2014-15 College Football

Matt, add me to the dislike post idea. Get HD to a proper tailgate in College Station and the atmosphere that rivals any sport in the world and have him tell me that sentiment.

I was flipping channels since I couldn't miss seeing the SB Championship banner unveiled. I wasn't overly nervous until UTSA hit that 4th and 11 w/8 minutes to go. Glad to get out of there w/a victory (bummed out we didn't see the facemasks you mentioned). Impressed that UTSA blocks of the upper tier of the Dome and gives the home team a sea of orange to play in front of. Solomon missed another 3 pretty easy TD passes. So far he's thrown 5 TDs w/0 Ints, but when he has 1 on 1 coverage he needs to trust our amazing WR corp to make a play. Just glad we have at least found a kicker for maybe the first time since Nick Folk.

On the Snark-O-Meter (about the upsets) that was maybe a 3.5 out of 10. I guess my question is while Michigan is a 4 point underdog would you actually be remotely surprised on any level if they won? No set criteria on what should be called an upset (A&M winning in Tuscaloosa was a shocker despite the rankings), but at least there should be some sort of mild surprise.

 

Agreed on Michigan which is why I added a more legit upset pick. I generally look for a double digit line (or close) as that's usually indicative of at least a mild surprise. I maintain A&M @ SC also met that criteria.

Notice you didn't pick one btw.

 

I'm not as anti-pointy football as the right honourable gentleman from South Texas, but it's not my favorite.
However.
Now that Louisville is an, ahem, a FOOTBALL school (allegedly), I must pay attention. After thrashing my alma mater (Murray State) with 66 points, starting out 2-0, expectations are unrealisitically high in The 'Ville. Unrealistic in that they beat a questionably rebounding Miami team at home to open their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Bobby Petrino's back, to mixed reviews amongst those that still harbor ill feelings about the manner of his previous departure. They'll score points, that's a given under any Petrino team, but the rubber will meet the road when they visit Virginia this weekend, then head to Clemson and Syracuse before hosting Florida State in October. Bobby's never been known for defense, although they've played extremely well so far. We'll find out soon enough if they're the real deal or imposters stuffing their stats at the expense of weaker opposition. I'm gonna put on my St. Louis cap, pretend I'm from Missouri, and take the ol' "you gotta SHOW ME!" attitude.

 

Petrino's a scumbag as a spouse and his moral compass is suspect at best, but he's a very good coach, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The good news for Louisville is they've joined a league where half the teams share your identity crisis when it comes to hoops and football. Under Petrino, you'll likely never find yourself any worse off than middle of the pack in the ACC. Clemson has shown you don't need a great defense to contend in that league, so long as you have an explosive offense.

As for Week 2, it's pretty safe to say the B1G has taken the pole position for the odd man out for the new playoffs. It's early and a lot can change, but as it stands, league play will do little to help strength of schedule for any of the teams in that conference now. I'm struggling to recall a week in the past where one conference laid an egg from top to bottom like that. And speaking of the B1G, I blew that Michigan call. Blinded by my disdain for the Domers. Not the first time that's happened and I'm sure it won't be the last.

UCLA and Washington are the schizophrenic poster boys for why I can't get a read on the Pac-12. The first week, neither team could produce offense but looked solid defensively. The next week, they're both in high scoring, defense optional shootouts.

Whiffed on the upset pick, but ODU did hold the lead with a minute left in the 3rd quarter and covered the spread. Clearly that doesn't count, but the logic was sound.

And lastly, I got my first look at Kyle Field post-Phase 1 with the Lamar game. The transformation is amazing and I can't wait to see it once they complete the project next summer. I couldn't believe we packed in that big a crowd for such an obvious mismatch. It broke the attendance record for a college game in Texas (around 105,000).

 

I caught parts of the 3rd and 4th quarters of the USC / Stanford match up- they were knocking the crap out of each other. Some of the hardest hitting/blocking I've seen in a while. Whilst it was only 13-10, that was a solid football game.

 

Dang, sorry for just jumping in. Yes, I'm still holding my buffies season tix. Tailgate for 8 hours coming this saturday before watching 1/2 of Az State wiping the field with them again. As for my eagles, they are not so hot. just a 49 point under dog to Alabama this weekend. Good news they got their first win at home in over two years last weekend.

Got tickets to Miami/Nebraska in Lincoln 09/20. It's a 7:00 pm kickoff, so should be a great atmosphere. glad to be back on the college football forum.

 

Glad to see you back Dtown. Should be a great time and a competitive game in Lincoln a week from Sat.

Games of the Week:

#6 Georgia at #24 South Carolina. The Bulldogs have the best running back in the country in Todd Gurley and will look to run all day at SC. The Gamecocks were overrated to begin with, but should be right in this game until the end. Drinking the Georgia kool-aid usually ends in tears, but will take the Bulldogs to win.

