It is finally here. After making it through training camps, 2 a-days, and the mostly boring NFL Preseason, the real football season can begin. This weekend, to me, marks the beginning of the football season, both college and professional.
Starting with premium match-ups featuring traditional college football powerhouses on Saturday and continuing with the start of the NFL season on Thursday, the next 7 days officially have become the most exciting time of the year for me. I came to this realization early this morning while waiting for the US’s Bronze medal game against Argentina to begin. (More on them and that later) I already had an idea about how much I loved football since I play flag football nearly the entire year, and have an absolute ball doing it, but I now fill an extra spring in my step, like a light has been turned on for me.
The mere thought of the upcoming games brings a large smile to my face. Seeing the ESPN Gameday commercials brightens my day in a way that is indescribable. So in an effort to display why I feel such enthusiasm, I will break down some of the major college games of the weekend.
Starting off is the game between Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. Notre Dame comes in with all the hype and rightfully so. They return a lot of offensive playmakers to an offense that averaged 36.7 points and 477.3 yards per game. However if there is one team that those numbers do not scare, it’s the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
During the past two seasons, Georgia Tech has knocked off a ranked opponent while being unranked. They’ve done this with their defensive play, allowing only 15 points per game in those victories. This match-up will be a strength versus strength match-up and though Georgia Tech will make it tough, I see Charlie Weis’s bunch passing their first tough test of the season.
Other teams facing tests in their opener games include USC, where QB John David Booty makes his first start against an Arkansas team looking for revenge for that 70-17 beat down they absorbed last year. Also preseason #1 Ohio State takes the field for the first time, hoping to quickly update a new defense that has 9 new starters. This will be of grave importance as Ohio State travels to #3 Texas next weekend. Texas also has a new starter, but their new starter is the QB, Colt McCoy who is replacing Vince Young. One of Ohio State’s Big Ten rivals, Penn State starts their season on Saturday trying to prove that last season was no fluke while Ohio State’s chief rival Michigan wants to erase the mediocrity that plagued them last season.
Do games featuring these teams excite you? Well if not there are games with two ranked teams to attract your interest. The first one which takes place on Saturday features #9 California and #23 Tennessee. Both teams have high hopes this year but different expectations accompany those hopes. Tennessee comes in looking to rebound from their first losing season since 1988. They will find out very quickly if 2006 will mean a return to respectability as 3 of their first 6 games are against opponents ranked in the Top 20. Cal, meanwhile, comes in with Pac-10 title hopes. They have a Heisman hopeful in RB Marshawn Lynch and new Offensive Coordinator Mike Dunbar adds ingenuity to an already potent offense. I think that Tennessee is on its way back but California squeaks by and gets the win.
The marquee match-up of the weekend festivities is between #11 Florida State and #12 Miami. These are two Florida teams who are looking for a strong start to the season. Both teams are starting experienced sophomore quarterbacks who took their lumps last year. This game hardly needs an introduction as the football programs at Florida State and Miami are household names. Expect lots of cameos of current and former NFL players from both universities. Miami has a lot of players missing the game for various reasons, but since they are at home the game will be closer than expected in the end Florida State pulls it out and gains the early upper hand in the quest for the ACC Championship.
As promised, here are some of my thoughts about USA Basketball and the performance at the World Championships. The US defeated Argentina 96-81 early Saturday morning to win the bronze at the 2006 World Championships.
I am disappointed that we did not win the gold medal. I am still happy with a bronze medal though, because it showed that the team was able to put the disappointment of losing to Greece behind and take care of business against Argentina.
I am pretty sure that the US will win gold during the ’08 Olympics in Beijing. I feel this way because we will get shooters like Michael Redd and we will add Kobe Bryant and Amare Stoudemire, who will provide inside help if he returns fully healthy.
Well, well, well. This marks the end of this blog. Feel free to make comments as they are appreciated. Until next time, peace.
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