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Humping it: 10 treacherous passes on the grueling ascent to college football's summit

Sporting News, The, Sept 27, 2004 by Steve Greenberg

10/2

LSU at Georgia, The champs made chumps of Georgia in last year's SEC title game, sacking David Greene five times, picking off three of his passes and out-rushing the Bulldogs, 293-50. Is Mark Richt's team tough enough? LSU will swagger into Athens intending to lay another physical beating on TSN's No. 1 team. Georgia has more talent than the Tigers on offense and a comparably gifted defense, but it won't win unless it's willing to break out the brass knuckles.

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West Virginia at Virginia Tech. So the Big East stinks--but just watch the Mountaineers get their props from poll voters if they win at Blacksburg and go to 5-0. There has been a buzz around this team since Virginia Tech and Miami boogied to the ACC; the schedule is there for a perfect regular season. West Virginia has beaten the Hokies the past two years, so there should be no mental humps to clear in this hump game.

10/16

Ohio State at Iowa. OSU has won eight straight in the series, but Jim Tressel and Kirk Ferentz have gotten only one crack at each other, a low-scoring Buckeyes win last year in Columbus. Forget Michigan--Iowa is the closest thing in the Big Ten to OSU in terms of brutish play. If the Buckeyes don't bring their A-plus game, they could leave Iowa City bloodied and out of the BCS hunt.

10/30

Georgia vs, Florida, At the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, Florida tells all of the good jokes, makes the prettiest girl swoon and then buys a couple of rounds for everybody just to rub it in the Bulldogs' faces. The Gators have won six straight and 13 of 14 in the series, which makes this the biggest hump Georgia will have to get over all season. Leak was a revelation in his Cocktail debut, throwing for 235 yards without an interception. Greene will have to outplay him--and make no game-turning mistakes.

Oklahoma at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys took a two-game winning streak against the Sooners into Norman last year and got crushed, so the mojo has moved to the other side. Minus offensive stars Rashaun Woods, Tatum Bell and Josh Fields, Oklahoma State actually has gotten better. In this game, the Cowboys hope to wear down the Sooners by ramming Vernand Morency at them behind a dynamite run-blocking offensive line.

10/9

California at Southern California. The Bears threw most of us for a loop with their three-overtime victory against USC at Cal in 2003. But they're accustomed to beating the Trojans, which they've done in three of their past four trips to the L.A. Coliseum. So there's no fear factor here, nor is it a slam dunk whose quarterback is better. Everybody loves Matt Leinart--and should--but Cal's Aaron Rodgers has a golden arm and a coach, Jeff Tedford, whose quarterback-mentoring skills rival USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow's. The offense-defense head games between Tedford and Pete Carroll will be world-class.

Oklahoma vs. Texas, For the Sooners, this dance in Dallas has been as easy as 1-2-3 the past four years--as in, they've been 123 points better than their seemingly scared-stiff Red River rivals. If the Longhorns can run Cedric Benson with success, and if they can make like Kansas State and LSU by rattling Jason White's cage, they'll win and make Mack Brown's life a whole lot easier. But those are Texas-sized ifs.

10/23

Miami at N.C. State. What's the biggest thing that has been missing for Florida State during its painful losing streak to Miami? N.C. State coach Chuck Amato. Bobby Bowden's former righthand man has proved that by beating the Seminoles in two of his past three tries, the only loss coming in overtime. The way he figures it, it's time to welcome the Canes to Raleigh with a bang. He doesn't have the horses on offense to outrace Miami's "D", but he'll throw the kitchen sink at Miami's unintimidating offense.

11/13

Ohio State at Purdue. The Boilermakers last shot down OSU in 2000 at West Lafayette, when Drew Brees was clamping own on the Heisman Trophy. It's their only victory in the past 11 games in the series, but now they've got Kyle Orton racking up Heisman numbers--and they have a defense that looks as good as any in the Big Ten. The past two years, the scores have been 10-6 and 16-13. There's nothing one-sided about that.

Miami at Virginia, It's too early to put it in the bank that the ACC is college football's top league this season, but there's no doubt Virginia is a contender to win the league. Coach Al Groh has made the Cavaliers faster all over the field and dynamic on defense, and, for a change, Virginia has an offensive line that can dominate. If the Canes make it this far with their Orange Bowl hopes still alive, a win in Charlottesville will go a long way with the pollsters.

Humping it: 10 treacherous passes on the grueling ascent to college football's summit

Sporting News, The, Sept 27, 2004 by Steve Greenberg

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