#17 UCLA at #15 Nebraska – Saturday, 9/14 12:00 pm EST, ABC
UCLA travels to Lincoln, Nebraska in one of two Top 25 matchups this weekend. UCLA is coming off of an early bye week after handling Nevada with little trouble in the opener. Nebraska struggled in their opener giving up 602 total yards, but they hung on in the end for a 37-34 victory. The Cornhuskers had no such issues last week getting out to a large lead early on against Southern Miss and cruising to victory. This will be the first real test for both teams this weekend. Both offenses have been impressive so far in this young season, so it will be the defenses that determine the outcome. UCLA got the victory in Los Angeles last year amassing 653 yards on the Nebraska defense. It will be interesting to see how both teams manage emotions in this game – the Huskers being motivated by revenge that Bo Pelini has openly talked about and the Bruins managing the emotions in their first game following the death of walk-on wide receiver Nick Pasquale who was struck by a car and killed on Sunday.
#1 Alabama at #6 Texas A&M – Saturday, 9/14 3:30 pm EST, CBS
This matchup certainly looks to be the game of the year in college football this season. Chock-full of storylines that make it an interesting game anyway, it also pits two national title contenders in game that could help decide the SEC West and the national championship. Texas A&M handed Alabama its only loss of the season last year and the Tide has had this game circled all off-season (the Alabama weight room televisions had last year’s loss on a running loop all off-season). Saban has had all off-season to formulate a plan to stop last year’s Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel and this uptempo spread offense. Manziel had a turbulent off-season and finally has the big stage again to just play football. The Alabama offense looked pedestrian in the opener against Virginia Tech and has had two weeks to fix things. Come Saturday evening we’ll know which of these teams is in the driver’s seat.
Georgia Tech at Duke – Saturday, 9/14 3:30 pm EST, ESPNU
Georgia Tech has been called a sleeper in the ACC this year. If they’re going to have any chance in the coastal they have to be able to play well in the games they should win in addition to pulling a few upsets. While Duke is far from a great defensive team, they should give Georgia Tech a better barometer of where their option offense is this season than the opener against Elon. Duke looks to start 3-0 for the first time since the 1994 season when they won the first 7 games of the season. This will be the first test for Duke, who has certainly improved under David Cutcliffe. It what could be an offensive shootout, I don’t think Duke can keep up with the Georgia Tech offense.
Tennessee at #2 Oregon – Saturday, 9/14 3:30 pm EST, ABC
Oregon has run roughshod over their first two opponents averaging 62.5 points and 664.5 yards of offense. Tennessee should be be a bigger test for the Oregon offense, but the Volunteers don’t exactly field a great defense. In their opener, Tennessee was actually out gained by Western Kentucky giving up 393 yards to the Hilltoppers. They were an opportunistic defense, however, capitalizing on 7 WKU turnovers. In particular, Tennessee gave up 5.0 yards per rush against Western Kentucky which doesn’t bode well against Oregon and their ridiculous 10.0 yards per rush average. On the other side of the ball, Oregon has shown an improved defense, albeit against less than stellar offenses so far in 2013.
#3 Ohio State at California – Saturday, 9/14 7:00 pm EST, FOX
Ohio State was undefeated last season and finished ranked #3 in the AP Poll. Despite that, they were barely ranked in the Top 15 in the footballoutsiders.com F/+ ranking that take schedule and performance into play. The reason that’s relevant? Ohio State doesn’t play an overly strong schedule and a trip out west is one of the few losable games that the Buckeyes have this season. Cal has enough offense to make this an interesting game.