As the anniversary of the September 11^th comes and goes, talk around TSL slowly gravitates away from football. But not here. We here at AtBE know what you need, and have your football fix. So sit back, relax, and we’ll tell you what’s goin’ down on the gridiron this weekend.

Let’s roll…..

Last Week’s Games

Oregon State 35, Temple 3
Temple kept it close for a time, behind only 14-3 in the third quarter, but the Beavers pulled away in the 3^rd and 4^th. OSU QB Derek Anderson threw for 286 yards and 4 TDs, while Temple’s Mike McGann completed an anemic 13-34 passes for 99 yards. So much for the spread offense, huh, coach? TU RB Tanardo Sharps did add 95 yards on the ground, however, so there is some promise in the running game. Uh, never mind. Next up…..Miami.

Texas A&M 14, Pittsburgh 12
Of all things to lose a game over, this is pathetic. On the first PAT for the Panthers, deep snapper Jonathan Sitter was penalized twice for wearing an ineligible jersey number, causing them to miss the PAT, and the following 2-pt conversion on the next TD, to lose by 2. What compounded the error was that Coach Walt Harris was running the "swinging gate", and it might have seemed that the "illegal formation" penalty was the result of poor execution of the play, so it was run again and another penalty incurred. Coach, you got a rule book, maybe you should read it sometime.

Then again, it does set up another top-20 opponent for us in College Station next weekend. So it ain’t all bad.

Wisconsin 34, West Virginia 17
Well, the mountaineer made it to campus alright, but he didn’t have that many opportunities to fire his popgun. UW QB Brooks Bollinger had all day to stand in the pocket (on one 3^rd down, he had a full 8 seconds before firing off a 36 yard completion) as he racked up over 200 yards passing in the first half en route to a 34-3 lead. WVU’s RB Avon Cobourne was held to 40 yards until breaking off a long gain with 1:20 to play. No pass rush, no running game? Oh, man, we’re going to bury them.

Boston College 34, Stanford 27
The Eagles, down 27-17 at the start of the 4^th quarter, rallied in Chestnut Hill to avenge last year’s loss. BC QB Brian St. Pierre had decent passing numbers (22-36, 260 yds, 1 TD) until you notice this one little stat: 3 INTs (one of them returned for a touchdown). RB Derrick Knight had a pretty good day for the Eagles, rushing 24 times for 109 yards and the final 2 touchdowns.

Miami 41, Florida 16
Well, this wasn’t quite the war it was billed to be, but I like it even better this way. I managed to have the TV on to this game while I was moving, and the Hurricanes just made Florida look slow. Ken Dorsey threw 4 TDs, Willis McGahee rushed for 204 yards (including an eye-popping 8.5 yards per carry), and the Hurricanes blew through the Swamp like…well…a Hurricane. There’s no doubt right now that Miami is the best team in the country, and from here, it looks like they may be even better than last year’s team. A team we almost beat last year. Hmmmm…..

Buffalo 34, Rutgers 11
Overheard in the Rutgers coaching offices: "Just shoot me now and put me out of my misery."

Overheard in Tony Soprano’s office: "Rocko, I’ve got a job for ya….."

North Carolina 30, Syracuse 22
Well, something did have to give here, and it turned out to be Syracuse. Syracuse led 22-16 after three quarters, but UNC QB Darian Durant led two scoring drives in the 4^th to pull out the victory. After the game, Coach Pasqualoni commented, "I had to let that game go in order to position ourselves for the conference schedule. We wouldn’t be able to surprise anybody in the Big East if we started out 1-1." In other news, at www.coachpmustgo.com, the hits just keep on coming. (4425 hits and counting…..)

(#17) Marshall (1-0) @ (#9) Virginia Tech (2-0), Thursday @ 7:45pm, ESPN
This is the way it should be. Another week, another top-20 opponent. The combination of LSU, Marshall, and Texas A&M in consecutive games is outstanding. I must say, Mr. Weaver, that you’ve done well, and Hokies everywhere thank you for this group of opponents. Now, about that 2003 schedule……

Marshall is going to come in here fired up, with a Heisman-watch quarterback and a no-huddle offense, and they are going to try to put points on the board. But they haven’t met anything like our defense yet. This *is* the proverbial "irresistible force and immovable object" paradox. I’d have to go with the immovable object here, because Leftwich won’t be able to throw very well from his back. Regardless, it’s going to be a great game, and we have to get loud, loud, loud.

(#1) Miami (2-0) @ Temple (1-1), Saturday @ 12:00pm
Can Miami suffer a letdown after the huge win over Florida? Naah, don’t think so. This is Temple we’re talking about here.

Rhode Island (1-1) @ Syracuse (0-2), Saturday @ 3:30pm
In a move to prevent an 0-3 start, Syracuse plays Division 1-AA Rhode Island. Orange fans are ecstatic about the game, claiming that it will be good to get their season started with a win. One fan comments, "Well, you know, this is really our season opener. We always start 0-2, so we sorta look at this game as our season opener." Uh, yeah.

Pittsburgh (1-1) @ Alabama-Birmingham (1-1), Saturday @ 7:00pm
UAB is coming off an interesting win 27-26 over Troy State where they gave up 2 4^th quarter TDs (the margin came by a failed 2pt conversion by TSU with 4 ½ minutes left, don’t ask me to explain that one), but don’t be fooled. While Pitt may not have looked stellar in its first two games, they should win handily here.

Army (0-1) @ Rutgers (0-2), Saturday @ 7:00pm
Say it with me now. "Please, don’t let RUT(S)gers go 0-3. Please, don’t let RUT(S)gers go 0-3. Please, don’t let RUT(S)gers go 0-3..."

West Virginia (1-1) @ Cincinnati (1-0), Saturday @ 7:00pm
Cincinnati last week had a thrilling overtime win over TCU, and West Virginia is hard to gauge right now. WVU mauled UT-Chattanooga in week one, then got steamrolled by Wisconsin. In both games, the better team won, but it’s hard to say just how good WVU is this year, especially after last year’s disappointing season. This should be an interesting game, because Cincy’s QB Gino Guidugli is actually quite good.

*sigh* Another week, another non-Saturday game. You know, I’m beginning to think that this whole "Games to Watch from the Parking Lot" concept is fundamentally flawed due to the lack of Saturday games. Well, at least it’s a night game. Here are some of the better football games to watch this weekend.

Georgia Tech (2-0) @ Clemson (1-1), Saturday @ 12:00pm, ESPN
Of the two noon games on national TV (the other is Cal/Michigan State), this should be the better matchup. Clemson’s loss was to a resurgent Georgia team, and Georgia Tech is attempting to complete the Peach State Sweep. Go Jackets!

(#16)USC (1-0) @ (#19)Colorado (1-1), Saturday @ 3:30pm, ABC
I was thinking about going with Georgia/South Carolina for the 3:30 time slot just to get an idea of how good Georgia is, but South Carolina is bad, bad, bad. So to heck with them, USC/Colorado gets the nod. Colorado lost to a good Colorado State team, and USC beat an underrated Auburn team. This should be a pretty good Pac 10/Big XII battle.

(#5)Florida State (2-0) @ Maryland (1-1), Saturday @ 7:45pm, ESPN
This game isn’t going to be quite the battle as last year’s game was supposed to be (and didn’t turn out to be) after Maryland’s whipping by Notre Dame, but it still should be a pretty good game, and one of the pivotal games for the ACC race this year. Expect the Seminoles to win in a blowout, but you really never know, since FSU has struggled a bit this year, especially with Iowa State in the 4^th quarter.