6 Oct 2011 04:17 PM EST -by Daniel Mogollon, Staff Writer; Image: LaMichael James looks to kick off the college football weekend with a big on Thursday Night. (Image Source: Eric Evans/Oregon) Thursday — October 6 9:00 – Cal @ Oregon – ESPN: Last season it was the Golden Bears of Cal who did the best job of slowing down the quack attack of the Ducks. Oregon scored only 15 points and they were held to just 317 yards. You can believe the Ducks will be looking to flex their offensive muscles in front of the nation on Thursday night. LaMichael James is coming off back-to-back 200-yard games, including 288 yards at Arizona in their last contest. Cal’s senior inside linebackers D.J. Holt and Mychal Kendricks are two of the best the Pac-12 has to offer and will be tasked with containing James, the Golden Bears only chance to keep this one close. Saturday — October 8 12:00 – Oklahoma vs. Texas – ABC: Click for full preview. 3:30 – Florida @ LSU – CBS: The Gators will be without the services of Jeff Brantley, but even with their senior signal caller Florida would be facing an uphill battle in Baton Rouge. Like Alabama, expect the Tigers to key on Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps and force Florida to put the game in the quarterback’s hands. Talented but inexperienced true freshman Jeff Driskel is expected to get the call. If you haven’t seen LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu play yet, boy are you in for a treat. The sophomore is wearing Patrick Peterson’s No. 7 and at times he looks even better than the top-10 NFL pick did on his way to the Thorpe Award. Junior coverman Morris Claiborne is yet another Bayou Bengal defensive back that NFL teams are beginning to covet. 3:30 – Iowa @ Penn State – ABC/ESPN: Despite just one loss apiece, neither team has played very inspiring football this season. Iowa had significant losses on the defensive line, yet they still bring a formidable front four with them to Happy Valley led by seniors Broderick Binns, Mike Daniels and Thomas Nardo, who was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for his 12-tackle performance a week ago. The former walk-on from Lancaster, PA also had two tackles for loss, including a half a sack. The trio will be assigned to bottle up PSU’s top offensive weapon, sophomore tailback Silas Redd. Recent history bodes well for the Hawkeyes, who have won three straight versus the Nittany Lions, eight of the last nine overall and five of six at University Park. 3:30 – Miami (FL) @ Virginia Tech – ABC/ESPN: The Hokies and ‘Canes each enter this contest with 0-1 conference marks and the loser is in jeopardy of falling 2.5 games behind Coastal leader Georgia Tech. Virginia Tech is smarting off their 20-point home loss to Clemson last week. The Tigers exposed Tech’s one-dimensional attack, as sophomore signal caller Logan Thomas threw for only 125 yards and an interception. There were high expectations for the 6’6”, 254-pound man-child, but the former tight end has tossed just five touchdown passes opposite seven interceptions. The expected season debut of junior safety Ray Ray Armstrong will bolster Miami’s already talented secondary, which features Vaughn Telemaque and JoJo Nicolas. Sean Spence is one of the nation’s fleetest linebackers and it will be fun to watch him matchup with Hokies most dangerous weapon, tailback David Wilson. What Collin Klein can do through the air will likely be the difference in the game. (Image Source: Dennis Hubbard) 3:30 – Missouri @ Kansas State – ABC: Is Kansas State for real? Sure the Wildcats were welcomed into the land of the Top 25 this week after knocking off Baylor, a strong follow up to their upset of Miami in South Beach. They held off the ‘Canes with a late goal line stand and scored 10 points in the final minutes of their come from behind victory over the Bears. Bill Snyder and company have a flair for the dramatic. Nevertheless, the boys from the Little Apple find themselves underdogs at home against Mizzou. Two of the Big 12’s best dual-threat quarterbacks will be on display in Collin Klein and James Franklin. Klein leads K-State in both rushing and passing with 904 total yards and 10 touchdowns. Franklin has contributed to 11 touchdowns for the Tigers and is the more polished passer of two with 985 yards through the air (260 rushing). Missouri may have dropped two September contests but are the more talented team and it will show on Saturday. 