College Football 2018-19

Normally I'm a kid before Christmas right before week 1, but can't tell a lie I'm more like a kid that just got braces before going on vacation. I know once the trip starts it'll get good again, but right now I'm not in the mood to smile. Between what happened at Maryland, I did at least have respect for the Maryland President and his statement/actions (thus far) as compared to Ohio State's embarrassing cow-towing to 'Buckeye Nation' and suspending the liar Urban Meyer for Oregon State and Rutgers (I know TCU is a legitimate team, but 3 games is a slap on the wrist).

As always, I can't wait to get the insights of 'your team’.

Games of the Week:

Thurs. @encorespanish and his Gophers will get the season under way nicely w/an easy win over New Mexico State. @AggieMatt and his Aggies have a scrimmage against a cupcake. While @tim has a stern and an important Big Ten game with Northwestern at Purdue. I hate having a conference game to start (unless you get a W).

Fri.
Colorado v Colorado State. @dtowndough You heading to the game? Also what are your expectations for USM?

Sat.
#6 Washington v #9 Auburn. Auburn lost their bowl game in the same stadium. I’ll take them to avenge (and hope I’m wrong) against Jake Browning and the Huskies. Browning has regressed, but if he can bounce back as a senior they can make a run at the playoffs.

Louisville v #1 Alabama @jumpkutz, The post Lamar Jackson era QB is?? I’m sure they have a good one, but this is why they created the expression ‘baptism by fire’

#14 Michigan at #12 Notre Dame. I grew up loving this game. Traditional powers, rivalry renewed, and in South Bend this time..good stuff. The losing coach is on the hot seat (comes w/those gigs). Can transfer QB Shea Patterson be the missing link for Jim Harbaugh?

BYU at Arizona. My Cats open in Kevin Sumlin’s debut with a tough game. Khalil Tate is as good a QB as we’ve ever had, but can the O-Line be good enough to let him do his thing?

Sun
#8 Miami v #24 LSU. Playing in Jerry’s World. Tough game out of the chute, Bayou Bengals win and they’ll jump 15 spots.

Mon
#20 Virginia Tech at #19 Florida State. Lose and the fans want to know who was the moron that scheduled this game first. Monster ACC game on a Monday night.

 

I grew up in Columbus, and have always followed Ohio State among the "big time" teams. After this latest incident with Urban Liar, I'm done with OSU.

 

Minnesota is going to have to rely heavily on their defense this year, which has been decent for the past couple of years. The QB play has been historically atrocious and I don't see that changing this year as I think a walk on has the pole position to start tomorrow...solid recruiting there. I am just thankful we only have to play one of the big guns from the BIG Ten East, in Ohio State. I'm predicting bowl eligibility but just barely...6-6.

 

I'm not making the CU/CSU game Friday night. I'm choosing to catch that one on the tele. I do believe CU should roll though after CSU's performance last week. USM is missing a QB with the #1 guy going in being suspended "indefinitely."

CU
WASH - I believe Washington is the real deal and will challenge for the Pac12 title.
Bama.
Michigan - I think this is finally the year for Michigan
LSU - I agree. I think Miami was overrated last year and I believe it showed towards the end.
Honestly have no idea on the last one, but I'll take the Noles opening the season with a win.

 

@sacffc I hope your Princeton Tigers win the Ivy League, I'll throw in my yearly wish to see the Ivy champ play in the 1-AA (whatever it's called) playoffs.

@nevzter Don't get to mention UC-Davis much, but beating a D-1 opponent (San Jose State) is worth noting.

 

Coastal Carolina begin their second season in FBS by taking a trip to Columbia to face in-state "rivals" USC. The best thing about the trip will probably be the fact that they get to play on brand new turf (http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...yonce-show-leads-south-carolina-replace-field). I'm just hoping that the outcome is respectable.

 

I also will be keeping an eye on UC Davis -- they're in the neighborhood. There are many great rivalry games in college football. Not many realize that they all pale by comparison to the annual UC Davis vs Sacramento State game -- the Aggies against the Hornets with everything on the line.

