Don't Sleep On The Oklahoma St. Cowboys

All of the buzz around college football this weekend is down in Dallas, Texas at the Cotton Bowl, as Texas and Oklahoma will go at it in the 106th Red River Rivalry. For the first time since 2008 both Oklahoma and Texas are ranked in the top 10 of the USA Today Poll and for just the second time since 2005 both the Longhorns and Sooners are undefeated coming into the showdown. Not only is Texas looking to rebound from its first sub .500 season since the polls began all the way back in 1941, but Oklahoma is ranked number 1 in the USA Today Poll and is looking to make their first BCS Championship game since 2008 when they lost to Tim Tebow and Florida 24 to 14. In a conference that has been dominated by Oklahoma and Texas, as the two have won the Big 12 nine times since 2000, people often overlook the other contenders in the conference. Although Oklahoma St. is ranked number 6 in the AP poll, the Cowboys have been flying way under the radar. As Oklahoma and Texas are once again in the forefront of the conference, the Oklahoma St. Cowboys are quietly taking care of their business and have a great chance of winning their first conference title since 1976 when they were in the Big Eight and their first ever Big 12 conference title.

The Cowboys are so dangerous and are so difficult to defend because of their prolific offense, which ranks 3rd in the country in total yards per game at 571.5. Oklahoma St. ranks 6th in the country in points per game at 46.8 and they have not been held under 30 points in any game this season. Their passing game is devastating to any defense. The Cowboys 415.5 passing yards per game ranks 2nd in the country only behind Houston. Oklahoma St. quarterback Brandon Weeden has thrown for more than 350 yards in all four of the Cowboys' wins including a 438 yard performance against the Texas A&M Aggies on the road two weeks ago in a 30-29 comeback win. Weeden's main target, Justin Blackmon, is one of the best receivers in the country. Dating back to last season, Black,on has had over 100 yards in 15 out of 16 games. Blackmon's 11 catch, 121 yard, and 1 touchdown game against Texas A&M is a normal line for the big 6-1 receiver. The Cowboys like to sling the ball out to Blackmon on first down, so that they can have a more manageable second down if they don't pick up the first down originally. Blackmon has 16 receptions for 197 yards on first down this season. The Cowboys have shown this year as well that they have other targets aside from Blackmon. Last week Josh Cooper had career highs in receptions with 11 and receiving yards with 123, while Hubert Anyiam added 10 catches and 92 yards in that game. Tracy Moore had 112 yards receiving against Louisiana-Lafayette in the Cowboys first game of the season. Since the Cowboys have such an effective passing game, many people forget that they can run the ball on teams as well. Joseph Randle is averaging 115 yards per game this season and is tied for the Big 12 lead with 7 touchdown runs. Randle said about the red zone, "It's time to shine when you get in there. It's the score zone."

Everybody knows that the Cowboys offense can score with anybody in the country. Oklahoma State's defense is the only thing that is going to hold them back. The Cowboys 27.5 points per game against ranks 75th in the country and only Baylor, Iowa St., and Kansas are allowing more points per game than the Cowboys in the Big 12. The Cowboys defense has struggled to get pressure on the quarterback. No Oklahoma St. player has more than 2 sacks this season. However, the Cowboys defense has shown that they can hold the other team down when they need to do so. In week 2, the Cowboys held the Arizona Wildcat offense, which ranks 3rd in the country in passing yards, to 0 points in the first half and put the game out of reach early. Texas A&M scored just 9 points and had 4 turnovers against the Cowboys in the second half, which was essential in Oklahoma St. erasing a 17 point halftime deficit.

The schedule sets up fairly nicely for the Cowboys as well. After Oklahoma St. plays Kansas at home this week, they travel to Texas and Missouri in consecutive weeks. After those two difficult games on the road, the Cowboys have Baylor, Kansas St., and Oklahoma all at home in Stillwater in three of their final 5 games. Since Brandon Weeden is a senior and Justin Blackmon will likely go to the NFL draft next year, this has to be the year for Oklahoma St. to make their first ever BCS Bowl game.

Clemson And Virginia Tech Set The Stage For A Great ACC Matchup

Since the ACC expanded and added Boston College, Miami, and Virginia Tech to the conference, it has been rare for an ACC matchup to be one of the most hyped games of the week, especially in a week when there are 6 other games between two teams that are both ranked inside of the top 20. Last year, there was not one ACC game where both teams were ranked inside of the top 15. In fact, the ACC champion Virginia Tech Hokies played just 3 ranked teams in the ACC all of last year and two of those teams were ranked outside of the top 20. Virginia Tech was the only team in the Coastal Division to finish the season in the top 25. However, the ACC has had a stronger start to this season and will be the center of attention this week when the 13th ranked Clemson Tigers travel to Lane Stadium to take on the 11th ranked Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg in a battle of undefeated teams.

For Clemson, all of the hype surrounding a gigantic conference game is uncharted territory. Clemson has failed to do much of anything in the ACC since 1991 when they won their last ACC conference championship. From 1999 to 2008 under Tommy Bowden, Clemson never won a division or conference title and they only had one really good shot to win the Atlantic Division when in 2007 they were tied in the standings with Boston College but lost to the Eagles 20 to 17 in their final ACC Game. Although Clemson did win the Atlantic Division in 2009, they were the only ranked team in the division and their defense was destroyed by Georgia Tech, who racked up 39 points in their ACC Championship Game victory over the Tigers. After huge wins over #19 Auburn and #11 Florida St, Clemson comes into their showdown with Virginia Tech with their first 4-0 start since 2007. To put Clemson's two early season victories in perspective, from 2006 to 2008 Tommy Bowden knocked off just 2 top 20 opponents. Lastly, Clemson desperately wants to make their first BCS bowl game and this victory would put them in a great position to achieve that goal. The Tigers need to win the Atlantic, so they can play in the ACC Championship game and have a shot at getting an automatic berth into the BCS. Clemson's biggest challenger this to win the Atlantic is Florida St. If the Tigers can pull out a victory on the road, they will be the leading the Seminoles by a game and essentially two games because the Tigers own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Noles since they beat them last week 35 to 30 in Death Valley. This will allow the Tigers a little breathing room at the top of the standings just in case they slip up in another conference game.

