Week 2 Predictions

The short week really flew by for me. I hope it did for you all as well. It's already week 2 of college football. Some teams answered some questions (Missouri, Oklahoma State), while other teams are still a mystery (Va Tech, Colorado), and some just got fat on cupcakes (Texas, Texas Tech).

Not really any marquee matchups in the B12 this week. Though you can get all the hype you want from the USC @ tOSU and Notre Dame @ Michigan games. Just tune into ESPN, though if the Irish play well Lou Holtz may just finally go off of the deep end and, well hell I don't know how he could go any further.

Once again we here at Corn Nation are going to look deep into our crystal balls to see what will happen around college football.

After 1 week of prognostication your discerning Corn Nation bloggers are:

So I have some work to do, and Mike can go ahead and go to Vegas.

On to the picks:

Colorado (-4) at Toledo (Friday night)

Corn Blight: The eyes of the nation are on the Buffs, just like last week. If they suck as badly as last week, if they lose this game, they’re probably going to lose ten this year along with Dan Hawkins’ job. Huge game for CU. HUGE!  CU 23 Toledo 17

Husker Mike: Oh, woe be the Buffies.  A short week to try and recover from the abomination of Sunday night.  This one's a gut check; if they don't win, this could be the beginning of a downhill spiral.  On the other hand, they could be so irritated, they could smoke the Rockets.  I'm going with the former.  Toledo 24, Colorado 21

JLew: Think Dan Hawkins can feel the heat? Maybe a Coors would help cool him down, or maybe winning a game CU should win would help? I think CU wins ugly. Barely. CU 24-21.

Kansas (-11) at UTEP

Corn Blight: This game features one of the best quarterback match ups of the early season, KU’s Todd Reesing vs UTEP’s Trevor Vittatoe. UTEP hasn’t beaten a Top 25 opponent since 1997, and they won’t again this week. But will they cover? Doubtful, if there’s one thing the Jayhawks can do, it’s score. Kansas 35 UTEP 17

Husker Mike: UTEP lost last week to Turner Gill's Buffalo squad.  And Dezmon Briscoe should be back after being suspended for the opener.  Kansas 56, UTEP 14.

JLew: Buffalo beat UTEP last week, so I’m not sure why KU is only an 11 point favorite. Maybe the line setters are worried about the KU pass defense, which should be tested in this game. KU you want to be a favorite in the North? Then act like it. I think KU rolls. KU 42-21

Kansas State (-7.5) at Louisiana-Lafayette

JLew: Not a great debut for the wildcats. They had problems on special teams, what K-State did Prince get that in the divorce too? But overall the defense played well, and I think that KSU has enough of a running game to win down in Louisiana. KSU 31-24

Corn Blight: If you’re one of those people who bet real money, and you bet on this game, you have a problem and should seek some counseling. Seriously. This is another big game in the Big 12. No conference implications, but if KSU can’t beat the Ragin’ Cajuns, they’re roughly in the same boat as Colorado minus the expectations for the season. Bill Snyder won’t be fired. I have hope for them only because I’d rather they were competitive than not. KSU 21 LL  14

Husker Mike: K-State tried to coast against FCS UMass at home in the second half.  They won't be able to do that on the road and get away with that.  KSU 20, Lafayette 17

Iowa (-6.5) at Iowa State

Corn Blight: Who has a bigger amount of suck - Iowa State in yet another rebuilding year, or Iowa as a member of the Big 10, lead by Kirk Ferentz? I don’t know - that’s pretty hard because the Cyclones look like they’ve finally got a coaching staff that cares about them, Iowa St 23 Iowa 20

Husker Mike: Iowa needed to block two field goal attempts at the end of regulation to hold of FCS Northern Iowa last week; Iowa State defeated FCS North Dakota State by double digits.  Iowa State has had Iowa's number as of late, especially in Ames.  Clones 27, Squawk-I's 17

JLew: Ugh these games are getting depressing. At least this one is a true rivalry game, the battle of the Cy-Hawk is always nasty, and always crazy. I think Iowa’s talent beats ISU’s determination. Iowa 13-7

Bowling Green (+18) at Missouri

Corn Blight: Blaine Gabbert, whoooo! It’s still early in the season, and Missouri will get even more uppity after this one, as if it means something, kind of like beating the snot out of Illinois. Missouri 38 Bowling Green 14

JLew: Beware of impact as Gabbert falls back to Earth. Gabbert gets picked twice, but Missouri wins. They should be undefeated until a certain team in red stops by for a weekday nightcap. Keep reading the newspapers Tigers. You are great, you are awesome, you don’t need to work… MU 37-14