Well, OK, maybe it's just for who has a better record in the Big Sky, but it's still REALLY IMPORTANT.

 

We got the W

 

The Jimbo era got off to a flying start. Not a very strong opponent but we thoroughly dominated them the way you’d want and expect. Qb’s under center, te’s, fb’s and 500 rushing yards, safe to say Fisher is a good fit at Aggieland. Mike Elko’s d looked very solid as well.

I hate picking games opening weekend because there are so many over and under rated teams, but here goes anyway.

UW v Auburn - Both teams return a lot of guys to good defenses, but War Eagle is replacing 4 starting OL, so I’ll take the Snarlin’ Pups of Montlake. Either result wouldn’t surprise me though.

Louisville v Alabama- Tide rolls.

Michigan v ND - I think the loss of Elko as ND dc is going to hurt them, so I’ll go with Harbaugh’s Wolverines to get a much needed big win.

BYU v Zona - Sumlin was always good in openers for us so I’ll take the Cats. Tate will probably get it done with his legs, especially if OL is an issue.

Miami v LSU - Were the Canes a flash in the pan and is LSU anything more than a very good defense. I’d rather bet on Richt than old Marbles, Ed O, so I’ll take Miami.

Va Tech v FSU - who the hell knows. I’ll go with Taggart to win his home debut assuming they don’t get that whisp of a qb killed.

Also curious to see what happens with MD hosting Texas and WV v Tennessee in Pruitt’s debut.

 

Well my optimism lasted until the 3rd quarter of week 1... Oh well, life of an Arizona fan.

Old fashion Donnybrooks:

Iowa State at Iowa; @LaxAttack Solid win for your Hawkeyes last week and have to like their chances even more after the Cyclones game was postponed due to weather.

#13 Penn State at Pitt; So great to see these two playing again, and it didn’t take long for the hostilities to be ratcheted back up. Penn State was lucky to escape Appalachian State in OT, but I’ll say that they will be much better this week because of it:

Big Conference games;

#3 Georgia at #24 South Carolina. Kirby Smart looks to be a great head coach for the Dawgs, Will Muschamp appears to be a good D Coordinator trying to be a coach.

#17 USC at #10 Stanford; Trojans starting true freshman JT Daniels and he’s going to be the next great SC QB, but there’s going to be growing pains. Stanford’s perennially dominant OLine was no where to be found last week and will need to get Bryce Love some room to roam. Stanford barely

Game of the Week

#2 Clemson at Texas A&M. @AggieMatt what are your plans on Sat evening? Jimbo obviously knows the opponent, which should help. The biggest hinderence is going to be Clemson’s defensive line which has 4 potential first round nfl picks on it.

 

Penn State starts to roll after their brutal showing in game 1.

I will ride Georgia until they let everyone down which will probably happen later in the season.

USC seems to always come slow out of the gate. So I will take Stanford with the win on this one.

Clemson is just too strong I think. I'll take Clemson in a very close one.

Upset: Is CU beating Nebraska considered an upset?

 

I was surprised AZ didn’t have Tate running more. But it looked like they were trying to force him to stay in the pocket and pass and that’s not his strength. Strange decision by Sumlin and Mazzone, but I’m used to those.

Iowa St @ Iowa- the Hawkeyes have won 3 straight in this series, needing ot last year. The Clones are a dark horse pick to challenge OU in the B12. I’ll go with State in this one.

Penn St @ Pitt - the Panthers won this one in a shootout the last time these 2 played in Pittsburgh. The Nitany d looked pretty shoddy v App St but I just don’t know enough about Pitt to pick them. I’ll assume they got the wake up call last week and take Penn St.

Georgia @ SC - Dawgs by a couple of td’s but it’ll probably be close for a half.

USC @ Stanford - pretty much agree with everything Joe said and will go with the Tree. I am concerned by their inability to get Love going last week.

Clemson @ A&M - I feel better about this one than I did before the season, but that just means I think we keep it somewhat respectable. Mond had to complete several passes with NW St defenders in his face. That doesn’t bode well with Clemson’s front four coming to town.

