5 Games to Watch (Week 2)

After a spectacular week 1, we had 3 top 10 teams being upset as well as a scare for another. The dust has settled and week 2 does not line up to be as action packed as the first. Nonetheless I've taken the liberty of finding the most entertaining games for you to watch this weekend.

5 - South Carolina vs Mississippi State

An SEC matchup generally intrigues most college football fans. The caliber of play in this conference leaves teams not named Alabama qualifying for prestigious bowl games. South Carolina comes in off what was considered to be an upset victory over Vanderbilt. It was a low scoring contest as is usually the case in a Vanderbilt game. But Gamecock fans will take the win against any conference opponent in what's considered a rebuilding year under former Florida Head Coach Will Muschamp. South Carolina is still searching for a solid answer at QB but will have freshman Bryan Edwards at WR to help whichever option they elect to run with. On the Bulldogs side of the ball they are coming off an embarassing collapse to Southern Alabama, a program with only 9 years to its history books. Up 17 at halftime and 20-7 in the 4th. Long drives of 99 and 71 yards had Mississippi State in the worst SEC loss out of conference in recent memory. The upset could have been avoided had the last kick of the game not missed, but one thing is clear, the post Dak Prescott era will be a bumpy ride for the Bulldogs.

4 - Texas Tech vs Arizona State

Two teams that enjoy airing it out is what makes for entertaining football. Unless you're the type to enjoy a tough defensive struggle that results in a hockey score. In which case watch every Wake Forest, Vanderbilt or Boston College game. For those of us who like to watch the ball cross the goal line there should be no shortage here. Texas Tech led by Patrick Mahomes fields one of the better aerial assaults that will be seen this year. Arizona State is looking to replace Mike Bercovicci which will be harder than anticipated with sophomore Manny Wilkins under center. But this Arizona State team may be a little different than the usual, with a strong group of tailbacks to share the workload. It leaves Wilkins time to find himself under center before being tasked with carrying the team. Bercovicci was more of a pocket presence. Wilkins has displayed his dual threat capability adding 90 yards on 14 carries to go with his 180 yards in the air. Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage combined for 130 yards on 29 touches each getting a score of their own. This should definitely be a high scoring affair from two respected programs in the NCAA

3 - Louisville vs Syracuse

Both teams come in from strong week 1 performances, Louisville showed that it intends to be a contender this season in the ACC breathing down the necks of Clemson and Florida State. Lamar Jackson is off to a record start for this season as mentioned in my earlier blog post. The intrigue in this game comes from Syracuse putting together a solid run and gun display put on by Eric Dungey and his top target Amba Etta Tawo. The Cardinals put up 70 points last week, 56 with the starters in. Syracuse had 554 yards of total offense and head coach Dino Babers in his first year wants his team to pick up the pace. Against a stingy Cardinals defence the new head coach and his offensive weapons will have a tough test and see where they stack up against a top team in the ACC.

2 - TCU vs Arkansas

TCU had the task of replacing Trevone Boykin and Josh Doctson as the two players now play on Sundays. Texas A&M transfer Kenny Hill has definitely mitigated the loss by providing the Horned Frogs with a viable option at QB. Going 33/49 for 439 2TD-2INT and rushing for 3 scores on 7 carries was a strong comeback for a player who was benched after struggles against premiere teams was followed up by a benching and a suspension. Taj Williams seems to be the guy to replace Doctson as he hauled in 11 of Kenny Hill's 33 completions for 158  yards and a score. On the flip side of things, The Razorbacks needed a strong 4th quarter to avoid joining the SEC upset train against Louisiana Tech. Holding the lead 21-20 with just over a minute remaining Bret Bielema went for it on 4th down for the second time in the quarter. The headscratcher here was the fact he did so from his own 37. His faith in his team was rewarded as Kody Walker bruised for the first down conversion sealing the win for his team. With a first time starter at QB the Hogs relied on their ground game to keep the game under control as Rawleigh Williams took the bulk of the workload, carrying 24 times for 96 yards and a TD. Their offense will have to be more explosive if they hope to keep up with the high scoring offense that TCU still brings to the table. However if last weeks defensive outing by TCU is any indicator there will be a lot of scoring on both sides of the ball.

