Bryan Albin’s College Football Games of the Week

Now that we have made it to the end of my preseason Top 25 Countdown, it is time to start picking games. Each week I will pick the weeks most important games for you starting with the 5th best game of the week on Mondays, all the way to my game of the week on Fridays. With only 3 more days until kickoff, let’s start breaking down my #5 game of week one.

Connecticut Huskies (+3, -110) @ Michigan Wolverines (-3, -110)

September 4th, 3:30 EST

Despite this being a game between two unranked teams, it will garner as much national attention as any game on Saturday. With Michigan looking to return to glory in Rich Rodriguez’s third year at the school, this is a game that Michigan needs to win to get on an early roll. The Huskies, though, will be poised to spoil the first game played in the expanded Big House. Whereas Michigan finished the 2009 season in the middle of a slump, the Huskies reeled off four wins in a row to end the season, including a bowl win over Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina. The Huskies became a national story as they played in honor of a fallen teammate, CB Jasper Howard who was murdered outside of a school dance last October, and they ought to be expected to play this season with similar emotion and unity as this would have been Howard’s senior season. Other story lines include the possibility that UConn and Michigan may soon be regular opponents if UConn moves to the Big Ten in the near future as part of the Big Ten’s imminent expansion to 16 teams.

GETTING OFFENSIVE

This game also could turn out to be one of the most exciting games to watch in week 1, because a lot of offense should be expected. In the last 4 games of the 2009 regular season, UConn scored 45, 33, 56 and 29 points respectively. Michigan, on the other hand had a hot offense early in the year, but it cooled off as the Wolverines got deeper into Big Ten play. However, wherever he has coached, Rich Rodriguez’s teams tend to make a huge improvement offensively in his third year at the school. It should be expected that the Michigan offense will be much improved this season. Also, both defenses have a lot of question marks and are probably not as ready for games as the offenses will be.

KEYS TO THE GAME

• Who is starting at QB for Michigan? Right now it looks as if the speedy Denard Robinson has beaten out incumbent Tate Forcier for the starting job. Robinson is similar to Rodriguez’s most famous protege, Pat White, in terms of ability to turn nothing into a huge gain with his legs. If Robinson starts, though, he will have to be able to show he can make throws downfield, because UConn’s front seven is very good at stopping the run, while the UConn secondary may be vulnerable.
• UConn’s Sr. MLB Greg Lloyd has had his redshirt pulled and will actually start the game. If Lloyd, who has recovered from a torn ACL, is really 100% healthy, the Huskies have one of the best linebacker units in the country, as Lloyd, Lawrence Wilson and Scott Lutrus are the heart of the UConn defense.
• Can UConn Sr. QB Zach Frazer start this year playing as consistently as he did at the end of last season? If he does, which means he is protecting the ball, making smart throws and throwing a good deep ball, UConn will put a lot of points on the board. Not only is Michigan’s secondary weak, but UConn has one of the best rushing attacks in the nation.
• Special teams always seem to play a huge roll in these types of games. UConn hurt itself on special teams many times, including giving up Touchdowns on the opening kickoff of games against West Virginia. If Michigan could expose similar problems with the 2010 Huskies’ Special Teams, it may be enough to hand it a critical victory.

Pick:          Connecticut 31                   Michigan 20              Connecticut covers