Virginia Tech has been wildly successful in the ACC since they joined the conference in 2004 from the Big East. The Hokies have won the conference in 4 of their 7 years as they took the ACC title in 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2010. Despite all of the success that Virginia Tech has had in the ACC, they have lost so many games early in the season in recent years. In 2007 #9 Virginia Tech was plummeted by #2 LSU on the road 48 to 7. In 2008 Virginia Tech opened up their season ranked #15 but lost to East Carolina 27 to 22. In 2009 the #7 Hokies lost to Alabama at the Georgia Dome 34 to 24 in week 1. Last year #6 Virginia Tech suffered an opening week lost for the third straight year as they lost to Boise St. and then they fell to James Madison in the following week. However, this year the Hokies have started 4-0 for the first time since 2006 and are looking to run the table in the ACC. Since the Hokies lost a non-conference game every year from 2007 to 2010, they haven't had a conference game with National Championship implications like this game with Clemson since 2005 when they were ranked #3 and lost to #5 Miami at home. While Clemson desperately wants to make a BCS Bowl game, Virginia Tech has a bigger goal in mind. The Hokies were picked by many to be a dark horse to win the National Champion at the beginning of the season. If the Hokies can knock off Clemson at home, they likely will not play any more ranked teams until the ACC Championship Game and will be in a prime position to make a run at playing in the title game.

The matchup to watch in this ACC battle will be the Clemson offense against the Virginia Tech defense. In four games this year, Clemson has scored an average of 37.75 points and has not been held under 35 points in any of those games. The Clemson offense scored 35 points on a very tough Florida St. defense last week, which was the most points that the Noles had allowed since Virginia Tech scored 44 points on them last season. The Virginia Tech defense will have to keep a constant eye on Clemson's dynamic quarterback Tajh Boyd. Boyd has thrown for 1,255 yards and 13 touchdowns, while tossing just 1 pick in 4 games. Boyd threw for 386 yards and 4 touchdowns against Auburn and 344 yards and 3 touchdowns against Florida St and most of those yards have been to his favorite receiver Sammy Watkins, who had 155 yards and 2 touchdowns against Auburn and 141 yards and 2 touchdowns against Florida St. However, the Virginia Tech defense is definitely nothing to sleep on, as they are one of the best defensives in the entire country. The Hokies defense has allowed an average of just 10 points a game, which is the 6th fewest in the nation. While South Carolina allowed 37 points and just under 350 yards of total offense to East Carolina, the Pirates scored 10 points and had a total of just 112 yards on Virginia Tech's stout defense. The Hokies defensive ends, J.R. Collins and James Gayle, have combined for 8 sacks, which is the most for a combination of defensive ends in the country. It will be key that Collins and Gayle can get to Boyd in the backfield and force him to make throws under pressure.

How Bout That For Your Second Career Start?

By now everybody has heard about the monumental collapse of the Red Sox and the amazing play of the Rays that landed them the AL Wild Card spot. On September 3rd the Red Sox lead the Rays by 9 games but the Rays roared all the way back to pull within even of the Sox on the last day of the season. After trailing 7-0 after seven innings and failing to produce offensively with minor league pitchers like Dellin Betances and George Kontos pitching for the Yankees, the Rays sparked a furious comeback to win in extra innings shortly after the Red Sox had fallen to the Orioles in Baltimore 4-3. The Rays were obviously fatigued by the long month of baseball and the crazy ups and downs of the last night of the season. The Rays arrived at Rangers Ballpark at 4:30 the next day, about 24 hours before their playoff game there the next day. Rays manager Joe Maddon said, "It really draws a lot out of you. It's difficult to bring everything together from the conclusion of the last night to this curren moment. We celebrated. As we should have. We had some benign conversations on how to shape the roster. We're not even there yet." With all of the emotions and the lack of rest for the Rays, many people doubted their chances in game 1 on the road against the AL West champion Texas Rangers, whose potent lineup scored the 3rd most runs in the MLB during the regular season. Further questions were raised when Joe Maddon tabbed Matt Moore as his game 1 starter. However, Moore showed why he is touted as one of the top pitching prospects and one of the top 10 overall prospects according to Baseball Prospectus. More importantly, Moore has put the Rays in a great early position to advance to the ALCS.

To many people, the move to start a rookie, who has only started one game in his career, was not the best option for Joe Maddon. Maddon could have gone many other ways instead of throwing such an inexperienced pitcher onto the mound in such a pressure situation. Maddon could have called on his best pitcher all year, James Shields, to pitch on three days rest. Shields had been great the entire regular season for the Rays posting the third best ERA in the AL at 2.82. If Maddon felt that he wanted to save Shields until game 2 when he would be fully rested and at full strength, he could have also gone with established starter Wade Davis, who had pitched 8 innings and allowed just 2 runs in his last start. Another element that made many people disagree with the decision was that the left handed Moore would be throwing to a Texas lneup that is entirely made up of right handed batters aside from Josh Hamilton. 

Although there were obvious risks in starting a guy with such limited experience, Moore showed in his only start of the season against the Yankees on September 22nd that his stuff is good enough to frustrate any team on a given day from the Yankees to a great hitting team like the Rangers. Moore's combination of a mid 90's fastball and a devastating changeup makes him a difficult pitcher to hit against. In that game against the Yankees, Moore pitched 5 solid innings and let up no runs, while adding 11 strikeouts. After that game Joe Maddon said, "His composure, Yankee Stadium, throwing strikes, all those things speak to the makeup of Matt Moore." That statement by Maddon describes the reasoning behind why he chose Moore to start game 1 of a huge playoff series.

Moore definitely did not let his manager down by pitching an unbelievable game to give the Rays a 1-0 lead over the Rangers and a huge road victory. Moore pitched 7 innings of 2 hit baseball, while allowing no runs with 6 strikeouts. Moore got a big lift from his Rays offense as well, which clearly lifted a lot of pressure off of the 22 year old. By the time Moore came out to pitch in the bottom of the 3rd, the Rays already lead the Rangers 6-0. The early 6 run lead took the crowd out of the game as well and eased the nerves that Moore was feeling at the beginning of the game. Moore said, “I may have looked a little more clam than I was, especially early. The first inning, I had a little bit of nerves and adrenaline going. But these guys made it really easy for me, putting up those numbers. Looking up there are the fourth, I think it was 8-0, it was just a matter of throwing strikes and getting out of the innings as fast as possible.” Moore was also able to keep his pitch count down including having 2 half innings where he made less than 10 pitches, so he was able to last 7 innings and give a tired Rays bullpen a much needed extra day of rest. The Rays closer, Kyle Farnsworth, who had pitched in every Rays game except one since September 24th, got an extra day of rest with the Rays up 9-0 coming into the bottom of the 9th. Now that’s what you call an impressive second major league start.

