Football
Tom's Tip Sheet (Sans Tom)
By Tony Gerdeman

There are nine undefeated teams left in the nation, and they all play this weekend.

Only West Virginia and Louisville have no chance at losing because, well, they play other Big East teams.

Running down the others: Florida's at Auburn; Ohio State's at Michigan State; USC hosts Arizona State; Michigan's at Penn State; Missouri's at Texas A&M; Rutgers is at Navy; and Boise State's at New Mexico State.

There won't be nine undefeated teams when this weekend is over.

Moving away from the games involving the undefeated teams, there are still plenty of conference games of interest.

Virginia Tech is at Boston College Thursday night in a game that will eliminate somebody from the ACC race.

Speaking of the ACC, Wake Forest travels to North Carolina State and with a win, the Demon Deacons would become bowl eligible.

Wisconsin hosts Minnesota, and the Badgers will be playing to stay in the Big Ten race as teams start to fall away.

And if you've got Gameplan, why not turn in for the second half of the Hawaii-Fresno State game after the Buckeye game.

There are a ton of games this weekend that won't just be fun to watch, but that will make an impact on the football season. And that's pretty much how it's going to be the rest of the way out.

Well, except for the games on ESPNU.

Thursday October 12

Teams: Temple at Clemson
Time (TV): 6:30 pm (ESPNU)
Interest: 1
Cheer For: Temple

I'm not even going to watch this one as a precursor to the VT/BC game. Well, I may. I think it just depends if I get my chores done. I hope I don't.

Teams: Virginia Tech at Boston College
Time (TV): 7:30 pm (ESPN)
Interest: 3.5
Cheer For: Boston College

Both teams come into this game with one conference loss each, with both losses coming to the first place team in their respective divisions. A loss here will make it hard for that team to get back into their division race, and consequently, the BCS. I have a thing against picking ACC games, but since these guys are new, I'll go ahead and pick the game. Give me the Hokies by four.

Friday October 13

Teams: Brown at Princeton
Time (TV): 7:00 pm (ESPNU)
Interest: 1
Cheer For: Brown

I had wanted to get into this ridiculous statistical breakdown of this game, but, you know, deadlines and such.

Teams: Pittsburgh at UCF
Time (TV): 8:00 pm (ESPN)
Interest: 1.5
Cheer For: UCF

Pittsburgh quarterback Tyler Palko is completing 70% of his passes and is on pace to throw for 3,000 yards this season. I have no idea how he's doing it...oh wait, they've played Virginia, Cincinnati, Michigan State, The Citadel, Toledo and Syracuse. That explains it. And, as you would expect with that schedule, the Panthers are 5-1 and are in first place in the Big East. Of course, WVU and Louisville have yet to play any conference games. They'll be fine this week, but next week they host Rutgers. And the fact that this is now a big game tells you all you need to know about the Big East.

Saturday October 14

Teams: Minnesota at Wisconsin
Time (TV): 12:00 pm (ESPN)
Interest: 4
Cheer For: Minnesota

It's Homecoming weekend in Madison. Which means that Wisconsin alumni from all over the country will come back and relive their days of being complete idiots. This game will be played for Paul Bunyan's Axe, and it will be the 116th meeting between the two schools, which makes it the most-played rivalry in the Football Bowl Subdivision. While it would be nice if the Gophers could pull one out, I just don't see it happening. The Badgers are only giving up 13 points per game, but their schedule is laughable and the only quality team they've played (Michigan), put up 27 on them. I think the Gophers can put 20 on them, but the Badgers will score a little bit more.

Teams: Iowa at Indiana
Time (TV): 12:00 pm (ESPN2)
Interest: 3
Cheer For: Iowa

Yeah, this one looks like it's going to be bad. But it will still be a good idea for you to watch a bit and scout the Hoosiers--especially since many of you may not get to see them on television next week against the Buckeyes. Last week, the Hoosiers were down 22-7 to the Illini after one quarter. They were then down 25-7 until they scored two second-quarter touchdowns to make it 25-21 at the half. The Hoosiers ended up kicking the game-winning field goal at the end of the game to remind everybody watching that, "Oh yeah, Ron Zook coaches Illinois."

Teams: Purdue at Northwestern
Time (TV): 12:00 pm (GP)
Interest: 2.5
Cheer For: Northwestern

This has all the makings of a shootout, if only the Wildcats were capable of scoring. The Boilermakers are giving up over 30 points per game, so Northwestern will have a shot at a few touchdowns this week. It's just that their quarterbacks are so young and so terrible. Tyrell Sutton doesn't even have a 100-yard rushing game yet this season. His quarterbacks are run-first guys, so they're stealing his yards. But defenses also don't have to worry about the pass, so they're keying on Sutton pretty well. I just don't see Northwestern scoring enough to beat Purdue.

