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Saturday, October 14
Cupcake or Contender?

By John D. Hunter
ESPN.com


	*Mississippi running back Deuce McAllister is one of The Players* Heisman hopefuls.**

Welcome to another season of ESPN.com's college football The Players feature, where a group of the nation's top football players team up with ESPN.com to participate in this interactive college football program.

Each week, these athletes will chime in on many of the current topics and debates that surround college football. We'll publish the best of their comments and invite some of the players to visit ESPN.com to field your questions during a weekly chat session.

To kick things off, the question of the week deals with the first game of the season and what type of opponent the players prefer. We asked our players whether they prefer a cupcake, a game where they are heavily favored, or a playing a top-ranked opponent. We also asked about the very first game of the year and how it differs from the rest of the games on the schedule.

The reactions were mixed, as you can imagine, so check out what each player had to say about kicking off the college football season.

The first game

"I think the first game of the season is definitely different from the rest of the games on the schedule because during two-a-days you get tired of practicing against one another. You want to get out there and play somebody else because you work so hard during the offseason."
LaMont Jordan, Maryland

"Our first game for the last four years has been against Colorado State and it is a rivalry, so it makes that first game that much more important. But all first games are huge for your team. It is the focus of all the offseason workouts and is very important. Us losing our first game was really hard and we have to shed that feeling as quick as we can."
Javon Green, Colorado

"The first game differs from the other games because you have to prepare differently. You really don't know what that team is going to do for the first game so you have to watch film based on last year's team."
Dylen Smith, Kansas

"The first game, you still have nerves. You've been practicing the whole time and you finally get to put it all out on the field and play and you're going against someone who's really trying to get after you. It is different because you probably make the most mistakes in the first game and then you get better with every week. For me, personally I tend to be a little more nervous first game than the last game."
Marques Tuiasosopo, Washington

"Our first game of the season is a rivalry match up with interstate rival Louisville. The game gets everyone in the state excited about football season and talking about football throughout the summer."
Marlon McCree Kentucky

"The first game of a season is a little different than any other. Every year each team has a new make-up and new players starting for the first time. It is always interesting to see how these new players will perform. Personally, I do not prepare myself differently for the first game. Each week I go through the same ritual of mentally preparing myself for our opponent's offense. It doesn't matter whether it's the first game or the last."
Chris Lepore Navy

"The first game of the year is a little different than the rest of the games. The first game is probably your most exciting game because you're coming out of that grind from two-a-days where you've been scrimmaging each other constantly. You can't wait to see another uniform."
Aaron Thompson, Maryland

The first game of the season is definitely different from the rest of the schedule in the sense that there is so much more time to prepare for that opening opponent. As a kicker, I spent all of spring ball, and the entire summer preparing for one kick, my first kick. Now that the season is underway I have to take the same approach by looking only towards my NEXT kick. I also think we as a team are ready to take the same approach into each of our games ... one play at a time, one quarter at a time, one half at a time, and one game at a time.
Travis Dorsch, Purdue

Deuce McAllister, running back Mississippi
"That's kind of a two-fold question. You want to play against the best and you want to see what type of talent and team you have early in the season. If you play a team that you're suppose to beat, maybe your guys don't play up to the level they're capable of. When you play a top 25 team early, you should get the best out of your teammates. However, if you lose to a ranked team early, it can sometimes knock you out of the national championship picture.

Marques Tuiasosopo, QB Washington
"To me, it doesn't really matter either way. If you are heavily favored, that can go against you because you may not be focused and you might end up losing the game. Or you can be a heavy underdog and you can use that as motivation to come out and win. It really doesn't matter. Preseason games are fun because you usually are playing against teams that donšt appear on your schedule every year. There are no worries in terms of conference titles and sometimes they can be a road trip to someplace you've never played before.

Marlon McCree, linebacker Kentucky
"I like playing early nonconference games. I prefer to match up against a tough team or ranked team so we can test the water early and get respect and national attention. Playing a good team early lets the other teams in your conference know that you are willing to go hard from the start of the season. An early season game also helps you see what areas of your game that need improvement."

LaMont Jordan, running back Maryland
"I prefer to play a top-ranked opponent because during two-a-days it gives you something to look forward to right out of the blocks.

"I don't prepare any differently for any game. I prepare the same for any game, whether it's the first or the last. As far as any rituals I go through, something I picked up toward the end of last year was a "war" thing where I paint my face (with eye black) like I'm getting ready for a war, like I'm in the army. I paint my face and listen to music, that's about it."

Chris Lepore, free safety Navy
"The football season is a long one to begin with. By having an early game a week before everyone else, it only makes the season that much longer. As much as I enjoy watching those early games, I wouldn't want to be playing in them. As for scheduling an opponent who you are heavily favored against versus a more evenly matched team for your first game, I don't think it makes any difference at all. If you have a good team, then you should be able to beat any opponent at any time.

Dylen Smith, Kansas
"I like playing early season or nonconference games because it gives us an opportunity to practice early and we can prepare more for our conference games. I think if we play a team who is ranked we can get a quality game in that will better prepare us for our Big 12 schedule, which is a tough conference.

Javon Green, wide receiver Colorado
"I prefer to have a test against a top-ranked opponent right away. It shows what your team is going to be. If you go out there and blow away a weak opponent, what does that say about your team? I think a strong first opponent builds confidence. It shows what you can do against a good opponent and also what you might need to work on for the rest of the season. A good first opponent is a true test of your character.

Avon Cobourne, running back West Virginia
"I would rather play a good team first, one that gives your team a challenge. That way you can see what you can do right off, instead of getting overconfident about how good your team is without realizing the level of the competition. That's why I'm glad we played Boston College, because they are good, so we know where we stand."

Aaron Thompson, linebacker Maryland
"If it were up to me, I think I'd play a team right out of the blocks that we might be heavily favored to beat, only so my team would get the feel for playing the game again. In the first game, you tend make a lot of mistakes. I'd rather make those mistakes against someone that you're leading by 40 points, or someone that you can come back against after making those mistakes, rather than against a rival team where those mistakes could wind up costing me dearly."

Travis Dorsch, kicker Purdue
"The early season games are a great chance for a lot of our young and inexperienced players to show their stuff in realistic game situations. They also serve as a great way for the veterans to get back to doing everything at game speed. Once the Big Ten season rolls around, there's no messing around, so I guess you could look at the first few games as a preparation for our grueling season within the season. I don't think the caliber of the opponent is as important as satisfying your competitiveness by getting the chance to go out, suit up, and battle with someone wearing a different color jersey.

"Keeping this in mind, though, we try not to get too caught up in the opponent. We just try to play the game of football and get better each and every week. By critically looking at today's BCS format, it is easy to see that it does, in fact, help to play top-ranked opponents right off the bat. But until we establish ourselves as one of the top two or three Big Ten teams on a year to year basis, we can't worry too much about the BCS."

ALSO SEE

Chat wrap: Lamont Jordan

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