College Football 2016-2017

Can there be any better way to start the new college football season then Cal vs Hawaii tonight...in Australia??

Okay not the best kickstarter, but there are some great matchups lined up next week that will be discussed later. Suffice to say there are a few things I'm looking forward about this thread: AggieMatt either reluctantly agreeing w/me over a particular game or gleefully disagreeing with one of my dumb predictions. Add in our yearly argument on what constitutes an 'upset' and it's a match made in MB heaven. HD's annual post that he won't be posting unless the Terps rise up in the ACC er' Big Ten..Fear the Turtle!! I love reading the exploits of everyone's favorite team/alma mater. We have Eagles (Dynamo being the voice of NC Central), Jim's Boston College, and Dtown's Golden Eagles of USM. Wildcats o' plenty from various locations (not the most original nickname), to Chanticleers (the most original nickname). There are followers of Aggies and Longhorns, Seminoles and Hawkeyes, Gophers to Beavers to Illini to Hoosiers to Nittany Lions to Wolfpack to Buffs. Can't forget Jump's Louisville or the Mighty Racers of Murray State. Enjoy the insight from Schools that pack in 100K in the stands like Texas A&M or 10K like the other Aggie we have on board (Nev's UC Davis). Hoping to see Pettyfog happy that Notre Dame lost and bored the Buckeyes are undefeated ten weeks in. In other words, bring it on!!

Sorry if I let anyone out, if I did I want to read about your school to.

 

Return a lot of the key guys from last year and the schedule is still manageable (it is tougher than last year), but I have a feeling Iowa will get some bad bounces this year as everything went Iowa's way last year (aside from the last drive of the Big Ten Championship Game and the entire Rose Bowl).

I'm predicting 9-3 with losses to Michigan, at Penn State and one from the Wisconsin/Minnesota/Nebraska games.

 

Great to see it started So Cal. I'm a little nervous going into the season with what I think would have been a decent team, but now a whole new coaching staff. Going from a great O Coordinator led offense to now a defensive head coach. Im excited about him long term, but I'm scared this year will be the dreaded "rebuilding" "new system" "whatever cliche works" team.

On the other hand, here in Boulder (longmont really), there is actually a little excitement going into the season. Folks actually think the buffs could slip up and steal a couple of conference wins and challenge for bowl eligibility. Also, going with some friends for my first trip to The Big House. Can't wait for that one the 3rd weekend of the season. Good Luck to everyone unless there is an Ole Miss fan reading this.

 

Some pretty good matchups for week 1:

FUSA Specials:
Oregon State @ChicagoCottager at Minnesota @encorespanish. The Beavs were 0-fer in the Pac 12 last season which makes it impossible to pick them against the Gophers.

Murray State @jumpkutz at Illinois @Dynamo & CC. Have no idea what kind of program James' alma mater has, but it gets it's chance to take down a Big 10 school. However, got to go with the Illini.

Games of the Week:

#20 USC vs #1 Alabama (Dallas). Interesting matchup in Jerry's World. While the coaching carousel at USC has been a mess, they still have talent. The coach they have now Clay Helton is an unknown quantity, and he's going up against Nick Saban who has only won 5 National Titles . Maybe if the Trojans had a returning QB they'd have a shot, but they don't..Roll Tide.

#18 Georgia at #22 North Carolina. Pretty tough game for Kirby Smart to start his Georgia coaching career. Nick Chubb has been cleared, but not sure what he can do yet. It will probably come down to a big turnover, and will go with the Tar Heels to be the beneficiaries.

Colorado v Colorado State (Denver). Fierce in state rivals despite not being in the same conference. I think this is the season where the Buffs become bowl eligible and it will start here.

#11 Ole Miss vs #4 Florida State (Orlando). Coin flip game. Ole Miss is a mystery, how will all the controversy (sanctions/allegations) surrounding the program translate onto the field? @MicahMan the Noles will be starting a freshman QB so that's always a roll of the dice.

