College Football Week 1 Thread

[Dawg83]

We’ll have a few of the “Week Zero” games in a few days and then everybody gets going next weekend.

 

Starting with the in-state stuff, State/LA Tech has the chance to be sneaky interesting if State’s offense is still not clicking. Vegas has the line at State -23.5 right now, I could easily see LT covering that. I like State’s defensive potential a lot, just need to see the OL (and to some extent Rogers) find their groove this year. I expect State to win but I think I’ll take LT to cover. Final score of 38-17 or something like that.

 

Ole Miss/Louisville could be a heck of an entertaining game on Labor Day night. Malik Cunningham is turnover prone but dangerous, especially against a defense that we’ll just say is questionable at best for OM. That said, this is a game similar to Ole Miss against Kentucky or South Carolina last year where I expect them to just be able to outscore the other team. OM is is a 9.5 point favorite and I like them to cover, but I expect it to be a close game most of the way and OM pulls away and wins something like 52-38.

 

Clemson/Georgia is the big Week 1 game this year, should be excellent. I like Georgia’s chances as we sit here today. Alabama-Miami is more interesting than I think people may realize but I will still be shocked if Bama doesn’t win. LSU at UCLA is fascinating to me. Will not at all be surprised if UCLA wins.

 

General thoughts?

[Wcchaingang]

I just don’t get all the people saying LSU is gonna have bounce back year. I think O is fired at season end if not before.

[rebmus]

MSU/La Tech. MSU should win. IF they don't, I don't see MSU getting to 6 wins. 

I'm curious how MSU's offense looks in year two with Leech and how the defense looks vs last year. 

 

OM/Louisville- see above and replace MSU with OM on getting to 6 wins. 

I'm curious how OM's offense looks without Moore and how the defense looks (will the D have a pulse this year??) 

 

Clemson/UGA is obviously the biggest opening weekend game when it comes to ranking/expectations. I slightly lean UGA wins the East over Florida, but I don't think UGA or Florida will be on Clemson's level. Then again, Clemson lost Lawrence so they may be down a notch this season. 

 

IF Bama struggles with Miami, other West teams will see hope of winning the division. I figure Bama wins the opener over Miami fairly easily and also wins the West...again. 

 

LSU- IF they want to compete in the SEC they sure better beat UCLA. Losing to UCLA doesn't mean LSU will have a losing season, but I'd highly wager they won't finish higher than third in the SEC West if they lose to UCLA. 

 

We'll see what happens week 1 and go from there. 

 

 

 

 

[Bulldogs4]

I am in general agreement with what you all have generally said above. 
 

I do wonder when the Bama armor starts to crack. They have played at such a high level for so long it is just expected. I don’t see MIA winning but I do agree that if Bama struggles, it could give teams a bit more confidence heading into the conference season. 
 

La Tech is a solid team and I agree that while State should win I would not touch the 23 points with a ten foot pole. 
 

OM-SDF (airport code for Louie-Ville) has the makings of an entertaining game. Kind of look for OM to pull away late and cover the 9-10 point spread. 
 

USM-USA is a very unknown at this moment. I really like the Will Hall hire at Southern but not sure how good they will be this year. Call this a toss up.

Strangely enough I like Georgia to beat Clemson. Don’t ask me why, just have that feeling. 
 

Have no idea about LSU-UCLA. LSU should win but….

[MSTSatchmo]

Bama over Miami - Bama shows off new offensive weapons.  
 

Clemson over UGA - Good game, Clemson’s huge QB takes the Heisman lead after one game.  
 

LSU over UCLA - I really thought Kelly would do something at UCLA.   I was wrong.  
 

State over LA Tech - Tech definitely covers 

 

OM over Louisville - I don’t know what Lville returns, but OM puts up a ton of points.  

[MSTSatchmo]

So what do y’all think about LSU’s decision to require proof of vaccination or a negative test within 72 hours for fans?    Do you think it will cut down on attendance or increase the number of people vaccinated?  
 

I’m not sure watching a game in person is worth getting that swab jabbed past your eyeballs and into your brain each week.  Lol 

[Dawg83]

 

3 minutes ago, MSTSatchmo said:

So what do y’all think about LSU’s decision to require proof of vaccination or a negative test within 72 hours for fans?    Do you think it will cut down on attendance or increase the number of people vaccinated?  
 

I’m not sure watching a game in person is worth getting that swab jabbed past your eyeballs and into your brain each week.  Lol 

Oh I think people will for sure just stay home. Attendance was already trending down nationwide before COVID, you give people any more reason to feel inconvenienced and the decline will only grow. Ticket sales are already down for most schools from what they were in the last non-COVID year. State and Ole Miss are included in that, although my understanding is that State has actually done slightly better in season ticket sales than OM, which is the opposite of what I would have expected.

[Dawg83]

With State-LA Tech, the other thing to keep in mind is suspensions from the bowl game brawl. The expectation is you’ll have several guys suspended for at least a portion of the game, and possibly some that don’t play at all.

 

I would not expect to see Malik Heath next Saturday, and there were several defensive guys involved too. I still feel confident that State wins this game but no way I would put money on them to cover. I could see this being like State-ULL in the Superdome a couple of years ago,  you never really thought State was going to lose but it was an uncomfortable viewing experience.

Edited August 27, 2021 by Dawg83

[Bulldogs4]

The ULL comparison is accurate IMO. We won 38-28 but it was a very unimpressive showing (though credit ULL as they have had a good team over the recent years).

