Thursday, August 28, 2008

with college football around the corner, my smack talking gene has activated

In two days, the state of Virginia will host the greatest college football team to ever play in the Old Dominion State: the Trojans of USC. On Saturday, USC opens its season by playing UVa in Charlottesville in what is sure to be a blood bath. And the funny thing is that the Wahoos know it too, considering the number of donor/alumni tickets that are being sold on Stubhub.com.

Quite possibly the best thing about this season for the #3/#4 Trojans is not being ranked #1 (that honor has been bestowed on Georgia). As a fan, being a pre-season #1 is kinda nerve racking, especially since pre-season polls mean crap (anyone else remember how high Michigan was ranked before losing to App State to start the 2007 season? FIVE). And Georgia has a tough schedule ahead of them so who knows if they'll end up on top? Still, it's nice that the Trojans are playing with a little less pressure than usual.

Still, we've got a good shot at going the distance, especially since all of our hardest games are being played at home this year (insert sigh of relief here). That doesn't mean we don't have our challenges. Our first one would be Ohio State on September 13th (my apologies to UVa fans). Although I don't make predictions, I expect USC to lose one game this year and it WON'T be to Ohio State. In the Pac-10, Oregon might try to play the spoiler as well as ASU. And then there's UCLA, who thinks they're going to turn things around this year, what with a new coach and our exoffensive coordinator.

The bRUINS placed a laughable ad in the LA Times recently:

 
image courtesy of latimes.com 

And the Wizofodds created the best comeback.
 
image courtesy of thewizofodds.com 


Despite our challenges this season, USC has a standout defense that is sure to help us win games. Our quarterback and receiving corp situations may need some working out, but it's all good. UVa will be a great opponent to work out all the kinks with and we should be ready for the Buckeyes in a couple of weeks.

Speaking of challenges, #14 Virginia Tech has lost a number of starters to graduation or the NFL so they're in a bit of a bind. Fortunately, the Hokies have quite an easy schedule this year, playing the likes of Furman and Western Kentucky (that away game at Boston College could pose a problem). VA Tech is sure to have an awesome defense as that is what they are known for. But the Hokie offense is still a big question mark. The only question that has been answered is, 'who will start at QB'? Unfortunately, that honor was bestowed upon Sean Glennon.

My dislike for Glennon has long been mentioned on this blog. The boy can't scramble to save his life (literally) and has made many errors, costing his team the victory in crucial games. With the less-than-stellar offensive line that the Hokies had last year (which seemed most exposed against LSU early last season), the tandem combination of Sean Glennon and true freshman Tyrod Taylor (with athletic abilities that Glennon can only dream of) seeemed to confuse defenses in the second half of last season and led to VA Tech's Orange Bowl appearance. However, Taylor's been redshirted this season (I suppose Coach Beamer is thinking of the future) and Glennon has been given the ok to start. Ugh.

You can count on this blog reporting all of Glennon's mistakes.

Other stuff you can count on:
  • My attendance at the USC/UVa game (with pictures!), Virginia Tech/GA Tech game, and the VA Tech/Nebraska game in Cornhusker country.
  • Monday reports on all of the games that mattered
  • My constantly talking about how great USC is

I'm excited that college football is starting! I can practically smell the pigskin, turkey legs (a Lane Stadium specialty at Hokie home games), and beer spouting from kegs!

No comments: