Week One Preview: Volume Four

Alright, it's really Saturday now, so I will make the last two previews short and sweet.

Stanford vs. Oregon

Trent Edwards looks more like an NFL quarterback with each game he plays, but this is still a team that lost to UC Davis last year!! I still don’t believe that really happened. Stanford somehow managed to win five other games, but they don’t have the running game or the defense to keep this one close.

Jonathan Stewart is the obvious star of Oregon’s spread attack. Their most heralded recruit a year ago, he adapted slowly to the college game last season. This season, he is expected to be ready to go and be type of player Mike Bellotti had envisioned last season. Demetrius Williams and Tim Day won’t be targets this season for either Brady Leaf or Dennis Dixon, whoever wins the most playing time at quarterback. That means Cameron Colvin needs to become the deep threat that Williams was last year. On defense, the Ducks lost Haloti Ngata, which is a huge blow to their run defense. The good news is that Williams and Ngata were reunited when Baltimore drafted them both last April. Other than that, Oregon is just looking to improve and hope that the 4-2-5 defense will be effective. In the end, they should still have enough offense to beat the Cardinal at Autzen.

Brian’s Pick: Oregon
Mike’s Pick: Oregon

Cal vs. Tennessee - The Pac-10 Game of the Week

At least Cal finally named a starting quarterback. This will be a tough game for Cal, but the combination of Marshawn Lynch and Justin Fosset are too much for some NFL defenses. Tennessee quarterback (and native Oregonian) Erik Ainge will lose half the field due to the presence of cornerback Daymeion Hughes and Brandon Mebane should provide good pressure for the Bears up the middle. The linebackers for Cal are tremendous and nationally underrated because they play in the Pac-10 (Damn you, east coast bias! Damn you!) and should be active enough to disrupt the Vols offensive gameplan. A healthy Cal team should be able to pull out a close one at Tennessee.

Brian’s Pick: Cal
Mike’s Pick: Cal, then Tennessee, then back to Cal again

-For some other predictions, you can check out Bruce Feldman at ESPN and Stewart Mandel at SI.com