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