With Week 1 in the books, it’s time to look ahead to Week 2, as our staff gets set to pick the biggest games!
Below is not only a quick write-up on the dozen games you need to watch this weekend, but this week, the rest of the staff also chimes in with predictions as well.
And as always, we encourage you to chime in with your thoughts as well in the comments section.
Now, let’s get to the picks:
No. 21 Missouri at Arizona State: Friday 10:30pm, ESPN
Michael Felder: Mizzou was sloppy in their first game while the Sun Devils were firing on all cylinders. Unless Missouri has made some significant improvements from last week’s Miami (OH) contest (where they recorded just 15 first downs), this Arizona State defense is going to smother their offensive advances. Arizona State’s offense will push the Tigers both in the run and the pass game and barring an absolutely transformed Mizzou squad Arizona State will be 2-0 to kick-off their 2011 season.
Arizona State 38, Mizzou 17
Everyone else’s take:
Aaron Torres: Arizona State 21, Missouri 10
Allen Kenney: Arizona State 21, Missouri 17
Kevin McGuire: Arizona State 20, Missouri 16
Matt Yoder: Missouri 28, Arizona State 24
Tom Perry: Arizona State 26, Missouri 19
Iowa at Iowa State: Saturday, 12:00 p.m.
Kevin McGuire: We’re all just thankful that these schools scrapped that hideous Cy-Hawk Trophy and are working on a new one in the meantime. Don’t sleep on receiver Marvin McNutt. He may be a little smaller than your top wide receivers, but he can put up some big numbers and be tough to contain. Last week he had 140 yards and two touchdowns. Look for him to lead Iowa to a victory, and we’ll see if Iowa State decides to threaten legal action as a result.
Iowa 24, Iowa State 13
Everyone Else’s Take:
Aaron Torres: Iowa 24, Iowa State 20
Allen Kenney: Iowa 31, Iowa State 23
Matt Yoder: Iowa 38, Iowa State 14
Michael Felder: Iowa 24, Iowa State 10
Tom Perry: Iowa 31, Iowa State 14
No. 16 Mississippi State at Auburn: Saturday, 12:21 p.m. SEC Network
Mississippi State at Auburn
Matt Yoder: Auburn needed a miraculous finish to beat Utah State at home last week. That type of effort for 58 minutes will see them be blown off The Plains against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs put up a school record 645 yards of offense last week in a bllowout win over Memphis. It sounds crazy coming off of a title, but Auburn doesn’t have the guns to stick with MSU and their struggles against Utah State are a sign of things to come.
Miss State 41, Auburn 20
Everyone Else’s Take:
Aaron Torres: Mississippi State: 31, Auburn 17
Allen Kenney: Auburn 23, Mississippi State 21
Kevin McGuire: Mississippi State 34, Auburn 23
Michael Felder: Mississippi State 37, Auburn 35
Tom Perry: Mississippi State 23, Auburn 17
Rutgers at North Carolina: Saturday 12:30pm, ESPN3.com
Michael Felder: The Scarlet Knights return to Kenan Stadium for the first time since their 21-16 win 2006 and this time they don’t have Ray Rice. They are however coming off a 48-0 win where they capitalized on 4 NCCU turnovers. Against North Carolina things will get markedly more difficult for Rutgers as UNC features a talented roster and quarterback Bryn Renner is coming off a 22-23 performance against James Madison. Heels will tax Rutgers with their passing game but how UNC’s young secondary handles Rutgers attack will be the story of this contest.
North Carolina 31, Rutgers 24
Everyone Else’s Take:
Aaron Torres: North Carolina 31, Rutgers 10
Allen Kenney: North Carolina 27, Rutgers 14
Kevin McGuire: North Carolina 31, Rutgers 17
Matt Yoder: North Carolina 24, Rutgers 14
Tom Perry: North Carolina 34, Rutgers 21
California at Colorado: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Aaron Torres: Quite frankly, it’s impossible to know what to make of these teams entering this game. Cal beat up on an average Fresno State team in their opener, while Colorado went to the islands, and held tough with Hawaii.
In the end, this one truly could go either way, but I’ll give the edge to Colorado. It’s the first home game, under a new head coach, in a new conference, in a winnable game. If the Buffaloes aren’t jacked up to play this one, then the pain inflicted by the Dan (and Cody) Hawkins era runs much deeper than I feared.
Colorado 24, Cal 20
Everyone Else’s Take:
Allen Kenney: Cal 31, Colorado 21
Kevin McGuire: Cal 32, Colorado 20
Matt Yoder: Cal 28, Colorado 10
Michael Felder: Cal 37, Colorado 17
Tom Perry: Cal 37, Colorado 14
No. 25 TCU at Air Force: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. Versus
Tom Perry: TCU’s secondary was obliterated by Baylor’s Robert Griffin III last week, but Air Force likes to beat you with the run. TCU QB Casey Pachall had a great 
second half last week and he’ll improve on that performance.
