Thoughts for Saturday: Week Three

Game of the week: The biggest game this week is Nebraska at No. 15 Virginia Tech. The Cornhuskers are ranked in every major poll and are the first team outside of our top 25.

Nebraska is looking to get back to being a top tier program and they need a win against a current top tier program to do so. The Hokies are their chance.

Last year they lost 35-30 at home and now travel to Blacksburg, where Virginia Tech rarely loses. Nebraska has played nobody so far, and VT played someone and lost a fairly close game. I don't think Nebraska keeps this game very close, despite their ability to score points. The Huskers haven't seen a defense like Virginia Tech's.

Other games to watch:

No. 6 California at Minnesota: Both teams are 2-0, and the Gophers get to pull the Bears away from their cushy lair. I think this will be closer than most think.

No. 14 Utah at Oregon: Utah has had kinda tough games against very inferior opponents. I think the Ducks come to play and come up with a big win.

Michigan State at Notre Dame: The Spartans haven't lost in South Bend since 1993 (seems unbelievable, right?!??!) But it's true. I think that little stretch comes to an end this week in a close game.

Cincinnati at No. 19 Oregon State: A very intriguing matchup of two minor powers. A top four or five Pac-10 team or one of the top two Big East teams? I got the Pac-10.

No. 18 Georgia at Arkansas: The Hogs are actually favored in this game! What?? I think Arkansas is getting better, but no way. Not yet.

No. 23 West Virginia at Auburn: A couple of teams who were expected to be a little down this year are 2-0. To the winner goes a nice little 3-0 start. I think the Mountaineers skilled players are the difference.

Texas Tech at No. 3 Texas: Last year, this was a huge game in the later part of the season. This year, it's a week three game lost in the fold. We're gonna see how good Tech is.

Florida State at No. 8 BYU: Interesting matchup because FSU comes to play against ranked teams, most of the time. I think it's close, but BYU holds on.

Arizona at No. 21 Iowa: Another interesting inter-conference game. Which team stays unbeaten? I'll take the home team. Iowa is looking like team No. 3 in the Big Ten.

News: They are only playing Washington, but the USC quarterback situation is unclear as of right now. Will an injured Matt Barkley play or will we get to see Aaron Corp? Also... Maybe Miami is good? Destroying No. 7 Georgia Tech was impressive. Time to take the Canes seriously, perhaps.

Rivalry game that won't be close: Fresno State, fresh off a heartbreaking loss in Madison to Wisconsin, hosts No. 9 Boise State in a showdown of the WAC's premier teams. With that said, this game won't even be close. Barely losing to a bad Badger team is not an indication that Fresno State is ready to compete nationally. Expect a blowout in the Sac-Jaoquin Valley on Friday night.

The not have a letdown game: Sure, Eastern Michigan is bad, but Michigan was really bad about 10 months ago. Let's not anoint them fully forgiven and excused from a 3-9 season. The Wolverines should win by a lot, but they have to keep their guard up after a huge win.

The game that will get out of hand early: Tennessee at Florida used to be such a good, intense game. Lately, it's been a joke. The Vols haven't beat Florida since 2004 and have not won at The Swamp since 2003. Tennessee has gigantic problems at quarterback, and those need to be solved before they come all the way back as a program.

The Beano Cook game of the week: Beano Cook's head might explode this week. Navy at Pittsburgh is too much for him to handle. He'll be talking about the Navy v. Pitt game he was covering in 1897 for the old Pittsburgh Courier. This is Beano's day. He'll flip out about the invent of the forward pass and he'll be hoping for an old-fashioned 6-2 final.

In all actuality, we'll be able to see if either of these teams is worthy of a top 25 vote.

Upset alert: Fresh off an unimpressive win and slightly banged up, North Carolina hosts a hungry East Carolina team which hung with West Virginia for most of the game. Look for the Pirates to play tough and represent the state of East Carolina proudly. Ask David Garrard, it's a state.

Blowout watch: Kansas State coming to Pasadena to play UCLA sounds like a big matchup of well-respected teams, but it won't be. Kevin Prince or not, the Bruins destroy a K-State team that squeaked by UMass and lost to Louisiana-Lafayette.

Player to watch: I have two of them: Damion Fletcher of Southern Miss and Jahvid Best of California. Fletcher is facing a Virginia team that gave up over 200 yards on the ground to TCU, and he's explosive and might get close to that on his own.

Best, on the other hand, has something to prove. In his college career, he is averaging nearly 70 more yards a game on the ground in Berkeley than on the road. I expect players to always play better at home, but that is a huge disparity. I think he will put up big numbers on the road, this team around.

So how did our player to watch do last week? Well, Rutgers true freshman quarterback Tom Savage threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns in a 45-7 win over Howard. I mean, it was only Howard, but still.

Rutgers playing Howard allowed us to come up with the name Rutgers Howard (like Rutger Hauer). Rutgers Howard is the name give to a stud football player/legendary actor/overall badass dude. Rutgers Howard.