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Week 15 Previews

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Posted: Friday December 03, 1999 04:59 PM

By Stewart Mandel, CNN/SI

W. Michigan at (11) Marshall Temple at (23) Miami (12) Texas vs. (3) Nebraska (5) Florida vs. (7) Alabama Army vs. Navy

Last year's Championship Weekend provided some of the best excitement of the year, with Kansas State and UCLA suffering their first losses on the last week before the bowls.

Unfortunately, this year's slate doesn't hold the national title implications of a year ago, but that doesn't mean we won't see some goodies.

Both the Big 12 and SEC championship games feature rematches of stunning mid-season upsets, Alabama's 40-39 win over Florida on Oct. 2 and Texas' 24-20 defeat of Nebraska from Oct. 23.

And let's not forget about Army-Navy. Both teams may have seven losses, but this is the centennial installment of a series loaded with pageantry, history and emotion.

Week 15 Previews
Western Michigan (7-4) at (11) Marshall (11-0)
Preview	Key Stat
Friday, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN) Game Preview	30: Consecutive Marshall home wins -- including the last two MAC championships.
Player to Watch
Tim Lester, QB, Western Michigan. Everyone knows Chad Pennington is NFL-bound, but this is Lester's last chance to shine on a national stage.
Analysis
These teams met three weeks ago at Kalamazoo, with Marshall winning rather easily. The Broncos will need to get better protection for Lester, as Marshall's Girardie Mercer and Andre O'Neal will come at him. Defensively, WMU must contend not only with Pennington's arm but hoss RB Doug Chapman. Trev Alberts' pick: Marshall
Temple (2-8) at (23) Miami (7-4)
Preview	Key Stat
Saturday, Noon Game Preview	689: Yards of offense by the Hurricanes in their similarly postponed, 49-45 win over UCLA this weekend last year.
Player to Watch
Ken Dorsey, QB, Miami. Fill-in for the injured Kenny Kelly has engineered consecutive blowout wins over Rutgers and Syracuse.
Analysis
The Hurricanes found out this week they must win Saturday's game -- originally scheduled for October but postponed by threat of a hurricane -- to preserve their spot in the Gator Bowl against Georgia Tech. That shouldn't be too difficult against an Owls team last seen losing 62-7 to Virginia Tech. Trev Alberts' pick: Miami
(12) Texas (9-3) vs. (3) Nebraska (10-1)
Preview	Key Stat
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. (ABC) Game Preview	6: Consecutive wins by Texas over teams ranked No. 3, the Huskers' current ranking.
Player to Watch
Eric Crouch, QB, Nebraska His best passing game of the season (204 yards) happened to come in the Huskers' loss to Texas.
Analysis
If college football is more mental than physical, as many coaches believe, Nebraska has to be going crazy this week. Its players have been noticeably quiet in preparation for an opponent that has now beaten the Huskers an unheard of three straight times. Texas must rebound from a disappointing loss to Texas A&M, but should be helped this week by a healthier Major Applewhite -- and better hotel service in San Antonio. Trev Alberts' pick: Nebraska
(5) Florida (9-2) vs. (7) Alabama (9-2)
Preview	Key Stat
Saturday, 8 p.m. (ABC) Game Preview	3-1: Florida's record over the Tide in four SEC championship meetings since 1992.
Players to Watch
Doug Johnson/Jesse Palmer, QBs, Florida and Andrew Zow/Tyler Watts, QBs, Alabama. Neither coach will reveal who might play when.
Analysis
Another revenge-thrilled matchup is made even more intriguing because of the clouds of secrecy over the QB situations. Alabama should be fine either way, with RB Shaun Alexander being its real key, but Steve Spurrier needs to get better production from at least one of his field generals than he did the last three weeks of the season. Trev Alberts' pick: Florida
Army (3-7) vs. Navy (4-7)
Preview	Key Stat
Saturday, Noon (CBS) Game Preview	48-44-7: Army's lead in the series heading into this year's 100th meeting.
Players to Watch
Brian Madden, QB, Navy. Sophomore became the Midshipmen's starter in the fifth game after senior Brian Broadwater went down with a season-ending injury.
Analysis
There aren't any Heisman winners, or even All-Americans, on the field this time, but most everything else will look like the previous 99 Army-Navy games. Both teams try to run it down their opponents' throat, Navy with the traditional wishbone, Army behind the best efforts of RB Michael Wallace. Trev Alberts' pick: "The Naval Academy will sail to victory."

 

Related information
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Steve Spurrier disputes Zow's claim that revenge is on the minds of the Gators. (119 K) Longhorns coach Mack Brown says tradition always plays a big part when Texas takes on Nebraska. (247 K) Alabama coach Mike Dubose says the Crimson Tide knows what it is up against. (120 K) Bama QB Andrew Zow expects the Gators to apply more pressure. (101 K) Bama RB Shaun Alexander wants to be the go-to guy. (118 K) Florida QB Jesse Palmer says Doug Johnson and he will be ready. (94 K) Visit Multimedia Central for the latest audio and video
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