The much maligned conference that is the Big Ten will be watched closely this weekend with a few important match-ups. Ohio State hosts USC, Michigan hosts Notre Dame, Iowa visits Iowa State and Purdue travels to Oregon. this may be the most important slate of games for a conference looking to redeem themselves. For Penn State, they will welcome Syracuse to Beaver Stadium for the first time in almost two decades.
Once a major rivalry the Penn State-Syracuse game has lost it’s luster. When Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993 they played their final meeting with Syracuse in 1990. Last year the two old rivals met for the first time in a generation with the Nittany Lions blowing the roof off the Carrier Dome, beating Syracuse 55-13.
Quarterback Daryll Clark lead the Penn State offense last week with a career high in passing yards and three touchdowns on his way to Big Ten player of the week honors, despite losing his helmet on one good hit. Wide receiver Derek Moye had a big game receiving and looks to continue that kind of performance against Syracuse, the team he scored his first career touchdown against last season. On the ground look for Evan Royster to have a better outing. Last week the Big Ten’s top running back was limited to under 70 yards and one touchdown behind an offensive line still trying to find their rhythm in run blocking.
Syracuse brings a new attitude to the gridiron in 2009 behind new head coach Doug Marrone and quarterback Greg Paulus, who brings a winning mentality form his days with the Duke basketball program. While the future looks optimistic for the future of the Orange program, they will be humbled with a second straight loss to a Big Ten team to open the season, as Penn State should pace their way to a victory.
Locally the Temple Owls get a much needed week off after last week’s embarrassing loss to Villanova. After losing to an FCS team from the same city brought a negative cloud to float over coach Al Golden, even more so than before. Now they get a week to regroup and try to pick up the pieces and work on a game plan for their next game next weekend, at Penn State.
Temple may be in some trouble with that bowl I predicted for them.
As for the Wildcats, the #3 Villanova team gets right back to football action with their home opener against Lehigh. Lehigh is coming off a close loss to Central Connecticut State and a win at Villanova will be hard to come by. The last time Lehigh beat Villanova came in 2006. The Wildcats have the look of a national championship contender though and I fully expect Villanova to win their home opener under the lights.
Week two of the college football season should be a fun one to watch. How will your favorite team perform on Saturday?
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