Both teams are coming off of lopsided wins against over matched opponents in week 1. Alabama beat up on San Jose State 48-3, while Penn State easily handled Youngstown State 44-14. The Crimson Tide will be without their star running back, and Heisman trophy winner, Mark Ingraham for the second straight week. Ingraham is still sidelined with a knee injury that he suffered during the last week of fall practice.

Penn State appears to be over matched in this game and will start a true freshman quarterback on the road. This is the very first season that legendary head coach Joe Paterno has used a true freshman QB while he has been the head coach at Penn State.

Both schools have quality defensive units, which will be a key to the game. If Penn State has any hopes of winning this game their defense will have to step up and play their best game to stop the talented Alabama offense that racked up 257 yards rushing last week.

The game looks to be a battle between two of the most explosive quarterbacks in the NCAA today. Miami Hurricanes quarterback Jacory Harris came to national prominence last season as one of the best play makers in the ACC. Harris can be rattled by a great defense and threw 17 interceptions in his first season as a starter for the Hurricanes.

Terrelle Pryor, quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes, is already receiving Heisman Trophy buzz as the NCAA season begins. Pryor is much like Jacoby Harris when under pressure. Pryor has a reputation for panicking and making bad throws while under pressure but he does have tremendous speed to the outside to avoid sacks.

Miami’s strong suit on defense is their defensive line. They can create pressure and force the ball outside. Two key run stoppers inside are 300 pound behemoths, Micanar Regis and Curtis Porter, who should rotate into the line up in run situations. If there is a weakness in the Miami defense it will be across the middle. Look for Ohio State to use their tight ends and possession receivers over the middle.

The Ohio State Buckeyes defense is deep and does not have many holes. Ohio State has strong linebackers in the middle and a disruptive defensive line that should get pressure on Jacoby Harris. Ohio State enters this game as a 10 point favorite according to the Las Vegas Hilton Superbook and by many other football betting lines, and if they can hold Miami to two touchdowns they should cover the 10 points with ease.

Entering this matchup, Iowa will certainly be favored. With a ranking of 9th in the nation, Iowa will enter the season. In 2009, they posted an impressive season with a record of 11-2. Truth be told, as an offensive squad, Iowa has never really been seen as one. In 2009, they were only the 86th best scoring team. Offense isn’t what keeps this team going, although this doesn’t sound so great.

Last season just over 15 points a game was allowed to the Hawkeyes. The total is great. In the Big Ten, they managed to go 6-2 and even went 2-1 against top 25 teams. The type of defense that the Hawkeyes have, it will keep them in any game. Even when the offense just isn’t clicking, they are able to keep the game under control.

Last season, Eastern Illinois went 8-4. Certainly not well known, although they are a solid team. They haven’t really been tried and tested against top teams in the nation much and they come from a smaller conference (the OVC). For the Panthers, Iowa will be a big challenge.

If Eastern Illinois can remain in striking distance, it will have a chance. Getting the offense on track, Iowa may have some issues like they did last year.

At a huge upset, a couple of forced turnovers could give them a shot.

Northern Illinois managed a record of seven wins and six losses last year. They play in the MAC West. The MAC is not exactly a conference that is rated towards the top, but you never know what to expect from teams in these smaller conferences. We have all seen what Boise State has been able to do over the past few years.

The team has had up and down years in the past and has the potential to put together a solid team. They play in the Big 12 which features a fair amount of competition. This Iowa State team will need a win here in order to set the tone for the upcoming season. They are already in a difficult conference and they will need to win the games against the teams outside of their conference if they hope to get up into the rankings.

Both of these teams will be returning their top passers and rushers. They should have some momentum entering the season as they have these talented players returning to their squads making for some good football betting odds.

If all goes well you can expect both of these teams to have an improved system and offense this year.

Florida Atlantic is still a newer school and has a developing program. It is no secret that there is a great talent pool in Florida to draw from. Even with so many great programs in Florida it seems that there are always more players to draw from. You can expect this Florida Atlantic team to have a fair amount of athletes, regardless of whether or not they have developed into great football players yet.

Miami always seems to put a blazing fast team out on the field. It seems that they are always the most athletic of the teams in the state. They have had a little bit of a drought in finding success in Miami however. While they used to be a perennial contender for the National Championship, they are now a second tier team. There is no doubt that they have the athleticism to spoil someone’s season, but they have not shown the consistency to contend in years past.

Miami can be a great team and will be favored against Florida Atlantic. This game will be no cake walk however. If Miami cannot play with more discipline they will have a chance of suffering an upset to the hands of the Florida Atlantic squad.

This should be a great in state rivalry game as the two teams square off on September the 2nd.

The coach Butch Jones is responsible for the three-year domination in the MAC. However, he was hired to replace Brian Kelly as head coach of Cincinnati and his success did not go unnoticed. Former running backs coach at Michigan State, Dan Enos, was hired as Jones’s replacement.

Central Michigan will have many of the same weapons that made them so good last season, with seven returning offensive starters and 5 returning defensive starters. However, with the departure of quarterback Dan LeFavour to the NFL, they have one major hole to fill. As the all-time leader in touchdowns, LeFavour ended his career in NCAA FBS history. Ryan Radcliff, untested quarterback will likely be his replacement.

