Three contests between AP Top 25 squads highlight the second weekend of college football action.
No. 5 Michigan State (1-0) entertains No. 7 Oregon (1-0) on Saturday with No. 19 Oklahoma (1-0) visiting No. 23 Tennessee (1-0), while in a Southeastern Conference affair, No. 14 LSU (0-0) travels to No. 25 Mississippi State (1-0).
“Oregon does a lot of good things,” Michigan State Head Coach Mark Dantonio said during his weekly press conference. “They’re going to pass it and run it. They’re going to create a lot of problems systematically with formations and motions and things of that nature.”
“I think (quarterback Vernon) Adams is a guy that can take a bad play certainly and make it a good one, so some of the rush yards come off the scramble, things of that nature, much like they did with (former quarterback Marcus) Mariota,” Dantonio added.
The Ducks won last year’s match-up with the Spartans 46-27.
Tennessee will be looking to rebound from last season’s 34-10 loss to Oklahoma.
“It’s the most important game because it’s the next game, that’s it,” Tennessee Head Coach Butch Jones said. “Every single game is critical. That’s what makes college football special, is one bad day can take you away from all your dreams, goals, and aspirations.”
Mississippi State Head Coach Dan Mullen isn’t sure how LSU will react after not playing at home against McNeese State due to weather conditions.
“I don’t know that there is an advantage or a disadvantage,” he said. “The advantage for us is that our guys played in a very tough road environment. For our younger guys it is great to get a game under our belt. They (LSU) also have the advantage that they are fresh. They didn’t have to play last week. Their players are all fresher and ready to go.”
Being a SEC game adds importance to the contest.
“It’s the conference opener for the second straight year,” Mullen said. “If you win this game, it puts you in first place in the (SEC) West. It puts you two games ahead of LSU and you’re only two weeks into the season. I think for a confidence thing for the team it is huge. I have always believed that if you win your first conference game it is a huge boost moving into the rest of the season.”
Top-ranked Ohio State (1-0) plays Hawaii (1-0) in its home opener, while second-ranked Alabama (1-0) meets Middle Tennessee (1-0) in Tuscaloosa.
Two Big 12 powerhouses are at home with No. 3 TCU (1-0) facing Stephen F. Austin (0-1) and No. 4 Baylor (1-0) welcoming Lamar (1-0).
Rounding out the contests featuring teams in the Top 10 are Jacksonville State (0-1) at No. 6 Auburn (1-0), Idaho (0-1) at No. 8 Southern Cal (1-0), No. 9 Notre Dame (1-0) at Virginia (0-1) and No. 10 Georgia (1-0) at Vanderbilt (0-1).
The rest of the Top 25: South Florida (1-0) at No. 11 Florida State (1-0), Appalachian State (1-0) at No. 12 Clemson (1-0), No. 13 UCLA (1-0) at UNLV (0-1), Tulane (0-1) at No. 15 Georgia Tech (1-0), Ball State (1-0) at No. 16 Texas A&M (1-0), Fresno State (1-0) at No. 17 Mississippi (1-0), Toledo (0-0) at No. 18 Arkansas (1-0), No. 20 Boise State (1-0) at BYU (1-0), No. 21 Missouri (1-0) at Arkansas State (1-0), No. 22 Arizona (1-0) at Nevada (1-0) and Utah State (1-0) at No. 24 Utah (1-0).
Editor’s note: Quotes, photos and logos courtesy of CollegePressBox.com.