Two Must See College Football Games Saturday and Predictions
by John Tamanaha msnbc.com
No. 12 South Carolina at Georgia
Sat., Sept. 10 — 4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
In last season’s second game, Gamecock running back Marcus Lattimore roughed up the Bulldogs for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns. In this rematch, Georgia will have to deal with the South Carolina super soph without the services of their star inside linebacker Alec Ogletree, who broke a bone in his right foot in last Saturday’s 35-21 loss to Boise State.
That’ll not only make things easier for the Gamecock ground game, but it’ll also free up quarterback Stephen Garcia to pounce when opportunities present themselves.
If Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray still had a weapon like wideout AJ Green at his disposal, he would be more able to take full advantage of South Carolina’s leaky secondary. (Did you see East Carolina’s Dominique Davis tally 260 passing yards and throw for four scores last Saturday in a 56-37 loss to the Gamecocks?)
Opening point spread: South Carolina by 2 1/2
The pick: South Carolina 31-24
Notre Dame at Michigan
Sat., Sept. 10 — 8 p.m. ET, ABC
After losing to a football program that’s been in existence since only 1997, the Fighting Irish turn their attention to the rivalry game against Michigan that was born in 1887.
It’ll be the first night game ever played at the Big House. Maybe that’s a good sign for Brian Kelly, who won his last three night games last season, all away from South Bend, concluding with the 20-16 victory at USC.
The Notre Dame offense did everything but the required amount of scoring while losing to South Florida. The Irish gained 508 total yards, racked up 27 first downs … and turned the football over five times.
Does that sound familiar? It should. Last season, Notre Dame earned 28 first downs and chewed up 535 total yards, but still lost. The opponent? Michigan, of course.
The revitalized Wolverine defense won’t be as generous this time around. Michigan missed out on more than 16 minutes of game time when last week’s opener against Western Michigan was called during a second rain delay. If that didn’t happen, linebacker Brandon Herron might have found a way to score his third touchdown of the day. Tommy Rees and/or Dayne Crist beware.
Opening point spread: Notre Dame by 3
The pick: Michigan 30-26
WILL HE PLAY AGAIN????
Ohio State: 3 players took money at Cleveland charity dinner
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Records released by Ohio State University say three football players suspended for the opening game against Akron violated NCAA rules by taking $200 at a Cleveland charity event earlier this year.
All three - starting tailback Jordan Hall and cornerback Travis Howard and backup safety Corey Brown - have been cleared to play in the 15th-ranked Buckeyes' game against Toledo on Saturday.
The records released Thursday night indicate the athletes gave varying accounts for why they received the money and who they received it from.
Two of the athletes said they believed the money was for working at the event while a third said he believed he was receiving money from a teammate. They were invited to attend the charity event by a former Buckeyes player.
All three believed that Ohio State had approved attending the event, even though it had not. Ohio State had permitted athletes to attend the event in 2007 and 2010, however, Ohio State's NCAA compliance department requires that athletes ask for and receive written permission to attend promotional or charitable events.
The records, a copy of the violations that Ohio State forwarded to the NCAA, do not point to a clear source for the money. All names were blacked out in the material released to The Associated Press.
A joint Ohio State-NCAA investigation discovered the violation on Aug. 31.
When it announced the violations and suspensions on Sept. 1, some 48 hours before the Buckeyes' 42-0 season-opening win over Akron, the school added that it might add to the players' penalties.
On Thursday, interim Ohio State head coach Luke Fickell said he and his staff had not yet decided what to do with the players. But he spoke as if the suspended players would have to earn playing time and would not step right back in as starters.
"I don't think we've said any stipulations publicly on what we'll do with them," Fickell said. "Our (other) guys played well last week. It's their jobs. We want to make sure that (those other players) know we have confidence in them. It's not like we're going to bounce around from week to week. If (the other players) do a good job throughout the week, we're going to continue to go with them."
Ohio State is awaiting word from the NCAA's committee on infractions on what penalties it will receive for unrelated violations from 2010 involving football players who traded memorabilia for cash with the subject of a federal drug-trafficking probe. Four current players are sitting out the first five games as their penalty for receiving thousands of dollars in cash and discounted tattoos.
The investigation into the scandal led to Ohio State forcing 10-year head coach Jim Tressel to resign in May after he admitted that he had known that players had likely accepted improper benefits. Despite being required to disclose such information by his contract and also by NCAA rules, he did not pass on that information to his superiors for more than 10 months.
Ohio State has offered to vacate the 2010 season, in which it went 12-1, because Tressel played players that he would reasonably expect to be declared ineligible.
The university's hearing before the committee on infractions took place on Aug. 12 in Indianapolis. A decision on the final sanctions could come as early as this month or as late as November.
