Hello to all you Irish Football Nation fans. As Meghan did, let me give you a brief overview who I am. My name is Matt Foreman. I am currently a freshman at Lock Haven University studying as a Sports Administration major. I attended Penn State University as a Sports Journalism major but decided it wasn’t for me. I watch any college football game on television. However, I am I die hard Penn State supporter. Obviously you can see that I am not a huge Notre Dame fan so I a will be giving a look at other happenings in the NCAA.
Lets start off with the biggest topic all year. If Boise State goes undefeated do they deserve a shot to play in the BCS title game? Everywhere I go people tell me “no”. The most common reason I see is that they play in a weak conference. My question is, how can you punish a team for what conference they play in? They can’t just pick and choose a conference to be a part of. I guess they could have joined the Pac-10 this year but who knows if they would have been invited to play and I don’t think it’s fair to all the other sports teams at Boise to move into a power conference just because of one of their teams. They go out every year and play well and win against automatic qualifying conference schools. I do agree that if a team from one of the automatic qualifying conferences goes undefeated, that they deserve to play in the title game only because they play tough competition every week. But I don’t see how a one loss team deserves to play in the national title game in place of an undefeated Boise State team. We’ll see how Boise ends up at the end of the season with one more test left when they travel to play Nevada and the nation’s number 6 rushing offense.
Over the past several weeks the nation has seen Michigan QB Denard Robinson climb to the top of the list of many analysts list of top Heisman trophy contenders. And I agree, Robinson has played amazing football so far this year. Another person that has proved to be looking for a shot at college football’s biggest individual award is last years recipient, Alabama tail back Mark Ingram. After missing opening week games against San Jose State and Penn State, Ingram has put together solid games the past two weeks rushing for 151 against Duke and 157 against Arkansas. He almost single handedly won that game against Arkansas last week with big runs late in the fourth quarter. But, I want to talk about another stud tail back who I haven’t really heard much about for Heisman considerations despite putting up huge numbers and having a team in the AP top 5. This would be Oregon tail back LaMicheal James. James is currently 8th in the nation in rushing yards despite missing the first game of the year. James is also second in the nation in yards per game averaging 158.3 yards per game. If he continues at this pace, I think that you will see more and more people hop on the LaMicheal James bandwagon because it will be interesting to see if Robinson is going to be able to keep up his torrid pace for two reasons.
-First, cause there is no way defenses like Iowa, Ohio State and Penn State are going to let him go off for almost 160 per game
-Second, because I foresee an injury that puts him out a game or more. His 6”0” 193 lb. body isn’t going to be able to hold up in the very physical Big 10, especially if he keeps taking shots like he has been. He has been sidelined with injuries twice this season already; most recently being last week when he fell on his knee in the first quarter and was held out the rest of the game, most likely for precautionary reasons. But still, if he’s already banged up so as it is, teams are going to target that already weakened knee.
As for Ingram, he has a good shot, but I don’t see him putting the numbers capable of James in the SEC. The SEC has some of the best defense in the nation, while the Pac-10 has some shaky defense, most notably in Washington State who is ranked 118 out of 120 in total defense. And when looking at the stats, Oregon still has 3 teams, including Washington State, on their schedule who rank in the bottom 20 in total defense. While Alabama’s lowest remaining opponent is number 72 South Carolina. That makes a much easier path for James than Ingram.
Now for something I’d like to run weekly my top 25 game predictions and my game of the week.
1. Alabama vs. 7. Florida
My Pick: Alabama
Too much Alabama D for Florida’s pedestrian looking offense
2. Ohio State vs. Illinois
My Pick: Ohio State
Terrelle Pryor keeps his name in the Heisman hat with a great game
3. Boise State vs. New Mexico State
My Pick: Boise State
Playing arguably one of the worst teams in the nation, look for Boise to gain some of those much talked about “style points”
*Game of the Week*
4. Oregon vs. 9. Stanford
My Pick: Oregon
Oregon wins in a shootout by playing just a little bit better on offense
5. TCU vs. Colorado State
My Pick: TCU
Another team looking for “style points”, TCU ends this game early
6. Nebraska off
8. Oklahoma vs. 21. Texas
My Pick: Texas
After a crushing loss against unranked UCLA, Texas puts the loss behind them and makes Oklahoma a one dimensional team and wins this years Red River rivalry
10. Auburn vs. Louisiana-Monroe
My Pick: Auburn
Cam Newton leads the War Eagles in easy defeat after two hard fought games
11. Wisconsin vs. 24 Michigan State
My Pick: Wisconsin
No trick plays this week, Wisconsin lead by John Clay wins in East Lansing
12. LSU vs. Tennessee
My Pick: LSU
Patrick Peterson and the Tigers defense stifles Tennessee offense
13. Utah off
14. Arizona off
15. Arkansas off
16. Miami vs. Clemson
My Pick: Miami
The Hurricanes big play offense continues to roll
17. Iowa vs. 22. Penn State
My Pick: Iowa
My heart says Nittany Lions, but my head says Hawkeyes in close fought game; Iowa’s offense proves to be better than Penn State in a low scoring game
18. USC vs. Washington
My Pick: USC
Matt Barkley picks apart the Huskies defense as Jake Locker’s Heisman and first overall pick hopes continue to dwindle
19. Michigan vs. Indiana
My Pick: Michigan
Michigan’s offense led by Denard Robinson overpowers the Hoosiers average defense
20. South Carolina off
23. North Carolina State vs. Virginia Tech
My Pick: Virginia Tech
Ryan Williams has his first big game of the season as the Hookies steal one in Raleigh
25. Nevada vs. UNLV
My Pick: Nevada
The Wolf Pack runs every which way over the Rebel’s defense.
Notre Dame vs. Boston College
My Pick: Notre Dame
Dayne Christ and Michael Floyd steal the show as the Fighting Irish stop the slide
No comments:
Post a Comment