Under The Radar: Non-BCS Games of Week Two

I picked some good ones last week. Temple beat Villanova by hitting a FG in the last 3 seconds of the game to take a 1 point lead before returning a fumble for a TD on the last play of the game to ice it 31-24. Troy kicked a FG with 4 seconds left to top Bowling Green 30-27. In one of the best plays of the weekend East Carolina hit a 33 yard Hail Mary as time expired to fend off an upset bid by Tulsa 51-49. So 3 out of the 4 games I brought you last week were decided in basically the last play of the game. The other pick was a sentimental pick as Bill Curry and the Georgia State Panthers had their first ever game in the history of the school and beat Shorter in a rout 41-7 in front of 30,000 fans at the Georgia Dome. I was 3-1 picking straight up with no spread as I picked Tulsa to pull the upset of East Carolina but was denied on the Hail Mary. I was going to put Central Michigan at Temple as my first "Game of Week Two" but that game is now over (Temple won 13-10 in OT by the way).

UTEP (1-0) at Houston (1-0)
Fri, Sept 10th (ESPN and ESPN3.com)
10:15 PM EST

Anybody remember last year when Houston was getting some serious buzz after beating Oklahoma State (a Top 10 team at the time) and then Texas Tech? Houston was the #12 team in the nation and UTEP was coming off of a 64-7 throttling at the hands of Texas. So what happened? Well, of course UTEP pulled the upset 58-41. UTEP finished up the year by losing 5 of their next 7 games and Houston went on to finish 10-4 despite losing their last two games. Houston will be looking for revenge but it might not be as easy as they want. In addition to losing to UTEP last year, Houston only beat UTEP by 5 points in 2008 and 3 points in 2007.

My Pick: Houston


BYU (1-0) at Air Force (1-0)
Sat, Sept 11th (Versus)
4 PM EST

Last week BYU was seen beating Washington and Heisman darling Jake Locker. Air Force but up 65 on Northwestern State. Last year BYU clipped Air Force by 17 at home. This year the game is on the road for BYU but I expect them to prevail. Watch this one to get a peak at BYU Freshman Jake Heaps. Last week he went 13 of 23 for 131 yards in his debut as a true freshman.

My Pick: BYU


Bowling Green (0-1) at Tulsa (0-1)
Sat, Sept 11th

Both of these teams played games that I listed in my column last week and both games delivered on dramatic finishes. On paper this doesn't look like the best game but both teams put up valiant fights last week and came up just short. Tulsa lost at East Carolina 51-49 because of a fluke Hail Mary play and Bowling Green lost at Troy on a last second FG. Expect both teams to play with a lot of heart and emotion.

My Pick: Tulsa

Under The Radar: Non-BCS Games of the Week

Ross already has us covered on the "Big Time" games this week in his Six Pack Games of the Week. So I thought I would take a look at some under the radar games this week (in some cases way under the radar) that do not involve any teams from a BCS conference.


Tulsa Golden Hurricane at East Carolina Pirates
When: Sunday Sept 5th at 2 PM on ESPN 2
Where: Greenville, NC (Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium)
Line: East Carolina by 8.5

Last year under the guidance of Skip Holtz, East Carolina defeated Tulsa 44 to 17 on Tulsa's home turf. This year Skip Holtz has moved on to South Florida and former Texas Tech DC Ruffin McNeill has taken over the East Carolina Pirates. With last years game being such a blow out, why would I pick this as a game to watch? Because these two teams look to be vastly different than last years versions. East Carolina returns the least amount of starters in all of the FBS (they are losing 30 lettermen and only return 8 starters) and is breaking in a new coaching staff. Tulsa on the other hand brings back 15 starters with 9 of those playing on the offense including QB G.J. Kinne and WR Damaris Johnson. I think Tulsa could be a surprise team in C-USA. Ruffin McNeill still hasn't decided who his QB is for game one and to me that's not a good sign when you are breaking in a new offense.

My Pick: Tulsa


Villanova Wildcats at Temple Owls
When: Friday Sept 3rd at 5 PM on ESPN3.com
Where: Philadelphia, PA (Lincoln Financial Field)

Temple finished 9-4 last year but opened up the year with back-to-back losses to Penn State and Villanova. Villanova went 14-1 last year and won the FCS Championship over Montana. In week one last year Temple held a 10 point lead on Villanova in the 4th quarter but the Wildcats fought back and kicked a FG with no time on the clock to win the game in dramatic fashion. This sets up as a revenge game for Temple and sets up as a game in which Villanova wants to show the world (or at least Philadelphia) that they are indeed for real.

My Pick: Temple


Bowling Green Falcons at Troy Trojans
When: Saturday Sept 4th on Troy/ISP Network/FCSP (cable)
Where: Troy, Al (Movie Gallery Stadium)
Line: Troy by 14

Much like Temple/Villanova this is a revenge game. Last year in the first game of the year Bowling Green beat Troy 31-14. This was Dave Clawson's debut game as coach of the Bowling Green Falcons and his team surprisingly outgained the Trojans 394-293. Troy took a 14-7 led into half but BGSU owned the 2nd half as they outscored the Trojans 24-0 to win the game. Bowling Green finished the season 7-6 and Troy wound up 9-4.

My Pick: Troy


Georgia State Panthers vs. Shorter Hawks
When: Thurs Sept 2nd at 7:30 PM
Where: Atlanta, Georgia (Georgia Dome)

Most people don't have this game on their radar but to me it's very intriguing because it's the very first game for the Georgia State Panthers. Head Coach Bill Curry has been tabbed as the guy to help make football a reality and it all kicks off on Thursday. Shorter is a Division 2 school that opened up their schedule last week with a loss to West Alabama (the #12 team in Division 2). Despite the loss Shorter's style is said to be like Georgia Tech's. That could be intriguing. Also, Georgia State is not naming a starting QB. They had 4 guys go at it during spring for the starting nod and then former Alabama back-up Star Jackson threw his name in the hat by transferring this fall. Despite being their first year Georgia State does have 8 players with D-1 playing experience (including a grad student who started at Georgia Tech on the OL last year). Unfortunately, this game isn't on TV (shocker) but I will be keeping an eye out on how Georgia State and Bill Curry do in their inaugural season.

My Pick: Georgia State