowboys anymore.



21. Utah Utes - Utah's slim win against San Jose St. dims Utah's prestige a bit. That's two not so impressive victories against lowly WAC teams for the Utes. It's a good thing they're working all of their kinks out early before the big boys of the Mountain West show up.





22. Nebraska Cornhuskers - The Huskers have been impressive early in the season. The lack of competition is what's keeping them ranked so low in my poll. They'll have a better chance to climb up the ranks in the coming weeks.





23. Georgia Bulldogs - Georgia got a victory against their old rival SOS Saturday night. The Dawgs have still not blown me away with their offense. Then again, I can't remember UGA ever really blowing me away with their offense. Mark Richt's bunch clings onto it's top 25 position for another week.




24. Texas Tech Red Raiders - I continue to be the only person in the free world to rank Tech in my top 25. That should change either way after their date with Texas. I'm guessing I'll conform to everyone else...






25. Missouri Tigers - Missouri's slim victory against Bowling Green may not have been as bad as it looked. The Falcons will surprise some people this season with how good they are. Plus, it's only nature for a team to suffer a minor let down after humiliating a rival.

Bring On The Vols!

The Gators left Florida Field Saturday with a 56-6 victory over the Troy Trojans. It would have been easy to reflect on how the Gators went all Brad Pitt on Troy's Eric Bana ass. Instead, everyone is focused on next Saturday. There's a certain obnoxious coach leading his creamsicle crusaders into the Swamp.

I'll have plenty on that game later in the week. For now, let's reflect on Saturday's victory.

The Gators started out rather slowly. Fumble and miscues had the Gators locked into a 7-3 battle for a quarter and a half. It wouldn't be long, however, until Tebow was raining touchdowns on the hapless Troy defense almost as unmercifully as mother nature unleashed her own fury on the crowd in the literal "Swamp."

Tebow tied his career high of 4 touchdown passes and ran for another before being relieved by John Brantley late in the third quarter. Perhaps the two most impressive Gators on the field outside of Tebow, were Chris Rainey and Mike Pouncey.

Rainey looked more like Earl Campbell on Saturday. He simply did not go down on first contact. Rainey literally constituted the whole Gator offense on one drive early in the third. The drive was capped off by a 3 yard touchdown run.

Mike Pouncey was a beast in his own right on the field. I thought I was sitting a table at the local IHOP on Saturday. I think in the future, Mike should carry some whip cream and jelly dispenser to heap on the defenders after one of his trademark "pancakes." The highlight of the game for Pouncey was probably his mid-air recovery of a Brandon James fumble during the Gators' first drive of the third quarter. I would bet Pouncey has better hands than Deonte Thompson.

The Gators D looked significantly better this week. Troy looked absolutely over matched against the stout Gators defense. The defensive front bounced back nicely from last week's game, in which there were 0 sacks. Three times the Gators knocked Levi Brown on his anoos.

However you want to spin this game, it was still a tune-up for Tennessee. It's a shame the Vols couldn't take care of business against UCLA last week. Now there's no shot of Kiffin making any kind of absurd statements in he days to come.

Here's the stats:

Passing

Tim Tebow 15-24 237 yards 4 tds
John Brantley 10-12 135 yards 1 td


Rushing

Jeff Demps 7 rushes 87 yards 1 td
Chris Rainey 12 rushes 85 yards 1 td
Tim Tebow 13 rushes 71 yards 1 td


Receiving

Riley Cooper 5 recs 82 yards 1 td
Omarius Hines 4 recs 67 yards
Aaron Hernandez 4 recs 39 yards
Cade Holliday 3 recs 66 yards
Brandon James 2 recs 49 yards 1 td
Deonte Thompson 2 recs 39 yards 2 tds
Justin Williams 2 recs 15 yards
David Nelson 2 recs 9 yards
Mike Gillislee 1 rec 6 yards 1 td


Defense


Tackles

Ryan Stamper 5
Ahmad Black 5
Joe Haden 4
Jermaine Cunningham 4


Interceptions

Janoris Jenkins 1


Sacks

Markihe Anderson 1
A.J. Jones 1
Carlos Dunlap 1


Player of the Game


Tim Tebow - G.O.A.T.