In scoring defense (18.9 points per game), Central Michigan was ranked nationally as the 17th best team. Although a few starters to graduation were lost by them, everyone else is back and some of the underclassmen are expected to be better than the players they are replacing. Notably, to be one of the MAC’s top safeties, safety Jahleel Addea looks like he has a chance.

The Temple Owls were considered to be on the same level as CMU in the MAC, last year. However, the two never got to meet in the MAC Championship Game and they flopped against Ohio. This season, however, in CMU’s second game of the year, the two will face each other. Of the MAC Championship game, it is expected to be an early season preview.

CMU has to run the table in order to generate any sort of BCS buzz, given that they play in a relatively weak conference. CMU’s defense should be good enough to keep them near the top of the MAC, although with an inexperienced quarterback, it doesn’t seem all that likely.

The Hurricanes return six starters to an offense that was at times erratic, combining for eight turnovers in losses to North Carolina and Clemson. Harris, a junior, has proven to be a great player under new offensive coordinator Mark Whipple’s offensive system. He threw for a conference-high 3,352 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2009. He did throw for 17 interceptions, however, and needs to make better decisions with the football when under pressure.

Miami has a solid defense going into the season, especially on the line and in the secondary. Senior defensive end Allen Bailey had seven sacks last year and will be joined on the D-line by DE Marcus Robinson (four sacks). Despite intercepting just two passes last year, Brandon Harris proved to be a shutdown corner with 15 passes broken up last season.

Miami’s linebackers represent their biggest weakness on defense. Inside linebacker Darryl Sharpton was drafted to the NFL last spring and he will be difficult to replace. It is possible that the Hurricanes will move Colin McCarthy from outside to inside linebacker.

Miami had a great start to 2009, going 3-1 while playing against the likes of Florida State, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech. They will have another tough opening set of games, including a road game at Big Ten powerhouse Ohio State.

From strong quarterback play, BYU has benefited for much of its time as a top-notch college football program. Ty Detmer, Jim McMahon and Steve Young established the school as a strong quarterback institution in the past years. In each of the last four seasons, John Beck and Max Hall have put up strong numbers to help them win 10 plus games, in recent years. With the departure of Hall, the starting job will be given to either Jake Heaps or Riley Nelson, this season.

Heaps was the number one rated quarterback in the country, coming out of high school. However, with Utah State transfer Riley Nelson as his biggest threat, he will have to compete for the job. BYU may be able to surprise some people this season and make a run at winning the Mountain West, if Heaps can live up to the hype.

In past years, in BYU’s wins, defense has been the key element. They have lost under Mendenhall in the 15 games, 12 have been when their opponents scored 30 points or more. When allowing at least 30 points and 41-3 when allowing fewer, they have gone 4-12. With several departing starters, their defense is undergoing an overhaul, with all that said, including D-line fixtures Jan Jorgensen, Brett Denney and Russell Tialavea.

BYU may be in for their first single digit win season since 2005, with holes to fill and a brutal MWC and non-conference schedule (road games at Florida State, TCU, and Utah). If they get help from a few unexpected players, they may head to yet another bowl game, they may thrive off the lack of belief in their squad.

The Ducks were happy to see 2009 turn out the way it did after it got off to such a tumultuous start. After losing their season opener to Boise State, running back LeGarrette Blount threw a punch at an opposing player. The meltdown resulted in him being suspended for most of the rest of the season.

This year, it looks like Oregon will again have to fight through turbulence to end up with a respectable season. Senior quarterback Jeremiah Masoli pleaded guilty for his role in an Oregon fraternity house and has been dismissed from the team. Sophomore running back LaMichael James has been suspended for the season opener against New Mexico after pleading guilty to misdemeanor harassment charges stemming from an altercation with a woman outside his apartment. Additionally, four players have been dismissed from the team.

Coach Chip Kelly has stressed that it is a privilege to play football for Oregon and that with that privilege comes responsibility. “If you can’t do things the right way, then there’s gonna be punishment,” said Kelly.

Despite all of the off-field issues, Oregon has been a solid football program that has yielded successful results.  They would likely be a preseason top five pick with Masoli, but even without him they should still manage to be an elite college football team with 17 returning starters. Coach Kelly has shown he can adapt, as evidenced by his Ducks winning the Pac 10 for the first time since 2001 last season after Blount’s suspension.

Pen State’s offense will be led by senior running back Evan Royster. The All-Big Ten First-Team selection averaged 5.7 yards per carry to go with his 1,169 total yards on 205 attempts. He will need help from an offensive line that was underwhelming in 2009. They will be more experienced this season, and if they can stay healthy, they should give Royster a chance to be one of the best running backs in the nation.

Another key to Penn State’s success will be at quarterback. Following the graduation of Daryll Clark, Kevin Newsome will be the likely starter but he will be competing for the job with Matt McGloin. Clark earned a reputation as a player who couldn’t come through when it mattered most, and it may be asking too much for Newsome to step in right away to become the steady leader Penn State needs to prevail in big games.

Penn State’s line backing trio of Navarro Bowman, Sean Lee, and Josh Hull all need to be replaced. Fortunately, they are expected to have Michael Mauti back after he missed all of last season with a torn ACL. Nathan Stupar is another Penn State linebacker who is excited to step in and get more time.