Last week: 3-5
Week 1 in the college football season saw four ranked vs. ranked games. This week? Zero. We also had other big matchups that felt like ranked games in LSU-Wisconsin at Lambeau Field, where we saw the Badgers upset the Tigers, and Clemson-Auburn. The landscape is barren this week but there is no doubt the Battle at Bristol between Virginia Tech and Tennessee will be fun to watch, probably more so for people viewing it on TV. The view at the track will probably be less than spectacular from most of the seats. Luckily, a massive videoboard, nicknamed "Colossus," will help spectators keep track of what is going on. Meanwhile, UVa gets no reprieve after losing to Richmond and must travel west to face Oregon, which has had a great offense for several years. Not good news for a Cavaliers defense that gave up 537 yards to the Spiders.
Today's game
No. 13 Louisville at Syracuse, 8 p.m. ESPN2
The Dino Babers era got off to a nice start for the Orange last week with an easy 33-7 victory over Colgate, an FCS playoff team from last season that beat New Hampshire and James Madison in the postseason. But the Cardinals are a significant step up in competition. They faced a bad Charlotte team last week -- albeit on that is FBS level -- but did put up 70 points in a 70-14 win. Seventy points in football is always impressive, and quarterback Lamar Jackson accounted for eight -- eight -- TDs in the first half. This game should be a good litmus test for where the Orange stands.
Louisville 38, Syracuse 21
Saturday's games
N.C. State at East Carolina, Noon ESPNU
An interesting and tough game to predict. Both schools kicked FCS teams to the curb last week -- the Wolfpack ate up William & Mary and the Pirates plundered Western Carolina. State mostly went with transfer Ryan Finley at QB. He completed 17 of 21 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns. ECU debuted under new coach Scottie Montgomery, who replaced Ruffin McNeil, who was fired and subsequently hired as an assistant at Virginia after last season. These teams have played 28 times since 1970 with the Wolfpack leading the series, 16-12, but the Pirates have won the past two games, in 2010 at home in OT, 33-30, and in Raleigh in 2013, 42-28. I think this game is mostly a tossup but I'll give State the edge.
N.C. State 34, East Carolina 31
Penn State at Pittsburgh, Noon ESPN
Panthers running back James Conner, who overcame cancer and a knee injury to play last week, announced his return with 53 yards rushing and a touchdown in a 28-7 win over Villanova. Nathan Peterman was impressive at QB as well. Penn State defeated Kent State, 33-13. This should be a close game between two teams expected to go to a bowl, but I'll take Pitt in a close one.
Pittsburgh 24, Penn State 21
Wake Forest at Duke, 3:30 p.m. ESPNU
The Demon Deacons got past Tulane last week by the scintillating score of 7-3. Duke pounded North Carolina Central, 49-6, and QB Daniel Jones, pressed into action after Thomas Sirk hurt his Achilles again before the season, proved effective despite a small sample size against weak competition, completing 10 of 15 passes with two TDs. The Wake defense is much better, but I like Duke at home as the Demon Deacons' offense does not yet look like it can score many points. This is a big game for Wake if it hopes to reach a bowl this season after two 3-9 years under Dave Clawson, and he has stated that is the goal.
Duke 20, Wake Forest 17
Arkansas at No. 15 TCU, 7 p.m. ESPN
Both teams likely need to get better quickly. The Razorbacks squeaked by Louisiana Tech, 21-20, and the Horned Frogs allowed 41 points against FCS member South Dakota State in a 59-41 victory. In a week of not-so-great games, this one stands out a little bit with a ranked vs. SEC matchup. Hopefully it ends up being a good game.
TCU 33, Arkansas 28
North Carolina at Illinois, 7:30 p.m. Big Ten Network
The Tar Heels fell out of the top 25 last week after a close loss to Georgia in Atlanta. The Illini crushed FCS team Murray State 52-3, but have struggled in recent years and are now rebuilding in year one under Lovie Smith, the former NFL head coach. We should see how much Illinois has progressed against a solid UNC team that will probably spend some more time in the polls this season. Last year, the Heels beat the Illini at home, 48-14.