The Madness Of The Last Night Of The Season

If you go on twitter, you will be able to find tweets like these that describe the final night of the MLB season: Buster Olney said, "Anybody remember a better series of regular-season games on one day?" Andrew Siciliano said, "One of the most incredible, amazing. shocking nights I've ever seen." Joel Sherman said, "Has there ever been a better 2 hours in MLB history than the last 2 hours. My hand has cramped from hitting my remote on baseball package." Kevin Millar said, "It was an absolute honor to be a fan of baseball tonight. Amazing, crazy, wild and much props to the teams who won! Show time." Aaron Boone said, "Wow! Gotta be the most dramatic final day of a regular season ever. Couldnt script the events of tonight." Trey Wingo said, "Tonight.. is why I don't watch reality TV. Sports... is the ultimate reality show. unscripted.. you just never know." Coming into the final night of baseball's regular season, the Red Sox had lost a 9 game lead in the AL Wild Card as the Rays had come back to tie it up in the standings. In the NL, the St. Louis Cardinals had come back from 8.5 games to tie the Atlanta Braves for the NL Wild Card lead. With the final two-playoff spots available, and the two biggest collapses in MLB history on the line, the final night of baseball was the most dramatic, unbelievable single night that any MLB fan has ever been apart of. Here is my reaction to the events on my twitter page:

6:00: The Rays were 9 games behind the Red Sox on September 1st and are now heading into the final game of the season tied with the Bo Sox. (In that span the Red Sox have been 7-19, while the Rays have been 16-10)

6:00: The Cardinals were 8.5 games behind the Braves on September 1st and are now heading into the final game of the season tied with the Braves. (In that span the Braves have been 9-17, while the Cardinals have been 17-8, including a 12-2 stretch from September 6th to September 21st)

6:00: Pitching matchups in the AL: Jon Lester (15-9, 3.49 ERA for the Red Sox) vs Alfredo Simon (4-9, 4.96 ERA for the Orioles), and David Price (12-13, 3.35 ERA for the Rays) vs Betances (0-0, 27.00 ERA for the Yankees)

6:00: Pitching matchups in the NL: Tim Hudson (16-10, 3.23 ERA for the Braves) vs Joe Blanton (1-2, 5.03 ERA for the Phillies), and Chris Carpenter (10-9, 3.59 ERA for the Cardinals) vs Brett Myers (7-13 with 4 consecutive wins in September, 4.31 ERA for the Astros)

7:00: What a night for baseball fans.

7:00: Two home runs later and Ryan Lavarnway is batting 5th for the Sox tonight. Need a big start from Lester. (Lester has lost his previous three starts and has allowed at least 4 runs in each of those starts)

7:21: Big error by Ben Zobrist at second to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead. The question remains though how Dellin Betances will pitch tonight. (It was just Zobrist's 6th error all season at second base)

7:54: Red Sox nation has to be loving Mark Teixeira right now. Huge grand slam for Tex to give the Yanks an early 5-0 lead. (Texeira has 110 RBI's for the 6th time in his career and the Sox, scoreboard watching, are feeling optimistic)

7:55: Michael Bourn is the fastest guy in the MLB. Huge stolen base off Hamels to put himself in scoring position. (The steal gives Bourn his 61st on the year, which is 21 more than any other National League player)

8:03: Big home run by Dan Uggla to give the Braves a 3-1 advantage in the bottom of the 3rd. Phillies have two runners on right now though. (Gives Uggla more than 35 home runs for the first time in his career and more importantly, gives Tim Hudson a two run lead)

8:20: A bad mistake by Alfredo Simon to give the Sox their 2nd run off of a balk. Scuarto got inside of Simon's head down at third.

8:28: Five runs in the first for the Cards to put the pressure back on the Braves. Pujols, Berkman, Freese, Schumaker, and Punto all with RBI's.

8:35: Tex hits his second home run to give the Yanks a 6-0 lead and a few seconds later Pedroia hits a solo shot to give the Sox a 3-2 lead. (The 6 runs that Price has allowed is the most he has ever allowed in one start in his MLB career)

9:25: Jonny Venters looks wild in the 8th with 2 walks and a HBP but he comes up huge with the bases loaded to strike out Ibanez and keep the lead.

9:54: Just like Venters, Craig Kimbrel has been very wild in the 9th, as he's walked Ben Francisco and Jimmy Rollins to load the bases. (Venters gets his 35th hold of the season, which is the 2nd most in the NL)

9:56: Blown save for Kimbrel, as Utley hits a sac fly out to left field. The Braves will have to move on quickly because there are still men on. (Kimbrel's 8th blown save of the season, 3 of which have come in September, including 2 in his last 3 appearances)

9:58: The Braves are in deep trouble. They've brought in Kris Medlen, who has made just one appearance all season after coming back from injury. (Medlen has missed 13 months after having Tommy John surgery)

10:03: How bout that for your second start of the season. Medlen comes in and gets Michael Martinez to pop out to third with the bases loaded.

10:10: Valverde gets his 49th save in 49 opportunities for the Tigers. Waiting on the Rangers to see where their final position in the AL will be. (Dating back to last season, Valverde has saved 51 consecutive games)

10:18: Don't forget about an AL Wild Card playoff so quickly. The Rays have the bases loaded and have cut the Yanks lead to 7-2 in the 8th.

10:21: Red Sox nation can breathe somewhat easily for a minute. Luis Ayala gets Desmond Jennings to strike out and then gets BJ Upton to fly out to left.

10:23: I take that last post back. Evan Longoria hits a three-run home run to bring the Rays to within 1 run of the Yanks at 7-6. (Ayala lets up his first runs in all of September on the Longoria home run)

10:27: Damon pops up to second to end the threat and the Rays go into the top of the 9th down 7-6. Who will come in in the 9th for the Yanks?

10:28: Cards finish off the Astros with an 8-0 victory. Chris Carpenter pitches a complete game 2-hit shutout with 11 K's. (Carpenter allows 1 run or less for the third straight start and finishes the season with a sub 3.50 ERA for the 4th year in a row)

10:47: Down to their last pitch, Dan Johnson hits a solo home run off of Cory Wade to complete the Rays comeback and tie the game at 7 in the 9th. (It was Johnson's first hit since April 27. He had been hitless in his last 20 plate appearances. Johnson's .108 batting average coming into the at-bat was the lowest among any position player with at least 50 plate appearances. Talk about a good time to get out of a horrible slump)

10:50: With the Rangers 3-1 victory over the Angles, they clinch the 2nd best record in the AL and the Tigers finish with the 3rd best record. (The Rangers capture their 5th division title, and 2nd in a row.)

10:50: Therefore, the Rangers will play the AL Wild Card winner (the Red Sox or the Rays) and the Yanks will open with the Tigers.

10:58: The Red Sox have to be frustrated that they are coming back onto the field after the rain delay with the Rays and Yanks now going into extra innings.

10:58: Just remember that the Rays haven't knocked off the Yanks yet and that they still have to go out and score more runs in extras.

11:05: With the Brewers 7-3 victory over the Pirates, they clinch the 2nd best record in the NL and the Diamondbacks finish behind them in 3rd. (The Brewers capture their 1st NL Central division title)

11:05: Therefore, if the Cardinals win the NL Wild Card, the Brewers will play the Diamondbacks and the Phillies will play the Cardinals.

11:05: If the Braves win the NL Wild Card, the Brewers will play the Braves and the Phillies will play the Diamondbacks.

