Top national storylines to watch: Week 2
You heard from all the conference bloggers, now let us take a look at the biggest stories to watch around the country in Week 2:
1. Can “Monster Saturday” live up to the hype? With Miami-Ohio State, Notre Dame-Michigan, Florida State-Oklahoma and Penn State-Alabama headlining one enormously huge day, this certainly has the potential to be one of the best college football weekends in recent memory. Here’s hoping each game is competitive and we don’t end up with a bunch of duds.
2. Will the good vibes go sour in Ann Arbor or South Bend? There was much anticipation last week over Brian Kelly’s debut at Notre Dame and Rich Rodriguez starting the season on the hot seat at Michigan. Both coaches won, and hopes shot up higher. Kelly doesn’t have as much on the line as Rodriguez because he is only in his second game at Notre Dame. But you can bet Irish fans want to see a more wide-open offensive attack, while Wolverines fans want all Denard Robinson, all the time. Whoever loses will most certainly face withering scrutiny from a fan base that wants to win now.
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| DeMarco Murray is fourth in the country with 208 rushing yards. |
4. How much is revenge really going to be a factor in the Miami-Ohio State game? Revenge has been a big theme among former players, who have talked about nothing but that since the summer. But you can bet the bigger theme for the current team is another R-word: respect. Players see this as a statement game, a way to show the country the Hurricanes program is back.
5. Can the bad snaps be snapped? Several teams across the country struggled with their snaps in Week 1. Woes plagued North Carolina, Oregon State, Virginia Tech but most notably Florida, which had 13 bad exchanges between Mike Pouncey and John Brantley. We’ll see whether the bad snaps were a result of first-week kinks or if this continues to be an issue that plagues teams.
6. Do Alabama fans bite their tongues? We already know about Joe Pa vs. Nick Saban, the history with Bear Bryant, and a freshman quarterback going into Tuscaloosa as the starting quarterback for the Nittany Lions. Will the fans heed Saban’s warning and hold back their boos when Penn State is introduced? Incidentally, Bryant would have turned 97 on Saturday.
7. How do Ole Miss and Kansas rebound from FCS losses? The Rebels have a far better chance of following up their embarrassing overtime loss to Jacksonville State with a win than Kansas does. Ole Miss goes to Tulane, one of the worst teams in the country last season. But Kansas has to play No. 15 Georgia Tech with a new quarterback and revamped offensive line. Coach Turner Gill announced Jordan Webb would start over Kale Pick on Saturday. Both played in the loss to North Dakota State last week.
8. How does Georgia freshman quarterback Aaron Murray handle a tough South Carolina defense? As SEC fans will tell you, the Gamecocks have had one of the best defenses in the league for the last few years. So will they be able to rattle the freshman quarterback making his first start on the road – especially with top target A.J. Green out? The games in this series have been pretty tight -- in the last nine years, seven have been decided by a touchdown or less.
9. Early conference play opens. This can either be good or bad depending on your point of view. Good if you think you can catch your opponent off guard since they don’t know much about you. Bad if you think your opponent can catch you off guard. The ACC, Conference USA, Pac-10 SEC, Mountain West, MAC, Sun Belt all have conference games in Week 2.
10. Can Tennessee slow down the Oregon offense? Putting 72 points up on New Mexico was certainly unexpected for the Ducks. But they also made a statement -- they are much more than just Jeremiah Masoli, who is no longer on the team. What does Oregon do for an encore?
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