#16 UCLA at Texas A&M. The Honeymoon is over for both of these coaches. Kevin Sumlin really needs to get the season off right and is hoping Katy Perry's favorite QB aka OU transfer Trevor Knight can get his career back on track. The pressure is on Jim Mora to finally deliver, it's a Pac 12 Title game appearance or the season will be deemed a failure. Going with the Aggies at home (not just to get on Matt's good side), mostly because I don't think Mora is a good coach in terms of adjustments and game planning.

#3 Oklahoma v #15 Houston. This is being played in Houston, but where the Texans play, not on the Cougars campus. The Landthieves clearly have a huge edge in talent, but Houston QB Greg Ward Jr. might be the most underrated QB in the nation. Expect the Sooners to wear them down, but UH giving them all they want would be no surprise.

Upset of the Week:

UC Davis @nevzter at #24 Oregon. Okay not really, but Nev's boys might be able to score first.


EDIT: Forgot to add Arizona and BYU playing in Phoenix....BEAR DOWN!!!

 

Minnesota got the kiss of death when Kirk Herbstreit said Minnesota would play in the Big 10 championship against Ohio State. The Gophers don't do well with expectations. That being said, our regular season schedule DOES NOT include Ohio State, Michigan or Michigan St. If there's ever been a year to get to the Big 10 championship, this is it!

 

The Racers are picked to finish in the bottom half of the OVC. I'd say the Illini should have no trouble defeating them.

 

LOVE this!!!! Thanks SoCal.

100%! Oreg St is not a good football team. Gophers

I'm supporting Jump on this one. Murray St!

I have no idea what Saban's record is in firsts game of the season. I have to imagine, not bad. I'll take Alabama in a convincing win.

Going Tar Heels here too. I realize Kirby is a great motivator and knows a thing or two about defense, but this is a different animal all together. Hope he does well at Geoargia, but taking Fedora and his offense in the first game of the season.

CU/CSU - tried to get out of going. didn't work. So I'll be there. I'll take CU. Agree So Cal, they might actually push .500 this year, so this is a must-win in order for them to do so. Their defense will be much improved and will be able to actually stop a few scoring opportunities to give them the small margin victories this year.

Ole Miss/FSU - Taking the Noles here. I think all of the off-season issues will carry over into the season with Ole Miss. But, what a great opportunity for them here. I won't be surprised with Ole Miss pulling this one out.
Houston/OU - I'll take Houston on this one. just because it works for my "real" upset of the week.

 

I'm excited to see what SC State's gonna do this year, and I'm really really hoping we get on the scoreboard against Duke this year... they shut us out the last two games.

 

I'm not sure exactly what to expect from A&M this year, but think we probably finish with 9 wins. Whatever the case, I'm glad to just get to football & put all of the off field silliness behind us.

I'm excited to see the defense this year. We made good strides in Chavis's first year. Now we finally have an SEC caliber d (size & depth) up front & in the back. LB will be the question mark again. We've had problems staying healthy there, so just doing that should mean a better year.

Offense should be interesting. We have a new OC, Noel Mazzone of UCLA. I like what he was able to do with their rushing attack which has been a weak spot for us. We also have a new OL coach. Jim Turner sent 3 first round picks in 4 years to the NFL with us a few years ago. We should be much better & nastier in the trenches now. And we have a new qb. I've never been very impressed with Knight b/c his accuracy & turnovers weren't good. If he's fixed that, with the embarrassment of riches we have at the skill positions, it could be a really good year. If not, 9 wins may be too high.

 

FUSA Specials

Oregon State @ Minnesota - I'll take the Gophers in this vermin battle.

Murray St @ Illinois - Didn't even know the Racers played football. I think Lovie Smith's debut is safe.

Games of the Week

USC v Bama - Tide rolls & I don't think it'll even be close.

Georgia @ UNC - I go back & forth on this one because I thought the Heels were overrated last year. Still, they return enough of that offense, they're at home & that's probably enough to squeak by Jawja with a new coaching staff.