11:13 To the 13th we go in Atlanta, as Martin Prado grounds out to third with the winning runner 90 feet away from home. (The horrible month for Prado continues as he is batting just .236 in September)

11:18: Rays bring in Brandon Gomes in the 11th, who has allowed just 1 earned run in September during 11 appearances.

11:24: Bard finally catches a break in a month where he has allowed 13 earned runs in 11 appearances, as Guerrero and Wieters just miss home runs.

11:28: The Phillies go up 4-3 in the 13th as Hunter Pence drives in Brian Schneider on a bloop single by Freddie Freeman at first. (That's why the Phillies acquired Pence from the Astros before the trading deadline)

11:40: Tough way for Freddie Freeman to end his great rookie season, as he grounds into a double play and the Braves fall in 13 to the Phillies and complete a monumental collapse. (The Braves 8.5 game lead was the largest lead for a team to not make the playoffs since 1964 when the Phillies led the Cardinals by 8.5 games and missed out on the playoffs.)

11:40: The NL playoff matchups are set for Saturday. Phillies-Cardinals and Brewers-Diamondbacks.

11:50: Papelbon tries to get the save for the Sox in the 9th. The Yanks and the Rays head to the 12th after Desmond Jennings pops up with runners on base.

11:55: With no outs and runners on first and third, Longoria fields a grounder to third and inexplicably, Greg Golson of the Yanks gets caught off third base and is tagged out. (In just Greg Golson's 9th game of the season, he makes a horrible mistake that could cost the Red Sox dearly)

12:02: One pitch away from extending their season, Papelbon gives up a double to Nolan Reimond and then a single to Roberto Adindo as the O's win. (Papelbon blows just his 3rd save of the season, but it's in the most important game of the year)

12:05: Longoria, who hit the big three run home run in the 8th, hits a walk off solo home run in the 12th to send the Rays into the playoffs. (The home run completes the collapse for the Boston Red Sox, who led the Rays by 9 games on September 1st)

12:05: The AL Playoff matchups are now set: Yankees-Tigers, Rangers-Rays.

Post-Game: What an unbelievable night of baseball. We've never seen a night like this in MLB history. Just when you think you've seen it all....

Post-Game: The Red Sox are going to have the longest, hardest off season of any team in MLB history after losing a 9 game Wild Card lead.

Post-Game: Nobody can really put this day into perspective. The collapses of Red Sox and Braves will go down in baseball infamy.

Post-Game: The Yanks had runners on first and third with no outs, and Papelbon had just struck out two guys and was one out away from the victory. Funny how things can change so quickly. Golson gets tagged out between 3rd and home for the Yanks, and then Papelbon lets up a double and then the walk-off single to Andino. Longoria hits a walk-off home run to send the Rays to the playoffs and complete the worst 5 minutes of a Sox fan's life.

Post-Game: What a horrible finish for the Sox and just a terrible year for Carl Crawford. How weird is it that the final ball of the season finds Crawford, and he can't corral in left?

Post-Game: Everyone's reaction is the same - WOW! This night in baseball will always be remembered.

What We Learned From Week 3 In College Football

Marcus Lattimore's Performance Against Navy Puts Him Near the Top of the Heisman Trophy Race: When discussing the preseason Heisman Trophy candidates, Andrew Luck, Kellen Moore, and Landry Jones were always the three quarterbacks thrown around and then everybody seemed to be high on Alabama running back Trent Richardson as the tailback who could win the award. Through week 3, another running back in the SEC has stood out as a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender. Marcus Lattimore has been unbelievable in South Carolina's first three games and the Gamecocks have narrowly escaped from East Carolina, Georgia, and Navy because of Lattimore's performance. The sophmore running back had 112 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns to help the Gamecocks outlast the ECU Pirates 56-37 in week 1. After East Carolina scored in the third quarter to cut South Carolina's lead to 35-31, Lattimore had two straight rushing touchdowns to put the game away for the Gamecocks by giving them a 49-31 lead. In week 2 on the road in Athens against Georgia, Lattimore rushed for 176 yards and 1 touchdown in South Carolina's huge 45-42 conference win. In the fourth quarter, Lattimore ran for a touchdown to give the Gamecocks a 35-31 lead and then ran out the clock with a first down in the final 2 minutes of the game. These two outstanding performances were outdone by his record-breaking week 3 game against Navy. In a very tight and highly contested game, Lattimore ran for an almost unimaginable 246 yards and 3 touchdowns on 37 carries. It was the most rushing yards by a single player in one game under Steve Spurrier, more than Errict Rhett and Fred Taylor ever ran for at Florida when the old ball coach was at the helm. His 246 yards were also a South Carolina school record. If Lattimore continues to run this well, he may become just the second running back to officially (Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy in 2005 was vacated) win the Heisman Trophy since 2000 and just the 6th since 1989 to win the award.

The Top College Football Quaterbacks All Look Very Good: Kellen Moore's huge game on Friday night was just the beginning of a great display from the top college football quarterbacks in week 3. Moore, who never looks like he is phased by anything, meticulously and surgically picked apart a Toledo defense that nearly helped the Rockets pull off an upset a week earlier against the Ohio St. Buckeyes in Columbus. Moore may of had his best statistical game in college as he tied his career high in passing touchdowns with 5 and set a career high with 32 completions in the Broncos 40 to 15 win on the road. He also threw for 455 yards and is now just 6 wins away from becoming the all-time wins leader in college football history. Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson also looked great in the Badgers 49-7 win over Northern Illinois. The senior transfer from NCST has added a dangerous passing and running threat under center for Wisconsin. His 347 passing yards were the most by a Wisconsin quarterback in more than 4 years since 2007 when Tyler Donovan threw for 392 yards against Illinois. Wilson has also thrown more than 2 touchdowns in each of his first three games, as he threw for 3 on Saturday. Lastly, Andrew Luck showed why he is considered the top college football quarterback and the eventual number 1 pick in the NFL draft. Luck had his normal, precise game, as he threw for 325 yards and 2 touchdowns in Stanford's 37-10 win over Arizona on the road. Luck uses his array of tight ends so beautifully, as Levine Toilolo and Zach Ertz both had touchdown catches in the Caridnals victory to improve to 3-0.

