STUDY HALL - WEEK FIVE

Study Hall is our weekly College Football preview.

Most boring interview in college football HE IS A MAN, HE IS 40!

Sorry for the late posting this week, however there are five great games this weekend. Watched the Oklahoma State/Texas A&M game last night, wasn't terribly impressed with either team at times last night. OSU took a long time offensively to get going, while defensively seemed bound to fail with playing a seemingly soft Cover 2 all evening. TAMU on the other hand completely forgot that running the ball was a option given to them, as Jerrod Johnson (who wasn't on my top 10 list of CFB qb's) kept doing a Chad Pennington impersonation by throwing slow pitch softballs up the field last night. Elite quarterbacks do not turn the ball over 4 times in a game. On to the weekend! (all listed times Eastern)

Great place to be this Saturday.

#21 TEXAS vs. #8 OKLAHOMA  3:30pm ABC National

The 2010 Red River Shootout lost a whole lot of luster last week when Texas took it in the teeth thanks to UCLA. However, this game as always will go a long way to deciding who will be the Big 12 South representative in the title game in December across town. Both teams come in portrayed as underacheivers, with Texas' defense giving up a lot of rushing yards, while Garrett Gilbert hasn't been very impressive to go with a running attack that was billed as great yet hasn't done anything. Oklahoma on the other hand has looked unmotivated in 3 of their 4 victories, save a fantastic effort against Florida State. Landry Jones hasn't lived up to a lot of preseason hype either, depending on a whole lot of Demarco Murray. Four star game here, just for the atmosphere and how both teams have a great crowd behind them. I can't see Texas giving up a lot of yards to Murray and winning the game. Oklahoma's defense has been alright, not great but good enough to keep people out of the end zone. If Texas can hold Murray to 120-130 yards rushing, they will have a chance because then Jones still has to prove he can make plays. Think Oklahoma wins a low scoring, mistake filled game.

This man has ONIONS.

 #11 WISCONSIN vs. #24 MICHIGAN STATE  3:30pm, ABC Regional

This game is much better than people think. Michigan State has ended up being decent enough being in the top 30 in both total offense and scoring defense in the nation. Wisconsin also has been impressive in their early season schedule, and brings a top 10 rushing attack into the game at Spartan Stadium. If you're a Big 10 guy, this is easily a four and a half star game. This game just keeps screaming John Clay to me. He already has over 500 yards rushing, and seems to be a great pick to control the tempo. Scott Tolzien is your basic vanilla Wisconsin QB that manages the game and wins it, just what Bret Bielema asks him to do. Kirk Cousins will be asked to do a lot to win this game for Sparty. With coach Mark D'Antonio in the coaches boxes after coming back from a heart attack, and being at home, Michigan State has a very good chance. The key will be making Wisconsin getting out of their comfort zone and throwing a lot, especially on first down. Just do not think Wisconsin is going to be blown away and will squeak by.

Two guys who get it done.

#7 FLORIDA vs. #1 ALABAMA  8:00pm CBS

I know these two teams have won the last few BCS titles. I know these two teams have shared the SEC title the last 3 years. This game, however, shouldn't be that close. Florida, even though they have won, has not looked very good in their games. The offense with John Brantley hasn't been great, and flat out atrocious the first 2 games. Getting the snap back in the shotgun has been a trip even. Furthermore, the one bright spot in Jeffery Demps was in a walking boot earlier this week. Alabama is at home, on a Saturday night, with a offense that gets it done with Greg McElroy, Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, and that FEROCIOUS defense. Ryan Mallett did gash them a little bit last week, but then the D tightened down hardcore and gave the offense a chance to win the game. I am just trying to figure out how Florida will win this game, and everything comes to Alabama not playing well. That isn't happening. Five star game here, and Bama should win by 2 touchdowns at home.

Loud. Very very loud.

#9 STANFORD vs. #4 OREGON  8:00pm  ABC National

Autzen Stadium will be rockin with ESPN College Gameday there in the EARLY morning, and then will be borderline crazy when the game kicks off. Andrew Luck has been touted as a Heisman candidate, and to be honest with you, I have really not seen anything that gives me the reason he should be. Dayne Crist threw for more yards last week in the Stanford/ND game, and Luck has beefed up his numbers against teams like Wake Forest and Sacramento State. Oregon, on the other hand has the highest scoring offense in D-1, averaging almost a point a minute. There will be offense in this game, however Autzen is one of the places that you have to account for playing Oregon. It seems that most teams, when down more than one score, start getting frantic and go downhill very fast. This will be a test of Jim Harbaugh and his staff to get a team that is supposed to be a Top 10 team to have some poise and get through it. Another five star game here, potentially the Pac 10 title game here. Thinking that Oregon just has too much firepower to lose here. Not that Stanford's D is that bad, but Oregon's offense is just that damn good.