 

I was not thinking about possible suspensions from the bowl game. That could certainly throw a wrench into State’s depth , depending on how many guys are out and for how long. 
 

Will be very surprised if LT does not cover. 

[Dawg83]

7 hours ago, Bulldogs4 said:

The ULL comparison is accurate IMO. We won 38-28 but it was a very unimpressive showing (though credit ULL as they have had a good team over the recent years).

 

I was not thinking about possible suspensions from the bowl game. That could certainly throw a wrench into State’s depth , depending on how many guys are out and for how long. 
 

Will be very surprised if LT does not cover. 

The potential suspensions definitely make me think back on that ULL game. That was the first game of the tutorgate suspensions in ‘19 and State looked BAD defensively. ULL totally abused State’s LB’s with Willie Gay not available. Feel like they ran the same play action bootleg play 30 times and State never stopped it. ULL might have won if they hadn’t turned it over so much.

 

The main difference for me is that was a neutral site game whereas this is in Starkville, and I don’t think LA Tech is going to be as good as that ULL team was. I don’t know that this game will be QUITE that uncomfortable, but it could be. Would not be the first time State struggled with LA Tech.

Edited August 28, 2021 by Dawg83

[Bulldogs4]

Very true though I think we had more fans in the dome than they did.

 

Yes, LA Tech has definitely given us some heartache over the years. 
 

When I was a youngster some guy named Bradshaw led them to a win over us….LOL 

[rebmus]

5 college football games tomorrow to start the season- no SEC games obviously. 

 

UCLA hosts Hawaii, could be some preview IF UCLA can possibly challenge LSU. 

Nebraska at Illinois is the game I'm most interested in tomorrow I think. I don't think either team will be overly good, but I do think it's a good matchup to be a hard fought close game. 

 

 

[Bulldogs4]

Neither team looks very good but Nebraska seems to be the better team in the middle of the second quarter. 
 

Illinois squandered a golden opportunity after the early safety but Nebraska returned the favor by missing an extra point and missing an easy TD pass.

 

Nebraska leads 9-2 midway through the second inning, errr second quarter so who knows what may happen the rest of the game. 

[Bulldogs4]

Oh well what do I know?

 

Illinois with a 21-0 run to lead 23-9 in the third quarter. If Nebraska does not respond here they are in deep trouble. 

[Dawg83]

Frost is in a lot of trouble after today. Really surprised at how much he has struggled. He could have had any job he wanted after his stint at UCF.

[rebmus]

Just now, Dawg83 said:

Frost is in a lot of trouble after today. Really surprised at how much he has struggled. He could have had any job he wanted after his stint at UCF.

I don't see Frost making it past this season. 

An interesting hire for Nebraska- Hugh Freeze. 

 

[Bulldogs4]

Freeze might be a good fit there but Nebraska seems to be like Tennessee. The glory days are over and are not coming back. They may occasionally move up the totem pole but they will never approach their historical success consistently. 
IMO, Freeze appears be having fun at Liberty and now is in the position to be patient and wait on the particular job he wants. That might be a few years down the road. Just don’t see him going to sunk ship like Nebraska. 
 

Bielema OTOH seems like a perfect fit at Illinois. His system will make them competitive. Never really challenge Ohio State but they will be competitive with everybody else up there in the coming years. 

[rebmus]

Oh, I agree (for the most part) B4. 

Nebraska's glory days of being a NC contender are most likely over.

They did a lot of that to themselves... Firing Solich after a 10-3 season and Pelini after a 9-4 season... what do they expect? 

I do think Freeze could get them back to winning 8-9 games for a few years and help him get a bigger offer. It's a win/win for all involved. 

 

Tennessee, on the other hand, I can see them competing with Florida/Georgia for the East most years with the right hire. 

[Bulldogs4]

That is certainly true. Freeze would definitely get Nebraska off the mat and winning (and possibly winning big). At his age, he is still young enough to do that there and then jump to one of the BIG boys to finish out his coaching career. Would be intriguing to say the least if that were to happen. 

[Dawg83]

Announced this morning that Kiffin will Miss OM’s game Monday with a breakthrough COVID case,

[MSTSatchmo]

2 hours ago, Dawg83 said:

Announced this morning that Kiffin will Miss OM’s game Monday with a breakthrough COVID case,

While I was reading about Kiffin missing one game with his positive test, I saw a headline saying Wisconsin has a player that is missing the first two games because of his positive test.  Why one game for one person and two for the other? 

[Dawg83]

44 minutes ago, MSTSatchmo said:

While I was reading about Kiffin missing one game with his positive test, I saw a headline saying Wisconsin has a player that is missing the first two games because of his positive test.  Why one game for one person and two for the other? 

Timing of the quarantine perhaps? Maybe Kiffin’s 10 days includes just one game and it’s two games for the Wisconsin guy.

[MSTSatchmo]

LA Tech with 21 unanswered and a 21-14 lead over State in Starkville.  A few minutes before half.  

[Bulldogs4]

If 5 can’t block 3 we will lose 12 games this year. 

[Dawg83]

State’s OL doesn’t look improved whatsoever. If anything they may have taken steps backward from the last few games of 2020.

 

Not real sure what happened on the big plays given up defensively. Rogers has looked fine but is completely at the mercy of an OL which is having an unbelievably bad showing against a not great C-USA defense.

 

You cannot allow pressure with three guys against anybody…. Much less LOUISIANA TECH.