Notre Dame Really Needed Their Win Over Michigan St: The last time Notre Dame began a season 0-2 was back in 2007 when they lost to Georgia Tech and Penn St. and ended up finishing the season 3-9. After beginning 2011 with a loss to South Florida and a crushing loss to Michigan, the Fighting Irish were once again facing a 0-2 hole and a huge amount of pressure from the faithful in South Bend. After Notre Dame got out to an early 7-0 lead, the Irish fans were forced to cringe at what must have seemed like deja vu to them. Tommy Rees, who had replaced Dayne Crist after halftime of Notre Dame's first game, was sacked and fumbled the ball over to Michigan St. After getting the ball back, Rees forced a ball in the middle of the field and was picked off for the Fighting Irish's second turnover in two possessions. In Notre Dame's 23-20 loss to South Florida, the Fighting Irish had 5 turnovers including 3 in the red zone. In their next game against Michigan, Notre Dame once again had 5 turnovers including 2 in the red zone and lost to the Wolverines 35-31. However, unlike their previous two losses, the Irish rebounded from their turnovers. Cierre Wood had 2 touchdown runs and Tommy Rees managed the game very well after his early turnovers by throwing for 161 yards and a touchdown. The 31-13 win over the 15th ranked Spartans will take some of the pressure off of the shoulders of Brian Kelly, who has been getting a tremendous amount of heat in South Bend.

Oklahoma Proved A Lot From Their Road Win Over Florida St: Bob Stoops has had an unbelievable amount of success at Oklahoma since he took over the job in 1999, but there are some doubters out there who believe that he can't win the big game, especially when his Sooners are on the road. Stoops and his Sooners quieted those doubters just for now after top ranked Oklahoma went into Tallahassee and beat the Florida St. Seminoles 23 to 13. Oklahoma has struggled on the road in recent memory. In 2009 the Sooners were 1-4 on the road and last year Oklahoma suffered their only two losses in their 12-2 campaign to Missouri and Texas A&M on the road. The Sooners didn't let their previous road woes stop them from knocking off the Noles in front of a record-breaking crowd at Doak Campbell Stadium. Oklahoma also proved that they can win ugly and that they can win with defensive. Landry Jones didn't have his typical game at quarterback. He was held under 200 yards passing for the first time since he came in for Sam Bradford on September 5, 2009 against BYU in his first career game for Oklahoma and threw 2 interceptions as well. Oklahoma's star receiver Ryan Broyles was held under 100 yards for just the 5th time in his last 19 games and didn't have a touchdown catch. However, the Oklahoma defense made a countless number of big plays and forced 3 Florida St. turnovers and held the Seminoles to just 27 rushing yards.

Mark Richt Is On The Hot Seat

Mark Richt is one of the most successful coaches in Georgia Bulldog history, which is pretty impressive for a program that has won 5 NCAA National Championships and 12 SEC Championships. Richt's winning percentage of .738 (96-34) at Georgia is the highest among coaches who have coached for more than three seasons at the school. Richt's 96 wins are only behind Vince Dooley and Wally Butts for the most in program history but he has a better winning percentage than both of those legendary coaches. Richt has coached 11 All-Americans including Knowshon Moreno and David Pollack and 9 first round NFL draft picks including Matthew Stafford, AJ Green, and Benjamin Watson.

Despite all of this, Richt and his Georgia Bulldogs have not had any sniff of recent success. In a conference that is as competitive as the SEC, the demand for all coaches in the conference, especially at a big time school like Georgia, is to win and win now. Although Richt has been a very good coach at Georgia for a long time, if his Bulldogs don't put something big together this season, he may be looking for a new job after the season.

If you look at Georgia's year-by-year record since Mark Richt took over in 2001, they are on a steady decline. Richt's first few years at Georgia began with a bang. Georgia won the SEC in 2002 and 2005 and finished number 3 in both the AP and coaches' poll in 2002. The Bulldogs also finished in the top 7 of both the AP and coaches' poll in 2003 and 2004. Richt's last great season came in 2007 when the Bulldogs beat Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl and finished as high as number 2 in the AP rankings.

Ever since the 2007 season, the Bulldogs have just been a flat out disappointment. If you look at the Bulldogs record in 2008, you may not think it was a bad season. They finished 10-3 with a 6-2 record in the SEC, which was good enough for a 2nd place finish in the SEC East, and they finished the season ranked number 13 in the AP poll. However, with all of the talent that Georgia had on its football team that year, the record didn't meet expectations. Georgia began the 2008 season as the preseason number 1 for the first time in school history. Star quarterback Matthew Stafford was returning for his third season, SEC Freshman of the Year Knowshon Moreno was back for his sophomore year at the running back position, and All-SEC linebacker Dannell Ellerbe was back to lead the Georgia defense. The Bulldogs were also adding a top 5 recruiting class highlighted by top 5 recruit, wide receiver A.J. Green. Therefore, the season was a big disappointment for Bulldogs fans that were hoping that Richt would finally bring a National Championship back to Athens. The Bulldogs lost to Florida by 39 points on a neutral field, which to this day is the largest margin of defeat in Richt' coaching career at Georgia, and they even fell to Georgia Tech for the first time in 8 years since 2000.

Despite losing some big play guys on the offense side of the ball, SEC Freshman of the Year A.J. Green was returning to school and the Bulldogs had the majority of their best defense players coming back for the 2009 season. Therefore, the Bulldogs were in the preseason top 15 at number 13 but they didn't remain there for long. Georgia began the season with a 4-4 record and finished the year with a pedestrian 4-4 conference record. They finished the season ranked outside the AP top 25 for the first time in 13 years since Jim Donnnan's first year at Georgia in 1996.

Last year was just a miserable season for the Bulldogs. They began the season ranked once again in the preseason top 25 as high as number 21 in the coaches' poll but they once again fell out of the rankings very quickly. The Bulldogs began the season 1-4 and never recovered. They finished the year with a sub .500 record at 6-7 and were a woeful 3-5 in the SEC. The Bulldogs didn't even score a touchdown in their bowl game loss to Central Florida. It was the first time since 1996 that the Bulldogs finished under .500 in both their overall record and their conference record. For two seasons in a row, The Bulldogs were not above .500 in the SEC. The last time the same coach led Georgia to two seasons where the team was not above .500 in either one was Ray Goff. In 1994 with Goff at the helm the Bulldogs were 3-4-1 in conference games and in 1995 they were not above .500 again when they were 3-5. After the 1995 season, Georgia fired Goff. Obviously, Richt has not done enough in the last few years to help his job security.

A combination of the fact that Georgia has really struggled the last few years and that other teams in the SEC have shined, are really hurting Richt's chances of continuing to be Georgia's coach beyond this year. There is no question that the SEC is the best conference in college football. The last 5 National Champions have all come out of the SEC but none of them have been Georgia. Florida has won two National Championships (2006 and 2008) and LSU (2007), Alabama (2009), and Auburn (2010) have each won one title in the last five years. With all of the other top SEC teams winning National Championships and Georgia struggling to make a simple bowl game, Richt is deservingly taking a lot of heat. In 2009 and 2010 Richt's overall record with Georgia was 14-12. That is pretty unimpressive for the Bulldogs considering that in 2009 and 2010 Alabama was 24-3, Auburn was 22-5, Florida was 21-6, LSU was 20-6, Arkansas was 18-8, and South Carolina was 16-11. When Georgia began their 2010 season 1-4, they lost more games than Alabama did in all of 2009 and 2010.

