CFB Week 2 Thread

[Dawg83]

Turning the page to the next chapter, huge games this week in Mississippi.

 

USM gets Florida State a week after they trounced LSU. I kinda think USM keeps this closer than you’d expect. They’re not going to win, but if you told me they only lost by about 17-20 points I wouldn’t be shocked. Just feels like a slight letdown spot for the Noles.

 

Ole Miss at Tulane may be the best game of the whole weekend. I can’t pull the trigger on a Tulane upset but I think they have a chance. Most likely outcome is probably Ole Miss by 10 to 14. I think this game will be a track meet, though.

 

State hosting Arizona, a bit of a tricky game against an explosive offense. I don’t think it will be a cake walk but I would be a bit surprised if State lost this one at home. I think State’s advantage at the LOS is ultimately the difference. Expecting a close game for three quarters and then State pulls away late, which is pretty much how it played out in Tucson last year. I’m still tired from staying up late to watch that game, LOL.

 

Biggest game nationally is clearly Texas at Bama. Won’t lie to you, I was ready to pick a Texas upset here until very recently. But Milroe is better than I expected him to be, and UT looked pretty sloppy against Rice. I think Bama at home is the safe pick and I’ll stick with that.

 

Texas A&M at Miami is A&M’s first chance to show if they’re the team people think they can be. I have said in the past that I think A&M either contends for Atlanta or crashes and burns. I think they win here just because I don’t think Miami is great, but it could be one to monitor.

 

Two games that have flown under the radar but could be great are Oregon at Texas Tech and Wisconsin at Washington State. I am fascinated by the PAC 12’s surplus of very entertaining QB’s this year. I’ll take Oregon and Wazzu.

 

Last but not least, NATIONALLY RANKED COLORADO plays Nebraska in the Big Noon slot. You bet I will be watching this train until it runs out of steam. But I don’t think it’s this week, I think the Buffs win again.

Edited September 5, 2023 by Dawg83

[maroontide06]

@Dawg83these are spot on predictions.  Great Job!  Hopefully State can make history and get their first home win in a white uniform in probably forever.  I like their chances and hopefully the history they make will be on the winning side.

[Bulldogs4]

At least State is not doing a black out Saturday. I can live with a white out since white is one of our primary colors. But black is uggggghhh all the way around…including basketball, baseball and any other sport. 
 

Now on to important stuff…
 

 

 

OM @ Tulane….should be a good game but Tulane will not sneak up on anyone this year so I like OM to win. Not a blow out necessarily but a 14-17 point type win. 42-24 final. 
 

USM@Free Shoes University…they are actually catching the Noles at a great time, a week after the LSU game. I think Eagles can hang with FSU for a while but will end up losing around 38-17. 
 

AZ-State…has the makings for a competitive game. Fortunately for us we played there last year and with this game at home, I like us to come out with a win. But it will not be easy. I think we will still continue to struggle some on offense, though we will see some improvement. 
State pulls away late for a 34-14 win in a game that will be much closer than the final score will reflect. 
 

TX-Bama is not going to be as close as most think. Bama wins solidly 27-14. But TX scores late to make it look closer than it will really be. 
 

A&M, Oregon and Washington State all win. 
 

I am going to go against the grain here and say Nebraska beats Colorado. Colorado crashes down after a gut wrenching emotional victory and the Huskers finally break through and win a close game against one of their old Big 8 rivals. 
28-27 will be the final. 

[Dawg83]

11 hours ago, Bulldogs4 said:

At least State is not doing a black out Saturday. I can live with a white out since white is one of our primary colors. But black is uggggghhh all the way around…including basketball, baseball and any other sport. 
 

Now on to important stuff…
 

 

 

OM @ Tulane….should be a good game but Tulane will not sneak up on anyone this year so I like OM to win. Not a blow out necessarily but a 14-17 point type win. 42-24 final. 
 

USM@Free Shoes University…they are actually catching the Noles at a great time, a week after the LSU game. I think Eagles can hang with FSU for a while but will end up losing around 38-17. 
 