Iowa State at Iowa. One of the few instances were arch rivals get together early in the season and belong to different conferences. The Hawkeyes squeaked past Ball State last week, while Iowa State had their chances to beat KState. Will take Lax's team to get to 3-0..barely.

Tennessee at #4 Oklahoma. Bob Stoops has been running his mouth about the SEC, and his Sooners better look impressive against a Tennessee program that is moving back in the right direction. OU should pull away late, but I like the Tennessee coach and he'll have his team ready.

Upset Alert:
Matt, I did put a couple of teams on blast last week (ECU did give South Carolina a scare), but didn't see an out and out shocker.

#21 Louisville at Virginia Should be a routine win for the Cards, but it's the first road game of the season, and it's a conference game as well. If the Cavaliers can avoid an early knockout punch, it'll be fingernail biting time for Jump late in the 4th quarter.

Hotseat Alert:
Brady Hoke at Michigan. A bunch of people at Meatchicken undermined Rich Rodriguez the moment he stepped on campus (Arizona fans say THANK YOU), because he wasnt a "Michigan Man". They hired Hoke who fit the bill and he won with RichRod's recruits, but his own have been underwhelming. To get destroyed at Notre Dame 31-0 simply won't cut it. His saving grace (or curse if they continue to stumble) is a joke of a schedule.

Surprise of the Season:
USC only has 52 scholarship players, but attempts to destroy the program by a certain scumbag/hypocrite from Miami has failed. Kiffin might not be a viable head coach, but he didn't whiff on the limited scholarships he gave out. Stanford should of put the game away a few different times, but credit to SC for the late drive to get the winning points.

 

Well Saturday night I'll be there seeing my BC Eagles take on USC. BC is a 20pt dog at home. Might be lucky it's that close. Hopefully some of the turmoil at USC takes it toll on the team.

Anybody know why USC named themselves after condoms

 

Jim, I have UCLA friends that could answer that question in a variety of ways, but this is a family board

 

A&M has another layup this week, home v Rice. Sorry in advance, Mo.

Georgia - South Carolina. I think Georgia is a little too reliant on Gurley for success and that'll come back to bite them at some point. It'll require loading the box and daring the Dawgs to beat them through the air, and that's why it won't happen this week. SC has little-to-no pass rush and a weak secondary (sound like anyone's team from last year?). But Mason shouldn't have a problem passing on the Gamecocks if they load up to stuff Gurley.

Iowa State - Iowa. Safe bet it'll be close. The last 3 have been decided by a total of 12 pts and Iowa won last years' installment in Ames. The Clones had won the previous two though. Rivalry games are always tough to call. ISU is what they pretty much always are. The offense looked better against KSt with the addition of Mangino as OC. Iowa has looked underwhelming. I used to think Kirk Ferentz was one of the great young up and comers but an inability to recruit at a high level has left him middling away. Given how these two struggle for offense and the fact that it's a rivalry, I can't believe Iowa is 12 pt favorite. ATS, I'd take Iowa St in a heartbeat. But straight up, I'll go with Iowa by a fg.

Tennessee - Oklahoma. I think Butch Jones has done a great job to date at Tennessee but I don't think they're anywhere near ready for this one. He hasn't had enough time to address the depth problems and this game will be played at pace. Plus the Landthieves are pretty loaded. Throw in the fact that it's in Norman and OU should win easily.

Upset Notice:
I can't find any I like so I'll pull a Joe and put a few teams on notice. I don't think Louisville will have an problems with UVA. While normally you'd think Texas should be out for redemption against an underwhelming UCLA side, revenge over BYU didn't stop them laying down at home so I just can't go for it. It's looking like Strong is going to have a much bigger rebuild job with cow than many anticipated.

UTSA - Oklahoma St. UTSA gave a good account of themselves in this game last year and they're much better this year. The Pokes are prone to the occasional high turnover game and the Roadrunners have been good at creating them. If that happens, we could have an upset. If not, Okie Lite has too much firepower on offense.

E Carolina - Va Tech. The Hokies came out of nowhere to pull the upset against Ohio St. I'm not sure we know if they've improved over the last few years and they could have a letdown against an ECU team that can be dangerous on offense with their version of the Air Raid.

Nevada - Arizona. These late night West Coast affairs are usually tight. Plus Zona hasn't really impressed yet this year.

 

Greg Davis is the worst offensive coordinator to ever win a national title.

 

You'd think Jim would be on here already.... well, he's prolly still sleeping it off!
There's just something about BC, though I never followed them all that close, seems they can take advantage of circumstances.. 'go for the jugular' so to speak.