3:30 – Arizona State @ Utah – FSN: With USC ineligible, Utah appeared to be the Sun Devils stiffest challenger along their way to the inagural Pac-12 Championship game. Arizona State can send the Utes deeper into the South Division cellar by handing the former Mountain West school it’s third conference loss in as many tries, while maintaining their unblemished conference record at the same time. Utah will be without starting quarterback Jordan Wynn, who injured his left arm last week against Washington. Jon Hays completed 10-of-16 passes for 156 yards in relief but failed to put any points on the board until the final seconds of their 17-point loss to the Huskies. Brock Osweiler has been intercepted six times this season but when he protects the football ASU has done most of their damage through the air, averaging 285 passing yards per game. 7:00 – Auburn @ Arkansas — ESPN: Both teams are coming off impressive victories—Arkansas an 18-point comeback against Texas A&M and Auburn an upset over No. 10 South Carolina on the road. Despite ranking 51st in the nation in scoring offense and 74th in scoring defense, the defending BCS Champs have already knocked off two ranked foes and are looking for number three. Gene Chizik’s boys excel in close games but can Auburn muster enough defense to stay within striking distance of the high-octane Hogs from Fayetteville? Tyler Wilson threw for 510 yards and three touchdowns against the Aggies with senior Jarius Wright (13 receptions, 281 yards) emerging as his go-to guy. Joe Adams, Cobi Hamilton, Chris Gragg and Greg Childs round out a deep and talented stable of pass catchers at Wilson’s disposal. 7:00 – Georgia @ Tennessee – ESPN2: Two of the nation’s top sophomore passers square up in this SEC East clash. The 6’6”, 210-pound Tyler Bray of Tennessee is more of your classic pocket passer and has built on his strong freshman finish, passing for 1,328 yards and 14 touchdowns (2 INTs), putting him on pace for 42 scoring strikes on the season. The sophomore is competing 68.5 percent of passes, a significant improvement from his completion percentage of 55.8 a year ago. Aaron Murray may not be the prototype at 6’1” but his is thickly built (211 pounds) compared to Bray and no one is going to question his arm strength. The second-year starter is having an up-and-down season but has led the Bulldogs to three straight wins after an 0-2 start. Murray is completing 61.5 percent of his passes for 1,100 yards and 13 touchdowns (6 INTs). The Bulldog is just two interceptions away from his freshman total, so he will need to do a better job of protecting the football if UGA is to make a run at the SEC East crown. Taylor Martinez will have to bounce back if Nebraska is going to rediscover the magic. (Image Source: Dennis Hubbard) 8:00 – Ohio State @ Nebraska – ABC: Last week the Ohio State Buckeyes came within 10 seconds of being shutout at the Horseshoe by the Michigan State Spartans. They were only able to muster up 178 total yards of offense including just 25 yards on the ground. They completed just 12-of-25 passes as a team and managed a mere 0.9 yards per carry in their Big Ten opener. To make matters worse, offensive playmakers Dan Herron and DeVier Posey have been suspended for the game. Neither has played this season as they each were serving an unrelated suspension. The Nebraska game was supposed to be their debut, but that’s the kind of season the Buckeyes are having. Things didn’t go much better for Nebraska as they were “welcomed” to the conference by Wisconsin. The Cornhuskers gave up 486 yards and 48 points to the Badgers. They allowed over 12 yards per pass attempt and 231 yards (5 TDs) on the ground. So something has to give this week? Will Nebraska’s once-proud Blackshirt defense make an appearance or will the Buckeyes reach some level of respectability on offense? Many thought we may see these teams square off in the first-ever Big Ten Championship game and while that seems unlikely, it may be too early to count the Cornhuskers out. Other Games: Friday — October 7 9:00 – Boise State @ Fresno State – ESPN Saturday — October 8 12:00 – Minnesota @ Purdue – ESPN 12:00 – Louisville @ North Carolina – ESPN2 12:00 – Maryland @ Georgia Tech – ESPNU 12:00 – Mississippi State @ UAB – FSN 2:30 – Illinois @ Indiana – Big Ten Network 3:30 – Air Force @ Notre Dame – NBC 3:30 – Pittsburgh @ Rutgers – ESPNU 3:30 – Southern Mississippi @ Navy – CBS Sports 7:00 – Texas A&M @ Texas Tech – FX 7:00 – Vanderbilt @ Alabama – ESPNU 7:00 – Iowa State @ Baylor – FSN 7:00 – East Carolina @ Houston – CBS Sports 7:00 – Michigan @ Northwestern – Big Ten Network 7:30 – Colorado @ Stanford – Versus 10:15 – San Jose State @ BYU – ESPNU 10:30 – Washington State @ UCLA – FSN 10:30 – TCU @ San Diego State – CBS Sports