AZ-State…has the makings for a competitive game. Fortunately for us we played there last year and with this game at home, I like us to come out with a win. But it will not be easy. I think we will still continue to struggle some on offense, though we will see some improvement. 
State pulls away late for a 34-14 win in a game that will be much closer than the final score will reflect. 
 

TX-Bama is not going to be as close as most think. Bama wins solidly 27-14. But TX scores late to make it look closer than it will really be. 
 

A&M, Oregon and Washington State all win. 
 

I am going to go against the grain here and say Nebraska beats Colorado. Colorado crashes down after a gut wrenching emotional victory and the Huskers finally break through and win a close game against one of their old Big 8 rivals. 
28-27 will be the final. 

Part of me does wonder if there is some 2020 MSU with Colorado. Big first win sets unrealistic expectations for the rest of the year.

 

I think Colorado hits a wall at some point, I just don’t trust Nebraska to be the team to do it.

[rebmus]

I like State to win fairly easily... maybe close the first half but pulling away in the second. 

I haven't seen Tulane play, I only know their ranking (for whatever a ranking is worth this early in a season). I think OM should win, but we'll see. 

I'm not sold on Colorado after beating a TCU team that lost a ton of starters. With that said, Nebraska didn't look good at all. Colorado starts 2-0. 

 

I'd love to see USM upset Florida State, but I'd sure bet against that happening. 

 

Bama rolls. 

 

No mention of Auburn at Cal? I have no idea on Cal, but will pick Auburn. 

[MSTSatchmo]

OM 45 Tulane 24 - Not sure Tulane is as good as last year.  They won’t be able to keep up with OM

 

State 28 Arizona 24 - I still think State is getting comfortable with the offense, but they get enough stops.  
 

FSU 38 USM 14 - I thought USM might have a chance watching the first half of FSU/LSU, then the second half happened. 
 

Bama 31 Texas 14 

A&M over Miami - A&M would need one more win to jump into the Top 5

Colorado over Nebraska - I was expecting Nebraska to make a big turnaround, instead it appears early to be Colorado.  
Auburn over Cal - That trip to California is tricky.  
Wisconsin over Wash St

Oregon over TX Tech 

Edited September 7, 2023 by MSTSatchmo

[Dawg83]

Not sure why exactly, but the more I think about things, the less confident I feel in both Ole Miss and State this weekend.

 

I don’t want to overthink this because my gut instinct is Ole Miss wins and covers because Tulane struggles to get stops. But almost everyone having supreme confidence in Ole Miss is precisely when they have their most WAOM moments.
 

I have just seen them lose to someone like Memphis and Vandy in this spot enough times before to feel like a Tulane win isn’t off the table at all. The conventional wisdom seems to be that Tulane isn’t what they were last year. That may be true. But Pratt is still a really good QB.

 

I dunno, I just don’t find OM very trustworthy in these spots historically.

 

With State, simply put, I don’t think we really know what this team is. And I do believe Arizona is improved and possibly presents some matchup issues, specifically a mobile QB and good WR’s against an untested secondary.

 

Not changing my original picks, but don’t feel as confident about them.

Edited September 8, 2023 by Dawg83

[maroontide06]

The good news is the games have to be played.  After Saturday we'll find out what both State and OM are made of and if the all white unis for State at home are truly a curse.

[Dawg83]

3 hours ago, maroontide06 said:

The good news is the games have to be played.  After Saturday we'll find out what both State and OM are made of and if the all white unis for State at home are truly a curse.

Lol the bad white uni history at home is more about State playing really good teams or being terrible themselves when they’ve done that. But lose on Saturday and we might need to sacrifice a chicken or something before we do that again.

[Bulldogs4]

As I have noted, the white out does not bother me since it is one of our colors. 
I don’t think uniform colors will have anything to do with winning or losing this game. 
 

AZ is certainly improved but they were similar to us in that the game was close in the third quarter with NAU. It was 14-3 when AZ blocked a FG and ran it back for a TD. That broke the game open. But it could have been an 8 point game at that point. As we all know, neither team did much beyond just winning each respective game.

 

Our DL will need to dominate the LOS to disrupt their offense. They do have some playmakers on offense but if we win the LOS then we can neutralize those players from making a lot of big plays. 
 

