Saban is 2-3 vs Paterno with all of the meetings while Saban was HC of Mich St from ‘95-’99. These two last met in 1990 (PSU 9-0 road win). PSU is 1-5 vs Top 10 tms (last 4 yrs). The Tide has just 2 st’rs back on D and BCS Title Gm MVP DE Marcell Dareus will be out as he serves his 2 game suspension. Heisman winner RB Mark Ingram (knee) DNP in the 48-3 win over SJSt and is doubtful for this but backup Trent Richardson had 112 total yds and 2 TD in 1H of work vs the overmatched Spartans. Bama had 30-7 FD and 591-175 yd edges in the game. PSU actually trailed Youngstown St 7-6 with 2:00 left in the 1H before scoring 10 pts in 1:50 in a 44-14 win in which the Penguins hit an 80 yd 2Q TD pass and capped an 80 yd drive with a garbage time TD (:54 left). The run game struggled with star TB Evan Royster having just 40 (3.6). Robert Bolden became the 1st true frosh Lions QB to start the opener (20-29 for 239 with 2-1 ratio) but now takes a gigantic step up on the road vs the defending champs who have my #6 D.

Tennessee Tech is coming off a 44-3 loss to Arkansas last week where they were outgained 519-187. This week they take on the the Horned Frogs who have one of the top defenses in the country and held Oregon St last week to just 270 yds. HC Patterson is not afraid to put the hammer down on weaker opponents (avg score of 38-12 LY) and my computer projects just 60 total yards for the Golden Eagles.

First meeting. Idaho had 547-270 yd and 26-17 FD edges in a 45-0 win over vs FCS North Dakota in the opener. QB Nathan Enderle was an impressive 24-37 for 311 yds and a 2-1 ratio but was sacked 4 times behind a rebuilt OL (only 1 starter returning) and that unit will face a much stronger test here. Nebraska has huge edges on offense (#22-65), defense (#10-87) and Special Teams (#8-86). QB Taylor Martinez became the only Redshirt or true Frosh QB to start a season opener for the Huskers and passed for 136 yds and ran for 127 and 3 TD as he also became the first NU QB since 2003 to run for more than 100 yds in a game in the Huskers’ 49-10 win over WKU last week. HC Pellini is 7-0 vs non-BCS tms with the avg win coming by 35 ppg. The Huskers have a big road trip at Washington next week but Idaho is the only foe that was in a bowl last year which Nebraska plays in Sept so they should be focused here.

This is Oregon's 1st trip to the heat and humidity of SEC country since 2003 (Miss St) not to mention the 1st road game for QB Darron Thomas (230 yds, 55%, 2-1 ratio in 1H vs New Mexico). Oregon did begin the season in fine form last week as they demolished the Lobos 72-0 outgaining them by a whopping 751-119. In ‘06 UT was at home vs #9 Cal and destroyed the Bears 35-17 despite being an underdog. That UT team was more talented and This year they have just 9 st’rs back with a lot of attrition due to their 3rd HC in 3 yrs. The Vols are fresh off their dominance of UT Martin earning their 1st shutout S/’03 (537-142 edge) but are just #119 in terms of experience This year while Oregon, after being inexperienced last year now has 17 ret st’rs with just a FCS team on deck. Despite their 10-3 record LY they were outgained away from home by an avg of 389-360 but this year being clearly more talented and with the return of RB LaMichael James from suspension to go with last week's star Kenjon Barner (206 ttl yds, 5 TD), the Ducks should be able to pull one out in Knoxville.