North Carolina 41, Illinois 24
Virginia Tech vs. No. 17 Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway, 8 p.m. ABC
It's hard to gauge what will happen in this matchup. The venue is new and will be rowdy: 150,000+ expected at Bristol Motor Speedway, which has installed a football field in its infield. Who will control the big-game atmosphere the best? Tennessee was ranked in the top 10 last week and then received a scare on its home turf from Appalachian State, beating the Mountaineers 20-13 in overtime. Are the Vols better than that or still overrated? Virginia Tech struggled in the first couple quarters last week against Liberty but won comfortably, 36-13. Does new coach Justin Fuente have his team already prepared to win such a big game, or will more struggles manifest themselves vs. a better team? Even after this game, there will likely be more questions about how each team will play in its respective conference. With so many unique traits coloring this game, it could be difficult to get a tough feel for how the season will go. Remember, two years ago, Tech defeated eventual national champion Ohio State on the road, but finished the season 7-6.
Tennessee 24, Virginia Tech 21
Virginia at No. 24 Oregon, 10:30 p.m. ESPN
Oh boy. Not what you want to see after last week's performance. These Ducks might not be as good as the Chip Kelly-and-Marcus-Mariota-led Ducks teams of yesteryear, but they still will be very good, especially on offense, under Mark Helfrich, who is in his fourth season. Mariota was on the team, but Kelly was not, when Oregon came into Scott Stadium in 2013 and laid a spanking on the Cavaliers to the tune of 59-10. Oregon put up 522 yards against FCS team UC Davis last week in a 53-28 victory and probably could have done more. Still, it was not complete dominance, and Virginia would be doing itself well to at least show up in this game and fight a little bit. The slow defensive
team from last week could get eaten alive by these Ducks, but Bronco Mendenhall said he would simplify the schemes, so hopefully that helps. It could be tough to tell, but progress will be noted if Oregon is held under 50 points -- I personally think that would be a breakthrough. I am excited to see the Virginia offense again. It scored three touchdowns and recorded 302 yards last week but was stunted by four turnovers, three of them fumbles. That undoubtedly left some points and yards on the field. Oregon is breaking in several freshmen in a new 4-3 scheme under new coordinator Brady Hoke, who was last seen as the head coach of Michigan in 2014. He was brought in to fix an Oregon defense that was ranked below 100th in terms of points and yards allowed in 2015. There must have been mixed results in the first game since an FCS team put up 28 points. I'd be hopeful that Virginia can score more than that, but I'm sure Oregon will be more on the ball vs. Virginia. Like I said, just keeping this competitive for as long as possible would be a nice "win" for UVa. The defense from last week probably can't keep the Ducks below 50 points, but hopefully improvements can be made, and heck, maybe I'll be a little surprised by the result.
Oregon 56, Virginia 24
Week 1 in the college football season saw four ranked vs. ranked games. This week? Zero. We also had other big matchups that felt like ranked games in LSU-Wisconsin at Lambeau Field, where we saw the Badgers upset the Tigers, and Clemson-Auburn. The landscape is barren this week but there is no doubt the Battle at Bristol between Virginia Tech and Tennessee will be fun to watch, probably more so for people viewing it on TV. The view at the track will probably be less than spectacular from most of the seats. Luckily, a massive videoboard, nicknamed "Colossus," will help spectators keep track of what is going on. Meanwhile, UVa gets no reprieve after losing to Richmond and must travel west to face Oregon, which has had a great offense for several years. Not good news for a Cavaliers defense that gave up 537 yards to the Spiders.
Today's game
No. 13 Louisville at Syracuse, 8 p.m. ESPN2
The Dino Babers era got off to a nice start for the Orange last week with an easy 33-7 victory over Colgate, an FCS playoff team from last season that beat New Hampshire and James Madison in the postseason. But the Cardinals are a significant step up in competition. They faced a bad Charlotte team last week -- albeit on that is FBS level -- but did put up 70 points in a 70-14 win. Seventy points in football is always impressive, and quarterback Lamar Jackson accounted for eight -- eight -- TDs in the first half. This game should be a good litmus test for where the Orange stands.