Tebow had another god-like performance on Saturday. Tebow's 1 rushing touchdown tied him for third all-time on the SEC rushing touchdown list. His 5 tds total moved him into second place all-time on the SEC list. The 4 passing touchdowns tied his personal career high. Finally, his all around awesomeness ranks him as the greatest thing to hit the college campus since sorority all-white parties.

Week 2 Preview

Week 1 kind of dragged on a little bit. It was a lot like am Adam Sandler movie, actually. You were all excited for it to start but you kinda fell asleep halfway through. Granted there were some great moments. BYU knocking off Oklahoma, the Miami-FSU finish and the Bama-Va Tech game were all high points. But the week lacked substance.

We did learn a few things from week 1. We learned that Sam Bradford will not win a second Heisman trophy. We learned that Ohio St. is still not very good against out of conference opponents. We learned that Jacory Harris is a future stud despite his head coach's constant crying. And we also learned that there's room in Mark May's mouth for more than just SC's Cardinal and gold cock.

I look forward to week 2, despite the lack of obvious must see games.

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5 Games to Watch




1. USC @ Ohio St. - This is the obvious biggie of the week. It's unfortunate that Ohio St. will put up little resistance to the Trojans once again. I will be anxious to see how Matt Barkley reacts to an extremely hostile environment. However, outside of the home crowd, there's really not much else going in Ohio St.'s favor.

2. Houston @ Oklahoma St. - I would say only watch this game if you really love offense, bu the Cowboys didn't exactly flex their offensive muscle against UGA in week 1. Houston's Case Keenum and OSU's Zac Robinson are two of the best QB's in all of the land. I expect Dez Bryant to hit triple digits in receiving yardage.

3. Notre Dame @ Michigan - This might be the first time in years that this game won't be coma inducing. Both teams looked really good against inferior competition in week 1. The Irish seem to be the favorite as their QB position is slightly more stable than Michigan's. I wouldn't be surprised to see Denard Robinson break a few big plays against the Irish defense.

4. South Carolina @ Georgia - The USC-UGA game is always a good one to watch. This has been especially true since SOS has been roaming the Gamecock sideline. Stephen Orr just seems to have the Bulldogs' number. It may be hard to believe but South Carolina may actually have a better QB situation than Georgia does. The Dawgs just named Joe Cox the starter for Saturday today.

5. Purdue @ Oregon - A couple of things I'm looking for in this game: Will the Oregon fans turn on Chip Kelly if the Ducks fall behind early? Will Oregon really miss LeGarrette Blount as much as we think they will? Can Purdue's Ralph Bolden have another monstrous day?

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5 Players to Watch

For the fantasy geeks in all of us....




1. Tim Tebow Florida QB - Tebow will play more this week with Tennessee looming than he did against Charleston Southern. Troy gave up a bunch of yards to Bowling Green's Tyler Sheehan, and I think Mr. Tebow may be slightly better than him.

2. Roy Helu, Jr. Nebraska RB - Helu had a huge day rushing the ball against Florida Atlantic in week 1. This Saturday the Husker continue their run through the Sun Belt conference against the Red Wolves of Arkansas St. Look for Roy Jr. to have another big day.

3. Dez Bryant Oklahoma St. WR - I've already predicted what I think Bryant will do against Houston this week. The Cougars' secondary better be ready for a long night.

4. Max Hall BYU QB - He's playing Tulane. Just look at what G.J. Kinne did against Tulane in his first game as a starter ever. Hall has a bit more experience than 1 game.
5. Jahvid Best Califronia RB - Best and the Golden Bears will be taking on the Eastern Washington Eagles. If Best can shred Maryland's defense, I'm supremely confident he can do the same against EW's.