The only previous meeting was in 2007 as UW won 56-10 with 579-278 yd and 23-12 FD edges. San Jose St returns 15 starters but with a new HC Mike MacIntyre switching up some positions, they aren’t as experienced as the numbers say. The Spartans were outgained 591-175 and outFD’d 30-7 as they managed to convert just 1 of 13 3rd downs vs Bama in a mismatch last week. Wisconsin had just 10 st’rs back last year but returns 16 this year and is a Top 10 contender. The Badgers have huge edges on offense (#8-113), defense (#28-108) and special teams (#62-120) here. QB Scott Tolzien was an efficient 15-20 (75%) for 197 yds and RB John Clay rushed for 123 yds (7.2) and 2 TD in the Badgers’ 41-21 win over UNLV last week. As usual, UW wants to establish the run and the Badgers will look to exploit a San Jose St's DL which avg’s 264 lbs and allowed 6.1 ypc (#119 NCAA) last year. The UW O-line avg’s 6’5” 323 lbs and churned out 204 ypg last year (#15 in FBS). Wisconsin has ASU on deck but SJSt has to make another lengthy trip here and may put the focus on keeping some players healthy for the winnable games.

Arkansas escaped with a 28-27 win in ‘08 (ULM led 24-6 mid-3Q) but won the previous 7 meetings with ULM by 29 ppg. This is technically a Home Game for ULM but is played in Little Rock where the Hogs always play a couple of HG’s and the crowd will be mostly Arkansas fans. The Hogs have my #6 ranked offense led by QB Ryan Mallett and a super set of rec’s and only had Tennessee Tech last week but has Georgia and Bama the next 2 weeks. Last year in an SEC sandwich they jumped out to a big lead vs a woeful Eastern Michigan team and cruised 63-27 and this year’s Hogs team has better depth on D (#30). ULM has just 10 ret st’rs and is actually playing their first game of the year under new HC Todd Berry so Arkansas has a Game Under Belt edge. ULM has my #119 off, #120 def with just 41.8% of the tkls returning from ‘09 (7th worst FBS), so the only question is by how much the Razorbacks will win by.

Utah is 10-1 and in MWC play with their avg win over UNLV by 18 ppg. Last year despite being outFD’d 23-14 Utah was in control after an int led to a 8/2pl TD and on the next drive got a 64 yd IR TD. Last week Utah built a 24-13 lead mid-4Q before allowing Pittsburgh to battle back and take it to OT. Pittsburgh was int’d on the 1st pl of OT and Utah nailed a 21 yd FG for the 27-24 Thurs night win. The Utes finished with 405-266 yd edges behind QB Jordan Wynn who threw for 283 (58%, 3-1 ratio). The RB duo of Asiata/Wide took 25 of the tm’s 27 rush att’s (112, 4.5). UNLV hung around #12 Wisky LW thanks to a 19 yd IR TD and an 82 yd FR which set up a 16/1pl TD, 17-14 at half. Wisconsin blew it open in the 2H winning 41-21. To the surprise of many, new HC Bobby Hauck opted to start Mike Clausen (4-10-23, 1-0 ratio) over 23 gm st’r Omar Clayton, although he did see time (6-16-82, 1-0) and was the #1 rusher (59, 6.6). Last time here Utah trailed 14-7 late 1H (outgained 205-91) but rallied for the 42-21 win and the Utes know they have a bull’s-eye on their back after bolting for the P10, so they’ll take no foe lightl

The absence of QB Kevin Prince during most of fall camp proved to be too much for the Bruins to overcome last week vs Kansas St as he was constantly out of sync with his WR’s throughout the game (9-26 for 120 yds). Another scary stat in their loss to the Wildcats was the 313 yds (5.8) on the ground that they allowed (143 ypg, 4.0 ypc LY). UCLA has won 6 in a row at home vs Stanford by 12 ppg but did need a TD pass w/:12 left to pull out the win in the last meeting at the Rose Bowl. Stanford will be in its 1st true matchup of 2010 after blowing by Sacramento St as QB Andrew Luck threw for over 300 yds in the 1H (SU has a 529-167 yd edge). Harbaugh has struggled on the road in his 3 yr tenure with the Cardinal as they are just 5-11 but an inconsistent UCLA team with plenty of inj’s and question marks should make this another tight contest.