Louisville 38, Syracuse 21
Saturday's games
N.C. State at East Carolina, Noon ESPNU
An interesting and tough game to predict. Both schools kicked FCS teams to the curb last week -- the Wolfpack ate up William & Mary and the Pirates plundered Western Carolina. State mostly went with transfer Ryan Finley at QB. He completed 17 of 21 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns. ECU debuted under new coach Scottie Montgomery, who replaced Ruffin McNeil, who was fired and subsequently hired as an assistant at Virginia after last season. These teams have played 28 times since 1970 with the Wolfpack leading the series, 16-12, but the Pirates have won the past two games, in 2010 at home in OT, 33-30, and in Raleigh in 2013, 42-28. I think this game is mostly a tossup but I'll give State the edge.
N.C. State 34, East Carolina 31
Penn State at Pittsburgh, Noon ESPN
Panthers running back James Conner, who overcame cancer and a knee injury to play last week, announced his return with 53 yards rushing and a touchdown in a 28-7 win over Villanova. Nathan Peterman was impressive at QB as well. Penn State defeated Kent State, 33-13. This should be a close game between two teams expected to go to a bowl, but I'll take Pitt in a close one.
Pittsburgh 24, Penn State 21
Wake Forest at Duke, 3:30 p.m. ESPNU
The Demon Deacons got past Tulane last week by the scintillating score of 7-3. Duke pounded North Carolina Central, 49-6, and QB Daniel Jones, pressed into action after Thomas Sirk hurt his Achilles again before the season, proved effective despite a small sample size against weak competition, completing 10 of 15 passes with two TDs. The Wake defense is much better, but I like Duke at home as the Demon Deacons' offense does not yet look like it can score many points. This is a big game for Wake if it hopes to reach a bowl this season after two 3-9 years under Dave Clawson, and he has stated that is the goal.
Duke 20, Wake Forest 17
Arkansas at No. 15 TCU, 7 p.m. ESPN
Both teams likely need to get better quickly. The Razorbacks squeaked by Louisiana Tech, 21-20, and the Horned Frogs allowed 41 points against FCS member South Dakota State in a 59-41 victory. In a week of not-so-great games, this one stands out a little bit with a ranked vs. SEC matchup. Hopefully it ends up being a good game.
TCU 33, Arkansas 28
North Carolina at Illinois, 7:30 p.m. Big Ten Network
The Tar Heels fell out of the top 25 last week after a close loss to Georgia in Atlanta. The Illini crushed FCS team Murray State 52-3, but have struggled in recent years and are now rebuilding in year one under Lovie Smith, the former NFL head coach. We should see how much Illinois has progressed against a solid UNC team that will probably spend some more time in the polls this season. Last year, the Heels beat the Illini at home, 48-14.
North Carolina 41, Illinois 24
Virginia Tech vs. No. 17 Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway, 8 p.m. ABC
It's hard to gauge what will happen in this matchup. The venue is new and will be rowdy: 150,000+ expected at Bristol Motor Speedway, which has installed a football field in its infield. Who will control the big-game atmosphere the best? Tennessee was ranked in the top 10 last week and then received a scare on its home turf from Appalachian State, beating the Mountaineers 20-13 in overtime. Are the Vols better than that or still overrated? Virginia Tech struggled in the first couple quarters last week against Liberty but won comfortably, 36-13. Does new coach Justin Fuente have his team already prepared to win such a big game, or will more struggles manifest themselves vs. a better team? Even after this game, there will likely be more questions about how each team will play in its respective conference. With so many unique traits coloring this game, it could be difficult to get a tough feel for how the season will go. Remember, two years ago, Tech defeated eventual national champion Ohio State on the road, but finished the season 7-6.
Tennessee 24, Virginia Tech 21
Virginia at No. 24 Oregon, 10:30 p.m. ESPN
Oh boy. Not what you want to see after last week's performance. These Ducks might not be as good as the Chip Kelly-and-Marcus-Mariota-led Ducks teams of yesteryear, but they still will be very good, especially on offense, under Mark Helfrich, who is in his fourth season. Mariota was on the team, but Kelly was not, when Oregon came into Scott Stadium in 2013 and laid a spanking on the Cavaliers to the tune of 59-10. Oregon put up 522 yards against FCS team UC Davis last week in a 53-28 victory and probably could have done more. Still, it was not complete dominance, and Virginia would be doing itself well to at least show up in this game and fight a little bit. The slow defensive
Oregon 56, Virginia 24
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