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Heisman Watch



Sam Bradford's injury has shaken things up quite a bit in the Heisman race. Here's how I got it.

1. Tim Tebow Florida QB
2. Colt McCoy Texas QB
3. Jahvid Best California RB
4. Dez Bryant Oklahoma St. WR
5. Joe McKnight USC RB

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Ultimate Fantasy League Week 2

No TV schedule this week as I will be in Gainesville all day otherwise entertained. So on to the UFL schedule.

Florida @ Tennessee
Georgia v. California
South Carolina v. North Carolina
Clemson v. Georgia Tech
Auburn @ Mississippi St.
Alabama @ Arizona St.
Ole Miss v. Duke
LSU v. Kentucky
Colorado @ Boise St.
Kansas v. Rutgers
Kansas St. v. Nebraska
Missouri @ Michigan St.
Arkansas @ TCU
Oklahoma v. Texas A&M
Texas @ Texas Tech
Oklahoma St. v. Connecticut
Washington @ UCLA
Washington St. v. Oregon
Oregon St. v. Stanford
USC v. Virginia Tech
Arizona v. San Diego St.
Ohio St. @ Iowa
Illinois @ Wisconsin
Northwestern v. Purdue
Minnesota v. Notre Dame
Michigan v. Louisville
Indiana v. Maryland
Iowa St. v. Virginia
Miami v. Wake Forest
North Carolina St. v. Boston College
Florida St. @ South Florida
East Carolina @ Tulsa
Syracuse v. Navy
Penn St. @ Army
West Virginia v. Central Florida
Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati
Vanderbilt v. Air Force
Colorado S. v. UNLV
Southern Miss @ Wyoming
Baylor @ Utah
Louisiana Tech @ Troy
BYU @ Houston

Florida - Troy Preview

While Troy should provide a bit of a tougher challenge to the Gators than Charleston Southern did. It won't be by much. The Trojans completely imploded last week against Bowling Green in Dave Clawson's first game as head coach of the Falcons. The starters should get a little bit more playing time this week as they prepare for the upcoming SEC slate.

5 Keys To The Game

1. Show up. - The same as last week. All the Gators have to do is make the Gator Walk into the stadium Saturday morning get their pads on and walk onto the field. That should be enough to take down the Trojans.

2. Get more receivers involved. - Last week it was the Riley Cooper show. Even though Justin Williams and Cade Holliday both caught touchdown passes, the best receiver on the night was clearly Riley Cooper. The Gators need to get their other receivers involved this week if they want to establish confidence in their passing game heading into conference play.

3. Establish pressure on the QB. - Pop quiz hot shot. How many sacks did the Gators rack up against Charleston Southern last week? Answer- 0. There's no way this defense should go sack-less in a game especially against Charleston Southern.


4. Keep Wondy Pierre-Louis in for the whole game. - I hate to say it but Wondy was god awful last week. The Buccaneer receivers consistently beat him in man coverage. I like this guy so I would hate to see him end up like Kyle Jackson. Let him play the whole game to build his confidence up. We may need him as the season progresses.




5. Give Moody the God Damn Ball! - I can't emphasize this enough.







5 Players that need to step up.

1. Deonte Thompson - All of Gator Nation will be watching to see how Deonte bounces back from what may have been one of the worst performances by a receiver in recent Florida history.


2. Wondy Pierre-Louis - I've already enumerated the reasons why Wondy needs to have a good game. It would be nice to have extreme confidence in this guy. Having Janoris Jenkins back will take some of the pressure off of him.

3. Jonathan Phillips - Yet another opportunity for Phillips to kick all kinds of PATs. He actually missed one last week. Hopefully that's his only one of the season. He may even be able to sneak a few field goals in as well.

4. Carlos Dunlap - Carlos better walk away from this game with at least one sack. No excuses. He is vital to the UF pass rush.

5. Jermaine Cunningham - See above.

Here's some highlights from the last time Troy ventured into the Swamp.