I AM A REAL AMERICAN, FIGHT FOR THE RIGHTS OF EVERY MAN!

#22 PENN STATE vs. #17 IOWA   8:00 ESPN

Two teams that need to get off to a great start in Big 10 play. Ricky Stanzi and Iowa try to get it back going after the loss against Arizona, while Penn State and Frosh QB Robert Bolden get it going after being embarassed by Alabama. One thing about this game: Iowa is fifth in the nation in points allowed, while Penn State is eighth. I do wish that Iowa brought back the throwbacks for this game instead of last week against Ball State, but that's just me. Penn State must play better than they did against Temple last week, and they are going to Kinnick where they lost 2 years ago on a field goal at the wire. Robert Bolden, meet Adam Clayborn. Iowa wins a low scoring affair.

This man wants a raise.

GEORGIA vs. COLORADO (may not be televised anyhow, read my rant, thank you god) FSN

This is your first one star to zero star game this year. Mark Richt needs it more than Dan Hawkins does, but don't watch unless your family is involved. Go clean the tub and toilet with your tongue, it will give you a better taste in your mouth than this will.


GAMES TO PAY ATTENTION TO:

Ohio State at Illinois: Terrell Pryor is smokin hot right now, and Zooker is in T R O U B L E.

Tennessee at LSU: Tennessee's D is good enough to make this game close. Wouldn't be shocked at the upset here, but this is LSU we're talking about.

Michigan at Indiana: Hoosiers are undefeated and at home. Be interesting to see how healthy Denard Robinson is.

Virginia Tech at North Carolina State: Hokies need this game or else the season could go south quickly.

Washington at USC: Sark and Locker have had 2 weeks for this game, while Kiffykins hates extra points.

FOOD AND BEVERAGES FOR THE WEEKEND:

My wife keeps telling me Hoagies sound good for dinner this weekend. I agree with her, quick and easy:

Steak and Cheese Hoagies
Recipe courtesy Sandra Lee

Ingredients
1 1/2 pound top round steak
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 hoagie rolls, sliced down the middle
1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon hot sauce

Directions

Heat an outdoor grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Preheat the broiler.
Season the steak with salt and pepper, to taste. Grill the meat until it is medium-rare, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.


In a large bowl, whisk together the Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, mustard, rosemary, and red pepper flakes. Set aside.


Remove the steak from the grill to a cutting board, cover it with foil, and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. Slice the steak thinly and toss the slices in the Worcestershire sauce mixture.


Spread the rolls open and arrange on a baking sheet. Sprinkle each roll with a 1/4 cup of the cheese and put them under the broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 1 to 2 minutes.


In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and hot sauce. Spread the mayonnaise onto the bottom of each roll. Put a quarter of the beef into each of the rolls. (Reserve 4 pieces of beef for the Round 2 Recipe Couscous Stuffed Tomatoes). Cover with the roll tops, cut in half and serve.

Beverage for the weekend? Keep it sober folks, drink a Pepsi.

COACHES WHO BUMS ARE TOASTY:

Tim Brewster: three losses in a row in a new stadium isn't a way to keep your job, boss.

Ron Zook: enjoy Terrell Pryor running around you. Better hope it's Pryor's stinker for the year.

Mark Richt: has a way to get a feel good win against Colorado, better get it.

Dan Hawkins: lose to a underacheving Georgia team, hey they can't afford to fire you anyhow!

Mike Locksley: dude, why bother?


THE FINAL RANT:

Not popular right now, not at all.

If you have Dish Network and the extra sports tier, you woke up this morning to seeing 18 FOX channels not on the air. This is the current result of Dish and News Corp. in a pricing war. Dish Network claims that FOX took their channels off their air, however there are several FSN's still on the air, for example FSN Rocky Mountain, FSN Northwest, and FSN Pittsburgh. To Dish's credit, they are looking out for me as a subscriber as News Corp. wants to bump up their fees by over 50%, which me, the subscriber, would have to end up paying in some way in the future. However, no matter who is looking out for who, the people who lose are the subscribers who, in some instances, give up other things to have sattelite television. Personally, I'm in the last 2 months of my Dish contract, and currently pay $80/month to have what I have with no premium movie channels on my lineup (unless you consider Encore a premium channel, I sure don't). The hurtful thing is that, unless something changes very soon, the last weekend of baseball season, this whole week of College Fooball, and preseason NHL/NBA games are lost for the weekend at least to fans and people who thought they were getting them. I have no reason to go to DirecTV (and never will go back to Time Warner), but if this can't be fixed, I can't say personally I have a reason to stay. And, seeing on Twitter how many people are upset with this on the Dish Network feed (twitter.com/DishNetwork), I can't see this lasting and the company keeping subscribers. If you agree with me, please contact the President of both Fox and Dish (Dish's address is CEO@DishNetwork.com)
 
Have a great weekend, next week will be even better.