Season: 6-0; Last week: 6-0
ACC Friday night: Pittsburgh at Boston College, 7 p.m. ESPN
BC struggled at times last week against what was a bad Massachusetts team a year ago but ended up with a 30-7 win. I (halfway) put the Panthers on upset alert against Delaware but Pittsburgh had no issue, pounding the Blue Hens, 62-0, behind James Conner's 153 yards rushing. At this point, I think Pittsburgh is the better team.
Pittsburgh 31, Boston College 21
Game of the week: No. 7 Michigan State at No. 3 Oregon, 6:30 p.m. FOX
The power of the Spartans vs. the speed of the Ducks. MSU won a similar game last year against Ohio State in the Big Ten championship, 34-24. I think Oregon is a step up from OSU, though. In East Lansing, I might give MSU the edge but at the Autzen Zoo, I'll take Oregon in a close game. This game will be a good warmup for when the Ducks have to play Stanford, another physical team, later in the season.
Oregon 31, Michigan State 28
Sneaky good matchup: No. 14 USC at No. 13 Stanford, 3:30 p.m. ABC
I did not think USC was this good plus it had the distraction of a player making up a story about saving his drowning nephew as a reason why he hurt his ankles (type in "Josh Shaw" in Google). Even so, the Trojans impressively downed Fresno State last week, 52-13. This game seems to be unusually early in the schedule. I like the Cardinal in this one as USC is still unable to build great depth due to scholarship reductions relating to NCAA sanctions. That makes me think the Trojans will continue to struggle with top-tier teams.
Stanford 24, USC 20
Also worth watching: Michigan at No. 16 Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m. NBC
Michigan exorcised some demons last week with a 52-14 thrashing of Appalachian State (look up the 2007 matchup for a refresher on why this was a nice revenge game for the Wolverines) but Notre Dame stole headlines with the return of QB Everett Golson, back from a season-long suspension. He accounted for five TDs last week as the Irish cruised over Rice (a ten-win team last year), 48-17. I think this will be a fairly close game but I like Notre Dame.
Notre Dame 28, Michigan 20
ACC upset alert (no pick): Old Dominion at N.C. State, 6 p.m. ESPN3.com
Yes, it is the Wolfpack again for my upset alert (Virginia is pretty much on upset alert as you'll see below, too). Boy, was I close last week with Georgia Southern-N.C. State as my upset alert. The Wolfpack narrowly pulled out a 24-23 victory over the Eagles after being down 17-3 at halftime. This time, N.C. State again gets a team in ODU in its first full-time FBS season that is capable of putting up big numbers on the scoreboard. Problem is, the Monarchs have had a hard time stopping teams in recent seasons (see an 80-20 loss to UNC last year). If N.C. State is allowed to march all over ODU, this one won't be close. But if State struggles offensively, we could be in for a ballgame because I think ODU will be able to score a few TDs. Last week, ODU opened up with a 41-28 victory over Hampton.
ACC game of the week: Virginia Tech at No. 8 Ohio State, 8 p.m. ESPN
The book still has to be written on the Buckeyes' season, but chances are they aren't as good as they could be if their Heisman-contending senior QB, Braxton Miller, had not injured his throwing shoulder. OSU struggled at times last week in a 34-17 win over Navy. A game against a tough defensive team like the Hokies could be one of those borderline games this year where OSU would have won easily with Miller, but now the result is a little up in the air with redshirt freshman signal caller J.T. Barrett running the show. The Tech offense looked pretty good last week. Granted, it was William & Mary, but transfer QB Michael Brewer completed 23 of 30 passes for 251 yards and Tech rushed for 222 yards. The defense is much more stout for Ohio State, however. The offensive line coach for the Hokies was quoted this week as saying that OSU might have the best defensive front in the nation. With Miller, I liked OSU in this game by probably more than two TDs. I think Tech will compete in this one without him, though, for at least a half but don't be surprised if Tech is able to pull this upset. I'm taking the Buckeyes in a closer-than-expected-affair.