Here's what they're saying about the game.

I have to admit there's some good stuff there. Good job Troy fans.

My Prediction:
Florida- 52
Troy- 6

Week 2 Picks

Last Week - I don't remember.

My predictions were a little off last week. I had to shake the rust off of a long ass summer. I'm back this week baby! Hopefully....

Here's this week's absolutely right picks.

Clemson @ Georgia Tech
Colorado @ Toledo
Syracuse @ Penn St.
North Carolina @ Connecticut
Eastern Michigan @ Northwestern
Western Michigan @ Indiana
Central Michigan @ Michigan St.
Stanford @ Wake Forest
Fresno St. @ Wisconsin
Duke @ Army
Pittsburgh @ Buffalo
Iowa @ Iowa St.
Troy @ Florida
Marshall @ Virginia Tech
Arkansas St. @ Nebraska
Kent St. @ Boston College
Morgan St. @ Akron
Texas @ Wyoming
Houston @ Oklahoma St.
BYU @ Tulane
TCU @ Virginia
Notre Dame @ Michigan
Howard @ Rutgers
Idaho @ Washington
East Carolina @ West Virginia
Louisiana Tech @ Navy
SMU @ UAB
UCLA @ Tennessee
Weber St. @ Colorado St.
Eastern Washington @ California
Jacksonville St. @ Florida St.
James Madison @ Maryland
Murray St. @ NC State
FIU @ Alabama
Vanderbilt @ LSU
Idaho St. @ Oklahoma
South Carolina @ Georgia
Bowling Green @ Missouri
Mississippi St. @ Auburn
Air Force @ Minnesota
Ohio @ North Texas
Hawaii @ Washington St.
Kansas St. @ UL-Lafayette
Illinois St. @ Illinois
New Hampshire @ Ball St.
Memphis @ Middle Tennessee
Texas Southern @ UL-Monroe
UCF @ Southern Miss
Rice @ Texas Tech
SE Missouri St. @ Cincinnati
Kansas @ UTEP
South Florida @ Western Kentucky
Western Illinois @ Northern Illinois
USC @ Ohio St.
Miami(OH) @ Boise St.
Prairie View A&M @ New Mexico St.
Tulsa @ New Mexico
Southern Utah @ San Diego St.
Northern Arizona @ Arizona
Purdue @ Oregon
Utah @ San Jose St.
Oregon St. @ UNLV

Upset Alerts

East Carolina over West Virginia - WVU was the most disappointing team to me in week 1. They looked horrible against Liberty. This could be another upset victory for the Pirates.

Air Force over Minnesota - Minny needed overtime to beat Syracuse last week. Air Force hung up 70. I'll take the Falcons.

Washington St. over Hawaii - How sad is the PAC-10 when one of their schools beating a WAC team is considered an upset?

Notre Dame over Michigan - Granted, this isn't an upset. However, this makes two straight weeks that I've picked the Irish to win a game! That's a new record.

Ultimate Fantasy League Update

Well week 1 is done in the inaugural CFB 365 Ultimate Fantasy League. There were some intriguing upsets as some teams jumped out ahead early in the race for the playoffs.

Here are the current standings.

SEC

East

1.Florida 1-0 (1-0)
2.Georgia 1-0 (0-0)
3.South Carolina 1-0 (0-0)
4.Clemson 1-0 (0-0)
5.Tennessee 0-1 (0-1)
6.Georgia Tech 0-1 (0-1)

West

1.Alabama 1-0 (1-0)
2.Ole Miss 1-0 (1-0)
3.Kentucky 1-0 (1-0)
4.LSU 0-1 (0-0)
5.Mississippi St. 0-1 (0-1)
6.Auburn 0-1 (0-1)


Big XII

North

1.Kansas 1-0 (1-0)
2.Nebraska 1-0 (1-0)
3.Missouri 1-0 (0-0)
4.Colorado 0-1 (0-0)
5.Kansas St. 0-1 (0-0)
6.Arkansas 0-1 (0-1)

