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FROM THE SHOTGUN…Week Four QB Prime-Time/Pine-Time
By Daniel Freer | September 15, 2008
What a Saturday for the Mountain West Conference…
First, on a nationally-televised game carried on Versus network, BYU QB Max Hall (pictured, thanks IconSMI) threw 7 TD passes, and, the Cougar defense waylaid UCLA in a 59-0 christening at LaVel Edwards Stadium in Provo. So much for the Bruins defense, and the Norm Chow-led Bruin offense.
Later that night, New Mexico held off a potent Arizona attack in a 36-28 win in Albuquerque. Meanwhile, earlier in the day, TCU handled Stanford 31-14 at Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth.
But, the stunner came late Saturday night/early Sunday morning…as UNLV rallied from a late 10-point defecit to knock off ranked Arizona State 23-20 in overtime at Tempe.
MWC vs Pac-10 on Saturday, September 13th: MWC 4, Pac-10 0.
Maybe its time to extend an automatic BCS Bowl invite to the MWC champ…
Week Four should see some nice matchups, and a few key in-conference games. Who should you play…or not play….this week:
THE BCS-BID PRIME TIME QBs:
CHRIS NICKSON (Vanderbilt) and JEVAN SNEAD (Ole Miss): What looked like a snooze-fest earlier in the season now may be one of the more exciting SEC games of the year. Both QBs are sure to make this one unlike the Auburn-Mississippi State slumber party last week (Auburn’s 3-2 win over the Bulldogs).
KELLEN LEWIS (indiana) and NATE DAVIS (Ball State): Both teams almost evenly matched…and Ball State may be good enough this season to pull off a big road win at their in-state nemesis. Look for Lewis and Davis to get their share of passes and rushes.
CURTIS PAINTER (Purdue) and DAN LeFEVOUR (Central Michigan): Another Big Ten-MAC showdown where the MAC school has a real chance of winning. Painter’s numbers not real impressive, but, when Kory Sheets is in the backfield…your QB numbers will suffer. CMU’s LeFevour will be thankful this is not the Georgia defense.
ADAM WEBER (Minnesota) and RUSTY SMITH (Florida Atlantic): People may think I have a lust for Big Ten/Non-BCS games…but this is a good week for the lower-end of the college football food chain to gain some upper-end cred. Weber’s legs should help him against FAUs defense, while Smith’s bad performance last week had a lot to do with the miserable weather conditions at East Lansing (vs Michigan State). Fortunately the Gophers still play in the Metrodome.
COLT McCOY (Texas) and CHASE CLEMENT (Rice): (NOTE: This game may be affected due to Hurricane Ike damage). The Owls will be overmatched, but Clement should be able to move the ball on the Horns. The only drawback playing McCoy may be an early Texas blowout…though this game should stay close early on.
CHASE HOLBROOK (New Mexico State) and TREVOR VITTATOE (UTEP): Both QBs and teams have had shaky starts…but these equally-matched rivals should finally un-cork the offenses. NMSU’s Holbrook did not play the first two weeks, and it showed at times vs a rejuvenated Nebraska defense. Vittatoe, in the two Miners blow-outs, actually played better vs Texas than Buffalo.
ARKELON HALL (Memphis) vs Norfolk State: This is the week that Hall, a JUCO transfer and former Washington State signee, just opens up on someone. His numbers have been good, but, maybe not as productive with all the WR talent around. NSU is a decent MEAC/FCS team and will keep this a little competitive…in other words, Hall plays at least three quarters.
JOSEPH WEBB (UAB) vs Alabama State: The Blazers are not a good team, but Webb produces against lesser competition. The visitors from the SWAC will not be an easy win for UAB, but easy enough for Webb to shine, especially running the ball.
MICHAEL DESORMEAUX (Louisiana-Lafayette) vs Kent State: He did not have a super-productive day (1 TD pass, 1 TD run) at Illinois last weekend, but led the Ragin Cajuns to a near-upset in Champaign. The Golden Flashes have played some good defense this season, but its hard to adjust to the Cajuns’ rushing attack, especially a running QB like Desormeaux.
Other QBs to play: CHASE DANIEL, Mizzou; GRAHAM HARRELL, Texas Tech; MATT GROTHE, South Florida; MAX HALL, BYU; CASE KEENUM, Houston; DAVID JOHNSON, Tulsa; TIM HILLER, Western Michigan
THE DECEMBER 20 BOWL GAME-ON THE FENCE THIS WEEK:
MATT STAFFORD (Georgia) and RYAN CARPENTER (Arizona State): Whoever wins this game will have to run the ball…and the Sun Devils have to be smarting after their home loss to UNLV last week. Of course, Stafford is a great QB, but not the fantasy star because of Knowshon Moreno in the backfield. Hey, even Peyton Manning would be handing off to Knowshon 25-30 times a game, too!
BRIAN JOHNSON (Utah) and SHEA SMITH (Air Force): What makes the MWC a good conference is that their teams play better defense than many of the BCS conferences. This game will be close, and low scoring…and Air Force will use their ground game to control the ball and keep Johnson off the field.
PATRICK PINCKNEY (East Carolina) at NC State: Look for a low-scoring game here, as ECU may have played the toughest team they faced so far last week (Tulane). You know the BCS is overrated when a CUSA lower-level program is tougher than a lower-level BCS team.
TIM TEBOW (Florida) at Tennessee: No one has been more surprising than Tebow, for the wrong reasons. The Heisman Winner has struggled, but does have other offensive weapons around him. Look for Tebow again to rely on his supporting cast vs the Vols.
THE “WE HAVE GREAT ACADEMICS” PINE-TIME QBs:
ANDREW HATCH/JARRETT LEE (LSU) and CHRIS TODD (Auburn): The Yogi Berra-It’s Deja Vu All Over Again Game of the Week…still got that Auburn-Miss State pillow-fight from last week on my mind…and this game could yield a similar result. LSUs ground game will be the difference-maker.
ROBERT GRIFFIN (Baylor) at UConn: Few have had a productive last two games than the Bears true-frosh QB, but Griffin will face a very good Huskie defense at Rentschler Field. Griffin will match up better the rest of the season in Big XII action.
KELLEN MOORE (Boise State) at Oregon: Oregon did a great job containing Curtis Painter last week…though they could not stop the run. Moore has the luxury of a deep Bronco backfield led by Ian Johnson. At least Boise is set at QB…unlike the Ducks, who may have to start a true-frosh at QB, Chris Harper.
NOTABLES OFF THIS WEEK:
SAM BRADFORD, Oklahoma; COLIN KAEPERNICK, Nevada; MARK SANCHEZ, USC; JOE GANZ, Nebraska; ZAC ROBINSON, Oklahoma State; JAKE LOCKER, Washington; GIOVANNI VIZZA, North Texas.
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Topics: College Football, Daniel Freer, From the Shotgun, Quarterback |
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