Ohio State 17, Virginia Tech 13
Richmond at Virginia, 3:30 p.m. ESPN3.com
Lots to get to in this one so let's get to it. Who should start at quarterback? From what I have heard and read on message boards this week, I think I have an unpopular opinion when it comes to this topic.
I say start Greyson Lambert. Let me attempt to explain my decision. First off, I would also get Matt Johns plenty of snaps against the Spiders. He clearly showed he deserves a longer look as the Cavaliers' possible starting QB with his performance against UCLA. But if Johns starts, plays well, and Lambert never plays again, I think fans should lose more faith in this coaching staff, if they had much to begin with. How can you give your No. 1 quarterback less than a half of play all year after anointing him the starter way back after the spring game? It is hard for me to believe that if Johns is clearly the better option, that didn't jump off at the coaches on the practice field and in the strategy sessions over the past several months. How dumb does the coaching staff look if they picked the wrong guy again? That would be like the millionth botched QB decision during Mike London's tenure. Not a good look in a year when you pretty much have to get six wins to keep your job.
People say look at their play against UCLA -- that is why Johns should start. He was throwing the deep ball and completing longer passes than Lambert. We don't know everything that went into the decision for him to throw deep, though. London said after the game short passes were part of the game plan early on. Lambert did that and was very accurate for the most part. He started the game 8 for 8. Yes, Lambert made a bad decision and a bad throw on the second pick six. But overall, I thought he played a pretty good game. He had maybe one other bad decision/throw. It is not like the guy completed less than 50 percent of his passes, a la David Watford, or threw multiple questionable passes, a la Marc Verica and Michael Rocco, at times. It was his first start. The weight of the world was on his shoulders and he was facing a top-10 team. Writers were saying he might be the QB solution for Virginia and that he could get the Cavs back to a bowl and be the best QB at the school since Marques Hagans. Johns entered the game under really different circumstances. It was 21-3. The coaches maybe specifically told him to take some shots downfield and/or he decided he was going to do that because what did he have to lose? It was already 21-3 and there had been three defensive TDs. The backup QB is the most popular guy on the team sometimes and so Johns could take risks. If he screwed up and Lambert went back out there or Watford got put in, so what? He would be back where he started. But if he came out there and scored a TD to get back to within shouting distance of UCLA, then all of a sudden he is looking pretty good and knows he has a chance to stay in there.
Let's also not forget that there was only a couple minutes left in the half when Johns came in. If you're going to try to score in that situation, you obviously need to let it rip a little bit. And that's what he did. His receivers also made some awesome catches, especially Andre Levrone on the first touchdown. It wasn't all Johns.
Also, I think it would just be easier to start Lambert and then go to Johns against Richmond and this is why. If Johns starts and happens to play poorly, you then put in Lambert. If he plays well, you then have two QBs who have had good games (although I would argue Lambert was almost good and far from bad against UCLA) but only one each for each QB. I don't know how much you would know about Johns if for some reason he didn't play well against Richmond. He would have a good game against UCLA and a bad game against Richmond on his resume and that would be weird. If Lambert plays better against Richmond, that would make sense. He struggled in this first college start against a great defense but then took care of business vs. FCS competition. Let's say you start Lambert, though. You give him confidence again and allow him to take control of the offense. If he struggles vs. the Spiders, then you insert Johns late in the second quarter like against UCLA and he then has the reins until he proves otherwise. Suddenly, the QB situation got clearer in my opinion. If Lambert plays well, then the game should be out of hand and you can put in Johns for the second half or fourth quarter and see what he can do. Yeah, he probably wouldn't throw much with Virginia way up, but the coaches should allow him to throw some in that situation so they could evaluate him. You would think he would do well in garbage time with the 'Hoos way up on the Spiders.