Offensively, I think we will be able to move the ball. Just need to cash in on our opportunities. Avoid turnovers. 

 

Special teams will hopefully be strong for us again. 
 

But the biggest key to winning is for our DL to dominate the LOS. 

[Dawg83]

Saw where Tulane’s QB is a game time decision. If he is out then that makes the OM pick seemingly easy. Even if he is playing banged up, maybe not a good sign for Tulane’s chances.

[MSTSatchmo]

4 hours ago, Dawg83 said:

Saw where Tulane’s QB is a game time decision. If he is out then that makes the OM pick seemingly easy. Even if he is playing banged up, maybe not a good sign for Tulane’s chances.

They said he had been limited in practice also.   I thought OM would win easily before, but it will be an even bigger blowout without Tulane’s QB. 

[maroontide06]

I know it’s early, but with it being tied 7-7 Ole Miss could be in for a war.  Tulane seems fired up along with their fanbase.

[MSTSatchmo]

I was not expecting a defensive battle. 

[maroontide06]

4 minutes ago, MSTSatchmo said:

I was not expecting a defensive battle. 

Tulane is rolling.  Up 17-7.  Go Green Wave!  That TD pass was some kind of pretty.

[MSTSatchmo]

Tulane had too many stops with good field position the first half that they didn’t take advantage of.  It’s hard to keep an offense like OM’s down the entire game.  
 

However, Tulane’s defense was impressive or OMs offensive line was not.  Probably a little of both. 

[maroontide06]

Impressive comeback by OM.  It’ll be a good win for them down the road and now of course.

[rebmus]

The positives: 

Ole Miss won and is 2-0.

Voters will see the 37-20 score and be "impressed" with the Ole Miss win. 

 

The negatives: 

The Ole Miss OL got pushed around the whole game. 

The Ole Miss DL got pushed around ~ 1/2 the game. 

 

......................

I have no idea what to think of Ole Miss after this game. 

IF this is how Ole Miss will play the rest of the season, it will be a long season in SEC play. 

MAYBE Ole Miss's players came in too confident with Tulane's starting QB out and just expected to win without putting forth 100% effort? 

 

It's been a weird Saturday of CFB. There's been quite a few unexpected games by ranked teams today but almost all of them have figured it out before the game ended. 

Utah trailed Baylor until the end but won. 

Colorado struggled with Nebraska until late.

Clemson struggled with Charleston Southern for the first half. 

North Carolina is back and forth with Appalachian State in the 4th quarter. 

Tennessee struggled with Austin Peay for the first half. 

 

A&M lost at Miami 48-33. 

 

LSU is tied with Grambling 7-7 in the first quarter. 

South Carolina (not ranked, but still) trails Furman 7-0 in the first quarter. 

 

 

[hasbeen67]

I don't want to come of too negative or critical, but what little I've seen of MSU so far, I kind of feel like they've gone from one extreme to the other.

All on Marks.

Edited September 10, 2023 by hasbeen67

[MSTSatchmo]

Horrible end to the first half by State.  From Rogers taking a sack to not being able to tackle the QB.   

[MSTSatchmo]

Arizona looks like they’re playing with 2 or 3 more players than State when Arizona is on offense.  State can’t get any pressure and Arizona always has players open.  Like nobody within 5 yards.  
On offense for State, AZ is focusing on stopping the run and putting pressure on Rogers.  He can’t move at all.  

[hasbeen67]

Won't average 10  pts. a game vs. SEC defenses.

They don't look like they're quick enough to get to the QB even if unblocked.

 

Looks like Bama is about done too. 

Edited September 10, 2023 by hasbeen67

[hasbeen67]

No SEC team I've seen today looked good relative to who they were playing. 

[MSTSatchmo]

Milroe is a heck of an athlete, but he isn’t the answer at QB.  They’ll have to make a change.  
 

All the people that picked State 7th in the West knew what they were talking about.  I’m not sure they’ll get an SEC win.  

[MSTSatchmo]

Crazy finish to the State game.  The correct call was made, but State leaves a win with more questions than answers.  They were fortunate Arizona threw 3 INTs and had a fumble in the first half.