Husker Mike: Missouri looked awfully impressive against Illinois for the opener, now gets to tee it up against the road cones.  Mizzou 56, BeeGees 10

Houston (+15.5) at Oklahoma State

Corn Blight: The Cowboys are fifth in the nation. 5th! It’s too early in the season for them to start sucking, that’ll come later on. Their defense looked surprisingly good against Georgia. It’ll look decent against Houston, too.  Oklahoma State 42 Houston 28

Husker Mike: Okie State has a quieter week this week out of the limelight.  Pokes 38, Cougars 14

The only thing that makes me pause on this game is the dreaded hang-over. Then I remember that Houston has no defense. I see a lot of points in the one. OSU 48-27

Texas (-33.5) at Wyoming

Corn Blight: Take all yer jokes about lack of ‘lectricity and Lubbock, swap Laramie in there and it’s the same joke. Lamentable Longhorns laugher. Texas 56 Wyoming 10

Husker Mike: How did Wyoming's head coach do the last time he played Texas?  Uh oh.  Texas 63, Wyoming 7

JLew: How is this Texas’ hardest OOC opponent? (only Florida should be more embarrassed, I don’t think the gators have moved north beyond Arkansas to play a non-conference opponent in a decade) UT 48-10

Rice (+27) at Texas Tech

Corn Blight: Tech doesn’t lose at home. Rice always has excellent pitching. Unfortunately, that’s another sport. Texas Tech 38 Rice 10

Husker Mike: Another cupcake for the Taylor Potts training camp.  Raiders 45, Owls 17

JLew: Do pirates like cupcakes? Someone should ask Coach Leach that during the weekly conference phone call. I bet the answer would be great. Oh and Tech rolls. Tech 49-17

Marshall (+20) at Virginia Tech

Corn Blight: The biggest question here is whether or not Tech can score 20 points, let alone 20 more than Marshall. A good warm up for the Huskers, time for Tyrod Taylor to work on that passing game. I have to believe the Hokies have it in them. VaTech 28 Marshall 13

JLew: Tech looks to get back on track after a difficult first game. We should know how good/bad Tech is going into next week. Tech 28-10

Husker Mike: Marshall isn't quite the same program they were in the Leftwich/Moss era.  A good opportunity to work out all of the kinks and frustrations from last week.  Hokies 38, Marshall 7

UCLA (+8.5) at Tennessee

JLew: Tennessee after beating down nobody and UCLA playing someone I had to look up, San Diego St. Not much of an offense for UCLA, defense looks young, but talented. Still I think Tenn wins using a balanced attack. Tenn 28-17

Corn Blight: No idea who to pick here, because it’s a battle of coaches who talk too much and write checks their teams can’t cash. I’ll admit it, I’m guessing. Anyone else is too. They probably won’t admit it though. UCLA 24 Tennessee 23

Husker Mike: The mouth that roared takes on his former mentor at USC.  Oh, and Slick Rick too.  Tennessee 31, UCLA 28, NCAA Violations 14

Notre Dame (-3) at Michigan

Corn Blight: An interesting match up for once between these (former) great teams. I’ll be rooting for the Wolverines, so Notre Dame wouldn’t get into a BCS game. Unfortunately, it matters not for whom I root. For whom I root for. Whatever. Clausen looked good last week. You have no idea how painful it was to write that. Notre Dame 27 Michigan 23

Husker Mike: Wake up the echos as both squads try to claim respectability.  RichRod?  Charlie Weis?  One of these squads crawls back under the rock they came from.  Weasels 28, Amish 24

JLew: Is anyone a winner here? I think not. At least the winning coach gets to stay off the hot seat for a week. Meechicken 23-20

USC (-6.5) at Ohio State

Husker Mike: Buckeyes barely held off the Navy last week.  USC usually turns these types of games into blowouts (remember 2007 in Lincoln?)  So long to Big Mac respectability.  USC 52, Ohio State 6

Corn Blight: The talking heads are playing up the "freshman quarterback in front of huge crowd, crumple" angle, but until Ohio State shows they can compete against a real team outside the Big 10, why would anyone pick them in this game? USC 31 Ohio State 17

JLew: Will anyone survive the hype? tOSU has O-line problems, USC looks to be uber-talented again. I can’t see taking a B10 team to win anything right now. Closer than my beloved bloggers think. USC 35-26

Arkansas State (+24) at Nebraska

Husker Mike: I still believe the Red Wolves are a much better team than Florida Atlantic.  I also think they're still a Sun Belt team.  Pelini has been pushing the Huskers to upgrade their game and he's been pleased with practices this week. That's traditionally been a good sign.  NU 38, Arkansas Sate 10.