Hopefully I am making sense. Basically, if you start Lambert and he plays well, then the competition likely goes into next week vs. Louisville (but I don't think it can extend beyond that if this season is to be successful). If you start Lambert and he plays poorly, then Johns is probably your starter for the year. If Johns starts and plays badly, suddenly you are in an ugly situation and that is what I want to avoid. Because if he comes out and then Lambert goes in and also struggles, where do you turn to for the rest of the Richmond game and the Louisville game? Back to Johns? Watford? You really have a QB carousel going on then. And like I said, if Johns starts, plays poorly, comes out, and then Lambert goes in and plays well, then I think you know less than if the opposite occurs vs. Richmond (Lambert starts, plays poorly, Johns goes in and plays well). In an odd way, I am almost saying that if Lambert plays poorly, then we will know the outcome of the QB situation because he will have played his way out of it with a pick six vs. UCLA and a bad game against an FCS team. If he plays well, that is expected because it would be against Richmond and the two would then have one final tryout vs. Louisville. My fear is if they both trip up against Richmond, then where do you turn?
Lambert has been the guy since April. He deserves another shot. If he is not the answer, allow him to prove it. If he does screw up, then Johns is your guy and hopefully he continues to play well.
None of this will matter if Virginia loses to Richmond. We will have bigger fish to fry if that happens. And London would be on his way out after the season barring a miracle turnaround. The Spiders are formidable. They have won five straight games dating back to last season and pounded Morehead State last week, 55-10. Granted, Morehead State was 3-9 a season ago but Richmond can do some damage. Virginia has had its share of QB rotations under London and so it is only fitting that Richmond will be using two former UVa QBs vs. UVa: Rocco and Michael Strauss. Rocco was 11-10 as a starter at UVa and saw extensive time in 2011 and 2012. I don't even think Strauss saw the field at Virginia but he has blossomed at Richmond. Last year, he completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 3,808 yards, 26 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He is up for the Walter Payton award this season (FCS version of the Heisman). Strauss will start but Rocco will see action. Last week, Rocco played about every third series and completed nine of 13 passes for 177 yards, a touchdown, and a pick. Strauss went 17 of 23 for 259 yards and a trio of scores. Rocco's uncle is Richmond's head coach, Danny Rocco, a former UVa coach under Al Groh. You have to wonder if Michael Rocco would be seeing time were it not his uncle coaching the team. Strauss is one of the top returning QBs in FCS, and he has to share time with Rocco. It will be interesting to see how the Spiders' season plays out and to see if any kind of problems arise based on their QB rotation.
I don't know a ton about the Spiders defense, but last year it gave up 23.8 points per game. Recently, Richmond has beaten Duke three times, 2006, 2009, and 2011. This was, of course, before Duke made a bowl game in 2012 and had an awakening last season and went 10-2. Still, three wins vs. FBS competition is impressive. Last year, Richmond nearly took down N.C. State, but lost, 23-21. Virginia and Richmond last played in 2012. Rocco started and UVa won, 43-19. In 2010, London's first year at UVa and after he led the Spiders as head coach for two years, the Cavs beat the Spiders, 34-13. Richmond has beaten UVa, but the last time was a long time ago, 1946. Richmond has won one other time in the series. In 2001, Virginia won just 17-16 and in 2009, Virginia won just 16-0.
Despite what was at times a surprisingly effective offense last week, I am still worried about that unit. It was just a year ago that Steve Fairchild's offense played VMI to a 0-0 first-quarter draw, lest we forget the struggles capable of this man's offense. If Virginia fails to score more than the 20 it did last week, the Wahoos could be in trouble. Richmond's offense is high-powered, but I am hoping the Virginia defense, coming off last week's awesome performance, can hold it in check. If Richmond can move the ball on the defense consistently, this could turn into a long day that comes down to the fourth quarter. I don't think the defense will duplicate its UCLA performance. It will still play well, but not as good. That was the first game of the season, big-name opponent, national ESPN audience. I just don't think the Spiders will get the players' juices flowing as much. They should, though. Richmond is a dangerous team and in a way, the season is on the line Saturday. London is probably headed out if the Cavaliers lose. If these players really do care about London and love him, they will play their butts off and leave no doubt which team is better.