With all of this in consideration, the Bulldogs will have to at least win the SEC East and make the SEC Championship game in order for Richt to retain his job as the head ball coach in Athens. Anything less than a title game appearance will likely mean the end of an era for Georgia. Richt definitely has a good enough team to win the East this season, so if he can't pull it off, it will be an easier decision for Georgia AD Greg McGarity to pull the plug on him. Although the Bulldogs began the season poorly with a 35-21 loss to Boise St. at the Georgia Dome, the Bulldogs should still be focused on the goal of winning the SEC East. It will be key that the loss to the Broncos doesn't have a lasting effect on the Bulldogs because they have a huge game in week 2 in Athens when South Carolina comes to visit in a gigantic SEC East battle. Aaron Murray will have to move on from his disappointing game yesterday, where he was sacked 6 times and was thoroughly outplayed by Kellen Moore. The sophomore, whose 3,049 passing yards last season was a Georgia freshman record and second all-time by an SEC freshman, will have the opportunity to open up a South Carolina defense that allowed 37 points and 260 passing yards to an ECU team in week 1. Luckily for Richt, the schedule is a favorable one for Georgia this season, so even if his Bulldogs do fall to the Gamecocks, they still have a chance to win the East. It just so happens that the only three SEC teams that Georgia doesn't play this season are #2 Alabama, #4 LSU, and #15 Arkansas, while Florida has a stretch in the middle of the season where they have to play #2 Alabama, #4 LSU on the road, #23 Auburn on the road, and then play SEC East foe #19 Georgia. It's a make or break year for Mark Richt down in Athens.

What We Learned Yesterday From Euro 2012

Germany and Netherlands Look Better Than Ever: Although the Germans and the Dutch were playing two inferior opponents on Friday, they both showed that they are playing some of the best soccer in the world. Germany, ranked number 3 in the FIFA rankings, picked apart Austria at home in a 6-2 victory. Lukas Podolski, who had a goal in the victory, is confident that his team has a good chance at winning Euro 2012 saying, "We are definitely one of the favorites and we will play for the title, and we want to win it too. It was a great evening of football." Mesut Ozil added this same opinion as he said, "We know what we are capable of and our aim has got to be to win the title." Germany has looked so impressive recently because of the great play it has gotten from its midfield. Bastian Schweinsteiger is a rock in the middle of the field and Mesut Ozil is one of the hardest players in the world to defend against because of his creativity and ability to score. The Real Madrid midfielder had a hat trick in the 6-2 blowout. The Netherlands have been just as impressive at the Germans. In 7 qualification games the Dutch have scored 32 goals including 24 in their last four games. In their first game since becoming the number 1 team in the FIFA rankings, the Netherlands destroyed San Marino 11-0 at home. Robin Van Persie had 4 goals, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar had 2 goals, and Wesley Sneider had 2 goals in the rout that displayed the sides’ offense firepower. The Netherlands is so good that Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who leads the tournament with 10 goals, didn't even make the Netherlands squad that lost in the World Cup finals to Spain.

Group B And Group C Are Still Very Tight: With 7 matches already played and just 3 matches remaining, Group B is still up for grabs. Russia, Ireland, and Slovakia all have a chance to finish at the top of the group and get an automatic berth into Euro 2012. The big result on Friday was the 0-0 draw in Dublin between Ireland and Slovakia. Now, Ireland and Slovakia are two points behind Russia, who are at the top of the group after their 1-0 win over Macedonia in Moscow. There is still a lot of soccer left however. Russia has the hardest schedule remaining of the three teams, as they still have to play Ireland at home and Slovakia on the road. Ireland and Slovakia will be going for it all against Russia because anything less than a win will put them in harms way of finishing outside of the top two in the group. Unlike Group B, it is clear who is going to win Group C. Italy is at the top of the table with 19 points and have conceded just 1 goal in 7 games. The second place spot in Group C is as close as you well ever see. Slovenia, Serbia, Estonia, and Northern Ireland are all fighting for second place, so they can earn an opportunity to play in a two-legged playoff in November to get into Euro 2012. Friday's result brought all the teams within two points of each other as Serbia beat Northern Ireland on the road 1-0 and Estonia went to Slovenia and beat them on the road 2-1. Currently, Slovenia and Serbia are sitting on 11 points but Slovenia has played 8 games, while Serbia has played just 7. Estonia has 10 points from 8 games, while Northern Ireland is sitting on 9 points from 7 games. The loss to Estonia was a crushing one for Slovenia. After conceding a penalty in the 29th minute, Slovenia trailed for nearly the entire game until in the 77th minute striker Tim Matavz tied the game at 1. Just as Slovenia thought they had at least salvaged a point from the game, Estonia came right back and scored a goal 3 minutes later to win the huge game 2-1. Although the loss is a very tough one for Slovenia, they have a chance to make it up, as they play Serbia at home on October 11th in the final match of Group C.

Israel and Belarus Are On The Brink Of Elimination: Israel and Belarus both had an opportunity yesterday to get back into the mix in their respective groups. However, neither team took advantage of their opportunity and they both are in deep danger of missing out of Euro 2012. Israel had a huge game at home against the group leaders Greece. The game was deadlocked until Sotirls Ninis of Greece netted a goal home in the 60th minute to score the only goal of the game and give Greece a 1-0 victory. Israel is currently 4 points behind Greece and 3 behind Croatia, who beat Malta 3-1, and Israel have played one more game than both teams. Their chances of making Euro 2012 look very slime right about now. Belarus also had a huge game at home in Minsk against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Coming into the game, Belarus led Bosnia-Herzegovina by 2 points but they had played one more game. Bosnia-Heregovina jumped right on Belarus and scored two goals in the first 25 minutes to win the game on the road 2-0. The win puts Bosnia-Herzegovina two points ahead of Belarus and they have played one less game as well. Unless Belarus can pull off something great and get help from Bosnia, they are going to miss out on Euro 2012.

TCU Is On Upset Alert In Week 1

Last year was a magical season for the TCU Horn Frogs. They won the Mountain West with a perfect 8-0 record and went on to finish the year ranked #2 in both the AP and coaches' poll after beating the Big Ten Champion Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl 21-19. They became the first TCU team to ever win a BCS Bowl game. It was just the second time in school history that the team finished with an undefeated and untied record. The first time was in 1938 when legendary quarterback Davey O'Brien won the Heisman Trophy and led the team to a National Championship.

