2007 Football Schedule Planner - Week 3

June 7, 2007

By Adam Caparell

CSTV.com

	ADAM CAPARELL Adam is CSTV.com's football editor and national football writer. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- FOOTBALL 01/23: Feeling It 01/18: Post-Bowl, Pre-Spring 2008 Preseason Top 25 01/11: Late Season Run Priming Dawgs For '08 01/07: Ring A Bell? 01/04: Tressel's Hopefully Prepared For Anything 12/21: Hokies Have Something To Play For 12/14: Name Game 12/8: Little Surprise Tebow Takes Heisman 12/8: Back For More 12/7: Class Act 12/6: Flutie's Legacy Still The 'Miracle' 12/4: Dixon Can Still Smile 12/2: Wishful Thinking 11/30: Daniel Driving Missouri On BCS Run 11/28: 'Game' Still Largely Defines Beban 11/23: Long Time Coming 11/21: Bandstanding Brown 11/16: Georgia In The Know 11/14: Only Eddie Held Eddie Back 11/9: Soft Schedule Could Have Hawai'i BCS Bound 11/7: The 'Bear' And Crow 11/2: No Secret To Oregon's Success 10/31: Age Only A Number 10/26: Nittany Lions Know It's Got To Be Close 10/24: In Long Line, White Continued Tradition 10/19: Trojans In Unfamiliar Territory 10/17: Rogers Larger Than Life 10/12: Missouri The Machine 10/10: The Jet Likes To Run 10/5: Meyer's Seen This Before 10/4: Polled Over 10/3: Long On Memories 9/28: Season Begins For Dixon And Ducks Saturday 9/26: Desmond The Poser 9/21: Spurrier's Being Honest 9/19: All In The Family With Rozier 9/14: USC Ready For Another Early Road Test 9/12: Detmer's Magic Won Him Heisman 9/7: 'Show' Time For Virginia Tech 9/5: Drive Drove Dorsett 8/31: Family Affair 8/29: Count On The Gamecocks To Hatch 8/28: Youth Gone Wild On Gator Defense 8/28: Talent Comes Naturally To Tigers 8/27: SEC Preview 8/27: All Hail Saban 8/25: No More Lazy Sundays 8/24: Illinois D Brimming With New Confidence 8/23: Big Ten Preview 8/23: 2007 Football Schedule Planner - Week 14 8/22: Tee'd Off 8/16: 2007 Football Schedule Planner - Week 13 8/15: Brohm's Back, And All Is Well 8/15: Coaches Split On Early Signing Period 8/14: Schiano's Success Starting to Show 8/13: Big East Preview 8/13: It's Not About Respect With Leavitt And USF 8/11: Production Time for Seminole Signal Callers 8/10: Shannon Looking To Return Swagger 8/10: Wake Up? 8/9: Atlantic Coast Conference Preview 8/9: Tough Turkeys, Once Again 8/9: 2007 Football Schedule Planner - Week 12 8/8: Preseason Top 25 8/2: 2007 Football Schedule Planner - Week 11 8/1: Big Ten Expansion Doesn't Make Sense 7/26: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 10 7/25: Beamer's Burden 7/19: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 9 7/18: Good Vibrations 7/12: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 6 7/11: Three and Up 7/4: And The Winner Is... 7/2: Where In The World Is Ed Smith? 6/28: SEC East's Big Weekend 6/27: Summer Bowl Forecast 6/21: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 5 6/20: Big 12 Loses Its Big Man 6/14: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 4 6/13: Trick Up His Sleeve 6/7: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 3 6/6: For the Record 5/31: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 2 5/30: Like Clockwork 5/24: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 1 5/23: Florida Freshmen Get Defensive 5/16: Maroon Affected 5/10: Brennan's A Numbers Guy 5/9: More Than Just One Play 5/2: Post-Spring, Pre-Preseason Top 25 4/27: Quinn's Fallen, But He'll Still Be Up There 4/26: Size Does Matter 4/25: Troy Smith Now Middle of Pack QB 4/24: Peterson Can't Wait For The Moment 4/21: QB Biggest Question Facing Buckeyes 4/21: Don't Forget About The D 4/20: Bowl Game A Boon For Bluegrass Boys 4/19: The Bigger They Are, the Harder They Fall 4/18: New Coordinator, New Scheme, New Results? 4/18: Earlier The Better 4/17: It's Your Turn Offense 4/16: Spartans Hope Big Changes Go Long Way 4/14: Defense The Question Mark For Michigan 4/12: Height's Nothing But A Number 4/5: Two Much To Handle 3/28: More To Hill Than Just TDs 3/21: Down Could Mean Up For Delaware's Patrick 3/14: Changes In Store For Gill and Buffalo 3/7: Lurking In the Backgroung 2/28: What A Mock-ery 2/25: The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same 2/24: Piscataway Proud 2/23: 40, For Better or Worse 2/22: The Ultimate Q and A 2/21: Combine's A Coming 2/14: Rights For Recruiting Wrongs 2/8: Recruiting No Joke For Coaches 2/6: Lemming Retrospect: Class of 2006 1/31: Coker In No Rush To Move On 1/30: Ross Bows Out, But Leaves His Mark At Army 1/26: Seniors With Something To Prove 1/25: Coaching For The League 1/24: Welcome To The Pros 1/17: Pre-Spring, Post-Bowl 2007 Preseason Top 25 1/10: Irish Have A Ways To Go 1/8: Siler and Gators After Something More 1/4: Russell Sweeter Than Sugar 1/3: Irish Out For Respect

