KHS starts district, KC's at Tyler and UT, OU scrap
WHAT'S CAUSING ALL THIS?
MITCH LUCAS
before they're even asked aloud. Check this out.

LUCAS

• Yes, I am loving football life right now, with Alabama and Kilgore High School doing so well, and with Kilgore College on the rebound from a wild start. If only I could somehow get the San Francisco 49ers to remember they're still an NFL franchise...

• No, I don't think we're going to get a Manny Ramirez/ L.A. Dodgers vs. Boston Red Sox World Series. I know that's the matchup most want to see, but I think both of those teams may go down. Tampa seems to have Boston's number this year. Experience in the playoffs might prove to be the difference, though.

• Yes, I do think the government's $700 billion bailout of several financial institutions is ridiculous, and I'm thinking some airlines that have been forced to file bankruptcy in the last 10 or 15 years are probably wondering where their government bailout was.

• No, I don't watch "Dancing With The Stars," even with Kim Kardashian, and don't plan to, although one of my grandmothers never misses it.

• Yes, I do think Terrell Owens is a bit of an emotional and mental head case. But apparently he makes for good TV. And he can play wide receiver as well, if not better, than anyone in the NFL right now.

• Yes, I do think Dallas coach Wade Phillips will be fired if the Cowboys don't win the Super Bowl.

But they are going to.

• Yes, that was Kilgore native Eddie Jones you saw, wearing a University of Texas No. 32 jersey, thumping his chest on ABC's commercial for the Red River Rivalry this weekend.

• No, Missouri's not that good. They will run into a physical team that will bump them around. Probably the Longhorns.in Austin next weekend.

Unfortunately, I think the 'Horns will have a loss by that time. OU is really, really good.

• Yes, now O.J. can look for the real killers in prison.

• No, they should definitely NOT make another "Indiana Jones" film with Shia Labeouf as the focal point of the picture.

• Yes, Sarah Palin is smart, attractive Barack Obama or Joe Biden.

Let's talk local football.

Here's my take on how the games (which we've tried to pick the outcome of on page 7) will go this weekend. A little review of my ratings system...

* Five asterisks (*****): A football masterpiece.

* Four (****): The football equivalent of a nice meal at a fine restaurant.

* Three (***): Games with these should be entertaining for the majority of the contest.

* Two (**): The football equivalent of eating cold chili or stale bread.

* One (*): Someone call the police. If you were at one of these games, you've had three hours of your time stolen that you'll probably never get back.

* Zero (DUD): Watching paint dry would probably be more entertaining.

This week's high school games:

• Lindale at Kilgore (****): It's hard to believe, given the fact that they're not that far away from each other, that these programs have only played five times since 1935, and not at all since 1993.

Coach Mike Vallery and his staff are never outcoached, and they've had two weeks to get ready for Lindale. I know the Eagles are impressive on offense, and I know they're putting up good numbers. But the competition has hardly been at Kilgore level. I think KHS hands Lindale its first loss of the season on Friday.

• Harleton at Sabine (***): It's awfully early in the District 18-2A schedule to call something a 'must-win,' but this might be it. Sabine has faced the class of the district so far in Union Grove and Winona, and now Harleton gets tossed into the mix. This would be, without question, the biggest win of the year for their program if Sabine can pull this off.

• Overton at Alto (***): Just when Overton coach Ty Robinson pushes Cayuga out of his mind, he's got to turn around and game plan for the two-time defending state champions who have lost more games this year (two) than they did in 2006 or 2007.

• Elkhart at West Rusk (***): Certainly this is Texas high school football, and anything can happen. You can't measure a kid's heart. But it will take an awful lot for Elkhart to upset West Rusk on the Raiders' homecoming night. Don't believe me? Read WR coach John Frazier's comments about the football team's job on homecoming on page 3 of this Game Time Weekly.

• Whitehouse at Jacksonville (**): Whitehoue may have graduated a lot of talent, but the Wildcats still have enough firepower to beat a rebuilding Jacksonville team, even if it is at the Tomato Bowl. By the way, Kilgore visits Jacksonville Oct. 31. After the four-overtime game two years ago that Kilgore won, am I the only one who finds irony in the fact that KHS-J'ville is played on Halloween?

