CFB Week 4 Thread

[Dawg83]

This is an awesome week of games nationally, easily the best of the season so far. Looking forward to catching as many of these as possible.

 

Gotta start with the big one in-state, which is clearly Ole Miss at Bama. I have seen a lot of optimism on OM going into this one and I suspect they will be a trendy upset pick. And yeah, I could see it happening, especially if Bama still doesn’t have its crap together on offense. That said…. I have Bama winning by 10+. I don’t feel confident in OM’s defense yet, and I also don’t know if I trust the OM passing game enough yet to say they win in Tuscaloosa. I think Bama can contain OM’s rushing and grind out a win. I say Bama wins something like 34-21.

 

I’ll go ahead and get State-SC out of the way and cut right to the point. I don’t trust this coaching staff until they prove that I should. This feels a lot like Moorhead going into Knoxville in 2019 to me. It’s a very winnable game if State was the competent team you expected them to be… I just don’t know that they are. I think it’s more of the same and SC wins comfortably, 31-13. Would love to be wrong on this, and to be fair, if State does win here, a good season is still very much in play.

 

Rapid fire on the rest because we’ve got a lot of ground to cover:

 

Ohio State at Notre Dame - love how ND has looked so far, taking the Irish at home

Colorado at Oregon - CU has been awesome to follow, I think this is their first big roadblock, I have Oregon winning big.

 

Florida State at Clemson - I think FSU is locked in for this and that Clemson kinda stinks, FSU comfortably on the road.

 

Arkansas at LSU - in Tiger Stadium at night, LSU wins big

 

Auburn at Texas A&M - no freaking clue, but I guess A&M

 

UCLA at Utah - Utes win at home

 

Oregon State at Washington State - Beavs are very good, they take this

 

Iowa at Penn State - Penn State big, I think they are potentially Playoff good.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Dawg83

[maroontide06]

How does State correct the disaster of a performance that they had against LSU on all fronts in a week's time?  It all starts with the coaches to get it right, but can they?  It just seems like there's some legitimate concerns there and it seems like there's some sort of disconnect.  This team is far too talented to be having these issues, but here they are.  If Barbay is trying to reinvent the wheel and overcomplicate things, State could be in for a long season. 

[Dawg83]

1 minute ago, maroontide06 said:

How does State correct the disaster of a performance that they had against LSU on all fronts in a week's time?  It all starts with the coaches to get it right, but can they?  It just seems like there's some legitimate concerns there and it seems like there's some sort of disconnect.  This team is far too talented to be having these issues, but here they are.  If Barbay is trying to reinvent the wheel and overcomplicate things, State could be in for a long season. 

There’s only so much fixing you can do in season. The team should probably get better at running this system as the year goes on, but it’s not going to be a night and day difference most likely.

 

I think this is arguably the most important game of Will Rogers’ career. If he comes out and lays an egg again, I don’t see how you can possibly not make the change to Wright full time.

[Vott]

10 hours ago, Dawg83 said:

This is an awesome week of games nationally, easily the best of the season so far. Looking forward to catching as many of these as possible.

 

Gotta start with the big one in-state, which is clearly Ole Miss at Bama. I have seen a lot of optimism on OM going into this one and I suspect they will be a trendy upset pick. And yeah, I could see it happening, especially if Bama still doesn’t have its crap together on offense. That said…. I have Bama winning by 10+. I don’t feel confident in OM’s defense yet, and I also don’t know if I trust the OM passing game enough yet to say they win in Tuscaloosa. I think Bama can contain OM’s rushing and grind out a win. I say Bama wins something like 34-21.

 

I’ll go ahead and get State-SC out of the way and cut right to the point. I don’t trust this coaching staff until they prove that I should. This feels a lot like Moorhead going into Knoxville in 2019 to me. It’s a very winnable game if State was the competent team you expected them to be… I just don’t know that they are. I think it’s more of the same and SC wins comfortably, 31-13. Would love to be wrong on this, and to be fair, if State does win here, a good season is still very much in play.