Earlier on Thursday, Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee said he did not know when the sanctions would be announced.
"You know as much about that as I do," Gee said. "We have had our hearing and we're just waiting until their ruling comes down."
Week 2 College Football TV Schedule
Friday, September 9
TIME (ET) MATCHUP TV PPV MOBILE TICKETS
7:00 PM ET Florida International at Louisville Tickets
10:30 PM ET No. 21 Missouri at Arizona State Tickets
Saturday, September 10 TIME (ET) MATCHUP TV PPV MOBILE TICKETS
12:00 PM ET Oregon State at No. 8 Wisconsin Tickets
12:00 PM ET Toledo at No. 15 Ohio State Big Ten Network Tickets
12:00 PM ET Florida Atlantic at No. 17 Michigan State Tickets
12:00 PM ET Iowa at Iowa State Tickets
12:00 PM ET Central Michigan at Kentucky Tickets
12:00 PM ET San Diego State at Army Tickets
12:00 PM ET South Dakota State at Illinois Big Ten Network Tickets
12:21 PM ET No. 16 Mississippi State at Auburn SEC Network Tickets
12:30 PM ET Rutgers at North Carolina Tickets
1:00 PM ET Norfolk State at No. 19 West Virginia Tickets
1:00 PM ET Maine at Pittsburgh Tickets
1:00 PM ET Alabama State at Eastern Michigan Tickets
2:00 PM ET Northern Colorado at Colorado State Tickets
3:30 PM ET No. 3 Alabama at No. 23 Penn State Tickets
3:30 PM ET No. 6 Stanford at Duke Tickets
3:30 PM ET No. 11 Virginia Tech at East Carolina Tickets
3:30 PM ET Nevada at No. 13 Oregon FX Tickets
3:30 PM ET No. 25 TCU at Air Force Versus Tickets
3:30 PM ET California at Colorado Tickets
3:30 PM ET Eastern Illinois at Northwestern Big Ten Network Tickets
3:30 PM ET New Mexico State at Minnesota Big Ten Network Tickets
3:30 PM ET North Carolina State at Wake Forest Tickets
3:30 PM ET Wofford at Clemson Tickets
3:30 PM ET Purdue at Rice Tickets
3:30 PM ET Hawaii at Washington Tickets
3:30 PM ET Southern Miss at Marshall Tickets
3:30 PM ET Cincinnati at Tennessee Tickets
3:30 PM ET Tulsa at Tulane Tickets
4:30 PM ET No. 12 South Carolina at Georgia Tickets
4:30 PM ET Rhode Island at Syracuse Tickets
5:00 PM ET North Dakota at Idaho
NeuLion Webcast Tickets
5:00 PM ET UNLV at Washington State Tickets
6:00 PM ET Charleston Southern at No. 5 Florida State Tickets
6:00 PM ET Southern Illinois at Ole Miss Tickets
6:00 PM ET Temple at Akron Tickets
6:00 PM ET Stony Brook at Buffalo Tickets
6:00 PM ET Texas State at Wyoming Tickets
7:00 PM ET Fresno State at No. 10 Nebraska Tickets
7:00 PM ET New Mexico at No. 14 Arkansas Tickets
7:00 PM ET UAB at No. 18 Florida Tickets
7:00 PM ET Ball State at No. 22 South Florida Tickets
7:00 PM ET Brigham Young at No. 24 Texas Tickets
7:00 PM ET Virginia at Indiana Big Ten Network Tickets
7:00 PM ET Navy at Western Kentucky NeuLion Webcast Tickets
7:00 PM ET Morgan State at Bowling Green Tickets
7:00 PM ET Gardner-Webb at Ohio Tickets
7:00 PM ET Houston at North Texas Tickets
7:00 PM ET Memphis at Arkansas State NeuLion Webcast Tickets
7:00 PM ET Northern Illinois at Kansas Tickets
7:00 PM ET Louisiana-Lafayette at Kent State Tickets
7:00 PM ET Central Arkansas at Louisiana Tech Tickets
7:00 PM ET Georgia Tech at Middle Tennessee Tickets
7:00 PM ET Grambling State at Louisiana-Monroe NeuLion Webcast Tickets
7:00 PM ET UTEP at Southern Methodist Tickets
7:00 PM ET Nicholls State at Western Michigan NeuLion Webcast Tickets
7:30 PM ET Utah at USC Versus Tickets
7:30 PM ET Connecticut at Vanderbilt Tickets
8:00 PM ET Northwestern State at No. 2 LSU Tickets
8:00 PM ET Notre Dame at Michigan Tickets
8:00 PM ET Weber State at Utah State Tickets
8:00 PM ET Boston College at UCF Tickets
10:00 PM ET San Jose State at UCLA
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