• Nacogdoches at Henderson (***): From what I understand, there have been some near-misses for Henderson this season. I personally don't believe Henderson is as bad as its record, and just might get its first win on Friday. Upset alert, Nac.

This week's college games:

• Kilgore College at Tyler Junior College (****): Since Kilgore College scored 21 points on TJC in the third quarter of their game in September, the Apaches have been searching for answers. KC coach J.J. Eckert will hope that the search is ongoing after this game, as well.

• Texas vs. Oklahoma (*****): Five asterisks is a rarity from yours truly these days, but I think this game might live up to it. I'd like to pick Texas, for my boys Eddie Jones, Britt Mitchell and Michael Huey. I'd like to say they're going to knock OU from No. 1. And they might very well do it. But from what I've seen of the Sooners so far this year, that is going to be one difficult task. I know, I know — no one has really stood up to them yet, and Texas has the talent to do it. That's a good point.

Here's the thing I've been saying for weeks: Jones and the front seven of the Texas defense are going to have to get pressure on OU quarterback Sam Bradford, because UT's secondary, to me, is the weakness of the team. The Sooners' strength is their passing game. The Longhorns' defense is going to have to disrupt that passing attack to have a good shot to win.

• Kansas State at Texas A&M (**): This one might be bowling shoe ugly, and I don't mean a blowout.

• Nebraska at Texas Tech (*): This will definitely be ugly, and I DO mean a blowout. Tech is going to spank Nebraska and I don't see how the Cornhuskers can avoid it. That performance on Saturday, with Nebraska looking so pitiful against Missouri, was one of the worst by any football program at any level that I've ever seen. Nebraska is HORRIBLE.

• LSU at Florida (****): Les Miles and the Bayou Bengals have gotten out of some tight jams in the last three seasons. But Ole Miss stirred the pot by beating the Gators at the Swamp in Gainesville two weeks ago, and now LSU is going to get burned, in my opinion. The Tigers have a lot of talent, even after losing 36 players off last year's roster. But quarterback Jarrett Lee (yes, the one from Brenham) is likely to find out that Florida's home stadium might not be Baton Rouge at night, but it's no cakewalk, either.

• Penn State at Wisconsin (****): There aren't many bigger fans of Joe Paterno than me, and it pains me to do this, because I'd love to see him get one more national title game berth. But I really think the Nittany Lions probably won't get out of Badger Country undefeated. Who's to say? The Big 10 (or the Big 11, as I call it) is a nutty conference. It's difficult to predict from week to week. All things considered, though, if the Badgers don't pull the upset, I think they'll stay with Penn State, who really hasn't played a good quality opponent yet.

This week's NFL games:

• Dallas at Arizona (***): Should be a better game than it was when these two used to hook up as NFC East foes. The Arizona franchise is very aware of Cowboys fans buying so many tickets and basically making their stadium come off as Texas Stadium West on TV every season, and forced fans buying tickets for this game to also pay for some preseason seats, too, to cut down. It won't matter. Dallas slips from time to time, but not to this defenseless Cardinals team. Could be an offensive shootout.

• Miami at Houston (***): I don't know why, but something tells me Houston gets its first win on Sunday. I've got to be honest: I felt horrible for Houston quarterback Sage Rosenfels last weekend. The Texans lead 27-10 with 4 minutes and change left, and lose the game 31-27 largely because of his turnovers. That's terrible.

• Jacksonville at Denver (***): Denver will prove one of two things in this game: A) That I'm right, and they are one of the two best teams in the AFC or B) that I'm wrong and they've not ready to take on Jack Del Rio's physical Jaguars.

• New England at San Diego (***): My, my, my — what a difference a year makes. New England is still very good, but doesn't look nearly as imposing without Tom Brady back there slinging the ball. San Diego is a mystery team — it's a mystery why they're not putting it together. I think the Patriots fall here.

• New York Giants at Cleveland (****): The Cincinnati Bengals took the Giants to overtime a couple of weeks ago, and the Giants throttled Seattle last week. Is New York bad enough to almost lose to Cincinnati and then be as good as they looked against the Seahawks?

My guess is that the truth, as they say, lies somewhere in the middle. I don't think they're as talented as Dallas. But Tom Coughlin is a good coach. Cleveland gives 'em fits, but the Giants remain unbeaten.