 

Rapid fire on the rest because we’ve got a lot of ground to cover:

 

Ohio State at Notre Dame - love how ND has looked so far, taking the Irish at home

Colorado at Oregon - CU has been awesome to follow, I think this is their first big roadblock, I have Oregon winning big.

 

Florida State at Clemson - I think FSU is locked in for this and that Clemson kinda stinks, FSU comfortably on the road.

 

Arkansas at LSU - in Tiger Stadium at night, LSU wins big

 

Auburn at Texas A&M - no freaking clue, but I guess A&M

 

UCLA at Utah - Utes win at home

 

Oregon State at Washington State - Beavs are very good, they take this

 

Iowa at Penn State - Penn State big, I think they are potentially Playoff good.

Cant believe you didnt discuss the big so miss-arkansas st game. Lol

[maroontide06]

12 hours ago, Vott said:

Cant believe you didnt discuss the big so miss-arkansas st game. Lol

Vott, you think them Hardy Street High Golden Buzzards will pick up a win? LOL!

[Bulldogs4]

Arkansas State is terrible.

USM should roll 

 

[maroontide06]

State's gonna git their butts handed to them on a gold platter because silver just ain't fancy enough, plus it tarnishes.  I really wish the outcome could be different, but I just don't see how you fix the problems that State had against LSU in a week's time.  I would love to be wrong and for State to go to Columbia and get a convincing win, but until State's coaching staff sees the need to align their starting QB with their offensive coaching philosophy, it's gonna be another train wreck I'm afraid.  Now if they come to their senses sooner before it's too late and too late is at kickoff, then State is probably gonna graduate to a paper sack LOL!

[Dawg83]

Only thing that might save State this week is that SC is pretty weak at the LOS and will also have one of their two best receivers out. But with SC having a dynamic mobile QB and homefield advantage I can’t confidently pick State on the road here. Not an easy place for Arnett’s first road game, night time kickoff in front of a sellout crowd. That stadium can be really difficult to play in, especially at night. Just ask Tennessee last year, they were playoff bound until they traveled to Columbia and had their season derailed.

Edited September 19, 2023 by Dawg83

[MSTSatchmo]

2 minutes ago, Dawg83 said:

Only thing that might save State this week is that SC is pretty weak at the LOS and will also have one of their two best receivers out. But with SC having a dynamic mobile QB and homefield advantage I can’t confidently pick State on the road here. Not an easy place for Arnett’s first road game, night night game in front of a sellout crowd. That stadium can be really difficult to play in, especially at night.

SC’s offensive line is not good at all, but Rattler is a playmaker.  Of course he takes a lot of chances, so maybe State can force some turnovers.  

[Bulldogs4]

Honestly , I have no idea what to expect. I can easily see a USC blow out. At the same time I know we are better than we were last Saturday but my confidence level is low at the current time. 
 

[Dawg83]

6 hours ago, MSTSatchmo said:

SC’s offensive line is not good at all, but Rattler is a playmaker.  Of course he takes a lot of chances, so maybe State can force some turnovers.  

There are some similarities between SC and Arizona. De Laura and Rattler are both true gun slinger types. Just don’t know if you can count on half a dozen turnovers like AZ gave you.

[rebmus]

I'll go with:

South Carolina

Bama

Ohio State

Oregon

FSU

LSU
Auburn (I really don't like this pic either way) 

 

 

[MSTSatchmo]

I want to call the OM upset, but I keep thinking Bama pulls it out at home.  I don’t think Bama will try to turn Milroe into Tom Brady.  Just let him run.  Bama 31 OM 28

 

I don’t see State’s secondary getting better over the week, but I think they do look a lite better on offense.  SC 34 State 24

LSU wins closer than expected. 

Auburn turns up the heat on Jimbo.  
Oregon over Colorado in a high scoring game. 
ND over Ohio State in a classic

FSU in a close one 

Washington State over Oregon State 

UCLA over Utah 

Penn St big 

[maroontide06]

When is the Jimbo the Bimbo experiment going to be over in College Station?  The dude is #1 in the Coaches Hot Seat rankings for a reason.  There’s no other Coach in America that does less with more than him.  They could get a better coach at a way cheaper price, but they will just make him even more richer by firing him and they’ll wind up breaking the bank in the process.  A football coach is supposed to be an asset, but Jimbo is an extremely volatile liability.