Virginia 24, Richmond 14
Lots to get to in this one so let's get to it. Who should start at quarterback? From what I have heard and read on message boards this week, I think I have an unpopular opinion when it comes to this topic.
I say start Greyson Lambert. Let me attempt to explain my decision. First off, I would also get Matt Johns plenty of snaps against the Spiders. He clearly showed he deserves a longer look as the Cavaliers' possible starting QB with his performance against UCLA. But if Johns starts, plays well, and Lambert never plays again, I think fans should lose more faith in this coaching staff, if they had much to begin with. How can you give your No. 1 quarterback less than a half of play all year after anointing him the starter way back after the spring game? It is hard for me to believe that if Johns is clearly the better option, that didn't jump off at the coaches on the practice field and in the strategy sessions over the past several months. How dumb does the coaching staff look if they picked the wrong guy again? That would be like the millionth botched QB decision during Mike London's tenure. Not a good look in a year when you pretty much have to get six wins to keep your job.
People say look at their play against UCLA -- that is why Johns should start. He was throwing the deep ball and completing longer passes than Lambert. We don't know everything that went into the decision for him to throw deep, though. London said after the game short passes were part of the game plan early on. Lambert did that and was very accurate for the most part. He started the game 8 for 8. Yes, Lambert made a bad decision and a bad throw on the second pick six. But overall, I thought he played a pretty good game. He had maybe one other bad decision/throw. It is not like the guy completed less than 50 percent of his passes, a la David Watford, or threw multiple questionable passes, a la Marc Verica and Michael Rocco, at times. It was his first start. The weight of the world was on his shoulders and he was facing a top-10 team. Writers were saying he might be the QB solution for Virginia and that he could get the Cavs back to a bowl and be the best QB at the school since Marques Hagans. Johns entered the game under really different circumstances. It was 21-3. The coaches maybe specifically told him to take some shots downfield and/or he decided he was going to do that because what did he have to lose? It was already 21-3 and there had been three defensive TDs. The backup QB is the most popular guy on the team sometimes and so Johns could take risks. If he screwed up and Lambert went back out there or Watford got put in, so what? He would be back where he started. But if he came out there and scored a TD to get back to within shouting distance of UCLA, then all of a sudden he is looking pretty good and knows he has a chance to stay in there.
Also, I think it would just be easier to start Lambert and then go to Johns against Richmond and this is why. If Johns starts and happens to play poorly, you then put in Lambert. If he plays well, you then have two QBs who have had good games (although I would argue Lambert was almost good and far from bad against UCLA) but only one each for each QB. I don't know how much you would know about Johns if for some reason he didn't play well against Richmond. He would have a good game against UCLA and a bad game against Richmond on his resume and that would be weird. If Lambert plays better against Richmond, that would make sense. He struggled in this first college start against a great defense but then took care of business vs. FCS competition. Let's say you start Lambert, though. You give him confidence again and allow him to take control of the offense. If he struggles vs. the Spiders, then you insert Johns late in the second quarter like against UCLA and he then has the reins until he proves otherwise. Suddenly, the QB situation got clearer in my opinion. If Lambert plays well, then the game should be out of hand and you can put in Johns for the second half or fourth quarter and see what he can do. Yeah, he probably wouldn't throw much with Virginia way up, but the coaches should allow him to throw some in that situation so they could evaluate him. You would think he would do well in garbage time with the 'Hoos way up on the Spiders.
