Week 2: Road Warriors

By Kyle Magin

It's an evil time in the future, when no ranked teams are playing one another and all manner of angst and nastiness are prevalent in college football. It's this upcoming Saturday.

We do get some interesting cross-coastal matchups, though, and a few teams who already need to make a statement or get ready for basketball season. Let's look at a few:

USC -26 @ Syracuse
What's there to say about USC after they drubbed Hawaii last week? Matt Barkley looks like one of the best QBs in the nation and Marqise Lee appears to be a very dangerous receiver. Syracuse will need to muster a more impressive rushing game than they did in an opening loss to Northwestern, when they managed just 81. If they get into a shootout with USC and can't even the time of posession, they have no hope.

New Mexico @ Texas -38
Texas' D struggled at times in an opening 38-17 victory over Wyoming. The offense, behind David Ash, looked solid if not spectacular, but the defense lapsed at time in ways that show the Horns could be burnt by a good team. Thankfully for the Horns, New Mexico does not pass the ball and are not a good team. If Texas loads up the box to stuff the triple option, the Lobos do not have the tools to pass over them.

Penn State @ Virginia -9.5
Penn State visits Virginia for the next act in its season–long horror story. Matt McGloin made it clear last week against Ohio that he cannot make up for a rushing game gained him just about 100 yards, struggling to complete balls late and throwing a pick. If Virginia can again stop the Lions rushing attack, they'll win the time of posession easily and it'll be on McGloin to carry PSU's offense, a thought that makes folks in State College sick.