South

1.Texas Tech 1-0 (1-0)
2.Texas 1-0 (0-0)
3.Oklahoma St. 1-0 (0-0)
4.Oklahoma 0-1 (0-0)
5.TCU 0-1 (0-1)
6.Texas A&M 0-1 (0-1)


PAC 10

North

1.Oregon St. 1-0 (1-0)
2.Boise St. 1-0 (1-0)
3.Stanford 1-0 (0-0)
4.Washington 0-1 (0-0)
5.Washington St. 0-1 (0-0)
6.Oregon 0-1 (0-0)

South

1.USC 1-0 (1-0)
2.Arizona 1-0 (0-0)
3.California 1-0 (0-0)
4.San Diego St. 0-1 (0-1)
5.Arizona St. 0-1 (0-1)
6.UCLA 0-1 (0-1)


Big Ten

East

1.Northwestern 1-0 (1-0)
2.Wisconsin 1-0 (1-0)
3.Illinois 0-1 (0-0)
4.Purdue 0-1 (0-1)
5.Minnesota 0-1 (0-1)
6.Ohio St. 0-1 (0-1)

West

1.Iowa 1-0 (1-0)
2.Michigan 1-0 (1-0)
3.Michigan St. 1-0 (1-0)
4.Notre Dame 1-0 (1-0)
5.Iowa St. 0-1 (0-1)
6.Indiana 0-1 (0-1)


ACC

Atlantic

1.Miami 1-0 (1-0)
2.Virginia Tech 1-0 (1-0)
3.North Carolina 1-0 (1-0)
4.Virginia 0-1 (0-0)
5.Louisville 0-1 (0-1)
6.North Carolina St. 0-1 (0-1)

Coastal

1.Maryland 1-0 (1-0)
2.South Florida 1-0 (0-0)
3.Wake Forest 0-1 (0-0)
4.Duke 0-1 (0-0)
5.East Carolina 0-1 (0-1)
6.Florida St. 0-1 (0-1)


Big East

North

1.Penn St. 1-0 (1-0)
2.Boston College 1-0 (1-0)
3.Connecticut 0-1 (0-0)
4.Army 0-1 (0-1)
5.Rutgers 0-1 (0-1)
6.Syracuse 0-1 (0-1)

South

1.Pittsburgh 1-0 (1-0)
2.Cincinnati 1-0 (1-0)
3.Navy 1-0 (0-0)
4.West Virginia 0-1 (0-0)
5.Central Florida 0-1 (0-0)
6.Vanderbilt 0-1 (0-1)


Mountain West

Mountain

1.Air Force 1-0 (1-0)
2.Southern Miss 1-0 (1-0)
3.Baylor 1-0 (1-0)
4.Colorado St. 1-0 (0-0)
5.Troy 0-1 (0-0)
6.Louisiana Tech 0-1 (0-1)

West

1.Tulsa 1-0 (1-0)
2.Houston 1-0 (0-0)
3.BYU 1-0 (0-0)
4.UNLV 0-1 (0-1)
5.Utah 0-1 (0-1)
6.Wyoming 0-1 (0-1)

Some of the highlights of week 1:

Some games from week 1 were actually played out in real life. Missouri beat Illinois, Colorado St. beat Colorado and Miami took down Florida St. All just like their real counterparts.

Michigan St. pulled what was probably the biggest upset of week 1 by knocking off Ohio St. The loss puts the Buckeyes in a big hole in the conference. Also, Cal was able to knock off Oklahoma thanks to Sam Bradford's injury. Something tells me the Sooners are in a bit more trouble than their real life counterparts. There's no Idaho St. to be played in this league.

In the best match-up of the week, the Texas Longhorns defeated the LSU Tigers in Austin. The Burnt Orange Nation was a bit too much for Jordan Jefferson to overcome as the Longhorns pulled out the victory. The Tigers should be able to rebound nicely next week. They host Kentucky.