Preview of Week 1 of NCAA College Football

Welcome to the first of what I hope to be a weekly preview of college football from the perspective of a WVU fan. I'll be looking primarily at Big East teams and schools that WVU fans have an interest in.




First Up....

Thursday Night- Rutgers looks to keep its momentum going from last year as it opens the season at home against one of the 5 worst football programs in the NCAA, the University of Buffalo Bison. Rutgers opens the season with its highest preseason rank ever at #16. The Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano rebuffed offers in the offseason to take the head coaching job in Miami (Fl) saying he wanted to be "The Joe Paterno" of Rutgers. If he keeps winning, The State University of New Jersey will happily allow that to happen. Look for Rutgers to run roughshod over the Bison, winning easily.

My Pick- Rutgers 40 Buffalo 10

And if you forgot how great a season RU had last year...click on the link below for a reminder. This two minutes was everything that every Knights fan had ever wanted!




Southeast Missouri State v. Cincinnati
Brian Kelly took over the Bearcats for their bowl victory against Western Michigan (more on them later) and looks to continue his winning streak as a head coach against the Div1-AA Redhawks of Southeast Missouri State. Kelly takes over for the now departed Mark Dantonio who is coaching the Spartans at Michigan State this year. Ben Mauk has been named the starting quarterback for the University of Cincinnati football team. Head coach Brian Kelly made the announcement prior to practice on Sunday (Aug. 26), four days prior to the Bearcats' 2007 season opener and Coach Kelly suspended junior defensive tackle Terrill Byrd from playing Southeast Missouri State due to a violation of the team's missed class policy.
All of that won't matter as UC continues to rise from football ashes into a respectable program. SMSU was 4-7 last year and Cincy is certainly a step above the competition faced in the OVC.

Cincinnati 37 SMSU 3


Murray State v. Louisville
The 1-10 Racers of Murray State have a huge mountain to climb as they open the season in Louisville. The Cardinals were 12-1 last year and are breaking in a new head coach in Steve Kragthorpe but bring back legitimate Heisman candidate qb Brian Brohm. Look for the Cardinals to run it up and score at will as the Racers fold early in this one.

Louisville 55 Murray State 6



Washington V. Syracuse
Greg Robinson starts his third year heading up the once proud Orange. Syracuse has fallen off a cliff after Paul Pasqualoni was fired and has sank to the bottom of the Big East. No relief is in sight as the Big East continues to improve rapidly leaving Robinson trying to hit a fast moving target. Most coaches expect to get four or five years to rebuild a program but the seat will get REALLY hot in New York if SU doesn't show significant progress. Losing this game at home would NOT bode well for the season or the career stability of the coaching staff.

Washington 30 Syracuse 10

Connecticut V Duke Lots of blue and white will be on display when the Huskies run onto the field in Durham Saturday. Not that many people will care. Duke is yet another one of the five worst football programs in America and the attendance there usually reflects that. UConn needs to get off to a strong start as Randy Edsell is starting to feel some heat. The last couple of seasons haven't been great and UConn spends LOTS of money to field competitive programs. This gets UConn out of the gate on the right foot.

UConn 45 Duke 20

Elon V USF. Elon? ELON? Are you serious? Elon? I guess this is a "remnants" game. Remnants of scheduling before USF was a big time football program in a big time football conference. Matt Grothe is the returning freshman of the year in the Big East as a qb and could be a future Heisman Watch candidate. Jim Leavitt is the only coach USF has ever had and he enters his 11th season at the helm in great shape. Watch this program..it is coming on FAST. Take a look at what Grothe can do!

USF 50 Elon 10




Eastern Michigan V. Pitt
A few years ago Mike Tranghese, the commissioner of the Big East, said that the schools in the conference needed to step up their scheduling in an effort to make push for more credibility. At this point in the review I'd like to point out that some schools don't get it. Pitt opens with yet ANOTHER of the five worst programs in Div. 1. EMU is coming off a horrid 1-11 season finishing 6th in the MAC West Division and things don't look to be improving. The Eagles have only 11 seniors on the roster leaving lots of inexperience everywhere. The Panthers on the other hand, should be improving. Three straight years of strong recruiting has to eventually pay off for Dave Wannstedt. Wanny was brought in to revive the fortunes of a lagging program but has yet to show much sign of revival, Pitt stumbled to a 6-6 final record and looks to be middle of the pack again in the Big East. He has seen Rutgers and USF both pass his alma mater and this doesn't look like the year that they catch up. "The Stache" is in trouble, expect the calls for his firing to increase as the season unfolds but for this one week...Pitt wins.

Pitt 24 EMU 7

Marshall v. Miami(Fl). Mark Snyder enters his third year at the helm at Marshla as the Thundering Herd continues to struggle. Miami is breaking in a new head coach after an embarrassing bowl loss to end last year. There are so many distractions for Marshla going into this game. Miami's history, the upcoming instate battle with West Virginia, as well as unsettled starting positions make this a completely unwinnable game for The Herd. An 0-2 start in Huntington (which is what will happen) will make some start to think Mark Snyder isn't the right guy there.

Miami 35 Marshla 13

FINALLY...WVU!!!!

Western Michigan V. WVU

Western Michigan comes into Morgantown on a respectible roll. While the Broncos did lose to Cincinnati in the first International Bowl in Toronto they did surprise all the experts by having a winning season and getting a bowl birth. Don't look for a let down this season as WMU is becoming a solid MAC program.
The roll that WVU is on is even more impressive than WMU. Preseason Top 5 in most magazines the Mountaineers line up one of the most explosive highlight reel producing offenses in college football. Two Heisman Trophy candidates, RB Steve Slaton and QB Patrick White, head up an offense that can score from any point at any time. Frighteningly for opposing teams, the WVU offense continues to get stronger and deeper. After unveiling the lethal combo of White and Slaton against UofL two years ago, WVU added depth last year with the bruising Owen Schmidt and receiver Darius Reynaud. This year, WVU adds more depth at running back with the arrival of Jock Saunders and the highly touted Noel Devine. Rich Rodriguez has suggested that former Adam Bednark and Nate Sowers would see action as WR's this year. He even practiced a play with Bednark, Sowers, White, Slaton and Schmidt all on the field at the same time a few weeks ago. All in all, the WVU offense is loaded and possibly unstoppable this year.
The defense was a weakness last year but looks improved with the transfer of several junior college players. If the D reaches respectability this year look for RRod and his Mountaineers to be in the hunt for a National Championship this fall.
WVU won't show any more offense than they have to this week as Marshla looms next week and Maryland four days after that. Rich will keep things as close to the vest as he can in anticipation of that matchup in College Park but WVU is simply in a different class as the Broncos.

WVU 42 WMU 17

Noel Devine creates the legend in high school. This tape should leave scouts salivating and opposing coaches scared!



Hope you enjoy the preview...feel free to leave comments!
See Ya Next Week