3 games to watch in college football's first week

Thursday, September 3: 16th ranked Oregon travels to No. 14 Boise State for a late-night tilt on the famous blue turf. Boise State eeked out a close win over the Ducks in Eugene last year so the Ducks will be looking to exact revenge. If Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli can orchestrate Chip Kelly's spread offense and RB LeGarrette Blount can provide a healthy running game; I see no reason why the Ducks shouldn't be able to score on the Bronco defense. Boise State's secondary is a good one, but the run defense struggled in their big games last year. Look for the Ducks to test the Broncos' defensive front in this one and run the spread. The game can be seen on ESPN at 10:15 P.M. ET.

Saturday, September 5: The 13th ranked Georgia Bulldogs travel to Stillwater Oklahoma to face Dez Bryant, Zac Robinson, and the 9th ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys. If Oklahoma State wants to set an early tone for the season and get that ugly Holiday Bowl loss to Oregon out of everyone's mind, they need to show some staying power and handle Georgia. Georgia has a very stout defense with many returning starters, so it will be tough for Oklahoma State's high-powered offense to get into a shootout. Georgia has a first-year starter at QB, senior Joe Cox, so I look for the Bulldogs to try and keep this as low-scoring as possible. 3:30 P.M. ET on ABC.

Saturday, September 5: This is the second installment of the ACC-SEC Chick-Fil-A College Kickoff Classic in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. 7th ranked Virginia Tech rolls in to face No. 5 Alabama in what should be a knock-down drag-out slugfest. Hopefully the ACC will actually show up this year; Clemson was drubbed last year by Alabama 34-10, with their only touchdown coming on a kickoff return. The game was a springboard to an undefeated regular season for the Tide and sent Clemson down a road that ended in the firing of Tommy Bowden. VA Tech comes in boasting a stellar defense led by coordinator Bud Foster and senior FS Kam Chancellor. Likely Alabama starting QB Greg McElroy will have a tough time getting past the Hokie defense without OT Andre Smith and RB Glenn Coffee, both of whom have moved on to the next level. I look for this to be an old-fashioned southern football game, something in the 14-10 range. 8:00 P.M. ET on ABC.