[Dawg83]

10 hours ago, maroontide06 said:

When is the Jimbo the Bimbo experiment going to be over in College Station?  The dude is #1 in the Coaches Hot Seat rankings for a reason.  There’s no other Coach in America that does less with more than him.  They could get a better coach at a way cheaper price, but they will just make him even more richer by firing him and they’ll wind up breaking the bank in the process.  A football coach is supposed to be an asset, but Jimbo is an extremely volatile liability.

Ironically I think their offense is legitimately improved with Petrino. But their defense looked rough against Miami.

 

Durkin got a lot of credit for “turning around” the OM defense, but I’ve always kinda thought he was overrated. I think that 2021 OM defense had more to do with them improving their personnel. Even then they were just an OK defense. A&M has superb DL talent and is not doing much with it.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Dawg83

[Dawg83]

Weird experience watching Bama this year. Just doesn’t feel like they have much on offense. Ole Miss playing well early.

[hasbeen67]

Unless OM does for Milroe like MSU did for Daniels and make him look like a Heisman contender.

 

...well maybe not just after the int. in the endzone. 

Edited September 23, 2023 by hasbeen67

[Dawg83]

26 minutes ago, hasbeen67 said:

Unless OM does for Milroe like MSU did for Daniels and make him look like a Heisman contender.

 

...well maybe not just after the int. in the endzone. 

Oh I’m sure he will shred State next week but it looks real rough again today

[MSTSatchmo]

OM’s defense is playing well against the run.  If they just keep a lead or keep it close the second half, Milroe will make a mistake and OM will get the win. 
 

Bama is not as physical on the line as they used to be.  

[Dawg83]

39 minutes ago, MSTSatchmo said:

OM’s defense is playing well against the run.  If they just keep a lead or keep it close the second half, Milroe will make a mistake and OM will get the win. 
 

Bama is not as physical on the line as they used to be.  

It’s by far the least impressive Bama team since Saban’s first season. Not to detract from OM’s performance, you are correct on their defense playing well.

[Dawg83]

Bama dominates the second half and wins 24-10. This game was about what I expected. Just not a great matchup for this version of Ole Miss.

[MSTSatchmo]

That was a weird game I thought.   With Milroe, Bama is almost a disaster or almost a big play.  I think OM did a good job of limiting him running, but as a team Bama was able to make some kind of adjustment and run the second half.  
 

OM’s offense I don’t knew what to say.  They look like they can move it with ease at one point, then nothing.  OMs run game is still nonexistent.  It’s pretty much just Dart running around.  
 

I did  miss most of the 4th quarter because my power went out.  That was even more odd. 

Edited September 24, 2023 by MSTSatchmo

[Dawg83]

Weird first half in the State game, SC looked like they were running away with it early and then State had their best quarter of the year on offense. Only down 3 at half.

 

State’s defense has not looked good tonight but the offense has kept them in this one so far. Didn’t expect that.

[Insideradvantage]

Well, I was wrong. Alabama didn’t stomp a mud hole in our ass. It was just a distant cousin of it. Couch it however you want, but we ain’t no good. But hey, we are at least paying our head coach a small friggin fortune. 

[Dawg83]

1 hour ago, MSTSatchmo said:

That was a weird game I thought.   With Milroe, Bama is almost a disaster or almost a big play.  I think OM did a good job of limiting him running, but as a team Bama was able to make some kind of adjustment and run the second half.  
 

OM’s offense I don’t knew what to say.  They look like they can move it with ease at one point, then nothing.  OMs run game is still nonexistent.  It’s pretty much just Dart running around.  
 

I didn’t miss most of the 4th quarter because my power went out.  That was even more odd. 

As good as Kiffin’s scheme is, I think OM is suffering from poor OL play and receivers that are fine but nothing special. You need more than OK to beat Bama.