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Nittany Lions -2 vs. Buckeyes

Ohio State has arrived. The team has struggled through many of their contests this year and seemed listless in most of them. This all changed last week when the Buckeyes traveled north to meet the Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans were in a three way tie with Ohio State and Penn State and any hopes they had at being in a two-way tie for or sole possession of first place was sunk about midway through the first quarter. Ohio State (7-1, 4-0) played their most complete game of the year and dominated in every aspect of the game as they stomped Michigan State 45-7 in East Lansing.

Over in Happy Valley at roughly the same time, a similar story was developing. Not that Penn State (8-0, 4-0) was playing their first complete game of the year; they have had many of those, but that they took their frustrations out on an opponent. This time it was the Michigan Wolverines who they had not beaten since 1996. Michigan stormed out to a 17-7 lead and it seemed the Wolverines were going to once again come in as an inferior opponent and destroy another Penn State season. Coach Joe Paterno stated before the game that Michigan was not in their heads, but it appeared early on that they were firmly in the Nittany Lions heads. Penn State turned on the burners in the second half and did not allow Michigan to score as they lit up the score board for 39 straight points on way to a 46-17 rout.

This game is a matchup of the top Big Ten teams and the number three and nine teams in the nation will go along way in clearing up the Big Ten picture as well as the national title picture. While Penn State put a stop to one streak by finally beating Michigan, they must buck a couple of other trends to keep their undefeated season going. The Nittany Lions have not won a road game against a top ten team in ten tries. In addition, Penn State must win in Columbus for the first time since 1978.

For the Lions to win, Daryll Clark, an Ohio native, must be his best. He has been most of the season as he is the conference's second-highest rated passer and has tossed and ran for 19 touchdowns. Clark has done a stellar job, but it is a possibility he could be riding the pine if it were not for Ohio State's signal caller.  Chances are if Pennsylvania's own Terrelle Pryor had chosen Penn State over Ohio State, he would be the starting quarterback in Happy Value, much like he is in Columbus.

Pryor had his best game of his young career last Saturday in East Lansing. Coach Jim Tressel had Pryor on a short leash because of his recent struggles, but he appeared to solidify the starting position with 116 yards through the air, 72 yards on the ground and a touchdown pass.

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Owls -3 vs. Bobcats

The absence of a World Series game tonight has opened the door for a rare Tuesday night college football showdown tonight in baseball-mad Philadelphia. Two struggling teams from the Mid-American Conference meet at Lincoln Financial Field tonight as the Ohio Bobcats travel east to take own their conference rival Temple Owls.

Ohio (2-5, 1-2) looks to continue their season turnaround as they attempt to win their third game in four tries. The Bobcats started the season a disappointing 0-4, even though they gave state rivals Ohio State a run for their money in the second week of the season as they led the Buckeyes at half time and added an early second half touchdown before ultimately surrendering the lead and eventually the game 26-14. Wins over Kent State and VMI sandwiched between a 41-20 thumping in Kalamazoo against Western Michigan has given Ohio some hope that their season may now be on the right track, especially against a Temple team whom the Bobcats’ blasted 23-7 in the teams’ first meeting last season in Athens, Ohio.

In their second season of playing football in the MAC, Temple (2-5, 1-3) has struggled against their new conference rivals as well as in their non-conference schedule.  The Owls started the season with a convincing 35-7 victory over Army, but followed that win with five losses in six games. Their only win during that time came on the road against Miami of Ohio, 28-10 on October 4.

If Temple hopes to win this contest, they must stop Ohio’s offense because their own offense has been lackluster throughout 2008. The Owls have the 113th best scoring offense, rank 115th in the nation in total yards, 101st in passing yards and 108th in rushing yards.

Meanwhile the Bobcats’ offense ranks in the middle of the pack, however they have been putting up big numbers on offense, but it has not helped them win more than 2 games.

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Crimson Tide -12 vs. Rebels

In March, you have the team that has "Cinderella slippers" on and gets hot and beats up on the big boys.  These are always great stories, but rarely does a team consistently beat higher ranked teams during a college football season. While one team has not been able to pull this off this season, there have been several big boys going down and Alabama is on upset guard alert versus Mississippi.

An upset of the surging Crimson Tide (6-0, 3-0) may be a tall order for the Rebels who have not pulled off too many upsets of their next door neighbors over the years. Out of 56 meetings, Mississippi has only won 9 times and tied twice.  Alabama leads the series 44-9-2, has won four straight and 20 of the past 23 in the lopsided series. Even more incredibly, Mississippi (3-3. 1-2) has only won once in Tuscaloosa in 1988.  But Ole Miss fans are hoping that the team has turned the tied against the big boys of the SEC since their 31-30 upset of the Florida Gators in Gainesville three weeks ago.

Further hope for the Rebels is the fact that the last time the Tide took the field, they did not exactly look like the second best team in the country.  In their slim 17-14 triumph over Kentucky, Alabama turned the ball over three times and committed a season high 10 penalties resulting in 92 yards lost.  One bright spot in the game against the Wildcats was Glen Coffee, who ran for 218 yards rushing and a touchdown.

For Ole Miss, the only hope they have in this game is to hold on to the ball. They lost their last game two weeks ago at home 31-24 against South Carolina in large part due to three turnovers. Over the past five games, they have turned the ball over 15 times.

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