Teams: Syracuse at West Virginia
Time (TV): 12:00 pm (GP)
Interest: 3.5
Cheer For: Syracuse

I think this game is interesting if for no other reason than to see how the Mountaineers react to their first conference game. It will also be interesting to see how "resurgent" Syracuse actually is. I'm guessing "not very". If Syracuse can slow down the run and make Pat White pass, they can stay in it for two quarters. In two of his last three games, White has only thrown nine times, in those two games they scored 45 points (Maryland) and 42 points (Mississippi State), respectively. When White was made to throw at East Carolina, his 24 attempts only led to a 27-10 victory. Unfortunately for Syracuse, they just don't have the speed to stay with West Virginia.

Teams: Iowa State at Oklahoma
Time (TV): 12:30 pm (FSN)
Interest: 2
Cheer For: Oklahoma

Iowa State has played three ranked teams, losing all three by an average score of 31-15. They didn't even bother to show up last week at home against Nebraska. Unfortunately, until the Cyclones can find a running back that can actually outrun a line judge, quarterback Bret Meyer's talents will be wasted. Iowa State will have some success through the air, simply because they'll have no choice. Adrian Peterson will rush for 200 yards and the Sooners will never really be challenged.

Teams: Northern Illinois at Western Michigan
Time (TV): 2:00 pm (GP)
Interest: 1.5
Cheer For: Northern Illinois

The Garrett Wolfe Tour of Destruction is apparently now being televised. And this one might not be a bad one to watch. The Broncos are only allowing 98.8 rushing yards per game. And, as we all know, Garrett Wolfe usually has that in the second quarter. Miami (OH) held Wolfe to his lowest output of the season last week (162 yards), so you know he'll come into this game with something to prove. Wolfe is currently on pace for 2,686 yards rushing, which would break Barry Sanders' record of 2,628.

Teams: Missouri at Texas A&M
Time (TV): 3:30 pm (ABC/GP)
Interest: 3.5
Cheer For: Missouri

The Tigers are one of the nine teams still undefeated in the...(sigh)...Football Bowl Subdivision. They also have the fourth-longest winning streak in the nation (7 games). So why root for them? Because when Texas beats them in the Big XII Championship game, that will help us out. Of course, A&M is a 37-yard Texas Tech touchdown with 26 seconds left away from being 6-0 themselves. The Aggies haven't beaten anybody of importance, and even if they win this week, I wouldn't exactly call Missouri "important". However, if Missouri can get by A&M, that will be two semi-impressive road wins in a row, including last week's 38-21 at Texas Tech. In fact, if Mizzou pulls this one out, they'll most likely be 8-0 when Oklahoma comes to town on October 28. Given how down the Big XII is this season, Missouri definitely has a shot to run the table.

Teams: Cincinnati at Louisville
Time (TV): 3:30 pm (ESPNU)
Interest: 2.5
Cheer For: Cincinnati

You have to feel bad for Mark Dantonio. As much as he can, he keeps games close, but they just don't have the talent to get over the top. And it doesn't look like he's going to be able to bring in the talent to get the job done. For Louisville, quarterback Brian Brohm says he's ready to come back this week, but don't expect him to play more than three quarters.

Teams: Eastern Michigan at Bowling Green
Time (TV): 4:00 pm
Interest: 1
Cheer For: Bowling Green

Eastern Michigan is 0-5 on the season and that won't change this week. Well, actually, I guess it will change. They'll be 0-6 instead.

Teams: California at Washington State
Time (TV): 5:00
Interest: 4
Cheer For: Washington State

Since California's opening-season loss at Tennessee, they're scoring an average of 44 points per game, and they've done it against a Big Ten school and three PAC 10 schools, two of which were ranked at the time. That type of scoring would come in handy this week, as Cal has lost their ten times at Washington State. That's a fact that's lost on nobody involved in this game. Unfortunately, if you wanted to see it, you'll be unable to as this game won't be televised. Why not? Well, silly, networks will be too busy televising the likes of Western Kentucky at Missouri State, Louisiana-Monroe at Troy, and Eastern Washington at Northern Colorado.

Teams: Baylor at Texas
Time (TV): 7:00 pm (TBS)
Interest: 2
Cheer For: Texas

You may not have known it, but this game is for first-place in the Big XII South. Both Texas and Baylor are 2-0 in the conference. And while Baylor is no longer terrible, they still aren't any good. Since Texas' loss to Ohio State, they've dominated their opponents. Last week's 18-point win against Oklahoma was their closest test since their loss. I'm expecting something along the lines of 44-17 Longhorns.