1 - Tennessee vs Virginia Tech

This is going to be the biggest game in the history of college football, well not really, but technically. See Michigan and Ohio State keep jockeying for largest home stadium, Michigan holds the record for largest attendance at 115,109 in 2013 vs Notre Dame, the game between UT and VT is expected to have 150 thousand people packed into a NASCAR Stadium at Bristol, Tennessee and has been dubbed the battle at Bristol. These teams come to this game in completely different fashions, one put a beating on a team despite a very sloppy performance. The other nearly set the trend for the weekend as they staved off an upset from Appalachian state. Both teams hope their sloppy play is out of the way and that they can put together a solid campaign, Tennessee was an early favorite to make it to the College Football Playoff depending on the mid season match with Bama. Virginia Tech is stuck in a situation earlier ascribed to SEC teams not named Alabama, a solid team on the outside of the powerhouse status of their conference foes Clemson and FSU. Justin Fuente is the new Head Coach of the Hokies looking to restore a once prominent team in the NCAA to their lofty status. Having done a spectacular job in his 4 season at Memphis, which saw him send Paxton Lynch to the NFL in the first round. The defense seems much improved over last year grabbing 3 interceptions in week 1 to contrast to their 10 a season earlier. Tennessee will look to spoil Fuentes and the Hokies season early as they look to be unblemished heading into their showdown with Alabama which will carry large SEC implications heading forward.

5 Underrated Players to Watch

5. Marlon Mack - USF

In what is the year of the runningback headlined with such names as Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook, Leonard Fournette and Nick Chubb. It is will be a very easy task to overlook the rest of the field this season while the others will likely be contending for the Heisman based on their team's success. This brings me to Jr USF RB Marlon Mack,

a two time All-AAC First Team RB, American Conference Rookie of the Year 2014. Marlon set the school record for rushing yards in his sophomore year, as well as being the conference rushing leader in both his freshman and sophomore years. He's set to shatter the school record for rushing yards and leave his legacy at USF as he chases his own record in his junior campaign which started with a fluffer game against Towson where he carried the ball 9 times for 58 yards and a score in a half.

4.Amba Etta Tawo - Syracuse

After fading in the Maryland offense over his sophomore and junior years. The 6'2 senior has transfered to Syracuse and currently leads the FBS in receiving yards. In one game with Syracuse he has already matched his 2014 reception count and sits 12 yards shy of his production from that season. When I watch a college receiver I try to avoid certain stereotypes and hype trains such as yards and touchdowns as markers. Instead I like to use receptions as a basis on a receivers consistency and bulk of his workload, take Amari Cooper for example who averaged over 10 receptions per game in his last year with the Crimson Tide and he's off doing it on Sundays now. If Amba Etta Tawo can maintain his high work rate and show the consistency he wasn't able to display with the Terps, there's a much better chance of him getting drafted than had he stayed in Maryland.
Albeit against Colgate Etta Tawo made some spectacular catches and mostly looked effortless while doing so. I'd like to see what he does vs some of the higher end defensive backs that he'll face as the Orange have a tough schedule this year playing 4 ranked teams (Louisville, Notre Dame, Clemson and FSU)

3.Lamar Jackson - Louisville

Lamar Jackson had a quietly strong freshman campaign with the Cardinals going for 1800-12TD-8INT to go with his 960-11TD ground performance. But Lamar Jackson's first half against Charlotte was for the record books. Literally, he threw 6 touchdowns to 6 different receivers, missed nearly as many throws going 16/23 also add in the 2 scores on the ground with 119 yards and you have yourself a hell of a game.

Louisville traditionally fields a good defense so expect plenty of opportunities for this young man to find paydirt often on Saturdays

2.D'Onta Foreman - Texas
I won't pretend I knew about D'Onta Foreman before Sunday night and I'm not ashamed to say I'm all in. Not since Ricky Williams or Cedric Benson have I seen a Longhorn runningback shamelessly put his pads down and barrel forward every single carry, Not once while watching Sundays showdown did I see Foreman fall backwards or get stood up 1v1. Heck it took gang tackling to stop his momentum from carrying defenders for first down yardage.
Now that all the enamor is out of the way I can leave myself posing a few thinking points, how much of the performance stemmed from the Notre Dame game hype, or the national spotlight of being a primetime game, does that make him a prime time performer, all these questions can be answered as the season plays out

1. Greg Ward Jr - Houston

This may not be an underrated player now or even possibly before the season started and the Cougars upset the Sooners. But the reason Greg Ward Jr lands here at #1 is the dark horse potential he has of taking the Heisman if his Cougars can manage a CFP appearance, which would be a first for a non power-5 team to do, granted the CFP is only 2 years old 3 with this years edition, however during the BCS era there was never a team from a non power 5 conference to compete for the big crystal.       
Now Greg Ward Jr is a threat in the air and on the ground running a very effective pistol option which takes advantage of his athleticism.If Houston can win out including the late season match with Louisville don't be surprised if Greg Ward Jr is on the Heisman shortlist