Week 4 - What will happen next?

So it's Week 4 of the college football season, and so far, there have been a lot of unexpected twists this year. Oklahoma is 1-2, while Indiana, Vanderbilt, and Baylor are all undefeated. The 3 favorites in the Big Ten all have one lost, while recent bottom dwellers Penn State and Indiana a combined 6-0. As far as BCS busters, a grand total of 3 teams are undefeated (Toledo, UTEP, and New Mexico) and two of them (UTEP and New Mexico) play each other, while Toledo still has to deal with the 1-loss but still potent Fresno State. In addition, none of these schools have the sort of schedule to allow for a reasonable BCS busting run, even if they do run the tables.

Once again, here are my most interesting games of the week, my picks, and of course, the Penn State report to wrap it up.

1. Purdue at Minnesota - Purdue, one of the potential preseason picks to be the Big Ten champ, is also the only one to remain undefeated. Minnesota, after playing a cupcake schedule so far, is also undefeated. Purdue has the easy road to the Rose Bowl (I mean, winning the Big Ten and being undefeated has to get you in the Nat'l Championship game. Or not - see Auburn, 2004), as it doesn't face Michigan or Ohio State. Get past the Badgers, a still untested Penn State squad, and the split-personality Spartans (they'll drop one to someone they shouldn't), and Purdue is sitting pretty. However, first, they have to be able to stop Minnesota's Laurence Maroney, and show that they can move the ball against a Big Ten defense. I don't think the Boilermakers will win them all, but I think they've got this one.

2. Youngstown State at Pittsburgh - Is this going to be Wanny's first win as Pitt's coach? He better hope so, otherwise his tenure with the Panthers will be over swiftly. This game is interesting only to see how awful Pitt looks in ekeing a win out over the Penguins, a perennial IAA power. After watching the utter lack of offense against Nebraska and Ohio, this one may be a 6-3 win for the Panthers, but a win nonetheless.

3. North Texas at Kansas State - Perhaps the Mean Green will finally get a win over someone in the Big 12 not named Baylor. Kansas State is 2-0 on the virtue of a miscue of the Marshall coaching staff, and is, as is most of the Big 12 North, looking awful so far this year. North Texas has the number one rushers of both 2003 and 2004 in its backfield, and plays a slightly tougher schedule than KSU's. Look for UNT to pull the upset in Manhattan, while holding onto the ball for 45 minutes of the game. Pass? We don't need no steenking pass!

4. Florida at Kentucky - Test No. 2 for Urban Meyer and the Florida offense. Kentucky, still universally bad, played Louisville right up to the end. Expect more of the same in this game, but, as usual with the Wildcats, expect to Florida to pull it out in the end. Look for a close game, but I can't tell you if it's going to be a 38-35 thriller, or a 16-7 snoozer.

5. USC at Oregon - Autzen Stadium. Home of the Ducks and their just plain awful yellow highlighter uniforms. This game is one of the big stumbling blocks between the Trojans and a second consecutive national championship, and a third AP victory (which counts for what now, since the AP pulled out of the BCS rankings?). The Ducks haven't looked impressive so far, but it is Autzen, which is one of the toughest places to play nationwide. Still, to misuse a metaphor, I think the Ducks' goose is cooked, and USC rolls over them again, en route to the Rose Bowl.

6. Indiana State at Texas Tech - Big question: can Tech score triple digits? Will Cody Hodges break the record for most passing yards in one game? Or most passing TDs? Will Tech ever play a IA team again?

7. New Mexico at UTEP - Two of our three non-BCS undefeated teams meet this Sat. night in the Sun Bowl. Mike Price has down amazing things with UTEP so far, and New Mexico is similarly impressive, coming off the bowl loss to Navy last season. Whoever wins this one will be the most likely team in the now highly unlikely scenario of a non-BCS team to play with the big boys again. UTEP has the best path with a win here, as its remaining C-USA opponents so far are a bit more competitive than the Mountain West as a whole. New Mexico, though, must face the still powerful Utes and the surging Cowboys of Wyoming, in addition to the schizoid TCU Horned Frogs. New Mexico so far has managed a win over Missouri, which is better than anything UTEP has done so far, so I say the Lobos have this one.

8. Tennessee at LSU - The Vols just lost in the Swamp, and now they have to go to Tiger Stadium. Facing chants of "Tiger Bait" from throngs of drunken Louisianans, I think the Vols drop another here, and Les Miles gets to continue his honeymoon. LSU simply just found ways to win against a hihg-octane ASU offense. Meanwhile, the Vols have looked anemic not only at Florida, but against the mighty mighty Blazers of UAB at home. Before this season is up, the hype about Tenn. will be gone, and playing as they have so far, are likely to give Spurrier yet another notch in his belt against the Safety Orange Gladiators. Look for the Tigers to romp all over Tennessee in this one.

9. Penn State at Northwestern - Now we get to see if the Nittany Lions are for real. Kind of. Just awful on the road the past two seasons, Penn State opens up its Big Ten schedule at Northwestern. The same Northwestern that has beaten us two years in a row. If the Penn State offense that showed up in the Cincy and CMU games shows up, Northwestern probably won't make it 3 in a row. The defense has no questions, and, while allowing yards especially to mobile quarterbacks, has clamped down, and will keep the Wildcats out of the endzone. Last year, two touchdowns by the Cats was enough to win the game. Hopefully this year will be different. Northwestern got deviled by ASU, barely leashed the Huskies of Northern Illinois, beat the Bobcats. If the Penn State offense can move the ball and make big plays, expect a 42-28 victory (cause you know JoePa will put the backups in once we're up by 4 touchdowns.) However, if Penn State looks like it did last year, expect a close 14-10 game that could go either way.