Seriously?!!! Everyone under 21 hit reply. j/k ... Sorta

 

Historically, every time there's a week where I don't really like any upsets, there are plenty. Good call on Virginia, Joe. I was surprised how much Louisville's offense struggled. I was flipping between several games at that point, but what I saw was pretty dismal.

Great performance from BC and I'm happy for Jim that he got to be there for it. I wish I'd seen that about the uniforms commemorating Welles Crowther as I'd have probably had them as an upset candidate. Regardless, it's nice that they paid that off with such a hard fought performance. Doing it to USC adds a little icing as well.

South Carolina was the other surprise for me. After A&M made them look so poor, many figured the Gamecocks were grossly over-rated. Then they edged out East Carolina by 10 and that seemed to reinforce the point. But now they've defeated Georgia, E Carolina beat a Va Tech team fresh off an upset of Ohio St...so maybe A&M is much better than people think? I know, I hate those extrapolations b/c they're usually independent events w/o correlation, but I'm hoping 2+2=4 here.

Lax, agree on Davis. Vince Young made a lot of people look better than they have proven to be without him.

And Joe, here's the UTSA helmet I was talking about:



Speaking of uniforms, have to admit your hated rivals have you beat on the copper thing.

 

Last night was quite the night both on and off the field at Alumni Stadium for the BC v USC game. BC has a theme for every game and last night was Service Day. BC honored BC grad and lacrosse player Welles Crowther who died on Sept 11th in the World Trade Center after saving at least 12 people. He had headed back to help others when he was killed. He was know for his red bandana which he always had on him and was wearing to cover his mouth from the smoke that morning. To those he saved he was know as the "Man In The Red Bandana". Wells parent were there and they introduced them on the field to a thunderous standing ovation as they waved a red bandana. The players were adorned in special gear. Their helmets had a red bandana stripe down them, there shoes and gloves had the bandana pattern on them. The staff worse white fleece pullovers with a bandana pacth on each shoulder. All the students were also handed red bandanas on their way in.

ESPN's OTL has a 13 min movie that is well worth your time


At the half they also honored Pete Frates a former grad and baseball player who started the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to bring awareness to his condition. They showed a video about the Challenge and what it has done for ALS research and a special message from Pete told through the BC baseball team. Pete was also in attendance and they showed him on the big screen to another ovation.


On the field USC did not seem to have an answer to BC's running game and BC's defense stepped up like I have never seen. BC quarterback Tyler Murphy's hand work in faking handoffs made David Copperfield look like a dime store magician last night. I have seen BC upset VT, Norte Dame, and even Miami and this win ranks up there with those.

 

Congrats Jim, I wouldn't believe anyone could run that much on SC's defense, but the Eagles put it to them.

Good call Matt on East Carolina, I wanted to pick that one also, but thought ECU would be worn down from the week before. Thanks for posting the picks of UTSA, pretty sharp. Oh and screw the Scum Devils!

Other feel good story of the weekend after BC: UCLA backup QB Jerry Neuhiesel, who stayed after his Dad got fired as the head coach, came in after Brett Hundley got hurt and led the Bruins with a late TD pass to get past Texas. To see him get carried by his teammates after the game had to bring tears to Poppa's eyes.

Anu Solomon is looking better every week, 22 of 26 w/3 tds against a solid Nevada team. There is going to be bumps in the road, but Arizona has found a QB.

 

Got an important game tonight in Manhattan Kansas, so let's roll;

Non SEC people (myself included) admit it's the best conference, but usually with the caveat that it's 'overrated'. While I believe the SEC East fits that description, the SEC West might be as tough a collection of teams ever assembled now that Bret Bielema (he didn't forget how to coach, but there was going to be a painful transition since he and Bobby Petrino are polar opposites) has Arkansas moving in the right direction. Alabama, Auburn, A&M, LSU, the solid Mississippi schools, and Pig Suey...that is simply sick. No surprise that some of those teams are in this week's best games;

Games of the Week
#5 Auburn at #20 Kansas State. No secret that I think Bill Synder is one of the greatest coaches of any American sport in the last 40 years and they have a shot at the upset tonight, but just can't see them slowing Auburn down enough to win, War Eagle.

#22 Clemson at #1 Florida State. Jameis Winston deserves to be sitting out the whole game (not just the first half the gutless Jimbo Fisher decided on). I won't go into details (google it if you wish), but this guy is clueless. Notice I didn't say 'kid', because if I hear one more apologist say he's a 19/20 old kid and they do dumb things, I'm going to throw up. I have never rooted for Clemson ever, but I am on Saturday.

Florida at #3 Alabama. The Gators are coming in unheralded for a change and perhaps they'll give Alabama a game. Don't count on it, Roll Tide.

