College football predictions
The doldrums of summer are over; the nights of being relegatedto watching baseball highlights on ESPN are no more. The collegefootball season is here to save us. There are only three guaranteesthis year: There will be controversy about the Bowl ChampionshipSeries, Lee Corso will say something stupid every Saturday morningand girls will pretend to like football so they can watch KirkHerbstreit.
Predicting anything else is just a fancy way to dress up theword “guessing.” With that said, here is a predictionfor the 2003-2004 football season.
The Top 10
1) Kansas State — With Ell Roberson’s pass/runthreat at quarterback and the running ability of Darren Sporles the’Cats will be an offensive juggernaut. Playing in the weakerBig 12 north division, they shouldn’t face a challengingopponent until the Big 12 championship game.
2) Miami — How do you replace Ken Dorsey and WillisMcGahee? You bring in all—everything high school QB BrockBerlin and the guy who was originally supposed to start over Willisbefore getting hurt, Frank Gore.
3) Oklahoma — Maybe the sickest defensive team in thehistory of college football with the likes of Tommie Harris, LanceMitchell and Teddy Lehman. However, they are equally as inept onoffense as they are great on defense.
4) Auburn — Carnell Williams, Ronnie Brown and Tre Smithcombine to form the deadliest trio of running backs in the nation.Karlos Dansby is a Butkus—award candidate on the other sideof the ball.
5) Florida State — Quarterback Chris Rix will finallymature in his junior campaign and running back Greg Jones appearsto be healthy from a knee injury that sidelined him last season.Plus, Bowden has this team playing the roll of the underdog thisseason … watch out for the ‘Noles.
6) Texas — Look for Vincent Young to replace Chance Mockif he struggles early in the year. This team will go as far asphenomenal receiver Roy Williams takes them. On the defensive sideof the ball, expect great things from cornerback Nathan Vasher.
7) Georgia — If Mark Richt can figure out who is going toplay quarterback this year, David Greene or D.J. Shockley, theBulldogs could repeat as SEC champions. Look for Shockley to get alot of playing time because he is the more mobile of the two andthe offensive line is young.
8) Virginia Tech — Kevin Jones will finally take over asthe fulltime running back since Lee Suggs has headed to the NFL.Look for Marcus Vick, Mike’s brother, to get some playingtime if Byron Randall doesn’t get the job done early in theseason.
9) N.C. State — Philip Rivers will get one last shot atwinning the ACC championship that has nearly eluded him for thelast three years. For the Wolfpack to be successful, Rivers willhave to get the ball to Jerricho Cotchery as much as possible.Cotchery is one of the best receivers in the nation.
10) Michigan — John Navarre has to have a big year asquarterback for the Wolverines to be successful. They will have atough time beating Ohio State since Maurice Clarrett will be backfrom his suspension.
Most overrated team
Oklahoma Sooners — We all know how great their defense is,but could their offense be any more pathetic? The only thing thatmade their offense respectable last season was running back QuintonGriffin who rushed for more than 1,800 yards. He has sincegraduated and been replaced by Kejuan Jones, who is highly toutedbut unproven.
Starting quarterback Nate Hybl has also graduated and is beingreplaced by Jason White. White has missed the last two seasons withknee injuries. However, the two off-season moves that hurt OU themost were the graduation off Chris Simms from Texas and thedecision of Rashaun Woods to stay at Oklahoma State. Simmsgift-wrapped the last two Red River shootouts to the Sooners. WithMock or Young at the helm, look for the Longhorns to actually get awin in the Cotton Bowl.
Also, Rashuan Woods, the ridiculous playmaking receiver for OSU,has torched the Sooners the last two seasons. Look for him to do itagain in Norman this year.
Heisman Trophy winner
Frank Gore — Remember how ridiculous Willis McGahee was atMiami … he ran a sub 4.3 second 40 and benched around 500pounds. Gore was slated to start over him before getting injured.He has an awesome combination of speed and strength that is matchedby no one in college football.
Running behind the blue chip lineman they have down in Miami,Gore will put up numbers similar to Willis’ last season.However, he won’t have to worry about losing votes to KenDorsey.
National title game
Kansas State vs. Auburn
Kansas State has an easy schedule this season but will have tobeat the winner of the Red River shootout in the Big 12 title game.Auburn has a tough schedule playing USC, Georgia, Tennessee and LSUbut look for its running backs to carry the team to the SECchampionship.
With the national championship being played on Astroturf thisyear, the edge would have to go the Wildcats. We saw what Mike Vickwas able to do on that turf three years ago when he torched a verytalented Florida State defense. Look for similar things from EllRoberson and Darren Sporles this time around.
