Florida, Miami clash in battle of the Sunshine State

The Miami Hurricanes used last weekend’s game against Florida A’M as a tuneup for their… The Miami Hurricanes used last weekend’s game against Florida A’M as a tuneup for their upcoming showdown with No. 6 Florida this weekend. Miami blew out A’M 63-17 and convinced head coach Larry Coker that the team is ready to travel to the swamp and play the Gators.

“It was a convincing win. Our talent level and depth was too much for them,” Coker said. “We definitely played hard. We are encouraged for the future from this win. We have a tough team ahead in Florida. We must have a strong week of preparation if we want a chance to win.”

Although it’s still very early in the season, this game has national championship implications written all over it.

“It’s a special matchup, we are both very highly ranked,” Coker said. “There’s so much good talent in the state and it just becomes a very special game for the state of Florida.”

The spotlight will shine on two quarterbacks during this matchup. Ken Dorsey from Miami and Rex Grossman of Florida will receive much of the attention from the opposing defenses. The quarterback who enjoys the least success could prove to be the deciding factor.

Look for Miami to take the pressure off Dorsey by handing the ball off to running back Jason Geathers, who carried 22 times for 203 yards and two touchdowns in the win over A’M.

Hokies roll over LSU, have week off

Frank Beamer’s Virginia Tech Hokies are 2-0 on the season after beating LSU 26-8 on Saturday. The Hokies jumped to No. 10 in the recent USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.

” I’m really proud of the team,” Beamer said Tuesday during the Big East coaches’ teleconference. ” We have played the same way against two different talent levels. We have played hard and with good execution. If you ask me, that’s hard to do. We still have a lot of football left and a lot of improving to do.”

The Hokies are off this weekend, but will welcome No. 18 Marshall next Thursday. However, they will be without starting quarterback Grant Noel, who had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and will be sidelined for two weeks. Virginia Tech will turn to sophomore Brian Randall.

Randall has completed 11 of 17 passes for 113 yards and one touchdown so far this year. He will be frequently handing off to possibly the best backfield in college football. Heisman candidate Lee Suggs has rushed for 178 yards on 29 carries and three touchdowns this year, while his teammate Kevin Jones has 105 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns.

On the other side of the ball, Marshall has its own Heisman candidate. Quarterback Byron Leftwich has already thrown for 469 yards and four touchdowns while running for another this year. Beamer knows it will be a challenge for his secondary.

“They are a legit team. They throw the ball a lot, which opens up other plays,” Beamer said. “It will be tough for us.”

West Virginia rolls to victory in opener

When asked how he felt about his team’s blowout win over Chattanooga, West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez didn’t sound entirely satisfied.

” I was pleased with the win. We didn’t execute everything we wanted to, but a win’s a win,” Rodriguez said. “This week we have a different atmosphere with a top-25 team and our team must realize that.”

The Mountaineers will take on the Wisconsin Badgers, a team with a much more potent offense that could very well create some problems for WVU.

“We need to create more turnovers on defense,” Rodriguez stressed. “Also, we need to prepare for a more physical game. Wisconsin thrives on turnovers so we must guard the football.”

The most encouraging part of the win for the Mountaineers may have been quarterback Rasheed Marshall, who completed 14 of 23 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns en route to being named the Big East Offensive Player of the Week. Everyone, including Rodriguez, was excited by Marshall’s play.

“Rasheed saw the field very well. He has progressed and we think he can get better as the competition improves as well,” Rodriguez said.

Marshall spread the ball around well, giving several of his receivers a chance to get their hands on the ball. The Mountaineers threw the ball from many different formations, demonstrating the challenge the team would pose to any defense.

Defensively, West Virginia will see a much more potent attack this week from Wisconsin and its veteran tailback, Anthony Davis. If the Mountaineers can keep a lid on the Badgers’ ground game, it will force them to go to the weak arm of quarterback Brooks Bollinger.

BC wins battle of the north east – barely

It took an entire first half for the real Boston College Eagles to realize they were playing a football game. By they time they did, they found themselves down 16-3 to the University of Connecticut.

In the second half, the Eagle defense dominated and their offense finally kicked into gear and BC walked away with a 24-16 win. Head coach Tom O’Brien breathed a sigh of relief after the win, but wasn’t excited with the way his team played.

“We are happy to come out with a victory,” O’Brien said. “They took it to us in the first half so give them credit but our defense took over the second half of the game and our offense finally got it going.”

This weekend it will only get harder for the Eagles as they welcome Stanford, a Pac-10 powerhouse. Last year, Stanford led its conference in numerous categories on offense and it will be a huge early season test for the BC defense.

O’Brien will stick with running back Horace Dodd this weekend, although he only ran for 12 yards on six carries. Quarterback Brian St. Pierre will need to get off to a better start to open the running lanes for Dodd. Although St. Pierre wasn’t very sharp early on against UConn, he finished strong, completing 19 of 33 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns but threw two interceptions.

Temple welcomes challenging Oregon State squad

Mike McGann and Tanardo Sharps took their game with Richmond into their hands Thursday night and single-handedly led the Owls to an opening season victory. McGann completed 18 of 31 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran for a touchdown.

On the ground, Sharps carried the ball 30 times for 138 yards. Temple coach Bobby Wallace was happy with the way his team played but knows there are things that must be improved in order to beat Oregon State this tonight.

” We are very pleased to win. There were a lot of good things,” Wallace said. “There are a lot of improvements needed. Some of the good things were overshadowed by mistakes and turnovers especially in the red zone.”

This week, Wallace knows Oregon State will prove to be a much better foe. The team boasts quarterback Derek Anderson, who completed 15 of 26 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns. If they can stop Anderson, the Beavers will go to running back Steven Jackson, who rushed 21 times for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

“They are an outstanding team. They are a top 25-type team very similarly to Big East teams,” Wallace said. “They have a very solid defense and it will be a very tough game for us.”

Syracuse blown out in opener

Consistency is the key word floating around the Syracuse University campus this week. Consistent is what the Orangemen were not during their 42-21 loss to BYU.

Syracuse struggled to get things going on offense, and the defense had trouble stopping the rolling offense of the Cougars. Head coach Paul Pasqualoni was disappointed not in the effort of his team, but with the results.

“It was a tough go at BYU. I thought they played very well especially on offense,” Pasqualoni said. “We had some problems with our young guys in the secondary. We just didn’t play as good as we needed to. We will try to build on the good things that occurred but we will need more consistent play to do so.”

Saturday against North Carolina, the Orangemen must start with quarterback R.J. Anderson, who was everything but on target at eight for 24 for 128 yards and two interceptions. North Carolina brings a strong defense to the Carrier Dome and if the Orangemen want to put points on the board, Anderson will have to play much better.

If Anderson can get things going this week, it will take the focus off tailback Damien Rhodes, who ran for 84 yards on 14 carries and found the end zone twice.

Rutgers disappointing in loss to Villanova

Division I-AA Villanova came in to Piscataway, N.J., this weekend after losing its best player in school history to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL Draft. Even though Brian Westbrook is gone, the winning tradition he had at Villanova stayed behind as the Wildcats upset Rutgers 37-19.

Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano, surprised at the outcome of the game, is in a hurry to put it behind him and move on to this Saturday’s game with Buffalo.

“It was a very disappointing loss. I am confident our team will bounce back,” Schiano said. “We need this game against Buffalo this week to get our confidence back.”

Rutgers quarterback Ryan Cubit may have been the lone bright spot for the Scarlet Knights in Saturday’s loss. He completed 17 of 38 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns.