Welcome back to college football, dear friends! Quick programming note for 2017 I will be combining this weekly preview post with the Top 11+2+3 rankings once the first week of games is completed. I think it’ll be streamlined and an easier way to discuss a lot of the same issues from across the country.
Also, I’ll be using AP rankings until the first College Football Playoff rankings begin later in the season. Let’s get to the games!
Enemy Watch
#14 Stanford 62 Rice 7
This one went down in Australia last weekend. The Tree absolutely obliterated Rice with 9 yards/play and +415 in total yardage. This was their biggest win by score since their 2011 opener against San Jose State.
THURSDAY
Presbyterian (OFF) at Wake Forest
The Blue Hose (what a name!) lost 9 games last year, including by 46 against Central Michigan in their only D-1 matchup of the year. Wake might score more in this game than in their next 4 games combined.
FRIDAY
Boston College (-2.5) at Northern Illinois
A few years ago this was totally a loss for Boston College. But, NIU has won just 13 games since 2015 and aren’t the same program anymore. Of course, the BC inept offense can keep this close.
Navy (-12) at Florida Atlantic
Lane Kiffin’s debut comes against the Middies! This game will go one of two ways, either FAU gets its doors blown off and we are treated to a million Kiffin sideline shots or the Owls lead for most of the game only to have their hearts broken in the end. You’d think even Kiffin will be ready for the triple option to start the season so let’s go with the latter scenario.
SATURDAY
Bowling Green (+18) at Michigan State
The Spartans were 3-9 last year and many places have a hard time predicting a much better season in 2017. Taking the points here seems quite smart but is probably a little too conservative.
California (+11.5) at North Carolina
A cross-country trip for the Bears breaking in a new coach doesn’t bode well. North Carolina is far more stable and should take care of business.
Bethune-Cookman (OFF) at #18 Miami
The Canes won the last meeting two years ago 45-0, so good luck.
NC State (-5.5) vs. South Carolina Sneaky good game! Especially with NC State having some sleeper potential in the ACC. This will be one of the early the “ACC is better than the SEC” storylines even though I don’t think it’ll work out that way by years end. Western Michigan (+27) at #4 USC A Fleck-less Broncos team without Corey Davis and Zach Terrell visiting the Coliseum? This line should be higher but it’s a sneaky young USC team with major expectations. There could be a slow start. Appalachian State (+14) at #15 Georgia There’s honest-to-goodness upset potential here, you guys. We want the Dawgs to win though, right? Miami [OH] (PK) at Marshall Marshall fell from 33-8 between 2013-15 to 3-9 last year, yikes! Still, Joan C. Edwards Stadium (had to look that up) is a bit of a daunting place to open the season for Chuck Martin. Tulsa (+17) at Oklahoma State The Golden Hurricane haven’t won in Stillwater since 1951. I’m high on Oklahoma State but Tulsa should be pretty solid coming off a 10-win season. I think this is an easy cover for the road team, possibly through the back door. Wyoming (+12.5) at Iowa Every opening week there’s a mild-to-strong upset of a decent Power 5 team by a FCS or Group of 5 program. Buffalo (+26.5) at Minnesota Lance Leipold was 109-6 with 6 National Championships at Wisconsin-Whitewater and is 4-12 in the MAC. I expect P.J. Fleck’s debut to be really, really ugly for UB. Colorado State (+6.5) vs. Colorado [Sports Authority Field] The Buffaloes destroyed the Rams last year. The good news for Colorado State is that they’ve already destroyed Oregon State this year and Colorado is expected to take a step back. If the Rams win they will likely be atop the G5 rankings. #11 Michigan (-3.5) vs. #17 Florida [AT&T Stadium] Can we get an upset engineered by Malik Zaire? Probably not, he’s in another QB competition that’s going to spill over to the real games. Damn it, Gators. You have to win this game above all else. #3 Florida State (+7) vs. #1 Alabama [Mercedes-Benz Stadium] I’m not quite buying Florida State as a title contender right now. Saban’s track record in these neutral site season openers against good teams is phenomenal. BYU (+12.5) vs. #13 LSU [ This game just barely makes the highlight list this week. BYU opened up last week with a workman-like win over Portland State. The displacement due to Hurricane Harvey could make this a weird game. Texas A&M (+3.5) at UCLA The Aggies swarmed Josh Rosen in the meeting last year on the way to their preordained hot start. Turning that frown upside down could shoot Rosen right back up the No. 1 overall NFL Draft rankings. #22 West Virginia (+4.5) vs. #21 Virginia Tech [FedEx Field] This is our third game between ranked teams over the first full opening weekend. I don’t like the Hokies having to replace QB Jerod Evans, take the ‘Neers. #25 Tennessee (-3.5) vs. Georgia Tech [Mercedes-Benz Stadium] A mildly interesting cap to the weekend. Tech improved by 6 games last year and no one seemed to care. No one seems to care about Tennessee, either. Yet, the Vols are ranked.