Hopefully I am making sense. Basically, if you start Lambert and he plays well, then the competition likely goes into next week vs. Louisville (but I don't think it can extend beyond that if this season is to be successful). If you start Lambert and he plays poorly, then Johns is probably your starter for the year. If Johns starts and plays badly, suddenly you are in an ugly situation and that is what I want to avoid. Because if he comes out and then Lambert goes in and also struggles, where do you turn to for the rest of the Richmond game and the Louisville game? Back to Johns? Watford? You really have a QB carousel going on then. And like I said, if Johns starts, plays poorly, comes out, and then Lambert goes in and plays well, then I think you know less than if the opposite occurs vs. Richmond (Lambert starts, plays poorly, Johns goes in and plays well). In an odd way, I am almost saying that if Lambert plays poorly, then we will know the outcome of the QB situation because he will have played his way out of it with a pick six vs. UCLA and a bad game against an FCS team. If he plays well, that is expected because it would be against Richmond and the two would then have one final tryout vs. Louisville. My fear is if they both trip up against Richmond, then where do you turn?
Lambert has been the guy since April. He deserves another shot. If he is not the answer, allow him to prove it. If he does screw up, then Johns is your guy and hopefully he continues to play well.
None of this will matter if Virginia loses to Richmond. We will have bigger fish to fry if that happens. And London would be on his way out after the season barring a miracle turnaround. The Spiders are formidable. They have won five straight games dating back to last season and pounded Morehead State last week, 55-10. Granted, Morehead State was 3-9 a season ago but Richmond can do some damage. Virginia has had its share of QB rotations under London and so it is only fitting that Richmond will be using two former UVa QBs vs. UVa: Rocco and Michael Strauss. Rocco was 11-10 as a starter at UVa and saw extensive time in 2011 and 2012. I don't even think Strauss saw the field at Virginia but he has blossomed at Richmond. Last year, he completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 3,808 yards, 26 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He is up for the Walter Payton award this season (FCS version of the Heisman). Strauss will start but Rocco will see action. Last week, Rocco played about every third series and completed nine of 13 passes for 177 yards, a touchdown, and a pick. Strauss went 17 of 23 for 259 yards and a trio of scores. Rocco's uncle is Richmond's head coach, Danny Rocco, a former UVa coach under Al Groh. You have to wonder if Michael Rocco would be seeing time were it not his uncle coaching the team. Strauss is one of the top returning QBs in FCS, and he has to share time with Rocco. It will be interesting to see how the Spiders' season plays out and to see if any kind of problems arise based on their QB rotation.
I don't know a ton about the Spiders defense, but last year it gave up 23.8 points per game. Recently, Richmond has beaten Duke three times, 2006, 2009, and 2011. This was, of course, before Duke made a bowl game in 2012 and had an awakening last season and went 10-2. Still, three wins vs. FBS competition is impressive. Last year, Richmond nearly took down N.C. State, but lost, 23-21. Virginia and Richmond last played in 2012. Rocco started and UVa won, 43-19. In 2010, London's first year at UVa and after he led the Spiders as head coach for two years, the Cavs beat the Spiders, 34-13. Richmond has beaten UVa, but the last time was a long time ago, 1946. Richmond has won one other time in the series. In 2001, Virginia won just 17-16 and in 2009, Virginia won just 16-0.
Despite what was at times a surprisingly effective offense last week, I am still worried about that unit. It was just a year ago that Steve Fairchild's offense played VMI to a 0-0 first-quarter draw, lest we forget the struggles capable of this man's offense. If Virginia fails to score more than the 20 it did last week, the Wahoos could be in trouble. Richmond's offense is high-powered, but I am hoping the Virginia defense, coming off last week's awesome performance, can hold it in check. If Richmond can move the ball on the defense consistently, this could turn into a long day that comes down to the fourth quarter. I don't think the defense will duplicate its UCLA performance. It will still play well, but not as good. That was the first game of the season, big-name opponent, national ESPN audience. I just don't think the Spiders will get the players' juices flowing as much. They should, though. Richmond is a dangerous team and in a way, the season is on the line Saturday. London is probably headed out if the Cavaliers lose. If these players really do care about London and love him, they will play their butts off and leave no doubt which team is better.
Virginia 24, Richmond 14
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