Football Non-BCS Games Week 2 Breakdown
Hawaii vs. Washington
WHY YOU’LL WATCH
Hawaii made a statement last week against another Pac-12 opponent in Colorado. Bryant Moniz was only 20-33 passing, but he gashed the Buffaloes defense for 121 yards on 14 carries. After one game, the Hawaii offense does not seem to resemble Hawaii offenses of old. It seems less like a high-flying offense early on. Thirty-three pass attempts is still fairly high, but clearly this offense is best run when Moniz makes good decisions and makes moves with his feet when he gets the opportunity.
Washington is still searching for a viable replacement for the beloved Jake Locker. Locker had a taste of success at a program that had hit the doldrums of college football. Under Locker and Head Coach Steve Sarkisian, Washington beat USC in the regular season back-to-back years and earned a victory last year against a good Nebraska team in the Holiday Bowl. Sophomore Keith Price is the great hope for Husky nation. He threw three touchdowns last week, but only for 102 yards while barely beating Eastern Washington. The Huskies will rely a lot on Chris Polk to run this team into another postseason. This game will be won by whichever team does a better job of stopping the run. Then it will be up to the throwers to lead their team to victory.
Southern Mississippi vs. Marshall
WHY YOU’LL WATCH
Both teams are looking to get off to a good start in conference play. Both are smaller programs that, win or lose, always seem to compete hard with the big boys.
Last week, Marshall was in the game with West Virginia for quite a while until the Moutaineers pulled away after the weather delay. Southern Mississippi didn’t turn any heads last week by beating Louisiana Tech by two points. But don’t discount the competitive nature of the first conference game. In a smaller conference like C-USA, early season leverage matters. Southern Miss is 3-1 against Marshall in the last four games of the series. It is a great barometer for both teams as conference play kicks off for each. If Marshall wishes to reach the postseason for the first time in two years, a win against Southern Miss would be a good start.
UTEP vs. Southern Methodist
WHY YOU’LL WATCH
Mike Price against June Jones. Okay, these are just the coaches, but it is an intriguing story line. Both are former successful head coaches at Division I football programs. Both switched programs for different reasons (Price – disciplinary, Jones – opportunity). Both have been successful at their previous stops. Their current schools don’t make the same headlines necessarily as their previous ones do, but they are looking to bring success and attention the C-USA. This game will help establish an early frontrunner in the Western Division.
The Mustangs are still suffering the lingering effects of the NCAA “death penalty” dropped on them in 1987 for a myriad of violations. Jones was the man brought in to bring the once-proud program out of the dark. Since 2009, it seems they are getting closer to being a relevant competitor in C-USA. They basically had no shot of winning against Texas A&M last week. UTEP beat Stony Brook 31-24 behind 401 yards of offense. SMU has to find a way to stop that potency if they want to avoid an 0-2 hole. The coaching strategy of these two veterans will be interesting to watch.
Navy vs. Western Kentucky
WHY YOU’LL WATCH
Let’s see if Navy can keep it up. Navy has been a steady program since Paul Johnson was running the show. Coach Ken Niumatalolo has tried to run the same triple-option style offense with some positive results. The last few seasons have been good to the Midshipmen. They have consistently won at least eight games per year, and have generally whooped up on Army (which is very important to the Naval Academy). They no longer have Ricky Dobbs, their Heisman hopeful quarterback from last season, but they still have solid talent and an offense that is hard to stop.
Western Kentucky is not a great team. Kawaun Jakes threw for a measly 93 yards and only generated three points for the offense. After one week they are bottom six in the country in passing offense and scoring. It is only one week, but it was also against Kentucky, who doesn’t exactly light the SEC on fire. The Hilltoppers are likely to fall to the athletic Midshipmen, but this game is important to Navy. The easier they dispatch WKU, the more momentum they bring into Columbia, SC for a showdown with the Gamecocks next week.
BYU vs. Texas
WHY YOU’LL WATCH
Well, this is actually a big time game that happens to feature a program that has moved into the realm of the Independents. BYU has enjoyed a lot of success under Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall. Until last year, the Cougars had won at least ten games since 2006. Mendenhall has a 4-2 bowl record in his six seasons. This is a fairly young team that went through some rough times last year and is looking to rebound from a 7-6 record.
Rebounding is exactly what Texas is trying to do as well. After a very un-Texas-like 5-7 record last year, Mack Brown gutted the coaching staff in order to shake things up and get back to the winning ways Texas is known for. Garrett Gilbert, who stepped in admirably as a freshman for Colt McCoy in the National Title game two years ago, was handed the keys to the car. Malcolm Brown, a highly-touted freshman, joins Gilbert in the backfield. The defense is reestablishing itself as a dominant part of the equation in Austin. This game should be a good indicator of where Texas is as a team at the early part of the season. BYU would love a signature win like this. It would reaffirm their position on the national football landscape.
