Big games this weekend and other thoughts

September 30th, 2009 | By boadurichard

College

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Miami Hurricanes

Welcome back to the 80’s. I wonder if Barry and Jimmy will be on the sidelines for this one. These two had so many memorable battles in the past that all of the former warriors come out when these two hook up. They should have got together in the 2000 National Championship game, but the BCS reared it’s stupid head and got in the way. They last met in 2007, OU put a tornado of a whipping to the Canes 51-13 in Norman.

Things are different this time around. Is Bradford going to play or not? How mad are the Canes from being embarrassed in Blacksburg last weekend? The Canes looked be to be “back” to their old ways until VA Tech and the rain calmed the Hurricanes.

The game will come down to what it does in most cases, the trenches. Can Miami’s offensive line stop the Sooners great defensive line? Can the Sooners young offensive line stop Marcus Fortson, Sean Spence and Colin McCarthy all three of which have been playing outstanding.

Jacory Harris will find holes in the Sooners zone as did BYU. I don’t expect Javarris James and Graig Cooper to do much against OU’s front seven. The Canes defense has been a bit inconsistent, outside of their linebackers. They got lit up against Florida State, but came out with a win and Georgia Tech was able to put up 17 points against them. VA Tech’s offense only had 24 points.

OU’ defense is coming off of two straight shut out games. Although they were to Idaho State and Tulsa. Tulsa isn’t too shabby, they averaged 45.7 points going into their game against the Sooners. This will definitely be the most athletic team the Sooners will face this year other than Texas, and Miami’s receivers and tight ends are tall and explosive.

Oklahoma’s offense is looking good, but once again it’s coming against sub par competition, and I quite personally think this defense will be faster than the Texas defense they will face later in the year. Landry Jones has looked good when he gets a millisecond to throw the ball and makes a quick decision. Vigrinia Tech showed the Miami is leaving a lot of running lanes open and their secondary showed that they don’t like to tackle.

The X factor will be whether or not Demarco Muarry and Chris Brown can make a big play and whether or not Miami’s offensive line will give Jacory enough time to sustain 3rd down conversions. I give the advantage to Demarco and Chris.

If Sam plays, it’s a two touchdown win. Yes, after being out three weeks and having a less than 100% shoulder, Sam Bradford makes that much of a difference. But if Landry plays as I am expecting I give the advantage to the Sooners because of their defense, 31-28 in a close one.

USC vs. California

Both teams are still good, but they caught looking ahead of the schedule this past weekend. As USC didn’t win as impressively as they should have against Washington State and well you know Oregon throttled Cal last weekend.

USC is going to have to cope with losing their emotional leader, Stafon Johnson, this past Monday in a freak weightlifting incident. Let’s face it, this is not the most dominating USC team we’ve seen in recent years and they struggled with a Washington Husky team that is not as bad as advertised. I’m not sure if Taylor Mays is going to play or not, but he will make a big difference impacting the 8-man boxes that the Trojans will give the Bears on Saturday.

For Cal it’s simple. Their defense is not bad, and just happened to get Oregon as they hit their stride offensively. I do worry about their struggle with Minnesota a few weeks ago. Kevin Riley has to step up and make big plays, that’s the bottom line. The box will be stacked and the game will be on him. He didn’t show he can win a game last week, maybe this one will be different.

I don’t trust Coach Tedford in big games or in the middle of a season where his teams always fold. I’m taking USC 35-24 in this one. Jahvid Best will go off though even if the Men of Troy stack 8 and 9 men in the box.

PS – Watch out for the match up between Damien Williams and Syd’Quan Thompson. I can’t call who is going to have the better night, but it will be fun to watch.

LSU vs. Georgia

I’ll take LSU. I just don’t think Georgia has the firepower to overcome the LSU defense. Not saying LSU is going to light up the scoreboard, but look for Richard Jefferson to have a solid night and Brandon Lafell to go off in this low scoring affair. Heck, I could be wrong and this could turn into an air war like the UGA and South Carolina game a few weeks back.

Auburn vs. Tennessee

I don’t care who wins.  I just want to watch Onterrio McCalebb, next season’s most exciting player(Andre Debose might have something to say about that though) run all over the Vols. If you have not seen this kid run, go to your nearest YouTube address, grab a seat, butterless popcorn, and a profanity sensor!

NFL

There is only one game you need to worry about.

Packers vs. Vikings

Brett faces his old team and excels. Aaron Rodgers presses and nutts up. Adrian Peterson plays like Adrian Peterson.

The Pack will not be able to stop Peterson which will open up Favre’s game.I don’t think the Vikings will be able to stop Rodger though either, who has been balling lately. Antoine Winfield and Charles Woodson will both show their asses (meaning play very well). Look for a shootout between predecessor and successor. Bright lights and big stages are normally kind to Brett Favre and I don’t see this one being any different.

High School

Byrnes (S.C.) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)

I don’t know too much about high school football other than 3+ star recruits and the ESPN top 50 teams. I do know that Aquinas is #1 in the country and Byrnes is #2 so this should be a great game. For more info, I called on the powers that be, ESPN/Scout Inc for more info.

By JC Shurburtt
Scouts Inc.
Archive

St. Thomas Aquinas

Lamarcus Joyner, CB: Florida State, Ohio State and Florida are Joyner’s top three — and the three schools with a shot at him. The Seminoles are the heavy favorite and have been the team to beat for some time. Unless there is a serious collapse in Tallahassee, expect him to end up there. The Buckeyes would be right behind the Noles, however. And you can never count out the Gators.

Cody Riggs, CB: Riggs is expected to end up at either Florida or Georgia. The Gators have the inside track on the ESPNU 150 prospect, but the Bulldogs have done an excellent job, as well.

Keion Payne, CB: Look out for Miami in the race for Payne’s services. The Hurricanes always sign their share of prospects out of Broward. If they land Payne, he’s just another talented player to add to Randy Shannon’s program.

Brandon Linder, OL: Miami also is the team to beat for Linder, who is sort of under-the-radar given his talented skill-position teammates. The Hurricanes have had the inside track for some time.

Giovanni Bernard, RB: If I had to guess the school that has the best shot at landing Bernard, it would have to be Florida State, just looking at the running back recruiting boards of all the schools. But the reality is, Bernard could end up anywhere. His brother played at Oregon State.

St. Thomas Aquinas’ committed players: Kicker Michael Palardy (Tennessee)

Byrnes

Marcus Lattimore, RB: South Carolina has a great shot here, but Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, North Carolina, Oregon and Penn State also are in the mix. Lattimore has had great things to say about every school he has shown interest in.

Nick Jones, WR: The in-state Gamecocks and Michigan have made offers to the speedy Jones. Penn State, Auburn and North Carolina all have shown interest. Chances are Jones will stay in-state when all is said and done.

Torian Richardson, WR: Richardson holds scholarship offers from Mississippi State, Syracuse, Tulane, East Carolina, Kansas State, Rutgers and Louisville. Right now, the Bulldogs, who signed Rico Sanders out of Byrnes last year, and the Scarlet Knights, who have quarterback Chas Dodd committed, seem to make the most sense.

Jazz King, WR: King claims offers from Ole Miss, Kansas and Central Florida. Of the three, the Rebels make the most sense in terms of his fitting into their scheme and using his speed to make plays in that system.

Byrnes’ committed players: ESPNU 150 prospects DE Corey Miller and DT Brandon Willis (both Tennessee).

PS – This is super random. But Chad Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald are two of my favorite receivers but I cant stand their face masks. I just cant.

That’s All I got,

Ricky Writer, out signing.