Sizzlin’ Seven: The College Picks

Tennessee (-9.5) vs UCLA

The Vols lost to the Bruins last season in California, so revenge is going to be a big factor in this football game. Tennessee has always had world-class athletes on their roster but Lane Kiffin is starting to get the most out of them. He knows he needs a big win this weekend before moving on to the SEC schedule which is going to be brutal.

UCLA starts a freshman quarterback, Kevin Prince, on the road against one of the largest crowds and one of the more athletic defenses in all of college football. Prince has never seen the type of schemes he is going to this weekend against Lane’s father, Monte. It will be a learning experience for him and a terrible experience for the Bruins overall.

Bryce Brown and the Vols ground game runs away from the Bruins, 33-17 and cover easily.

North Carolina (-4) @ UConn

Just because both of these teams have finished in the middle of their conference over the past five years, people assume that these programs are on the same level. It’s far from the truth. Butch Davis has done a fantastic job of getting future NFL players to Chapel Hill, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Randy Edsall is also a great coach and master motivator but he lost way too many players from last year’s team to win games against top notch programs in 2009.

His main weapon, Donald Brown, was his go-to guy last year and racked up over 2,000 yards on the ground. He’s taking hand offs from Peyton Manning this season and the Huskies are going to feel his loss. UConn had two 100-yard rushers against Ohio last week but this Tar Heel defense is on a totally different level. The defensive line, anchored by DT Marvin Austin, will force UConn to the air, where QB Zach Frazer is mistake prone and doesn’t have that do-it-all wide receiver to rely on.

TJ Yates does enough from the quarterback position to put some points on the board early and UNC’s defense makes 3 or 4 plays that change the momentum in this game. UNC wins 27-13 and shows why their defense is going to be a force in the ACC.

USC (-7) @ Ohio State

This has been the most highly anticipated game of the 2009 college football season. And at the end of the day, Ohio State is going to wish it never happened.

The focus has been on how Matt Barkley is going to react to such a hostile environment but at the end of the day, he’s not going to have to do too much. He will turn to star running backs Stafon Johnson and Joe McKnight to shoulder the load of the Trojan offense and allow his receivers to use their superior athletic ability to chew up yards after the catch. Barkley might throw the ball 25 times but a lot of them are going to be screens and slant, putting him in a position to succeed.

Ohio State’s offensive line did not impress last week against Navy and seem slow. That might work against the Big Ten but USC is rolling out some of the most dominant ends and linebackers in college football. They will eat the Buckeyes offensive line alive.

A lot of people want to compare Terrelle Pryor to Vince Young and point to the fact that Young single handedly beat the Trojan a few years back. Young’s Texas team had a very good offensive line along with some playmakers on the outside, which made USC respect Young’s throwing ability. USC has six running backs on their roster that would start at Ohio State and get better look in practice than what they will this weekend. The Buckeyes also have to find a go-to receiver before they can Pryor can reach his full potential and it won’t happen before Saturday night.

The Buckeyes will feed off the emotion early but this game is going to get ugly late. The Trojans use their superior speed and athletic ability to win 30-20 and give the Buckeyes yet another disappointing non-conference loss.