Upset - Dough, our general rule has been you have to be a greater than a td dog to qualify for an upset. CU is a 3 pt dog. If we’re looking for a ranked team to fall, I’m looking at Sparty. Late night game at Arizona St could be trouble, especially with the sputtering offense they showed in week 1. That’s only a 5.5 pt line for Mich St. By spread, I like Air Force laying 8.5 at FAU.

 

The Causeway Classic, Hornets v. Aggies, November 17th!!!

 

Last week, CCU got a solid win in their home opener. As 8.5 point underdogs, they opened by going down 21-7 early in the 2nd quarter. The mighty Chanticleers then shut down UAB and finished the game on a 40-3 run. Final score CCU 47 - 24 UAB. CCU has now won 8 straight home openers.

Now thanks to Hurricane Florence, Coastal Carolina has moved its home game this week to visiting Campbell in the Wednesday matinee slot, 2pm EDT. Should be interesting with both teams playing on three days rest. Admission is free though for anyone in the Buies Creek, NC area!

 

@astroevan, I hope you and yours stays safe and the damage done by Florence is minimal.

#17 Boise State at #24 Oklahoma State; Credit to OK Lite for scheduling Boise State, a whole bunch of Power 5 ADs won’t do that. Don’t have a clue, except the scoreboard operator will be busy.

#4 Ohio State v #15 TCU in Dallas. Gary Patterson is a super underrated football coach and the Frogs will be prepared, but the Buckeyes will wear them down.

#12 LSU at #7 Auburn; Going War Eagle, but I thought Washington outplayed Auburn so LSU winning wouldn’t be a shock.

Upset Alert: I know Matt (fantastic performance last week by the Ags) considers 7 point dogs a must for an upset, but I don’t look too much at spread, but more about what you’d expect regardless if it’s 4 or 7 points.

#23 Arizona State coming off big win over Sparty, but has a sneaky tough one at San Diego State.

#10 Washington at Utah. Very tough to go into SLC and win, UDubs playoff hopes on the line.

 

It's a couple of weeks into the season so it's time to chime in!

Even though daughter number 1 has graduated, we're still all about the Mountaineers here! After a strong start, WVU has started to scare off the competition - literally. This weekend's game at NC State has been cancelled even though WVU and the Big 12 Conference made multiple offers to get it played. It was the first game of a home and home, so WVU offered to switch and host this year, and travel to Raleigh next year, even offering NC State cash over and above the agreement. NC State said no. The Big 12 then offered to have WVU travel to Raleigh on October 13, NC State's open week. To do so would mean moving WVU's scheduled game against Iowa St. to the following Thursday, giving WVU 2 road games in 5 days, but the kitten pack said no. Now apparently they are looking for a patsy for October 13 because it's the only chance they get to 6 wins. Shameful! Cowardly!

Meanwhile, daughter number 2 has begun her Freshman year at Ole Miss, so I now have to follow an unfamiliar conference. One thing I already know, her first home conference game is this Saturday - against Alabama. That's probably not going to turn out so well for the Rebels. Welcome to the SEC!

 

I don’t know that I’ve ever been more proud of a team in defeat. I really like what I’ve seen 2 weeks in and am pretty blown away with how much Fisher has impacted this team already.

FDC, if you haven’t been yet, you’ll love the Grove. For years it was easily better than the games at Ole Miss. Fortunately that’s not the case much any more as the Rebs routinely boast an explosive offense, especially through the air. Defensively on the other hand, well, they’ll probably feel very B12 for you. But the Grove, for my money, is one of the best tailgate atmospheres in the country.

Boise St @ Okla St - Apple wants to call them Noise St or Boy’s St, fwiw. Two offenses that can light it up, I think it comes down to who can get that timely stop or turnover. I usually like the Pokes at home for that, but I think the Bronco d provides that difference today.

Ohio St v TCU - Patterson’s great but he almost never pulls big upsets out of conference. TCU is 1-16-1 v top5 non-conf teams and the B12 is 0-11 at JerryWorld against ranked opponents. The Nuts won there twice...last season. I’ll take Ohio St and I think they’ll probably cruise.