Teams: Ohio at Illinois
Time (TV): 7:00 pm
Interest: 1
Cheer For: Illinois

Some Big Ten schools save night games for teams like Texas or Michigan. Illinois...not so much. Leave it to Ron Zook to schedule a night game in October against a MAC team. By the time the third quarter rolls around, the temperature will be in the 40s and the 25,000 fans that showed up will have magically turned into 13,000 at halftime. I'm surprised ABC said no to this one.

Teams: Florida at Auburn
Time (TV): 7:45 (ESPN)
Interest: 5
Cheer For: Auburn

The second-straight week with an SEC Game of the Year. Florida won last week's as well, to remain undefeated. Auburn's run defense was exposed last week, fortunately for them this week, Florida's only ground-threat is a freshman quarterback. If Florida doesn't lose this week, they've got a pretty nice run through the rest of their schedule. The Gators are 4-0 in the SEC, but they've only been winning by an average score of 24-12. This will be their first road test since they came out of Knoxville with a 21-20 win a month ago. This game represents a chance for Auburn to make up for last week's debacle. The Tigers have won seven of their last eight against Top 10 teams. I'm expecting Auburn to establish the run, making Brandon Cox's play action more effective. I think the home crowd and Auburn's pride will be the deciding factor in giving Auburn the win.

Teams: Michigan at Penn State
Time (TV): 8:00 pm (ABC/GP)
Interest: 5
Cheer For: Michigan

By now, everybody knows that Mario Manningham is out for an unknown period of time. The question then becomes, "who steps up in his place?" That will be Adrian Arrington. He'll be the downfield threat, since Steve Breaston, for some reason, can't be. So now somebody will have to fill Adrian Arrington's role, which may be the key factor. The Wolverine offense has become entirely different with Arrington's development and utilization as the third receiver. The worry then becomes whether or not Michigan's offense goes back to the same boring offense it was when they only had two receivers. Apparently, Penn State is bringing in another White Out, and while that was one of the most impressive sights of the season last year, I don't think they'll be able to match it this time out. Especially with Anthony Morelli throwing costly picks and nobody able to pick up key third downs to keep drives alive. It will be interesting to see if Penn State tries to use their speed outside against Michigan, since they didn't against the Buckeyes. Yes, Manningham is a big loss, but he doesn't play defense. And it's the defense that will win this game for Michigan. The offense will only need to drive once or twice, the defense will do the rest. Michigan 20 - Penn State 13.

Teams: Arizona State at USC
Time (TV): 8:00 pm (ABC/GP)
Interest: 2
Cheer For: Arizona State

USC will survive for three more weeks, until they bring in Oregon, California and Notre Dame in consecutive weeks. Even though this is the PAC 10, the Sun Devils have no shot in this game. Dick Koetter is catching some serious flak these days for his decision to de-promote Sam Keller and let him walk. Rudy Carpenter (the new Chosen One) has thrown nine interceptions already this season; seven more than the two he threw in 80 more attempts last season. Can Arizona State win? Of course, but they haven't shown any notion that they will. They have played Cal and Oregon in their two conference games and lost 49-21 and 48-13, irrespectively. This looks to be the same type of outcome.

Sunday October 15

Teams: Boise State at New Mexico State
Time (TV): 8:00 pm (ESPN)
Interest: 3
Cheer For: New Mexico State

Lost in all of the hoopla about Garrett Wolfe is the fact that New Mexico State quarterback Chase Holbrook is just about on pace to finish with one of the top-five passing seasons of all time. Right now, he's on pace to by just shy of 5,000 yards passing. Given that he's got conference opponents for most of the way out, he may just reach that mark. Unfortunately, he's going to struggle this week. He'll throw a lot, but I think his numbers will be down simply because Boise State is going to run the ball constantly, keeping the ball out of the Aggies' hands. Boise State will remain undefeated and the only team left on their schedule that has a shot against them is Nevada to end the season.

Teams: Ohio State at Michigan State
Time (TV): 3:30 pm (ABC/GP)
Interest: 5
Cheer For: Ohio State

Forgetting the history, and just stating the facts, Michigan State won't be able to stop Ohio State's offense. The Spartans are 66th in the nation in total defense, and they're giving up 26 points per game. That's just the defensive side. Looking at the offense, two of the Spartans' biggest weapons on offense won't be dressed, as Javon Ringer and Matt Trannon will be out. Which leaves us with coaching...

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