Saturday, September 2, 2006
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CFB
Weather
Akron-Penn State:
90 percent chance of rain
Marshall-West Virginia: 50 percent chance of rain, wind
gusts to 23 MPH
Northern Illinois-Ohio
State: 30 percent chance of
rain
Wisconsin-Bowling Green: 40 chance of rain, winds NE 20
MPH
Virginia-Pittsburgh: 70 chance of rain
Here are news and notes from Godspicks.com private clipboard. They are compiled from hometown newspapers
and the team’s own press releases.
Southern Cal-Arkansas
Shreveport Times
Arkansas All-SEC tailback Darren McFadden is not expected
to play when the Hogs open the season against USC at home Saturday night on
ESPN because of a broken left big toe. After surgery on July 29 a stabilizing
pin was taken out on Aug. 21, and McFadden thought his trouble was over. Until he put weight on the toe. “It was much worse than I
thought,” he said. “That’s when it really started sinking in … I might not be
ready.” Arkansas might not
either. The Hogs lost at USC, 70-17, last season. Bet now through the Greek, home of the 21 percent sign up bonus
Utah-UCLA
Associated Press
As expected, UCLA coach Karl Dorrell
announced Monday that Ben Olson has beaten out Patrick Cowan and will start at
quarterback for the Bruins on Sept. 2 when they open the season against Utah
at the Rose Bowl. Olson played briefly in relief of starter Drew Olson last
season, completing 2-of-4 passes for 11 yards. The 23-year-old Olson enrolled
at UCLA last winter after transferring from BYU. He
had been on a church mission for the previous two years after redshirting as a freshman in 2002. Olson, a 6-foot-5,
225-pound sophomore, was one of the country’s top recruits before deciding to attend
BYU. The left-hander passed for 2.989 yards and 32
touchdowns as a senior at Thousand Oaks High in 2001. Bet the NFL now at -107 juice!
Check out the latest odds at CanBet.
Washington State-Auburn
Associated Press
Indeed, Auburn
has lost three of its last four openers, beating only Louisiana-Monroe en route
to a 13-0 season in ‘04. (The Tigers also lost a close game at USC in 2002).
It’s a remarkable statistic for a team that has managed to
win 35 games during that four-year span. A similarly punchless
performance against Washington State
would spoil all the enthusiasm and expectations surrounding this team. Indeed, Auburn
has lost three of its last four openers, beating only Louisiana-Monroe en route
to a 13-0 season in ‘04. (The Tigers also lost a close game at USC in 2002). It’s
a remarkable statistic for a team that has managed to win 35 games during that
four-year span. A similarly punchless performance
against Washington State
would spoil all the enthusiasm and expectations surrounding this team. Both
were far better the rest of the season, leading the SEC’s best offense. Irons
only started nine games but wound up rushing for 1,293 yards and closing the
regular season with six consecutive 100-yard games. Cox posted the fourth-best
single-season passing total in school history (2,324 yards) and was the league’s
No. 2-rated passer in his first season as starter, guiding a 9-3 team. A
revamped defense will have to come through for Auburn
to stake that claim. With linebackers Tray Blackmon and Kevin Sears suspended
for an unspecified number of games – probably including the date with LSU – converted safeties Will Herring and Steve Gandy won’t
have much grace period to master their new positions.
Akron-Penn State
CSTV
The biggest change for Penn State in ‘06 unquestionably is
at quarterback, where junior Anthony Morelli faces
the task of trying to replace Big Ten Offensive MVP Michael Robinson, who put
together a tremendous season in leading Penn State back. “Michael Robinson was
as good of a college football player and had as much of an impact on our
football team as any player I’ve ever coached in all the years I’ve been
around,” Paterno said. While Robinson will be missed,
there is a great deal of optimism surrounding the new junior quarterback, who
was Robinson’s backup last season, completing 13-of-20 passes for 155 yards and
a touchdown in occasional action. With the new quarterback though, you can
expect some things to change due to the different style of play by Morelli. “Last year, Robinson could run the option or do
something with his athletic ability to get us out of a jam,” Paterno said. “We don’t have that anymore. We have a
different type of back. We have a true quarterback that’s going to have to be
able to read coverages and him
and the offense have to get comfortable with each other and we’ll see what
happens.” “Morelli is more of a pocket passer so we’re
going to have to give him a little more time and we’ll have to adjust to that,”
Brown said. “We can’t just assume that if we mess up here, that Mike is just
going to run off with the ball because he’s not back there. Morelli
is back there. So, we’ll just have to give him more time and allow him to learn
the game.” Another question mark on Penn
State will be its offensive line,
who must replace four starters from last season. Brown returns as the only
starter and will be looked upon to lead the unit. Bet the NFL now at -107 juice! Check out the latest odds at CanBet.
Hawaii-Alabama
UWire
And last season, despite a 5-7 record, the Warriors showed
us a young offense loaded with talent. Colt Brennan emerged as the clear starter
and went on to lead the NCAA in passing yards, something Jones feels will
happen again this season. Freshman wide-receivers Davone
Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullen each posted 1,000-yard seasons and became impact
players. Once Nate Ilaoa
snapped into shape, he was a bruising running back that complimented Hawaii’s
aggressive passing game. Bet now through the Greek, home of the 21 percent sign up bonus
Virginia-Pittsburgh
Post Gazette
The Panthers had the Big East Conference’s leading
receiver (yards per game) eight of the past nine seasons and became the first
school to produce two Biletnikoff winners (Antonio
Bryant and Larry Fitzgerald). This year’s group, however, has not progressed as
expected and, if things don’t improve in a hurry, Pitt could easily be referred
to as “Wide Receiver, Who?” The Panthers are set to finish camp tomorrow and
likely will do so with a depth chart at wide receiver that is unsettled. And
unlike other positions, such as the defensive line, where the depth chart is
cloudy because so many players have performed well, the receiver position is
unsettled because of inconsistency. Hill pointed out that the receivers’
failure to progress as fast as he would like hasn’t been
completely about a lack of ability. There have been injuries—McGee (calf) and
Turner (ankle) have missed some time—and off-field issues—Porter left the team
for a day and senior Joe DelSardo has been suspended
for two weeks—that have hindered their progress as well. The group also is
extremely inexperienced—Kinder and DelSardo are the
only two with more than five receptions in a game. But the explanations for the
state of the receiving corps don’t erase the fact that there is a game to be
played in 11 days and the Panthers have only two receivers ready to play. Bet this game now through BetUs. Check out the
lines now
California-Tennessee
Associated Press
While playing Cal
at home might seem like a good deal for Tennessee,
the Vols want to believe the Bears have the upper
hand. The Volunteers have lost six straight game at
home to top-10 teams. Bet now
through the Greek, home of the 21 percent sign up bonus
