Zach Anderson

After an opening weekend that saw BYU defeat Oklahoma after Oklahoma’s quarterback Sam Bradford went down to injury, the coming weekend features one marquee match up and a rivalry game that could be interesting. USC heading to Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes is sure to draw plenty of national attention.

No. 3 USC vs. No. 8 Ohio State

The University of Southern California will take the trip to Ohio State University in a match up that looked a lot more desirable before Ohio State barely escaped with a win over Navy in their opener. USC meanwhile manhandled San Jose State 56-3 behind freshman quarterback Matt Barkley who threw for 233 yards and one touchdown. If the same Ohio State team shows up that let Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs throw for two touchdowns and rush for two more they will be in for a beat down against USC.

What Ohio State does have going for them is that Barkley wasn’t really challenged by San Jose State so if they can somehow fluster him they might be able to keep it close.

Pick: Ohio State plays better than they did against Navy but USC still wins by a couple scores.

No. 18 Notre Dame vs. Michigan

These teams have split wins the last two years with Michigan winning 38-0 in 2007 and Notre Dame winning 35-17 in 2008 when Michigan lost nine games that year. Both teams beat their first week opponents handedly with Notre Dame over Nevada 35-0 and Michigan 31-7 over Western Michigan.

Pick: It’s anybody’s guess who wins this one. Michigan should have the edge playing at “The Big House” but Notre Dame looks much improved in the start of the fifth year under Charlie Weis. The Wolverines win by seven at home.