The Buffalo Bills throttled the Kansas City Chiefs 41-7 as a 3.5-point underdog last year in the season opener. Kansas City certainly hasn’t forgotten that game, and the Chiefs are much healthier now than they were last season.
This is the first ACC game for Florida State and while they have played a couple of cream puffs before conference play they have scored at least 55 points in each of their first 2 games and they have only given up 3 points.
Virginia Tech is 2-0 after 2 home wins and while their D has played well their offense has only been decent. They have a good chance to get on track facing a Pitt team that is off to a terrible 0-2 start and has the nation’s 94th ranked defense.
The buckeyes have not faced the Golden Bears in 40 years and they look to get to 3-0 for the 2nd time in the last 3 seasons. Ohio State has a great rushing attack, but their starting RB will miss this game with a minor knee injury.
Nebraska was upset losing at UCLA last week and while Arkansas State plays in the Sun Belt conference the Huskers cannot take them for granted since they have a solid offense and they are coming off a win.
The TCU Horned Frogs made a big step up when they entered the Big 12. Having said that, there is still one “layup” in the Big 12 right now and that is the Kansas Jayhawks.
The Louisville Cardinals are considered the cream of the crop in the Big East, but the Cardinals are hoping to accomplish even bigger things this year. Louisville has started the season off with two wins, but this will be their biggest test of the season.
This was expected to be a meeting of two top ten teams, but it didn’t work out the way it was planned. Arkansas lost as a 30-point home favorite against Louisiana-Monroe last weekend. John L. Smith will try to rally the troops this weekend, but they’ll face a very stiff test.
When WSU (1-1) brought in Mike Leach many thought the Cougars would have a high powered offense like Leach’s Texas Tech had, but after only 2 games the Cougars only rank 107th in the nation in points per game.
The Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers are bitter rivals. Last year, the Packers got the best of their Bears two times.
Green Bay only lost one regular season game in the 2011-2012 season, which is why it was so surprising when the Packers lost in week one to the 49ers. Chicago took care of business against Andrew Luck and the Colts.
Oklahoma State was a double-digit favorite in Arizona last week, but the Cowboys were blasted by the Wildcats.
In one of the Saturday night games this week, the home team’s defense is going to get a serious test in Week 2. The Oklahoma State Cowboys bring their high-powered attack to southern Arizona to square off against the Wildcats in the desert heat.
#19 OSU Cowboys at Arizona Wildcats
Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012, 10:30 pm EST
Venue: Arizona Stadium, Tucson AZ
Gambling Odds from Sportsbook.com:
Spread: Ok. St. -10.5, Arizona +10.5
MoneyLine: Ok. St. -385, Arizona +325
Over/Under: 70.5
Frankly, things look to be breaking pretty well in the Cowboys’ favor.
Arizona just narrowly edged out Toledo last week, winning 24-17 in OT. Yes, this is against the MAC’s Toledo Rockets in Arizona’s season opener. Clearly, it wasn’t a very convincing win. Quarterback Matt Scott had a big day, tossing for nearly 400 yards, but the Oklahoma State secondary won’t be as liable to yield big gainers as Toledo was.
The Cowboys’ offense seems to have become more of a scheme-specific success. In recent seasons, both QB Zac Robinson and Brandon Weeden have excelled in a high-powered spread attack.
Now, Ok. State hopes it can be redshirt freshman J.W. Walsh that carries the torch. If last week is any indication, things will be just fine in Stillwater – the Cowboys crushed FCS Savannah State 84-0, the most thorough drubbing of the college football slate in Week 1.
Running back Joseph Randle will be a key piece for the Cowboys in 2012; he and sophomore Desmond Roland both put up 100+ rushing yards and multiple TDs in just single-digit carries in a laugher. Without a prominent passer established, the Cowboys game-plan might have more emphasis on the run in ’12, which shouldn’t slow them down one bit. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
For Arizona to nab an upset at home, Scott must air the ball out to talented WR Dan Buckner, a Texas transfer. Let’s also not forget that the Wildcats are breaking in the polarizing Rich Rodriguez as head coach. Even though Rich-Rod crashed and burned at Michigan, the Wildcats are hoping he can have more success in a program with less scrutiny.
Still, it seems that from a defensive perspective, if Oklahoma State can be anything more balanced than an offensive slot machine, it will not only lay the hurt on Arizona this week, but have a successful 2012 campaign also.
The Cowboys have a few players on “D” – CB Brodrick Brown, LB Shaun Lewis and DL Nigel Nicholas come to mind – but Arizona should still be able to drop some points on the visitors.
Expect Oklahoma State to win what will be a high-scoring contest, though that doesn’t necessarily mean that the finished product will be close.
The marching bands will need a lot of air in their collective lungs, because there’s going to be some touchdowns scored in this game.
#19 Oklahoma State vs. Arizona Score Prediction: Ok. St. 49, Arizona 30
The conference slate gets started right off the hop for the Georgia Bulldogs and the Missouri Tigers. The ‘Dawgs will see what one of the SEC newcomers brings to the table nice and early in the season.
The New England Patriots were one or two plays away from winning another Super Bowl last season. The team comes into the season as one of the favorites to win it this year.
This game represents an excellent Week 2 match-up in college football. Over the past couple seasons under head coach Bo Pelini, Nebraska has been a very good football program that hasn’t quite been able to get over the hump.
The FCS team from Louisiana’s African-American institution will travel west to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to fight the heat; not only from the blistering sun this time of year but from an upstart ranked team looking to prove to everyone they belong in the Big 12.