Miami at #24 Nebraska. Hope to hear about the experience from our own Dtown who will be there to witness the Huskers beating the Canes (at least I think that will happen).

Upset Alert

Mississippi State at #8 LSU. Sticking my neck out on this one because Death Valley is a brutal place to play. The only way the Bulldogs can pull it off is if they are balanced on offense, so Dak Prescott has to put in a huge performance throwing the ball.

 

My Ags have their last layup of the year, @ SMU. Our non-conference schedules start getting better after this year, but we when we moved to the SEC, between the early conference game and our best non-conference series (Arky) turning into a conference game, we were left scrambling to fill spots on short notice. As a result there's been a bit too much, Sam Houston, Lamar, etc. We play Joe's favorite Scum Devils next year, followed by 2 years against UCLA and 2 years with Oregon.

Clemson @ Florida St - I couldn't tell you the first thing about FSU's 2nd string qb, but he'll only play for a half. I agree with Joe, should have been a full game suspension at minimum, probably 2. Winston can't stop screwing up. While this time it isn't an issue with the law, it was an incredibly stupid thing to do given the ongoing investigation and likely pending civil suit for sexual assault. I'm aware of the stunningly stupid meme, so I'm not taking his words out of context, but when you add up the several theft issues, the rape charge, c'mon. And he's not a "me" person. Let's ask his teammates if they agree with that. Anyway, the game. Clemson's OC, Chad Morris, is a former Aggie so I have rooted for them on occasion & will do so here. I expect Free Shoes U to run the ball a lot in the first half until Winston returns. Defensively, Clemson got gashed on the ground (to the tune of 392 yds) by Georgia. The Noles defense doesn't look as stout as last year's version, but Clemson has struggled replacing Boyd and Watkins and their offense looks like it's taken a step back as well. I'd love to see the upset but I don't think they have enough defense to pull it off. Certainly not in Tallahassee.

Florida @ Alabama - I don't expect this one to be all that close. Still not impressed with Florida's offense although they do have a couple of guys who can provide that gamebreaker aspect now. Kentucky was able put up points by getting playmaking wr's into space with short, quick passes and Bama will do the same with Cooper, who may be the best wr in the country in yards after the catch. Tide to win by a couple of td's at home.

Miami @ Nebraska - Two teams whose best days are behind them. Give me the Huskers at home in what will likely be an ugly error-filled game by two crap teams. Sorry, DT. But hey, your SoMiss team are favorites to win this week.

Mississippi St @ LSU - The Miss schools never seem to live up to the hype. I'm still unconvinced by the Tiger offense, but their defense is sick! Meanwhile, MSU's offense is their strength, but their defense is very suspect. If this was in Starkville, maybe, but I give them no shot at the upset in Death Valley....at night, no less.

Upset Alert:

Surprised you left off Oklahoma @ WV. I think that's a potential trap game and was one of the games I strongly considered.

But I'm going with Auburn @ Kansas St. Thursday night games are dangerous and I've nailed a couple of upset specials since we've been doing this by pointing out that strange things happen in the Little Apple. You'd think a strong run game would travel well and Auburn was able to put away Arkansas in the 2nd half, so I could be all wet on this one. But KSt is stocked with JUCO's which gives them a veteran presence and Snyder's Family mantra really gives his teams a strong bond. Stopping the run is often all about "want to" and I suspect the Cats can frustrate the Auburn attack enough to nick the upset.

 

finally in before the weekend so I can get my picks in.

Disagree with you on Kstate. I don't think this Auburn offense will catch this defense off-guard. In the SEC it still works because they have not adapted to that style yet. So, I'm going Kstate to cover and win straight up.

Clemson/Fla State. - not real sure anything can be added. won't matter that #2 is playing the first half.

Miami@Neb - my neighbor (who had the tix) backed out on me. Oh well. I honestly think the huskers are on the upswing. Unfortunately I just don't think Pellini is the guy to get them there. He's done what he can and he's topped out. With that being said, I don't think the Huskers struggle with this game and should win without any problems. Golden still hasn't proven he can coach a big game.

State/Lsu - State's best team in years. Could be the second upset of the board picks. State will play highly motivated ball and don't see LSU matching the intensity. Close game overall. I'll go State.

Yep, hopefully So Miss gets win #2 this weekend, but I don't expect it to be easy.

 

If only Purple Kansas could kick field goals...would've nailed that one.

 

0 for 3 on FGs from a pretty reliable kicker (judging from his previous stats). Also didn't help when a really good receiver like Lockett has the easiest of TD catches bounce off the middle of his chest for an interception. Credit to KState defensively, but kudos to Auburn also, they find ways to win and it took major cajones to throw it on 3rd and 9 w/2 minutes to go when 95% of teams would of ran it and burned clock.