TCU is under an immense amount of pressure to follow up their great season last year with another one just like it this year. This is going to be a very difficult task for the Horn Frogs because they are losing so much of their offensive firepower from last season. TCU no longer has one of the greatest quarterbacks in the programs decorated history, as Andy Dalton has graduated and is now expected to be the starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals. Dalton was one of the most successful quarterbacks in college football history as his record in four years as a starter for TCU was an incredible 42-8, including 34-3 in his final three years. Dalton's 42 wins with TCU are more than Horn Frog greats Davey O'Brien and Sammy Baugh. Dalton was the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010, and he holds a majority of the school records in passing. The Horn Frogs have to replace three of their top four receivers. Jeremy Kerley, who had 575 receiving yards last year and a conference leading 10 touchdown grabs as well, and Jimmy Young and Bart Johnson, who both had over 400 yards for the Horn Frogs last season, have all graduated. The Horn Frogs will also be without their All-American starting left tackle Marcus Cannon, who anchored the TCU offensive line that allowed a total of just 9 sacks all of the 2010 season.

With all of the spots that TCU have to fill on the offensive side of the ball, the Horn Frogs are definitely on upset alert when they face the high flying Baylor Bears in Waco in week one. A lot of the pressure will be on sophomore Casey Pachall, who will be the starting quarterback for the Horn Frogs opening night. The young quarterback is very inexperienced, as he threw just 9 passes all of last season. Pachall acknowledges that he has not had much time under center saying, "Being in there, usually at the end of the game, didn't really help too much because I'm just running the clock out and getting the game over with." The Horn Frogs will rely heavily on Ed Wesley to provide the bulk of their offense. Wesley led the team with 1,078 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns last year. The Baylor defense is very venerable and is very easy to score on. They allowed an average of 435.4 yards per game last year. In the Bears final 8 games in 2010, they didn't hold any team to under 20 points and their opponents scored an average of 40.25 points in those 8 games.

Although TCU has lost so many key players on the offense side of the ball, their biggest concern against the Bears will likely be on the defensive end of the field. Last year Baylor averaged 31.15 points per game and they are not afraid to get into high scoring battles, like when they beat Kansas St. at home 47 to 42 last year. The TCU defense will have to slow down the Baylor attack because the Horn Frog offense will not be able to keep up with the Baylor offense if the game is a shootout. All-American linebacker and Mountain West defensive player of the year Tank Carder will have the challenge of containing one of the most dynamic and underrated quarterbacks in all of college football. Robert Griffin III is one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the nation and he can do it all. Griffin had the 2nd best completion percentage and passer rating in the Big 12 last year, he threw for 3,501 yards and 22 touchdowns, and also ran for 635 yards and 8 touchdowns. Griffin's 3,501 yards was a school record, and if he is able to sling the ball around the field against the Horn Frogs, it is going to be a long night for TCU fans.

Justin Verlander Shouldn't Win The AL MVP Award

Justin Verlander is having one of the best pitching seasons in recent memory. He leads the league in nearly every pitching category including wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, and WHIP. Not surprisingly, he has been the ace of the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers. After beginning the season with a 2-3 record, he is an incredible 18-2 and has not recorded a loss in the months of May, June, and August. To go along with his 20-5 record and 218 strikeouts, Verlander has also thrown a no hitter, which he did on May 7th against the Blue Jays. Verlander is no doubt the clear front-runner to win the AL Cy Young, but he shouldn't win the AL MVP award ahead of guys like Adrian Gonzalez and Curtis Granderson.

In order for a pitcher to win an MVP award there has to be a combination of two things. First, the pitcher has to be having an incredible, record-breaking season. Second, and most important, there has to be no position player who has had a season worthy enough to deserve the award. Although Justin Verlander is having a great pitching year, there are definitely position players who have had seasons worthy of the MVP. Adrian Gonzalez is having an outstanding first season with the Red Sox and has been on a tear lately. He is in the top 5 in nearly every batting category in the AL. He is 1st in hits, 3rd in on base percentage, 4th in slugging percentage, 4th in runs, 4th in doubles, and 4th in on base plus slugging percentage. Gonzalez also leads the MLB with a .345 batting average and is tied with Curtis Granderson for the league lead in RBIs with 103. Often times, the MVP race comes down to the last 2 months of the season. Gonzalez is stating his case that he deserves to win the award as he has led the Red Sox to a two game lead in the AL East over the Yankees. In his last 7 games, Gonzalez is 12-31 (.387) and has 5 home runs and 10 RBIs. Curtis Granderson is another position player who has had an MVP season. Granderson is second in the league with 36 home runs and he is tied for the league lead in RBIs with 103. Granderson's 119 runs scored lead the league, and he has scored 24 more runs than any other player in the league this season. The Yanks centerfielder has also caused havoc on the base paths with his 24 stolen bases. Gonzalez and Granderson have both had seasons that are worthy of an MVP.

It is extremely rare for pitchers to win an MVP award. Since 1931, only 11 pitchers have ever won the AL MVP award, and just 4 have won the award since 1972. The pitchers who have won the award have had an all-time, great season and they have also been in a year where there was no position player who was a clear-cut MVP candidate. In 1971, Vida Blue won the AL MVP as a starting pitcher for the Oakland Athletics. Vida had an incredible season, as he was 24-8 with an astonishing 1.82 ERA, 24 complete games, and 8 shutouts. None of the players that finished in the top 20 of the MVP voting in 1971 had over 35 home runs or more than 100 RBIs. Sal Bando, who finished in 2nd that year, had just 24 home runs, 94 RBIs, and batted only .271. In 1992, Dennis Eckersley won the AL MVP award as the closer for the Oakland Athletics. Eckersley had a record-breaking season as he had 51 saves, an MLB record for the most in a single season at the time, and he also had an ERA of 1.91 in 69 appearances. That same year, Kirby Puckett was the runner-up for the MVP, but he had only 19 homers. Joe Carter, who finished third, had 34 home runs, but batted just .264. Verlander is having a great season, but it is not like Vida Blue’s year in 1971 or Dennis Eckersley’s in 1992 where they were the only dominating performer in all of baseball. 

Many pitchers have had great seasons, even better than Verlander's, and have not won the MVP award because there were position players who deserved it. In 1989, Bret Saberhagen of the Kansas City Royals had one of the best single seasons in AL history and won the AL Cy Young award. Saberhagen led the major leagues with 23 wins and only one pitcher since then, Bob Welch in 1990, has had more than 23 wins in a single season in the AL. Saberhagen also led the league with a 2.16 ERA, but didn't win the AL MVP because guys like Robin Yount and Ruben Sierra had terrific seasons.  In 2000, Pedro Martinez had one of the greatest pitching seasons in American League history. The Red Sox pitcher was 18-6 with a 1.74 ERA, which was the lowest in the AL since Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees had a 1.74 ERA in 1978. Pedro's finished 2000 with a WHIP of 0.737, which was the lowest single season WHIP in MLB history. However, Pedro didn't win the AL MVP because there were position players who had great seasons. Jason Giambi, Frank Thomas, Alex Rodriguez, and Carlos Delgado all had over 40 home runs, 130 RBIs, and batted over .315 and all received more votes than Pedro for MVP. By the way, Jason Giambi, who later admitted to using steroids, won the award. 