LSU @ Auburn - this one has favored the home team in recent years and I don’t expect that to change this week. Two great defenses, but I’m just not sold on the LSU offense. I’m not really sold on Stidham as a fit for Gus’s offense either, but he’s better than a kid completing barely 50% of his passes. Barring a turnover fest by War Eagle, I think they grind out a fairly close win.

Upsets. Joe, our memories seem to differ on this one as it was you who was disputing what was or wasn’t an upset several years back. I picked an unranked team to knock off a ranked team but you cried foul because they were conference mates who had a mild rivalry. I do agree that you base it on “your” perception. All good either way. So that said I like 2 and expect one of them is the type you’d dispute.

Duke @ Baylor (-4.5) - No clue how Duke is a dog at a Baylor team that won one game last year and hasn’t looked good defensively against weak teams. I like the Devils to best the Baptists, not unlike how it usually goes in the bible.

And for a more legit upset give me Troy @ Nebraska (-10). The Trojans rolled into Death Valley last year and knocked off LSU. They’re probably going to face a walk-on backup qb in Lincoln and should be up to the task of taking another P5 scalp. I’d probably like them against Martinez as well given how I saw the Buffs trample the Corn d last week.

I think your SDSt pick is probably a good bet as well. Good luck to everyone’s teams and more importantly to those of you in the Carolinas.

 

"FDC, if you haven’t been yet, you’ll love the Grove. For years it was easily better than the games at Ole Miss. Fortunately that’s not the case much any more as the Rebs routinely boast an explosive offense, especially through the air. Defensively on the other hand, well, they’ll probably feel very B12 for you. But the Grove, for my money, is one of the best tailgate atmospheres in the country."

@AggieMatt - My daughter decided kind of late, so all the local hotels were already booked for this year's home games. However, Ole Miss released their schedule yesterday and we had already planned which game we would go to next season, traveling with friends of ours who have always wanted to experience the grove as well, he's a graduate of another SEC school - Texas A&M. See you October 19, 2019!

 

Hey FDC, Memphis is an easy drive from Oxford as well and has plenty of room. I say this having grown up despising just about everything that went into or came out of Oxford, Oxford is a gorgeous city. The Southern culture, Bitter Southerner style if you are familiar with the site. You will be welcomed everywhere you go. I go back anytime I get a chance with friends from Colorado that want to experience the Grove. Very very rarely will I actually cheer for Ole Miss to win the game, but they win the tailgate every time. If you need any recommendations on some local eateries or juke joints to check out, please reach out. I hope your daughter is enjoying Oxford and Mississippi.

 

Conference openers for most and some answers to be had:

FUSA Special: @dtowndough & @jumpkutz
#14 Mississippi State at Kentucky. Winner goes to 4-0. Will go to w/the Cowbells because of QB Nick Fitzgerald appearing to be all the way back from injury.

Kansas State at #12 West Virginia. Apologies @FulhamDC for neglecting WVU so far. Going to have no problems w/KState, but wanted to mention QB Will Grier. One of the rare players married w/a child in D-1 who could’ve gone in the draft (likely a mid-rounder), but decided to stick it out and it’s going to pay off as he looks like 1st rounder next Spring.

Make or Break:
#18 Wisconsin at Iowa: Whiskey were thinking ahead to this and were shocked by BYU. The winner of this game has won the Big 10 West of late and will go w/Lax's Hawkeyes @LaxAttack

#7 Stanford at #20 Oregon. The U of Nike hasn't left Eugene yet and has played 3 cupcakes. Stanford has played better competition, but it's hard to make a pick the Cardinal w/out knowing Bryce Love's injury condition.

#8 Notre Dame at Wake Forest: Only put the Irish here because I have no idea what to make of them. They handled Meatchicken, but scraped by Ball State & Vandy. First road game and should be able to ease by WF, but....

Game of the Day:
#22 Texas A&M at #1 Alabama: Can't pick against the Tide, but the Aggies will not back down. They have to force a pick or two off of Tua (he's still an inexperienced starter) to get the game into the 4th with a chance.