Game of the Week

Air Force Falcons at Navy Midshipmen
1:00 EST Comcast Sports

In a game presented to you by military insurance company USAA, the Navy Midshipmen will attempt to right their ship against Air Force. Navy's defense has been inept in losing two of their last three games. They beat Duke last weekend but not before the Blue Devils put up 43 in a losing effort. Air Force comes in off a schlakcing last week against in state rival BYU.

Eric Kettani lead a running game that had a two headed quarterback attack for the Naval Academy against the Dukies last week. Jarod Bryant came in to spell starter Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada after he left winded in the fourth quarter. The downfall of this team has been the defense and if they play well the Midshipmen will win.

Air Force's new coach Troy Calhoun is looking to get his team rolling again after suffering his first defeat since he began piloting the Falcons. Shaun Carney will be at quarterback commanding the team at quarterback. Carney started nine games as a freshman for Air Force which is very impressive considering the training that students at the Academy must participate in before fall practice starts.

Navy will take its first step towards acquiring another Commander's and Chief's Trophy coming away with the win in a 37-31 game that will be hosted by the largest crowd in the history of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (another bold prediction.) Carney will play well, but the Navy defense will come together to hold the rope and keep Air Force out of the end zone late. Mark it down.

Note: Watch out for Bob if you are at the game. He will be the only guy in the stadium wearing orange.

Game of the Week

Georgia Bulldogs at Alabama Crimson Tide
7:45 ET on ESPN and ESPN 360

In best match up of the week Mark Richt brings his team in to play God 's Nick Saban's fighting Elephants at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama is coming off of a big time win last week against Arkansas while Georgia is still recovering from a thumping two weeks ago against the Ole Ball Coach. Two teams whose fan bases believe they are going in opposite directions, but things are never as good as they seem or as bad as they seem in the world of college football.

Matthew Stafford recovered from the South Carolina game last week against Western Carolina going 14 for 20 with 2 touchdown passes in a winning effort. In order to win running back Thomas Brown is going to have to step up his 47 yard a game out put over the first three games of the season. Wide receiver Sean Bailey needs to live up to the big play potential he had coming out of high school as well.

All a viewer needs to know about Alabama is that God Nick Saban is still their coach and John Parker Wilson has not cut his hair. The Crimson Tide is rolling and nothing can stop them...

....except the Georgia Bulldogs. Stafford will have a game that solidifies him at the quarterback in the eyes' of the Dawg faithful with Baily helping him out all day long. Terry Grant will be held to under 75 yards by the Georgia defense and a maligned secondary will keep D.J. Hall in check. Georgia leads from start to finish bringing the Tide faithful back down to earth beating the Alabama 31-13.

Maybe Nick Saban is not God...

Game of the Week

Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Michigan Wolverines
3:30 pm ABC

In a somewhat odd choice, this is not a match up of undefeateds rather this is match up of defeateds. After today, one of these teams will be 0-3 and if it is Lloyd Carr his job is officially in jeopardy. The quietest 110,000 person crowd you will ever hear will have something to cheer for as Notre Dame's offense has been nothing less than impotent this season against their first two opponents. In those games against Penn State and Georgia Tech the Irish are yet to score a touchdown. Both teams will be starting true freshmen quarterbacks in the Irish's Jimmy Clausen and Michigan's Ryan Mallet.

Both were highly prized recruits coming out of high school in California and Texas respectively. They also been thrown into action earlier than expected, taking their lumps. We have Michigan winning though due to a better offensive line and running back at his disposal. That running back Mike Hart will run over the the Irish defense in rout to a 24-6 win.

It will be the third straight game in which the Irish do not score a touchdown under offensive genius Charlie Weiss. It will also get more people asking about why there is no talk of Weiss' impending departure as there was with Tyronne Willingham three years ago. Lloyd Carr will live to play another week though his seat will remain the hottest in college football.

SEC Game of the Week

As much as I wanted to pick Western Carolina at Alabama as the game of the week that would not have been fair to anyone outside of Tuscaloosa. So here it is...

Tennessee Volunteers at California Golden Bears
8 p.m. EST ABC National Coverage


The California Golden Bears say they will be seeking revenge in Berkley Saturday night with the Tennessee Vols coming to town. The Vols jumped out to a 35-0 lead last year before taking out their starters. By midway through the third quarter the Golden Bears were playing for a lost cause, hardly knowing what had hit them. Back up quarterback Joe Ayoob replacing starter Nate Longshore who was yanked while his team still had an egg on the scoreboard. Ayoob and strategy helped Cal team put up 18 points after the game was over, saving face in the box scores printed in the newspapers. That strategy did not go over well with Vol Coach Phillip Fulmer, as he watched Cal continue to attempt onside kicks with less than five minutes to go.

All off season coach Jeff Tedford and quarterback Nate Longshore have been talking the talk now they will have to walk the walk. The hostile SEC environment was something the Bears had never experienced before. In addition Starbucks is not served in the stands at Neyland Stadium and neither is sushi; that has to be tough to get used to for the fans from Berkley. Tedford was reportedly sickened by the loss in Knoxville that he threw up after he got off of the return plane to Berkley. That same Cal team did go on to pick up the pieces and collect a share of the PAC 10 conference championship. But do they honestly believe they can beat the same team that slaughtered them last year?

I think it is a stretch to think that either team will blow out the other this year. The Vols at last check are a 6 point underdog and have historically pulled off some big upsets when they are large underdogs on the road. Erik Ainge has a broken finger on his throwing hand, running back LaMarcus Coker is suspended, punter Britton Colquitt has a pulled quad, the Vols have to fly three time zones away and have to fight off a reported 50,000 noise makers that Cal plans to give out to their fans.

The Golden Bears have 165 pound stud receiver DeSean Jackson, a proven running back in Justin Forsett and have even almost sold out their stadium. Imagine that, selling out a stadium against a ranked team. The Golden Bears lost their top three defensive players from last year and will have to replace much of their front seven.

Everyone seems to be stacking their chips against the Vols in this one and that is why they will pull it out in the land of the tree huggers. Ainge will have a great game, though not necessarily put up huge numbers, making people question whether Fulmer was just putting up a smoke screen with the injury talk. Arian Foster will return to his home state and tear through the relatively inexperienced Cal defense hitting the century mark in yards with his bruising style. Longshore will not get in a rhythm as the Vols defense will throw him off his game again early. Defensive tackles J.T. Mapu and Demonte Bolden will play surprisingly well holding down Forsett. Tough, close game but the Vols hold on for the win .

Prediction:

Vols 28 Golden Bears 20