Too Close for Comfort
Upset Pick of the Week
Smart Cover of the Week
National Spotlight
NRG Stadium Mercedes-Benz Superdome]
I have such a hard time with this. Common sense tells me I should want Georgia to win so that they are undefeated when ND plays them. Common sense tells me that should be the case with all teams. My heart wants everyone on the schedule to lose all of the time because I don’t like them for being on the schedule.
I know it doesn’t make sense. I am trying to rewire my thinking.
That will be an interesting game to watch though. I have a deep, deep love in my heart for App St regardless.
I want them to win so they keep Jacob Eason as the starter for another week. I think we pretty much know what they have in him and he’s not scary.
I can get behind that! (Though I do think App St. will at the very least make it closer than the spread predicts.)
Are there any ND fans that DON’T have some love for App St.?
I don’t think I could ever turn on Appy State. The embarrassment they gave to Meatchicken all those years ago will live in the lore of CFB forever.
UGa has among the worst fanbases of them all. Getting beaten by App St then getting trounced by ND the following week would bring joy to my heart.
If you want to sip some more Kool-Aid, by the way… Here’s a link to transcripts of the captains’ press conference today:
http://www.asapsports.com/show_press.php?category=1&date=2017-8-30&title=UNIVERSITY+OF+NOTRE+DAME+FOOTBALL+MEDIA+CONFERENCE
Excuse me while I go headbutt my dog.
All of these were delightful.
From Wimbush’s mouth to MSNDPaint’s ear:
Q. What did you draw most recently?
BRANDON WIMBUSH: I couldn’t even tell you what it was. It was just an accumulation, conjunction of different random things. It was like a police officer and then a lady stealing from a safe, there was like flowers in the background. It was weird, but it was cool.
Oh man, that is indeed ripe for ndmspaint’s treatment… To Twitter! We will hunt him down.
I’ve been tracking and following the UF situation a little, sounds like a very familiar situation for ND fans…Coach feels some loyalty to Zaire, but reports say he’s been inconsistent to “wildly inaccurate” throwing the ball. Unable to nail down the starting job because of this but is also praised for his personality, leadership and scramble ability when the play breaks down, so he’s not totally out of the mix either.
Sadly, I’m not sure how this ends well for Zaire. Seems like best bet is they rotate him in a few series, where he probably presses and a repeat of Texas 2016 happens. The best thing for him probably is the worst for the team if the other 2 QB’s play and play poorly and that gives him a bigger audition.
I am on Team “Michigan won’t be that good this season.” I’ll believe it when I see it.
Of course, the weak Big Ten probably saves them!
The hype train is going to really get rolling this weekend after they beat a Florida team that is missing 20% of its players due to suspension. Then it will hit full speed ahead after playing 1 decent team the entire rest of the season. It’s going to be miserable.
I’m with both you and MikeyB. Their returning starter QB looks to be… not good. They lost their top RB (40% of their RB carries last season, more than twice what anyone else had), their top three and five of their top seven receiving targets (75% of their receptions last season), their top three offensive linemen, their entire secondary, their top three defensive linemen, and their top two linebackers (counting Peppers here). In total they lost 68% of their tackles, 73% of their TFLs, 66% of their sacks, 66% of their QB hurries, 85% of their interceptions, and 83% of their PBUs.
Yeah, I know Harbaugh has recruited well, but that is a poop-ton of production to replace. That said, after Florida their schedule is putrid, as usual: Cincinnati, Air Force, bye, Michigan State, @Indiana, @Penn State. They could roll into that Penn State game at 5-0 with a win over a depleted Florida team and four wins over bottom-half FBS teams. And the hype will be enormous. After Penn State, they play Rutgers, Minnesota, @Maryland, @Wisconsin, Ohio State. It’s not unreasonable to think they could be a very mediocre team this year and yet head into the OSU game no worse than 9-2.
Go Hoosiers