Danny Moloshok / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Aaron Corp gives USC a running threat from the quarterback position that it hasn't had since Pete Carroll became coach.

4. Letdown from the showdown
I don't know about you, but I've watched Toledo twice now, and even though the Rockets' defense couldn't stop my local high school team, the offense behind senior quarterback Aaron Opelt (nine total TDs) is flat-out ridiculous.

The reality is, Ohio State's defense is much better than the Purdue and Colorado units, which Toledo torched for 85 points and 1,117 total yards. So let's say Ohio State still is in the jar about the loss to USC, a game it should've won and let slip away in the last two minutes.

Let's say Tressel's dressing down of lunatic Buckeye fans earlier this week has created a distraction, and suddenly his still maturing, still uneasy quarterback Terrelle Pryor presses too much, commits a couple of turnovers and the next thing you know Ohio State is trailing by a couple of scores and has to actually, you know, score points with its offense.

For all we know, Ohio State will play the same attacking defense it did against USC and Toledo won't have a prayer. But this game screams letdown — especially as a faux road game at Browns Stadium where 90 percent of the crowd will be wearing scarlet and gray and will panic at the first sign of something wrong.

5. Payback time
Two plays, two hard-to-imagine plays kept Texas from the BCS national championship game last season. That and the weird other storyline (see: 45-35) I'm sure Texas already has forgotten.

The Longhorns get their first crack at redemption this weekend when they play host to Texas Tech. You remember last year's game, right? Tech used a dropped interception by one Texas freshman safety (Blake Gideon) and a missed tackle by another Texas freshman safety (Earl Thomas) a play later to upset the Longhorns in Lubbock.

But this is a Tech team with Joaquin Phoenix, I mean Taylor Potts, as its starting quarterback and a whole lot of newness on defense. In other words, this game in Austin will look a whole lot like the previous five under coach Mack Brown vs. Texas Tech in Austin. In those five games, Texas has scored 58, 42, 43, 52 and 59 points.

This one may hit 60. Not because Texas is trying to prove a point or anything.

SportingNews.com Lots of hype, hope _ and Dion Lewis _ for Pitt 6 teams with something to prove Rutgers looking for bigger and better bowl in 2010 After the fall, a new subdued era at USC It's what's up front that counts for Buckeyes

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