There's some pretty good Saturday football this week too

Now I know everyone's juiced for the NFL Opening Weekend (I got my case of beer, deep-fryable foods and chips too), but before we get to some hot Manning on Manning action, we've got a couple of HUGE college games to get through. So let's see what everyone thinks...

No. 19 Penn State at No. 4 Notre Dame

My opinion (the only one that REALLY matters, but I'll let the rest of you put your two cents in): Since the beginning of the season, I've been calling this one for Penn State. The Nittany Lions are probably the most underrated team in the country. Yeah, Michael Robinson and Tamba Hali are gone. But there is no quarterback controversy in Joe Pa Country. Junior Anthony Morelli has been waiting in the wing, and it's his team now. Morelli could be just as good as Robinson, albeit in a completely different style. Morelli is your more traditional quarterback: he has enough mobility to elude a pass rush and run when he needs to, but he's going to leave his legacy in the passing game exclusively.

On the other side of the ball, Penn State still has one of the best defenses in the country, and even ND fans know that the supposively explosive Irish offense looked pedestrian last week, save one drive. Brady Quinn is going to have to take Heisman form real damn quick if they expect to score on the Lions. Last year, Paul Posluszny was the best linebacker not nailing Quinn's sister, and with Hawk gone to Green Bay, last year's Dick Butkus Award winner is the premier backer in the country.

If this game were at Beaver Stadium and Notre Dame was coming off a blowout win, I would bet the farm on Penn State. But it's the opener in South Bend, and a scary win should help motivate the Irish.

Still, I'm picking the Nittany Lions to show the country just how overrated Notre Dame is, and how underrated Penn State is.

Penn State - 20
Notre Dame - 10


No. 1 Ohio State at No. 2 Texas

My opinion: I can't believe I'm taking both road teams in this week's premier matchups, because I really do think home field advantage means something in college. But this Buckeye offense could put up points if they played on an airport runway, so the noise of the Longhorn faithful won't slow them down. And you know who else won't be slowing anyone down? Tarell Brown. Even if he didn't steal a page out of Maurice Clarett's book, Brown could only hope to do that, slow down Ted Ginn Jr.

It was a couple months ago that YCS first gawked at Ginn's unbelievable playmaking ability. Texas limited him to just two catches for nine yards last year. There's no way in hell that happens again this year. Ginn is simply too good to be shut down two years in a row. Texas' loss of Brown will mean Ginn has around 250 total yards instead of 150.

A less-than-perfect Buckeye defense means this will be a shootout that will live up to all the hype of a 1 vs. 2 matchup. But after Ginn has put up his 250 yards and the Texas defense is quadruple-covering him on Ohio State's final drive, Troy Smith will break a long run and set the Buckeyes up for a game-winning, chip shot field goal.

Ohio State - 34
Texas - 31


Finally, I've got to pick an Upset Special

Keep an eye on Cal, who could keep falling right out of the top 25 with a loss to a pretty good Minnesota team. But my upset pick for this week is going to make Pat all giddy: I'm taking Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks over the Georgia Bulldogs. It takes balls to schedule your home opener against a team you haven't beaten in five years, but I would expect nothing less from the ol' ball coach. Georgia rolled in their opener, but it was against Div I-AA Western Kentucky, and their starting quarterback, Joe Tereshinski III was a measly 7-of-17 for 90 yards. Georgia just barely beat the Gamecocks last year 17-15, and that was in Georgia. In Columbia, look for Spurrier's Cocks to pull off the upset.