Games of the week

By Chris Dufresne

Sept. 4, 2008 12 AM PT

Ohio at No. 3 Ohio State

Saturday, 9 a.m., ESPN

This isn’t so much of a game as it is a scouting report for next week’s big USC-Ohio State showdown at the Coliseum. Ohio State hasn’t lost a game to a team from Ohio since a 7-6 defeat to Oberlin in 1921, but USC fans might be interested in seeing what kind of street clothes Beanie Wells wears on the sidelines. Risking the tailback to further injury a week before USC makes no Horseshoe sense . . . right?

The pick: Ohio State.

Oregon State at No. 19 Penn State

Saturday, 12:30 p.m., Channel 7

Beavers Coach Mike Riley has an unabashed reverence for great coaches. He played defensive back for Bear Bryant at Alabama and now readies his Beavers to take on another of his idols, Joe Paterno. It’s going to be a tall order for Oregon State, coming off a season-opening loss to Stanford. The Beavers are the only major college team to open with two road trips. Who made this schedule . . . the Auto Club? Oregon State, though, has won three of its last four road games against top-25 opponents.

The pick: Penn State.

San Diego State at Notre Dame

Saturday, 12:30 p.m., Ch. 4

One program is reeling, hanging on for dear life, just trying to get players lined up in the right spots and the other program is . . . San Diego State? San Diego State actually had four wins last year to Notre Dame’s three. Comparatively, though, the Irish are on a roll, taking a two-game winning streak into this year’s opener while San Diego State is coming off a dismal, home-opening loss to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The pick: Notre Dame.

Miami at No. 5 Florida

Saturday, 5 p.m., ESPN

Both schools are coming off opening-weekend wins that proved nothing. Miami crushed Charleston Southern and Florida crushed Hawaii. This is the week Miami, coming off a 5-7 year, finds out if it’s anywhere close to getting back in the football business. Weird stat of the series: Each school has a losing record on its home field. Miami is 12-8 on Florida’s field and Florida is 14-13 on Miami’s, but the advantage this year clearly leans to Gator Nation.

The pick: Florida.

-- Chris Dufresne

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Chris Dufresne

Chris Dufresne was the Los Angeles Times’ national college football/basketball columnist from 1995 to 2015. He also covered skiing at the Winter Olympics and wrote extensively on most sports. He is a multiple national award winner and was named 2011 California Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Assn. A Los Angeles native, he started at The Times in 1976 as a truck loader and literally worked his way up (two floors to be exact).

Games of the week

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