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| Friday, October 20 Teams try to avoid getting trapped Saturday By Rod Gilmore Special to ESPN.com | |||||
This is what I call "Trap Weekend." With the exception of a couple of Pac-10 contests, there are very few marquee games. Favorites are expected to do well, so there's little to get the attention of the players. Also, most student-athletes are at the point in the school year where midterms and/or papers are due. Thus, focus and concentration could be an issue. For these reasons, some teams could walk into a "trap" and get upset this weekend. Let's check out a few games.
No. 20 Arizona at No. 11 Oregon
The Beavers are 5-1 and are that good. Ken Simonton is the No. 4 rusher in the country with 149 yards per game. However, it is the OSU defense making the real noise. The Beavers are giving up only 17 points and 110 yards rushing a game. More importantly, they have the best secondary in the Pac-10. Check out strong safety Terrence Carroll (four picks) and cornerback Dennis Weathersby. Carroll is a big hitter and Weathersby shut down UCLA WR Freddie Mitchell last year. Both these guys could play on Sundays. Dennis Erickson calls this fastest defense he's coached, including the great Miami teams he had several years ago. UCLA will come ready to play after inexplicably losing to California last weekend. The Bruins will miss DeShaun Foster in this game. Both Washington and Stanford had success running against the Beavers. Expect the Bruins to try to pound the ball even though Foster won't be available. UCLA will have to get better play from their defense this weekend than they got against a weak Cal offense. UCLA is talented on defense, but they are the 80th scoring defense in the he country. Both teams will be in postseason play, but the loser of this game will be out of the Rose Bowl race. No matter how shocking it is that the Beavers are in a race in late October, no one should forget how legitimate they really are. Alabama at Tennessee It's hard to believe both these teams have three losses. It's even harder to believe, that for at least this year, the luster is off this game. The focus will be the quarterbacks. As unfortunate as it is for Alabama to have lost Tyler Watts, the Tide should be a better offense without him, because Andrew Zow can now take charge and act like the leader of this team without worrying about getting pulled. Also, the coaches can run the wide-open offense suited for Zow without changing things for Watts. Zow responded to this situation with his best game of the year against Ole Miss last weekend. But Alabama will need Freddie Milons back if they are to knock off the Vols and keep their slim lead in the SEC Wast. Phil Fulmer has decided to start freshman Casey Clausen over freshman A.J. Suggs at quarterback. In my view, the Vols were always hoping Clausen would win the job. He's the most talented QB they have and seems to possess the intangibles as well. Tennessee can run the ball against Alabama, but they have to be able to throw the ball. Wide outs Cedric Wilson and Donte Stallworth are great players who are being wasted. If Clausen can get the ball to these guys, Tennessee could pull out a win. No. 3 Clemson at North Carolina This is one of those "trap" games. Clemson is heading for a showdown with Florida State, and North Carolina is struggling at 1-3 in the ACC, including the loss to N.C. State last week. The pressure is mounting on Tar Heel coach Carl Torbush, and his players should respond with a spirited effort. Moreover, Torbush knows how to put together a defensive game plan, and North Carolina is athletic enough to contain Woodshed Dantzler (credit my colleague Rece Davis with the nickname). The Tar Heels have played better run defense (100 ypg) than they've played pass defense. Opposing teams will begin to force Dantzler to beat them by throwing instead of running the ball. Last week we saw Purdue handle Northwestern's spread offense by forcing the Cats to throw the ball. Expect North Carolina to make Clemson do the same. Woodshed will either have a huge game, or this will be a huge upset. No. 2 Virginia Tech at Syracuse Another potential "trap". Frank Beamer hasn't won at the Dome during his tenure at Virginia Tech and now the Hokies are distracted by the Michael Vick and Andre Davis "coming out early" talk. Beamer has spent time discussing this with the media, and players read the papers. No doubt they've discussed it in the locker room. Syracuse will try to force Vick to beat them by throwing the ball. Vick hasn't had a stellar year throwing because, with the exception of finding Davis last week, he's been missing on the deep throws. Syracuse must also be sound in the kicking game. Beamer's boys have a knack for making a big play each week. The kind of play that destroys the psyche of an opposing team and gives Va.Tech an emotional lift. The Orangemen won't be able to run against Virginia Tech, so QB Troy Nunes and RB James Mungro will have to make big plays. Look for Syracuse to use Mungroe on screens and draws where he can get in space and make explosion plays. Nunes will have to scramble to make plays against the Hokie defense. No. 22 Notre Dame at West Virginia Everyone expects the Irish to roll to a 9-2 record now that the "tough" part of their schedule is behind them. Hence, another "trap" game. This is Notre Dame freshman QB Matt LoVecchio's first road test. All season long we've seen young quarterbacks struggle on the road. Notre Dame is 95th in the nation in total offense and will face a West Virginia defense that plays better against the run than its 124 ypg indicates. West Virginia will try to contain the option and force LoVecchio to pitch the ball quickly. The other key to the game is Mountaineer QB Brad Lewis. If he can overcome his bumps and bruises and get a couple of quick scores early, the West Virginia could force the Irish into a style of play they don't like: passing with an inexperienced QB. Michigan State at No. 16 Michigan The Spartans have not been able to stop the bleeding. They've lost four straight and have yet to recover from the loss to Notre Dame that started the skid. Because Michigan State needs a spark, expect coach Bobby Williams to give QB Ryan Van Dyke more playing time. T.J. Duckett has been getting his yards on the ground despite seeing stacked fronts, but he needs help. Herb Haygood is proving to be a clutch receiver and will need a big day against the Wolverines if MSU has any chance in this game. The Spartans will have trouble with a Michigan offense that is scoring 33 points a game. Wide receiver Marquis Walker has come up big in this offense and is taking some of the heat off of David Terrell. Michigan's defense has been suspect all year, and Duckett figures to give them a workout. Michigan is giving up 136 ypg on the ground, and they have really been burned through the air. But most damaging for the Wolverines has been their inability to get stops when they need them. Michigan has blown second half leads to UCLA, Illinois and Purdue. Expect the Wolverine defense to match up better against MSU's two back formation and power running game. | AUDIO/VIDEO   Maurice Morris takes the shovel-pass from Joey Harrington and rumbles into the end zone.avi: 1180 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Joey Harrington lays it in nicely for Josh Line on a 23-yard TD pass.avi: 1189 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | ||||
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