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 Friday, December 13, 2002
Alabama-UCLA battle should be interesting
By Brent Musburger
Special to BCSfootball.com
Each Tuesday throughout the season, ABC's Brent Musburger will give his five things to watch for the coming weekend.
1. Alabama vs. UCLA:
|  | | UCLA is counting on sophomore QB Cory Paus to lead an offense battered by injuries in '99. |
Keep an eye on UCLA running back DeShaun Foster. He's coming off a season plagued by a nagging ankle injury, and if the Bruins are to bounce back this year, they'll have to rely on the ground game. What's fascinating here is that USC's pummeling of Penn State indicates that perhaps the Pac-10 is on the way back. But make no mistake, Alabama is about as tough a non-conference game as you can draw.
The Tide, ranked No. 3, has an eye on making it to the FedEx Orange Bowl and playing for a national championship. The fact that many of Alabama's players haven't been to California will not be a factor. Don't think Alabama will get stage fright in the Rose Bowl. The Crimson Tide went into The Swamp last year and snapped Florida's 30-game home winning streak. And there's no more intimidating environment in college football than Gainesville.
2. Notre Dame opening against Texas A&M:
Watch for the Irish to unveil an option attack in an effort to complicate life for Texas A&M's always-outstanding linebackers. The triggerman for the option at ND is Arnaz Battle, a nifty option quarterback who has never been under fire like this. There's a lot of pressure on the ND coaching staff, which was its own worst enemy last year in early losses to Michigan and Purdue. Notre Dame will have to handle the clock a lot better than it did against Michigan and Purdue if the Irish hope to handle the Aggies. This is not a highly-touted Aggie team, but watch out for big running back Ja'Mar Toombs. He could be a difference-maker in this game.
3. Michigan opening without Drew Henson:
Quarterback John Navarre draws his first start. The last freshman to start the opener for the Wolverines was Scott Dreisbach in 1995. Scott struggled in the first half against Virginia before leading the Wolverines to a come-from-behind victory in the fourth quarter. Thankfully for Navarre, Bowling Green is not as good as the Cavaliers were in '95.
4. Michael Vick:
He can finally put his Heisman campaign in high gear against Akron this week. There's no lightning in the forecast, so he can supply all the bolts. No sophomore has ever won the Heisman Trophy, but if anyone can do it, it's young Vick, whose performance in last year's BCS title game against Florida State still stands as one of the highlights of last season.
As for that postponed game against Georgia Tech, look for a rescheduling date of Dec. 1 or 2. There's a precedent for a make-up game: Two years ago UCLA cost itself a shot at a national title when it lost to Miami in a December make-up of the game postponed by a hurricane. But the big difference is that Virginia Tech is at home. Fortunately for V-Tech, the Yellow Jackets are not armed with Edgerrin James.
5. Louisiana Tech vs. Kansas State:
Kansas State will play this game without injured star David Allen. Circle the date Sept. 30 for Allen's return. That's when K-State plays its first tough game in Boulder against Colorado, and Bill Snyder will want his ace returner/running back ready for that one. The injury that could have the greatest impact on the race for the National Title is Allen's. He's a big-time player.
So now there's even more pressure on Jonathan Beasley to play well. It's going to come down to who plays better at quarterback between Beasley and Louisiana Tech's Brian Stallworth. Beasley put up good numbers last week, but made some mistakes that would have hurt the Wildcats against a better team.
Conversely, Stallworth was sensational, going 26-for-31, throwing for 332 yards and four touchdowns. Granted, he played against a weak Mississippi Valley State defense, but Stallworth has big-game experience. After Tim Rattay got injured against Alabama, he led the Techsters to a surprise comeback victory at Legion Field last year. With K-State's quarterback situation still not resolved, I see potential for an upset here.
Brent Musburger is a regular contributor to BCSfootball.com
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