NCAA College Football: Week Eight Preview

Some of the games I'll be keeping an eye on this weekend:

Minnesota vs. Ohio State: A very interesting Big Ten game for a lot of reasons. Ohio State were woeful last week in their loss to Purdue, a school that has not exactly set the world on fire this year. Minnesota are an interesting team, transitioning from the spread offense to a pro-style scheme this year. Adam Weber is a capable quarterback, and has the added bonus of having a brilliant receiver in Eric Decker lined up outside. The tight end, Nick Tow-Arnett is also very talented. If their offense gets rolling, they might give OSU some trouble. Their linebacking corps is among the best in all Big Ten conference play. Meanwhile, Terrelle Pyror is under the microscope. I don't see much in the way of improvement from the highly-touted QB. Jim Tressell defends him, but that isn't worth a whole lot from a coach who has his own problems, at least if you read the local press. If Pryor turns the ball over as much as he did vs. Purdue this weekend, Minnesota, whose offense is much better than Purdue's, will make them pay.

USC vs. Oregon State: Everyone knows what happened in this game last year. The Trojans had their once-a-year brain fade and let the Rodgers brothers run all over them. One hopes that Pete Carroll beefed up the run defense this year. Of course, the Trojans will have circled this game as a way to exact revenge. If they can stop the run and force Oregon State to take to the air, they will win comfortably because Matt Barkley is flourishing under centre, and I don't believe that the Beavers can match them. Barkley is becoming a serious superstar early, and showing far more maturation and a broader skill set than the last highly-touted freshman QB, Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor.

Oklahoma vs. Kansas: Oklahoma will be without Sam Bradford, a familiar predicament for the Sooners in Season 2009. It will be interesting to see how they go after the loss to Texas in Dallas last weekend. Landry Jones is obviously capable. He came highly-recruited out of New Mexico, but the question is whether or not he's going in perhaps a season early. Not that there's much that can be done. He'll get better with time. Kansas, on the other hand, will be out to put up a better showing after last week's loss to the lowly Colorado Buffaloes. Todd Reesing continues to put up big numbers. Should be an interesting game, and hopefully a Big 12 shootout.

Iowa vs. Michigan State: The Hawkeyes would have pencilled this game following their undefeated start. It's a big test for them if they hope to make the Rose Bowl in January. Beat the Spartans this weekend and Ohio State in a few weeks and the Big Ten BCS berth is theirs. Michigan State are an interesting team, and certainly capable of derailing the Hawkeye train. Iowa, through their QB Ricky Stanzi, must continue to play mistake-free football. If they protect the ball, they can - and should - win this game.

TCU vs. BYU: After the first weekend of the season, it was assumed that this game would be to decide which team would be this season's BCS busters. Then BYU lost to Florida State a week after shocking Oklahoma at Cowboys Stadium. Still, it should be an entertaining game. If TCU keep winning and impressing, the chances are good that they'll leapfrog Boise State, who currently are in the cat-bird seat as far as getting an at-large invite into the Fiesta Bowl in January.

Texas vs. Missouri: Last year, Texas blew Chase Daniel and Missouri off the park in Austin. If Colt McCoy plays effectively, they should have a strong win again this year. Mizzou's QB Blaine Gabbert is going to be a star of the future. For a so-called rebuilding year, things are going pretty well in Colombia. They won't get past the 'Horns, who're on a collision course with Florida in Pasadena in the second week of January 2010.

Hawaii vs. Boise State: Boise State and Hawaii played a couple of great games back when the Warriors were led around the field by Colt Brennan. Those days are long gone. Boise have copped some flack for only just beating sub-par teams this season. Hawaii are awful. This should be a chance for the Broncos to run up the score and collect some much-needed style points to keep their hat in the BCS ring. Unless they lose, BSU has the inside running on a BCS berth. They won't lose against Hawaii.