Verlander's season is easy to compare to Roger Clemens's year in 1997 with the Toronto Blue Jays. Like Verlander, Clemens won his 20th game before the end of August and was the clear cut AL Cy Young favorite. If you put their numbers next to each other they are very similar. Clemens pitched 264 innings and was 21-7 with a 2.05 ERA and 292 strikeouts. With about 6 starts remaining, Verlander has pitched 215.2 innings and is currently 20-5 with a higher ERA than Clemens at 2.38 and 218 strikeouts. Verlander's innings and strikeouts will look much more like Clemens's after his final 6 starts. When the AL MVP voting was tallied in 1997, Clemens finished in 10th place. 

Tiger's manager Jim Leyland recently said, "I don't think a pitcher should be the Most Valuable Player. I'm not looking for arguments or controversy. I just think when a guy goes out there 158 times or 155 times and has a big year, an MVP type year, I don't think the guy that goes out there 35 times should be named over that guy. To me right now if you really wanted to look at it who is our Most Valuable Player? Is it Verlander or at this point today under all circumstances is it Alex Avila? You can make a case for what this kid has gone through. I'm certainly not taking anything away from Verlander and I'm not trying to change the voting.”

Men's Notable US Open First Round Matches

#32 Ivan Dodig vs Nikolay Davydenko: After being seeded 6th at last year's US Open, Nikolay Davydenko has taken a nose drive. After a horrible 2010 summer, where didn't win more than two matches at any tournament, he fell out of the top 20. By the end of January 2011, he had dropped to 35. Davydenko has not had a great summer and his ranking is now 39. Davydenko never won more than a match at any tournament this summer and didn't win a set off of Mardy Fish, Novak Djokovic, or Fernando Verdasco in three matches. Despite his rough summer and recent play, Davydenko shouldn't be totally dismissed in the early rounds as he has had past success at the US Open. He made the semifinals of the US Open in 2006 and 2007, and has made it past the second round of the tournament every year but once since 2006. While Davydenko has really struggled recently, Ivan Dodig has played very well. Last August, Dodig was ranked in the 140's, and now he is number 33. Dodig's best surface by far is the hard courts, as it is the only surface he has a winning record on. Dodig has a 14-8 record on hard courts this year including a 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) win over Rafael Nadal in Montreal earlier this month. Dodig looks like the favorite to win the first round match because he has played well recently and Davydenko doesn't look like the same player that was in the top 10 for more than 5 years.

Prediction: 32. Ivan Dodig over Nikolay Davydenko in four sets.

# 27 Marin Cilic vs Ryan Harrison: United States tennis fans are hoping that Ryan Harrison can be the next great American tennis player. With just one American in the top 20, the struggling Andy Roddick, and Sam Querrey still recovering from an arm injury, Harrison has a lot of pressure on him to perform well at the US Open. Last year he beat Ivan Ljubicic in the first round. However, it may be a lot to ask of Harrison to do it again this year because he has a very difficult first round match with the big Croatian, Marin Cilic. After falling outside of the top 30, Cilic had a nice run in Montreal to pick his ranking back up to 27. Cilic beat Andreas Seppi and had a big win over Juan Martin Del Potro in Montreal before losing to world number 1 Novak Djokovic. Harrison will have to return very well because Cilic is in the top 15 in both st and 2nd service points won. Harrison has a good shot of winning if he can play like he did earlier in the summer when he reached the semifinals of both Atlanta and Los Angeles before falling to Mardy Fish both times. Ryan has shown he can beat some of the top players in the world, like when he beat Juan Ignacio Chela in the first round of Cincinnati in straight sets.

Prediction: Marin Cilic over Ryan Harrison in four sets.

#23 Radek Stepanek vs Philipp Kohlschreiber: Radek Stepanek was ranked in the top 20 last May, but he fell to as low as number 70 in April of this year. However, Stepanek made a huge comeback this summer and found himself ranked in the top 30. He made an outstanding run in Washington to win 6 matches and the 500-point tournament. Stepanek knocked out Fernando Verdasco in straight sets in the quarterfinals, and then ended up beating Gael Monfils in the final 6-4, 6-4. A few weeks later, Stepanek beat John Isner and Andrey Golubev enroute to a round of 16 finish in Cincinnati. Stepanek's two big summer tournaments enabled his rank to go from 54 to 23. He has a chance at making a run in the US Open as long as he can get by his tricky first round match against the German Philipp Kohlschreiber. Although Kohlschreiber can play some bad matches like he did when he lost to Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets in Montreal, he has shown that he can beat the best in the world. The German beat top 25 players Andy Roddick and Feliciano Lopez in Cincinnati this summer. Stepanek and Kohlschreiber met at the US Open in 2009, and Stepanek won that match in four sets.
Prediction: Radek Stepanek over Philipp Kohlschreiber in four sets.

28. John Isner vs Marcos Baghdatis: Marcos Baghdatis and John Isner have played twice recently, and the they will meet for a third time in three weeks when they play in the first round of the US Open. Their first encounter came in the first round of Montreal when Isner beat Baghdatis in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. Although Isner had just 8 aces, his big serve still caused a lot of problems for Baghdatis. Isner won 84% of his 1st serve points, and didn't allow Baghdatis to have one break point chance during the entire match. The two met again in the Winston-Salem quarterfinals just two weeks later. Although Baghdatis looked much better and returned Isner's big serve much more effectively, he fell in three sets 6-1, 3-6, 4-6. Isner won just 43% of his 2nd serve points and was broken three times by Baghdatis. Marcos won 37% of his return points, which is much better than when he won just 22% of his return points in Montreal. Although Isner has beaten Baghdatis twice this summer, it is extremely difficult to beat an opponent three times in a row, and Marcos has shown that he can return Isner's big serve as he did in Winston-Salem.
Prediction: Marcos Baghdatis over John Isner in five sets.

#16 Mikhail Youzhny vs Ernests Gulbis: In 2007, at the age of 18, Ernests Gulbis made a thrilling run in his first ever US Open. He beat two seeded players to make it to the round of 16. The Latvian teen was labeled the next great up-and-coming tennis star, but all of his immense talent has never led too much success on the tour. However, his recent success is a good sign that he can make a run in this year's US Open. Gulbis won his second ever ATP tour event when he won Los Angeles this summer. He knocked off Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 and then came back from a set down to beat Mardy Fish 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Gulbis will have a lot to deal with in the first round of the US Open though because he will play an experienced Mikhail Youzhny. Youzhny made it to the semifinals of the US Open in 2006, and again last year. Youzhny loves playing in front of the NYC crowd.
Prediction: Mikhail Youzhny over Ernests Gulbis in five sets.