Friday, September 2, 2011

Week 1 College Football Preview

Greetings all... let's take a look at what's on tap for the college football weekend... Quick note: Please remember to check out the season preview posts!...
  • Oregon vs. LSU - 8:00 ABC (@ Cowboys Stadium) - Game of the week for me here without too much discussion... Gotta think LSU will have the homefield advantage in Dallas with that fan base in a night game, but they're obviously dealing with the loss of Jordan Jefferson and Russel Shepard for this one... I'm on record saying Jefferson isn't a big loss because he's wholly underwhelmed me in the past, but Jarrett Lee has been awful in limited time, so if he lights things on fire, it wouldn't surprise me.... Oregon's going to score points (even on that LSU defense), and I really like them in this matchup... Thinking something in the 31-24 type of range in Oregon's favor...
  • Boise State vs. Georgia - 8:00 ESPN (@ Georgia Dome) - Default home game for Georgia... let's start out with that... I think Boise has the better offense simply because I trust Kellen Moore more than Aaron Murray and the Boise O-line has been very, very good recently... that said, Boise lost both starting wideouts, so they'll need to find some production... the Boise defense returns pretty much in full, and I think they'll have enough to keep Georgia under wraps... the key is the Georgia running game vs. the Boise front 7 for me... and because I haven't seen anyone on the UGA roster run the ball effectively in major college football? Give me the Broncos in a tight one...
  • South Florida @ Notre Dame - 3:30 NBC - First of all, the 10.5 point line is absurd... Notre Dame is at home, and probably the better team... but double-digits? come on... I'm higher on USF than most (picked them to win the Big East, etc.) and I like BJ Daniels a lot... I'm picking ND in a tight one because I like Crist, and they have the more talented defense, but this should be the 3rd best game of the day...
  • Minnesota @ USC - 3:30 ABC - I really just want to see how USC responds to another year without bowl chances... that's a talented team, and Minnesota STINKS, but they have a new coach and should show up here... I'd definitely pick Minnesota on the line (they're getting 24), but USC should win fairly easily...
  • Tulsa @ Oklahoma - 8:00 FX - Yes, FX has football games... and that's the main reason for posting this game... but Tulsa can score... they ALWAYS score... so I want to see if the vaunted Oklahoma defense can dominate like we've heard they will...
  • SMU @ Texas A&M - 7:30 Sunday - I'm down on Texas A&M and I think SMU is winning C-USA this year... upset alert....
I'll do you all a favor and not break down Michigan/Western Mich. in this space... but look for the Denard Robinson for Heisman campaign to kick off in a big, big way in the Big House at 3:30 Saturday on ESPN2...

Enjoy!

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