Colorado v Colorado St - 2 teams seemingly headed in different directions. I'll take the Buffs.

Ole Miss v FSU - All of those big recruits the Rebels bought are gone from the defense & there's still speculation on whether Freeze gets a suspension. I'll take Dalvin Cook to run all over them & the Noles to win on a neutral home field.

UCLA @ A&M - The Ags have been excellent in these early season big games under Sumlin. UCLA, meanwhile, has to cope with losing the architect of their run game...to A&M. Miles Garrett could be in for a field day & the Farmers win. Btw Joe, Trevor is dating the Duck Dynasty girl now. Try to keep up with the mindless pop culture.

Oklahoma v Houston - The Dirt Burglars (since Joe stole Landthieves) only real weakness is in the trenches but I don't think Houston can beat them there. I think the Cougs may put up some points, but not enough.

BYU v Arizona - Don't know much about either team at this point but BYU will probably take a little time to adjust to a new coaching staff so I'll take the Fighting Joe's.

Upsets

I'll go with 2 this week. FCS Northern Iowa to roll into Ames & spoil Matt Campbell's Iowa St debut.

And my longshot...the Rajun Cajuns of ULL to beat 20 pt favorite Boise in Lafayette. It's a very early start time, the weather is supposed to be garbage & I think the ULL kids might be really fired up to put dealing with the floods behind them for a few hours.

Headline game - Baylor Finally Faces Their Demons. Per usual, the Branch Stupidians have a cupcake non-conference schedule and host mighty FCS NW St after their horrendous summer of scandals.

 

I've come to be in awe of Wake Forest. They beat Tulane 7-3 last night while getting out-gained by 100+ yards and averaged less than 5 yards per play. Unbelievable.

 

Lovie Smith's debut is quite safe, but, in fact, Murray State has been playing football for 92 years. And we've had some decent coaches and teams during some of that time. But not recently.

 

Appreciate the Pop Culture update Matt, besides my game the Aggies/Bruins matchup is the one I'm most looking forward to. Thought about throwing out App. State upsetting Tennessee, but thought it'd look pretty dumb after a Tennessee rout. Wow, did the Vols ever get lucky in OT.

 

Opening weekend's not over, but there's a lot of howling around these parts over Kentucky's self immolation to Southern Miss. Mark Stoops, starting his 4th season, had a track record as a very good defensive coach. Saturday night they gave up 34 straight points at home to the Golden Eagles after leading 35-10. They face Florida in Gainesville next, whom they haven't beaten since '86. After that they host New Mexico State, then play all SEC schools until the end, when they finish with Austin Peay at home, then here against Louisville. The only question is: Will Stoops survive the entire season? My bet would be no. And the futility that is Kentucky football already has people talking about basketball...

 

This game really was a coin flip. First half to Ole Miss. Second half to FSU. I was prepared to head off to bed comfortable in the knowledge that I wouldn't have to bother worrying about an FSU national title run, but I figured I should at least give them the benefit of watching until Ole Miss scored again in the 3rd quarter. That moment never game and FSU won. I appreciate the discipline the team has under Fisher that was often lacking under Bowden. Many FSU teams of the past would have panicked and folded. The best thing about the night was the steady right foot of freshman kicker Ricky Aguayo. It usually comes down to the kicker for FSU, which is why my favorite FSU alum is Sebastian Janikowski.

EDIT: I should clarify, I'm referencing ONLY on-field discipline. Off-field discipline is still unfortunately an issue.

 

We scored against Duke this weekend, and that's really all I could have asked for haha

 

Coastal Carolina - the team without a conference (classified this year as an FCS independent) - overcame a slow start to comfortably beat Lamar. Down 14-3 at the half, Coastal rallied for 35 unanswered points to win 38-14. De'Angelo Henderson recorded his 19th 100-yard rushing game and scored in his 27th consecutive game for the Chanticleers.