TCU 42, Air Force 36
Everyone Else’s Take:
Aaron Torres: Air Force 27, TCU 24
Allen Kenney: Air Force 30, TCU 27
Kevin McGuire: TCU 43, Air Force 38
Matt Yoder: TCU 35, Air Force 17
Michael Felder: TCU 41, Air Force 28
Cincinnati at Tennessee: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ESPN2
Tom Perry: Tennessee QB Tyler Bray has established himself as a pretty nifty passer, so going up against Cincinnati’s porous defense should be like running 7-on-7 drills, but no one is covering.
Tennessee 42, Cincinnati 34
Everyone Else’s Take:
Aaron Torres: Tennessee 38, Cincinnati 17
Allen Kenney: Tennessee 36, Cincinnati 26
Kevin McGuire: Cincinnati 23, Tennessee 20
Matt Yoder: Tennessee 31, Cincinnati 13
Michael Felder: Tennessee 28, Cincinnati 24
No. 3 Alabama at Penn State: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ABC
Kevin McGuire: Earlier this week I placed Alabama on upset alert, mostly because Alabama has some quarterback issues they are sorting through, and Penn State’s secondary looks to be pretty good. In fact, Penn State’s entire defense looks to be decent, although it will be tough for that defensive line to apply too much pressure this week. Alabama’s running game, led by Trent Richardson will eventually wear down the defense and allow the Crimson Tide to pull away from the Nittany Lions.
Alabama 20, Penn State 17
Everyone Else’s Take:
Aaron Torres: Alabama 21, Penn State 9
Allen Kenney: Alabama 21, Penn State 15
Matt Yoder: Penn State 17, Alabama 14
Michael Felder: Alabama 28, Penn State 7
Tom Perry: Alabama 28, Penn State 3
No. 12 South Carolina at Georgia
Aaron Torres: For months, we’ve all pegged this game as a potential de-facto SEC East championship game. Well, bad news Georgia and South Carolina fans: Florida looked good last weekend, and Tennessee is hardly a walk-over. In other words, both teams need to win this game, or risk falling into a hole you might never climb out of.
As for the game itself, if you’d asked me 10 days ago, I would’ve backed the Bulldogs. But considering I saw no fight, no heart and no toughness from either their coach or their players last weekend, I don’t see things ending pretty here.
South Carolina 27, Georgia 17
Everyone Else’s Take:
Allen Kenney: Georgia 28, South Carolina 24
Kevin McGuire: South Carolina 28, Georgia 24
Matt Yoder: South Carolina 30, Georgia 17
Michael Felder: South Carolina 38, Georgia 20
Tom Perry: South Carolina 32, Georgia 30
BYU at No. 24 Texas: Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ESPN2
Allen Kenney: The Longhorns and Cougars engage in a 60-minute slugfest where points are at a premium. Playing its second straight road game against an AQ opponent, BYU gives out first.
Texas 23, BYU 20
Everyone Else’s Take:
Aaron Torres: Texas 24, BYU 20
Kevin McGuire: Texas 24, BYU 23
Matt Yoder: Texas 21, BYU 13
Michael Felder: Texas 27, BYU 17
Tom Perry: Texas 21, BYU 18
Utah at USC: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Versus
Matt Yoder: The Trojans were very underwhelming in escaping against Minnesota last week. Even though Robert Woods was insanely impressive, the Utes will bring a much bigger test.
Granted, the Utes have room to grow too though – Jordan Wynn only threw for 101 yards in 23 attempts against Montana State in Norm Chow’s new offense. Utah will want to make a big statement in their first Pac 12 contest, but I think Lane will wake up the Trojans after last week’s performance.
USC 24 Utah 17
Everyone Else’s Take:
Aaron Torres: USC 28, Utah 20
Allen Kenney: USC 32, Utah 26
Kevin McGuire: Utah 28, USC 26
Michael Felder: USC 31, Utah 24
Tom Perry: USC 24, Utah 20
Notre Dame at Michigan: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. ESPN
Allen Kenney: Under new starting quarterback Tommy Rees, the Irish show last week’s implosion against South Florida was a fluke. Meanwhile, the Wolverines show their first signs of growing pains under Brady Hoke, struggling to establish a rhythm on offense all night long.
Notre Dame 23 Michigan 17
Everyone Else’s Take:
Aaron Torres: Notre Dame 24, Michigan 14
Kevin McGuire: Michigan 26, Notre Dame 24
Matt Yoder: Michigan 41, Notre Dame 38
Michael Felder: Notre Dame 31, Michigan 28
Tom Perry: Michigan 29, Notre Dame 26
