It's time for Week 2. And hopefully, the second week of this college football season is a tad more entertaining than was Week 1.
While last weekend saw a few interesting games (Northwestern-Syracuse, Auburn-Clemson), it also featured a couple major bummers (Notre Dame-Navy was over before halftime, and Alabama-Michigan was basically over before kickoff). There simply wasn't much, well, drama.
And college football with drama is hardly college football at all.
Whether we get our dose of drama this weekend remains to be seen, but I must say: I'm not exactly hopeful. Because the schedule looks a little dull, to be honest. But hey, what can you do?
Onward.
UCF at No. 14 Ohio State (Noon, ESPN2): The Knights will walk into this one feeling fairly confident, as they looked more than just a little bit impressive in their season-opening 56-14 win over Akron. The opportunistic Knights used four Zips turnovers to power their way to victory in that one, but they are unlikely to get as much help from Urban Meyer's Buckeyes, who crushed Miami of Ohio by 46 in their opener. Look for the Knights to hang around for a quarter or two, but for the Buckeyes to blow things open in the second half behind quarterback Braxton Miller. Ohio State 42, UCF 24
Maryland at Temple (noon, ESPNU): Yes, that's right. I'm putting Maryland-Temple in Games Worth Watching. Why am I putting Maryland-Temple in Games Worth Watching? Because this is what you might call a perfect "trap game." The Owls are flying high after a season-opening beatdown of Villanova, while the Terps lucked out in a 7-6 borefest over William & Mary. The Owls are favored by 10, which is quite simply staggering when you really think about, but I've got a feeling the Terps will keep this one closer than the experts think. Don't rule out the upset. Temple 21, Maryland 17
Penn State at Virginia (noon, ABC): The Bill O'Brien Era at Penn State kicked off with a thoroughly worrying defeat at the hands of the Ohio Bobcats. And while it is most certainly true Ohio is a very good team, and while it is also true that the Bobcats made some great plays down the stretch, Nittany Lions fans have good reason to be concerned about not only their team's apparent lack of confidence, but also their obvious lack of depth. The Nittany Lions' starting 22 aren't bad at all. But once you get past that group, there's not much left. That's especially true at tailback, where the departure of Silas Redd and an injury to Bill Belton means that former walk-on Derrek Day will likely get the start against the 'Hoos. He's not exactly Silas Redd. Virginia 28, Penn State 14
No. 24 Florida at Texas A&M (3:30 p.m., ESPN): I'm still trying to figure out how and why Florida is actually ranked. In other news, this is by far the trickiest game of the week to call, pitting a clearly overrated Gators team against a completely unknown Aggies squad that had their season opener postponed due to Hurricane Isaac. When in doubt, take the home team. Texas A&M 17, Florida 14
No. 7 Georgia at Missouri: (7:45, ESPN2): In an otherwise sleepy schedule, I suppose this one stands out as "the game of the week." Missouri opens what is sure to be a mostly disappointing era in the SEC with a visit from the Georgia Bulldogs, who are ranked so highly partially because they've got a talent in a few key spots but mostly because they don't have to play Alabama, LSU or Arkansas this season, leading most to conclude (quite correctly) that the Dawgs will ease their way to ten wins at least. The Tigers will put up a fight but Mark Richt will pick up another much-needed win. Georgia 27, Missouri 21