 

HD, they've been stopping the clock for first downs as long as I can remember to move the chains, but in recent years the refs have gotten the clock moving much faster (as soon as the chains are set, and as soon as forward progress is stopped, if even they get out of bounds). The biggest factor (good point about OT) is how the game itself has changed. The no-huddle spread offenses has changed everything. The number of offensive plays has exploded as teams are trying to run the next play within seconds of the ball being spotted. Add in the quick passing game of the spread which opens the running game and boom the records of yester year have gone by the wayside. Offenses 40-50 years ago were super conservative i.e Ohio State's '3 yards and a cloud of dust' or the wishbone offenses of Nebraska and Oklahoma which regarded passing as something not to be trusted or attempted rarely. That said college fans don't really look at stats in determining the greatness of players. Jim Brown is still widely regarded as one of the all-time greats, and Gale Sayers has great name recognition as well.


Hotseat alert:

• LSU and Les Miles have gone from the love-fest of the fans not letting the AD fire him to exasperation as once again Miles has trotted out a team with NFL talent everywhere, but an offense game plan that the above mentioned Woody Hayes at Ohio State would of deemed perfect. How long will it take for Houston's Tom Herman being linked with that job?

• USC and Clay Helton. Since he was officially named the head coach, Helton is 0-3. All the SC people are more pissed at the former AD Pat Haden for butchering the coaching hires than Helton, but getting humiliated on a national stage will shift the spotlight to the coach. Bottomline, he loses to Notre Dame and UCLA this season and the new AD Lynn Swann will have plenty of boosters willing to fork out the buyout.

 

This is pretty much 'cupcake' week across the land. There are a few interesting matchups, especially a renewel of one rivalry that was once one of the biggest in college football.

Game of the Week:
Penn State at Pitt. Finally these two rivals renew hostilities for the first time since 2000. In the musical chairs that has been conference realignment they stopped playing. Don't know much about their teams this year, but going with Pitt because of the feel good story of Panther RB Connor coming back from cancer.

Best Game Being Played at a Racetrack:
Virginia Tech v #17 Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway. Should be quite a spectacle with 2 great sets of fans. Have to go with the Vols even though their week 1 victory sent up red flags

Best Nickname Battle (Told you this was a slow week)
Arkansas at #15 TCU. Hogs at Frogs. The Arkies managed to squeak by La Tech while the Toads gave up 41 in their win over South Dakota State. Will take TCU, but pig suey is capable of winning.

Others;
Iowa State at #16 Iowa. ISU is coming off losing to Northern Iowa, while Lax's boys cruised in their opener. Iowa has another chance to go deep into the season undefeated with that schedule. Hawkeyes roll.

BYU at Utah. Less than 50 miles separate the campuses but it's world's apart in terms of ideology, it ain't called 'The Holy War' for nothing. BYU beat my guys on a last second FG last week, while the Utes are very well coached (USC should of hired Kyle Wittingham). It will go late into the 4th quarter and maybe even OT. I'll take Utah, but it's a coin flip.

NC Central at Western Michigan; @Dynamo Saw this and was surprised, didn't know that Western could write a check big enough for NCCU to consider traveling that far. WMU did upset Northwestern last week so it's going to be tough sledding.

Upset Alert (not really, but maybe some games that could end up being tight).

#13 Louisville at Syracuse. Strange things can happen up in the Dome. If this was in Louisville this would be a blowout, and it still might be in upstate NY, but the Orange could put a scare into them.

Wyoming at Nebraska. The Pokes are coached by former Nebraska D Coordinator Craig Bohl and are coming off a good win against Northern Illinois. The Huskers shouldn't have an issue here, but with Oregon coming in next week they might have a banana peel situation on their hands.

Utah State at USC. The Trojans were so pathetic that there could be a hangover effect. Utah State can run the ball and have given the Big Boys issues (see Auburn, Wisconsin, and USC) over recent years.