It seems like just yesterday we were kicking off the 2014 college football season with the Texas A&M vs South Carolina Thursday night opener, but week two is already upon us. Outside of Florida’s game against Eastern Michigan this Saturday, let’s take a look at some of the best games of the weekend.
No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 3 Oregon: Saturday, 6:30pm-FOX
We have ourselves a colossal game this week as Michigan State travels to Eugene, Or. to take on the Oregon Ducks. Oregon’s high-scoring, electric offense has a tough test going up against a merciless Sparty defense on Saturday.
Oregon’s offense is of course led by Heisman hopeful Marcus Mariota, who had a ridiculous 31-4 touchdown-interception ratio last season, and luckily he gets his entire offensive back as well. Pair that with Pac-12’s leading rusher in running back Byron Marshall returning, and the Sparty defense has its work cut out for it.
But if there’s anyone in the country who can stop the high-powered Duck offense, it could be Michigan State. This unit was so stingy a year ago that it finished the year ranked in the top three defensive categories including scoring, rushing, passing and total defense. They return five starters from the unit including Big Ten defensive lineman of the year Shilique Calhoun, who had seven and a half sacks in 2013. In the secondary they return defensive backs Kurtis Drummond and Trae Wayne. Drummond accounted for four interceptions last year.
Oregon’s defense, despite being in the typical lackluster defensive league like the PAC-12, gets back five starters from a unit that was 13th in the country in scoring defense at the end of the season.
Sparty quarterback Connor Cook, who was the Big Ten Championship game and Rose Bowl MVP in 2013, has a variety of weapons around him to exploit the Duck’s secondary. Offensive coordinators Jim Bollman and Dave Warner use multiple receiver sets that can give defenses problems.
This game has huge playoff implications, as every single game counts this year as opposed to the BCS system of years’ past. If the Ducks can win convincingly, they could jump either No. 2 Alabama, or even make a case to replace Florida State as the top team in the land. A Sparty victory on the road would easily vault them into the top five.
Buckle up folks, this is likely going to be easily one of the best games we see all season.
Virginia Tech @ No. 8 Ohio State: Saturday, 8pm-ESPN
A Braxton Miller-less Ohio State got a scare in week one against Navy and its triple option offense last week, and they get a tougher matchup this week as the Virginia Tech Hokies come to town.
Tech has a pretty talented quarterback in junior Michael Brewer, who takes over for Logan Thomas in Blacksburg. Last week against the season opener versus William Mary he threw for 251 yards and completed 76.7% of his passes.
As for the Buckeyes’ quarterback situation, with Miller out they have turned to redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett. Although it took the Buckeyes until the fourth quarter to pull out a victory last week, he went 13-for-15 passing, and added 50 yards rushing. The Hokie defense ranked 109th in rushing defense last year, which could give the five returning starters problems if Barrett can get loose.
If there’s anyone that can put together a game plan to upset the Buckeyes in the Horse Shoe, it’s Tech head coach Frank Beamer.
No. 14 USC @ No. 13 Stanford: Saturday, 3:30pm-ABC
Trojan new head coach Steve Sarkisian has an opportunity to make a statement in his inaugural season at USC on Saturday as he leads a young Trojan team into Stanford Stadium.
USC, at least for now, has a high-flying offense again as the Trojans put up a ridiculous 701 total yards on Fresno State to open the 2014 season. Junior quarterback Cody Kessler had an impressive outing too, throwing for 394 yards along with four touchdowns.
The bad news for Coach Sark is that the Cardinal defense returns seven starters from a unit that gave up just 19 points per game last year. While they do have a new defensive coordinator under Lance Anderson this season, the 3-4 scheme should hold up just fine with seniors Henry Anderson and David Perry returning. The two combined for 42 tackles last season.
Stanford’s offense has a lot of holes to fill in 2014, including four offensive lineman, but junior quarterback Kevin Hogan is back along with talented receivers Ty Montgomery and Devon Cajuste. Hogan has an impressive 10-1 record as a starter against ranked teams.
USC did upset the Cardinal in Los Angeles last season, but that came under interim coach Ed Orgeron following Lane Kiffin’s mid-season firing.
Michigan @ No. 16 Notre Dame: Saturday, 7:30p.m.-NBC
This is the last we’ll see of the Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry, at least for a little while. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick announced last September that the game would be put on hold as the Fighting Irish begin their five-game ACC schedule this season.
Notre Dame enters as the heavy favorites with quarterback Everett Golson now leading the offense. Unfortunately for Golson, the Irish gets back just four starters on offense from 2013, a unit that averaged just 27 points per game.
Returning for Michigan on offense is talented quarterback Devin Gardner, who threw for over 2,000 yards last year, despite breaking his foot in December. Defensively the Wolverines are led by eight returning starters including their entire linebacking corps that combined for 12 tackles for loss in 2013.
Since this is the last that we’ll see of the rivalry at least in the next few years or so, both teams should give a little extra magic on Saturday evening.
Follow Morgan Moriarty on Twitter @Morgan_Moriarty
Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota runs the football during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against South Dakota in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014.
