Published Wednesday, Sep 5, 2012 at 8:05 pm EDT Last updated 1 hour and 36 minutes ago
Sporting News? Matt Hayes and Steve Greenberg offer their picks and predictions for Week 2 of the 2012 season. All times Eastern, and all games are on Saturday.
Hayes (9-1 last week): USC 34, Syracuse 14. Long trip for the Trojans, who looked solid in the season opener against Hawaii. Syracuse will play harder after the gut-punch loss to Northwestern, but the Orange can?t match up physically.
Greenberg (9-1 last week): USC 45, Syracuse 17. Don?t think the size of the trip?nor how hard Syracuse plays?will matter much in this one. It?ll sure be a good time for Matt Barkley, Marqise Lee and Robert Woods on that fast track in the Carrier Dome.
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Greenberg: LSU 38, Washington 13. U-Dub can?t block the Tigers. Or run or hit with them. At least, all of that better be true, or else SN really erred in picking LSU to get back to the national title game this season and win it. Not that the Huskies aren?t coming around; they are, quite nicely, under Steve Sarkisian. But Death Valley-good? Of course not.
Hayes: LSU 41, Washington 14. The worst thing?the absolute worst thing?for Washington this week was Alabama last week. When the Tide destroyed Michigan and made everyone forget LSU, it made this the Tigers' statement game. Poor Washington.
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Hayes: Georgia 27, Missouri 17. Look, I?m all about Mizzou and its bravado. One problem: the Tigers got UGa ready for this game with all their primping over the last 3-4 months. One more thing: Georgia?s defense vs. Missouri?s defense? Not even close.
Greenberg: Missouri 27, Georgia 26. The Tigers are good, OK? James Franklin is up there with Aaron Murray as a college quarterback. Dorial Green-Beckham is ready to be that sensation at wideout that we?ve all been waiting to see. And Mizzou defensive coordinator Dave Steckel has never had better pieces to work with than he has right now. Georgia?s a little faster, sure, but the Tigers are always excellent at home.
Greenberg: Nebraska 27, UCLA 17. The Huskers have been no better than average (by Big Ten standards) on defense since Ndamukong Suh left Lincoln. This is an opportunity for them to show that?s changed. With workhorse running back Rex Burkhead injured, Bo Pelini would love to see his D carry the water. What a big W this would be, meanwhile, for the Bruins. Yo, Brett Hundley, anyone can do that vs. Rice. Can you do it again?
Hayes: Nebraska 31, UCLA 30: Bo would love to see his D carry water; I'd love to wake up tomorrow with hair. Neither is going to happen. Frankly, I don't know why I've got the Huskers winning; it's not like Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez has been a model of consistency?especially in road games.
Hayes: Arizona 27, Oklahoma State 24. Arizona isn?t exactly USC, but it?s not Savannah State, either. QB Wes Lunt?s first road game is a long trip against a team that can defend in the secondary. Here?s where youth?and forced throws (see: turnovers)?and new experiences become an issue for Lunt.
Greenberg: Oklahoma State 37, Arizona 27. More like here?s where the far more talented team wins with relative ease. It?s not just about Lunt. Can the Wildcats stop Joseph Randle, Jeremy Smith and the Pokes? running game? Doubt it.
Greenberg: K-State 30, Miami 13. Forget this noise about a ?revenge? game for the Hurricanes?they?re in over their heads here. The Wildcats were good when they won at Miami last September but not nearly as good as they were by November. Now? Well, they?re even better. Arthur Brown has a little something for Canes freshman running back Duke Johnson.
Hayes: K-State 33, Miami 21: The last thing Miami needs to be talking about is revenge. How about playing smart as starters, and then?and only then?finding a way to deal with K-State QB Collin Klein.
Hayes: Notre Dame 19, Purdue 17. Purdue may as well be an NFL defensive front compared to Navy. In fact, the Boilermakers have a couple of future NFL draft picks on the front, including star DT Kawann Short. Notre Dame won?t run as well, and pressure from Purdue will affect the ND passing game.
Greenberg: Notre Dame 24, Purdue 17. Bingo on Purdue?s D, Matt?it?s an underrated unit. The whole team may be underrated. I can think of a bunch of coaches who?d be happy to have Danny Hope?s quarterbacks. This is a challenge for ND, but the Irish still have better players overall. And Purdue always seems to have trouble closing games.
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Greenberg: Florida 24, Texas A&M 20. So, it?s Jeff Driskel at QB for the Gators, eh? We?ll see about that guy. We?ll see about Aggies redshirt freshman QB Johnny Manziel, too. I get the sense neither player has any real shot to carry his team to victory in this one. But either guy sure could lose it for his team with turnovers and other poor decisions. Gators get the nod because they got to shake off the rust last week while A&M?s game was postponed.
Hayes: Texas A&M 23, Florida 16. There's this theory floating around that Florida sandbagged last week vs. Bowling Green; that it purposely stayed vanilla on offense to set up the coming-out party for ... what, exactly? Apparently, that meant Florida sandbagged on defense, too. In a game of turnovers, Florida commits too many.
Auburn at Mississippi State, noon, ESPN
Hayes: Mississippi State 24, Auburn 20. A glaring red flag for Auburn: it wasn?t physical in last week?s loss to Clemson. Now here comes Mississippi State, with its aggressive front seven on defense and power run game.
Greenberg: Auburn 23, Mississippi State 17. MSU closes games like Purdue closes games. Matter of fact, I?m pretty sure the Bulldogs are the SEC?s bizzaro Boilers. The Bulldogs should win this game?absolutely, positively should?and yet I just can?t pull the trigger.
Penn State at Virginia, noon, ABC
Greenberg: Virginia 20, Penn State 12. I don?t know if the Nittany Lions have 60 minutes of all-out energy and effort in their bag of tricks right now. QB Matt McGloin?s accuracy goes out the window when he?s pressured, and the Cavaliers have the players defensively to make McGloin move. Gonna be a tough season for PSU.
Hayes: Virginia 16, Penn State 13. Penn State lost last week to Ohio because its defense got tired, and the Bobcats got a couple of fortunate bounces. The problem: That doesn't make up for a Penn State offense that still can't move the ball. The Lions aren't elite at any of the skill positions, and that will be a problem all season.
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