The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 13A
Catch me
if you
can
The Hokies look to remain
on Southern Cal's coattails
By Mike Rothman
and Chris Herring
For the Daily
LSU fans felt like Geraldo Rivera on Monday night.
The No. 4 Tigers' utter collapse against No. 10 Ten-
nessee was just as disappointing as finding nothing in
Al Capone's "secret vault" on national television. With
Virginia Tech's dismantling of Georgia
Tech, the Huskies are being tabbed as
I the team that can compete with South-
ern Cal. The Trojans let Oregon and
the country know that you can't stop p
them, you can only hope to contain
them. Louisville's hopes for an unde-
feated season came to a crashing halt,
not just losing at South Florida - but getting humbled
by the Bulls. Week five provides difficult competition
for the nation's top teams, as the lines are being drawn,
separating the great from the good.
No. 1 Southern Cal (1-0 Pac 10, R
3-0 overall) at No. 14 Arizona
State (1-0, 3-1) - 3:30 p.m.
- ABC
Syracuse will have its hands full this weekend when
the Orange travel to Tallahassee. Both teams come in
off a bye week, but, in all honestly, the Seminoles would
win this one even if they played a game the night before
taking on Syracuse. This will be the Orange's first test
away from home this year, and there aren't too many
tougher places in the country to have a road-opener.
Florida State's defense looks like one of the best the
nation has to offer this year, and Syracuse will be lucky
to score two touchdowns in this one.
Florida State 28, Syracuse 7
No. 5 Florida (1-0 SEC, 4-0 overall) at No. 15 Ala-
bama (1-0, 4-0) - 3:30 p.m. - CBS
A great matchup on paper should result in a great
game. This one pits Urban Meyer's spread offense
against Alabama's great defense. Florida quarterback
Chris Leak has put up Heisman-worthy numbers this
year, but he still needs to prove himself in a big game.
He already has over 1,000 yards with nine touchdowns
and no interceptions, but those numbers were mostly
against lesser competition such as Wyoming, Louisi-
ana Tech and Kentucky.
This is also a statement game for fifth-
year senior Alabama quarterback Brodie
Croyle. Since he arrived in Tuscaloosa
as the top recruit in the country no
one has ever doubted Croyle's talent,
but he has yet to play an entire
year sans injury. He will be
helped by the great Crimson
Tide defense, which returned
nine starters from its 2004
unit. They are ranked first in
passing defense and seventh in
NSA scoring defense. In the end, a rau-
cous home crowd and a great defense
will help confuse the talented but
inconsistent Leak, and Brody Croyle
will do just enough to upset the pow-
erful Gators.
Alabama 17, Florida 13
No. 3 Virginia Tech (1-0 ACC, 4-0
overall) at West Virginia (4-0) - noon
- ESPN
After a slow start last week
against Oregon, Southern
Cal looked potentially
beatable. Well, sort of.
Despite the fact that
Oregon held the Tro-
jans scoreless for much
of the first half, the
men of Troy still man-
53
f
;., ,. z
AP PHOTO
Virginia Tech is hoping it'll defeat West Virginia much like they did last season when the Cavaliers were ranked No. 6 in the country.
aged a hefty 45 points en
route to a 45-13 win. Ari-
zona State has put up 47
points per game (which'
is still 12 points a game
fewer than the Trojans), and
the Sun Devils would be unde-
feated had the refs not blown a call in
their game against Louisiana State earlier
in the year. Southern Cal has the Devils on
the road this weekend, plus Cal and UCLA
on the road later in the year. The Trojans may
drop a game this season, but it won't come this
Saturday.
Southern Cal 42, Arizona State 17
Syracuse (0-1 Big East, 1-2 overall) at No. 6 FSU
(1-0 ACC, 3-0 overall) - 3:30 p.m. - ABC
ies used their strengths - defense and special teams - to
score three non-offensive touchdowns in a 51-7 route of
Georgia Tech. This week they take on an undefeated West
Virginia team, playing for the Black Diamond Trophy. The
Mountaineers' defense has been the strength of their team
this year, surrendering just 12 points a game through four
games. But West Virginia is yet to face an offense like the
Hokies'. On the other side of the ball, the Mountaineers'
two-quarterback system has not been extremely success-
ful so far, and neither Adam Bednarik nor Pat White has
passed for over 400 yards this year. At best, this team is a
good Big East team, but that means nothing to the power-
house of a much stronger ACC. The Virginia Tech defense
will be able to shut down the unimpressive West Virgin-
ia offense, and, although the Mountaineers have a good
defense, they have nobody athletic enough to stop Marcus
Vick. The Hokies will take home their second straight
Black Diamond Trophy.
Virginia Tech 34, West Virginia 6
No. 19 Virginia (1-0 ACC, 3-0 overall) at Maryland
(1-1 ACC 2-2 overall) - noon - Gameplan
Virginia is a good team that is facing its first true test of
the young season. The Cavaliers have put up gaudy point
totals - 96 points in their first three games. Those games,
however, were against Western Michigan, Syracuse and
Duke. Talented quarterback Marques Hagans struggled in
his first two games with two touchdowns and five inter-
ceptions, but he broke out against Duke with four touch-
downs and no picks. Maryland is talented, but the Terps are
plagued with one of the nation's toughest schedules. They,
too, have put up impressive offensive numbers, but do not
have much of a defense. The Terrapins' offense will be hurt
if running back Mario Merrills, who sat out of the team's
last game against Wake Forest, does not play. In the end, it
won't matter because Virginia will go into Maryland and
prove that they belong with the ACC's elite.
yirginia 27, Maryland 14
Last week, Virginia Tech did an
excellent job convincing the country
that they are a legitimate champi-
onship threat. Marcus Vick had
a monster game, and the Hok-
Share your space, but live on your own.
Bedding
-~~'~i .-.....~............. I