Must List: Week 2

Okay here was the deal with me this summer and the state of this blog. I work in agriculture and a harvest was taking place this summer, mainly peaches. That chewed up two months of my time, specifically July and August, and left little time for any blogging at all. Well the peach harvest is done with and at a perfect time because college football and the NFL start up or have started up.

One problem though is that I was still in harvest right when the first week of the college football season started so I couldn't get a Must List done. And just my luck there was a glut of great games played during the first week of the season. Also my luck when I finally had time to work on a Must List the second week of the college football season is as bad as the first week was good. Have you seen the slate of games for this week? Yikes. Still there are a few good games and here's the very first Must List of the season. (Ed Note: I'll try to do a weekly Must List until the end of the year but I can't guarantee this blog will be very much active from now on besides a post here and there with a live blog.)

Thursday, Sept 4th
Arizona at UTSA, 8:00 (FS1: Tim Brando, Joel Klatt): Both of these teams looked really good in their opening week games. Rich Rod had Arizona rolling against UNLV racking up over 700 total yards of offense. Then you have the return of Larry Coker at UTSA coming off a big victory against Houston. UTSA may be out of their league in this game but they're definitely a team to keep en eye on.

Saturday, Sept 6th
Oklahoma at Tulsa, Noon (ABC/ESPN2: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, Todd McShay): Ah another year of college football, another year of Oklahoma hype. The article this time is that the Oklahoma defense is already in midseason form. Who wants to bet when Oklahoma's defense collapses and people are writing them off? I say week 8 against Kansas State. Or it come sooner again against Texas like last season.

UAB at Mississippi State, 2:00 (FSN: Bob Rathburn, Tim Couch) Speaking of another team that always starts the season red hot and then fades badly it's Mississippi State. They thrashed Southern Miss to start the year and will probably thrash UAB this week. I want to see them play against SEC teams before I start blowing smoke up their butts like Oklahoma.


Eastern Washington at Washington, 3:00 (Pac-12 Net: Roxy Bernstein, Anthony Herron, Drea Avent) Intriguing game because this isn't a guaranteed win for Washington. The Huskies weren't exactly impressive in their debut against Hawaii for new coach Chris Petersen. Eastern Washington meanwhile is a power in the FCS side of college football and I wouldn't be surprised at all if they win this game.

USC at Stanford, 3:30 (ABC: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox) Alright nothing like a great inter conference game at the beginning of the year. USC responded well to their erm....distractions by thrashing Fresno State on Saturday. Stanford looked great against UC Davis. The question coming into this game then is USC really that good and is Stanford still the reigning king of the Pac-12?

Michigan State at Oregon, 6:30 (Fox: Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, Molly McGrath) Maybe the game of the year in college football. The Oregon offense vs that Michigan State defense? And don't sleep on Sparty's offense either. Remember what they did to Ohio State in last year's B1G title game? Now the question for this game is the Sparty defense quick enough for the Oregon offense?

Virginia Tech at Ohio State, 8:00 (ABC: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe) One of the downsides of working is that I haven't had much prep for the season, which means I have no idea how good Virginia Tech will be this season. Then again this is Virginia Tech meaning they have a good defense, great special teams, and a shaky quarterback who'll make the wrong decision at the wrong time leading to a loss again in primetime.

Colorado State at Boise State, 10:15 (ESPN2: Mark Jones, Rod Gilmore, Jessica Mendoza) Colorado State is morphing into junior Alabama. They beat Colorado last week by grinding them down via the rushing attack while stifling them on defense. Boise State meanwhile still hasn't found a QB to replace Kellen Moore. Grant Hedrick threw 4 awful interceptions against Ole Miss last week.

Texas Tech at UTEP, 11:00 (FS1: Craig Bolerjack, Ryan Nece) Texas Tech barely beat Arkansas State last week while UTEP was awfully impressive against New Mexico. Not saying there's going to be an upset but this is a game to keep an eye on.

Recipe of the Week, Grilled Bacon Jalapeno Wraps: Ready to have one last sweat before summer ends. Burn your mouth with this recipe or be a wuss and remove the seeds from the jalapeno because really who wants to burn their mouth and cry?

Alcoholic Beverage of the Week, Dogfish Head IPA: Deadspin recently wrote about this beer and I've tasted it before. IPA's aren't my favorite beer because they can be like drinking a brick, bloating your guy, but this IPA is surprisingly smooth and doesn't leave you with a bloated feeling or a nasty after taste.