September 22, 2001 Sheet

Central Florida at Tulane (+5.5) - 12:30pm Pacific
This was supposed to be a big year for Tulane as they finished 6-5 last year and could have easily been 8-3 losing two heartbreakers to Army and Louisville. The offense returns key ingredients and the defense was expected to be improved after many players got experience due to rash of injuries last year. Unfortunately, the Green Wave did not get much help from their schedule and their young defense has been exposed early and often by three very good offenses in BYU, LSU, and East Carolina. 

Tulane insiders insist that the defense has made progress week to week. One going as far to say that the defense looked like an entirely different (in a positive way) unit vs ECU two weeks ago. The 51-24 final score was indeed very misleading. It was the offense who took much of the blame after throwing two critical interceptions early on that led to two ECU touchdowns and a 17-0 lead. Tulane battled back to close within 23-17 in the 3rd quarter before ECU connected on a trick play 54 yard bomb and then put the game away for good with a heartbreaking 92 yard run from scrimmage after Tulane had pinned them deep.

This very young Tulane defense should continue to make progress. They now have three games under their belt and should definitely benefit from the extra week off. They also are expected to get back 5th year senior cornerback Jamal Jones who missed the first three games and should give their pass defense a boost. They also have an outstanding punter in Casey Roussel (1st team CUSA last year) who is a Ray Guy award nominee as the nations top punter. 

Look for the Tulane offense to come out firing this week. Senior QB Patrick Ramsey (817 yards, 7 touchdowns through 3 games) has NFL type talent. In post game interviews he was very upset with his performance vs East Carolina two weeks ago. Along with the two crucial interceptions he just was not himself as he failed to hit a few open receivers and made some poor decisions. He really felt it was a winnable game for them. Look for him to bounce back this week. The offense starts 7 seniors, has an experienced offensive line, two standout receivers in Roydell Williams & Terrell Harris, and a star in sophomore RB Mewelde Moore who is currently 4th nationally in all purpose yards. Despite adversity and quality opposition, this offense has racked up big yardage and still has not played to their full potential. Look for them to score early and often.

UCF comes in 0-2 after losses at Clemson, and at Syracuse. They only returned 4 starters on offense and have struggled so far only managing 23 points combined in their first two games. Their only touchdown vs Syracuse in last game came on a hail mary bomb at the end of the first half. Starting QB Ryan Schneider went 9-for-29 vs the Orangemen before leaving with a twisted knee. He has been bothered by a chronic sore shoulder since fall practice started and coaches say he will never be 100% this season. 

On defense UCF has not been able to close the door as opponents have converted on third down 18 of 34 times including 11 that were greater than 5 yards in length. Starting LB Antione Poe (hamstring) and defensive lineman Thomas Andrews (knee) are definitely out this week. Meanwhile, DT Josh McKibben (knee) and DE Brent Bolar (knee) are questionable with injuries. The real story here are the rumors that starting MLB Tito Rodriguez (#2 in NCAA tackles per game last year, 29 tackles in 2 games this year) and starting strong safety Albert Snyder may not make the trip due to being late for team meetings and practice. Now I could not confirm these reports, but it appears to be a widespread belief among UCF followers. If true, it would be a devastating blow to this defense as Rodriguez is team captain, signal caller, and by far their best defensive player. 

This is a pivotal game for Tulane and third year head coach Chris Scelfo. Look for their offense to shine here against a banged up CFU defense. Meanwhile, the young Green Wave defense will show enough steady improvement to give them their first win of the season. They are at home and should be giving points, not getting. Green Wave win this outright. Tulane  1 UNIT


San Diego State at Colorado State (-6) - 4:00pm Pacific
The Rams caught a big break with the postponement of last Friday's game at UNLV. Instead of playing in Vegas on 6 days rest, they get two weeks to prepare and open up their conference schedule at home vs SDSU. 

Colorado State has a new starting QB in sophomore DJ Busch who has shown good ability in his first two games. Against Colorado in game one he threw an interception runback on the first series, but showed heart and recovered nicely making the game close at half-time. With two starts now under his belt, he should be very effective. Busch is a San Diego native which makes this an even bigger game than usual for him. The offensive line returns 4 starters from last year and is clearly a strength. 1st team MWC receiver Pete Rebstock (2 100+ yard games already this year) is back and so is senior WR Dallas Davis (led team in receiving in 1999, 2nd team MWC) who missed all of last year with an injury. The running back position has been hurt by injuries, but both Henri Childs (83 yards vs CU) and Duan Ruff (106 yards vs Nevada) are capable. This will be a potent offense.

The CSU defense returns 7 starters from a unit that gave up just 18.8ppg which is very low for a Mountain West team that also played non conference games vs Colorado and Arizona State and a bowl game vs Louisville. The 41 points given up to Colorado in the season opener was misleading as the Buffaloes returned two interceptions directly for touchdowns and a third interception set up another one. They also gave up big chunks of yardage to Nevada two weeks ago but rest assured that Sonny Lubick will have them ready to go this week. 

Special teams is really a strong point for CSU this year. PK Jeff Babcock has sent 8 of his 9 kickoffs for touchbacks so far while Ray Guy nominee (nations best punter) Joey Huber has punted 10 times and only one has been returned for 0 yards! 

San Diego State just cannot catch a break. After being hyped up in many preseason publications, the Aztecs have fallen flat on their face. They were beaten soundly in game one by Arizona 23-10. Their only touchdown in that game came after a botched punt snap gave them the ball at the 2 yard line. They followed that performance by getting dominated by Arizona State 38-7. This time their only touchdown coming in garbage time of the 4th quarter. They already have started two different QB's. The teams best WR, Cal transfer Ronnie Davenport has failed to become eligible and is out for the season. Their best defensive lineman Jerome Haywood (1st team MWC last year) has missed practice and his very questionable with a back injury. Both starting WR's JR Tolver (hamstring, probable) and Derrick Lewis (back, questionable) are hurting as is 3 year starting senior OL Mike Houghton (ankle, questionable). More bad news came on Wednesday when starting defensive end Ryan Iata was suspended indefinitely following an arrest. Not exactly the way you want to head into your first conference game, on the road, and against the two time defending MWC champs. 

People seem to forget that CSU finished last year 10-2 and ranked #14 in the country. Enough good things cannot be said about the job head coach Sonny Lubick has done here and coaching ability is magnified with both teams coming off an extended layoff, a clear cut advantage for CSU. In fact, CSU is 15-2 ATS after a bye week since 1986! SDSU is only 4-8 ATS in their last 12 after a BYE week! The Rams are 32-10 SU at home under Lubick and have not lost at home since 1999 when this same SDSU team pulled off an upset in a snow storm. The Rams will surely make amends for that today and if that is not enough motivation, ABC television and homecoming night will have their attention. More than a touchdown will separate these two teams. Give the points. Colorado State  1 UNIT

Weekly Recap

Tulane got some breaks and despite being outplayed for most of the game took a 1 point 4th quarter lead and had multiple opportunities to win the game late but could not get it done as CFU scored the last touchdown and converted the 2 point conversion for the cover.  Colorado State came out with a lot of emotion and intensity as expected but simply could not generate any offense.  The 2 week layoff and nerves may have hurt QB Busch as he had an awful game eventually getting pulled in the 2nd half.  SDSU wins 14-7.