Finally, college football season is here

Posted Sep 3, 2009 by Ryan Lavner

Updated Sep 3, 2009 at 02:00 PM

The first week of the college football season generally brings little suspense, with top-tier programs scheduling cupcakes and Ohio State doling out $1 million to support our nation’s armed forces (thanks, Navy!).

There are a few exceptions, however, and seeing how the official BCS standings don’t come out for another month and a half, there’s always room for a shakeup at the top. Or the middle. Or not at all.

Anyway, in the Pigskin Picks, which appeared in Thursday’s Highlands Today news section, I chose all favorites. (Although apparently Fort Meade upsetting Hardee is preposterous, though picking high school football games is a little absurd in its own right. But I digress.)

That’s not to say those that are at least seven-point favorites won’t fall—namely Oklahoma State and Alabama. But your trusty correspondent doesn’t see it happening.

Let’s explore….

GEORGIA AT OKLAHOMA STATE

In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that your noteworthy scribe is a UGA alum, having graduated from the Harvard of the South in May with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. But when the Bulldogs trot out a fifth-year senior quarterback (Joe Cox), a bevy of unproven tailbacks (Richard Samuel, former Frostproof standout Carlton Thomas among others), and virtually the same defense that was torched on one-too-many occasions last season, it’s hard to show much allegiance.

This is easily the most intriguing game of the weekend, though, and the reasons are obvious:

—We need to see if Oklahoma State is just another Product of the Big 12, meaning pass-happy quarterbacks with myriad weapons put up ridiculous amounts of points until they face a stiff opponent. See: Texas Tech, 2008-09.
—We need to see if Georgia, which lost stars Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno to the NFL draft, and in the top 12 picks no less, can rebound with a cast of characters no one north of I-75 would recognize.
—We need to see if Georgia’s defense learned anything from head-scratching losses to Florida, Alabama and Georgia Tech, which had many in Bulldog Nation calling for defensive coordinator Willie Martinez’s head.
—And we need to see if the Cowboys’ three-headed monster of Zac Robinson, Dez Bryant and Kendall Hunter can perform when the expectations—a preseason No. 9 is the program’s highest—have never been so profound.

Georgia easily defeated the Cowboys in Athens two years ago, but Robinson and Bryant had yet to hit the field, and coach Mike Gundy had yet to unleash his infamous “I’m a Man!” speech, which morphed from lunacy to genius, seeing how recruits are, for some reason, now flocking to Stillwater.

Points will come in bunches, and T. Boone Pickens will probably make another million-dollar donation because of it.

Pick: Oklahoma State 38, Georgia 34

ALABAMA VS. VIRGINIA TECH AT GEORGIA DOME

Very rarely do you see a 5 vs. 7 matchup in the season’s first week, but that’s what we have here. The AP voters would probably like a mulligan, though. They bestowed the seventh-ranking on the Hokies a few days before they lost star tailback Darren Evans to a season-ending knee injury.

Oops.

Alabama graduated quarterback John Parker Wilson, of MTV’s Two-a-Days fame, and whose golden bangs were as glorious as his 145-yard passing performances were pathetic. Truth is, you could put a cheerleader behind center and still get receiver Julio Jones his touches. He’s just that good. And apparently he’s just that dumb, after he and a teammate went on a fishing trip with a known booster. The NCAA cleared the two of any wrongdoing, however, and that’s good news for the patrons at the Georgia Dome—they’ll be in for a show.

Pick: Alabama 31, Virginia Tech 20

Onto some other notable games:

—USC will obviously roll over San Jose State, a glorified high school team, so we won’t be able to get a real feel on uber-freshman Matt Barkley until next week, when the Trojans travel to play Ohio State in Columbus.
—Not saying No. 20 BYU will upset third-ranked Oklahoma, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the game was closer than expected, either. Then again, Sooners QB, Heisman-hopeful and future No. 1 pick Sam Bradford could put up 56 points and prove my fledging prognostications invalid. (That’ll be a common theme this season.)
—What about that No. 16 Oregon at No. 14 Boise State matchup? Looks good on paper, right? Sure. If you know more than one player on either team, congrats. I don’t. So no prediction.