Over the summer, CSTV.com will be taking a look at the college football schedule, highlighting the top matchups, the can't-miss games and the storylines that make certain contests so intriguing. Check in every Thursday for the heads-up on what games are shaping up to be the best each week, the top offensive matchups, Heisman showcases and a few others that have piqued our interest. 

While it's still early in the college football season, Week 3 sees half the SEC kick off its conference schedule, headlined by a great early-season matchup. But, being that were only in the middle of September, the week is still mostly dominated by non-conference games. And there are some very good ones out there.

But for the best action of the day, we head to - you guessed it - the SEC.

Games of the Week

Sat., Sept. 15 - Tennessee at Florida

Doesn't get much bigger than the Vols and Gators. It's been a back and forth battle between Florida and Tennessee in recent years even though Phil Fulmer is just 5-10 against the Gators all-time, thanks in large part to Steve Spurrier. Tennessee leads the all-time series 19-17, but Urban Meyer's starting to rack up a very nice record in the division: He's 9-1 in his two years in Gainesville. This matchup generally comes down to who runs the ball better so all eyes should be on the battle in the trenches.

Sat., Sept. 15 - Arkansas at Alabama

Nick Saban welcomes his first conference opponent in the defending SEC West champs to Bryant-Denny Stadium. Saban also gets the pleasure of trying to stop Heisman Trophy favorite Darren McFadden with a rushing defense he hopes will improve on its 124 yards allowed per game mark last season. So here's another SEC game that should be decided with the run.

Sat., Sept. 15 - Boston College at Georgia Tech  

It's a potential preview of the ACC Championship Game as the Eagles head south to meet the Yellow Jackets. Should be a good offensive contest. The Eagles will be led by Matt Ryan, one of the underrated quarterbacks in the country, and the Yellow Jackets will have Taylor Bennett, who will be a considerable upgrade over the perennially inconsistent Reggie Ball. Just imagine if Tech still had Calvin Johnson.

Rivalry of the Week

Sat., Sept. 15 - Louisville at Kentucky

This was the game that ended Michael Bush's season last year as the Cardinals rolled their way to a blowout win early in the season. But Kentucky's a more experienced team, one with a potent offense that's going to give the Louisville defense some problems. That trio of Andre' Woodson, Rafael Little and Kennan Burton is underrated. This will be new Cards coach Steve Kragthorpe's first game against a legitimate opponent - and it comes on the road.

Heisman Showcase of the Week 

Sat., Sept. 15 - USC at Nebraska

John David Booty steps squarely into the spotlight in this weekend's primetime game. Going up against 85,000 assembled fans at Memorial Stadium won't be easy in what will be Booty's first chance for everyone in the country to see him play under the lights. In USC's win over the Cornhuskers last September, Booty threw for 257 yards on 25-of-36 passing (his highest completion percentage of the season) for 3 touchdowns. A game like that on the road, on national television, would be priceless for Booty's Heisman resume.

BCS Buster of the Week

Sat. Sept. 15 - Notre Dame vs. Michigan

It's a week that doesn't feature much in the way of BCS-busting potential as Boise State and TCU both have very winnable games against Wyoming and Air Force while Hawai'i is on the road to take on a UNLV team that went 2-10 last season. So we'll give the nod to the Irish who face one of their many rivals. Notre Dame isn't going to sniff the BCS, but you have to figure Charlie Weis will have his team up for this game in The Big House, looking to spoil Michigan's BCS dreams. But do the Irish have the defense to hold down the Wolverines' offense? Absolutely not.