College football with all its pomp and pageantry is
finally here with a long weekend of games starting tonight. SEC has two
conference games as Arkansas visits Auburn and Texas A&M is at South
Carolina … Georgia-Clemson should be a great game, Utah State could give
Tennessee a battle and Louisiana Monroe will be waiting at home to beat Wake
Forest.
Here are my picks for this weekend. (all times are EDT)
Thursday Night Games
#21 Texas A&M at #9 South Carolina – 6 p.m. SEC
Network
Fun to have a few SEC games the first weekend
instead of just cupcakes … Steve Spurrier is 23-1 in season openers … only loss
is to South Carolina when he was at Duke … Gamecocks are without graduated Jadeveon
Clowney, but the Aggies also lost Johnny Football to the NFL which spells w-i-n
for USC East.
Winner: South Carolina
Boise State vs. #18 Ole Miss – 8 p.m. in Atlanta
… Chick-fil-A
Kickoff opener … Boise State is 396-153-2 all time … Ole Miss is 88-26-5 in
season opener … Reb QB Bo Wallace is SEC’s top returning pass from 2013 (3,346
yards) … Bronco first year coach Bryan Harsin is the nation’s fourth youngest head
coach
Winner: Ole Miss
Chattanooga at Central Michigan – 7 p.m. ESPN3 …
Mocs face a big, talented team which plans to run the ball behind a huge O-lIne
until the Mocs can stop them … but also has a projected high NFL draft pick in
wide receiver Titus Davis … The Mocs are two-deep strong on the defensive line
and solid at linebacker … are young in the secondary … a good battle of the
quarterbacks as UTC’s Jacob Huesman (RS junior) threw for 1,637 yards and 16
TDs a year ago, while CMU redshirt Soph.Cooper Rush threw for 2,349 yards and
15 TDs ... UTC defense must slow down the Chippewas running game, contain WR
Davis and convert on any mistakes and play error-free football themselves … a
tall order on the road.
Winner: Chattanooga
Wake Forest at Louisiana Monroe - 7 p.m. – ESPNU
LMU upset Wake on the road last year and should win
this year at home … LMU plays only 5 of 12 at home … and has tough road
schedule … at LSU and Texas A&M and playing at new Sun Belt Conference foes
Ga. Southern and Appalachian State is no easy task either …
Winner: Louisiana Monroe
Friday Games
Jacksonville State (Ala.) at No.8 Michigan State -
7:30 p.m. Big 10 Network
Jax State plays at Chattanooga next Saturday, but
Thursday the two teams just might cross paths as both squads are using the same
hotel in Lansing, Michigan … UTC will be checking out sometime late Thursday
afternoon and heading to Mt. Pleasant 60 miles away for the 7 p.m. kickoff … Jax.
State should arrive in Lansing about the same time.
Jax State is ranked top 10 in FCS polls, but
doubtful the Gamecocks will do to the Spartans what Appalachian State did to
Michigan in the Big House (an upset win) in 2007 … Jax State is talented, but
expect Michigan State (13-1 and Rose Bowl champs) to wear them down by
mid-second half.
Winner: Michigan State
Saturday Games
Appalachian State at Michigan – Noon, ESPN2
The Mountaineers return to the scene of the crime –
34-32 win in the Big House in 2007 - where the phrase “how many batteries does
it take to shock a Wolverine ? – 1 AA” became famous … don’t look for the Maize
and Blue to lose this one.
Winner: Michigan
# 7 UCLA at Virginia - Noon ESPN
First meeting … 125th football season for UVa (80-35-9
in season openers) … Bruins are expecting a big year and travel to the East
Coast for the opener in Charlottesville … UCLA is 62-28-5 in season openers …
Bruins are led by QB Brett Hundley
Winner: UCLA
West Virginia at #2 Alabama – 3:30 p.m. ABC regional
Second game in three days of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff
in the Georgia Dome (Boise State – Ole Miss is Thursday) as Tide fans are ready
for football and will fill the place ... West Virginia was 4-8 last year with a
defense ranked ninth in the 10-team Big 12 … ‘Bama (11-2 in 2013) is led by
running back T.J. Yeldon and with a new QB … but does it really matter?
Winner: Alabama
Rice at No.17 Notre Dame – 3:30 p.m., NBC
ND leads the series 4-0 … The Irish are 99-20-5 in
home openers and should make it 100 come Saturday … The film “Rudy” will
probably be shown multiple times in the next few days in the Midwest … “Cheer,
Cheer for Old Notre Dame… wake up the echoes cheering her name.” … whether you
are a Notre Dame fan or not, hearing that song should stir your football soul.
Winner: Notre Dame
California at Northwestern – 3:30 p.m. ABC Regional
127th season for Northwestern … the Wildcats
defeated the Cal Bears, 44-30, in Berkeley in 2013 and have won 16 straight home
games against non-conference opponents
Winner: Northwestern
Arkansas at No.6 Auburn – 4 p.m. SEC Network
Arkansas has won three of its past four games played
at Auburn … Arkansas coach Bret Bielema is 8-0 in season openers as a head
coach … but “War- Eagle” will be heard across the Plains this Saturday as the
SEC champion Auburn (the eagle is nicknamed Tiger) should handle Arkansas and
have a good start in the SEC West … Auburn is 96-15-3 in home openers … Hogs tough
schedule - The Razorbacks will
play No. 2 Alabama, at No. 5 Auburn, No. 12 Georgia, No. 13 LSU, No. 18 Ole
Miss, vs. No. 21 Texas A&M and at No. 24 Missouri.
Winner: Auburn
No.16 Clemson at No.12 Georgia – 5:30 p.m. ESPN
Best match-up of the day which will cause lots of
fingers to hit the remote and go to ESPN and this game before dinner (or supper
if you are Deep South old school) … Georgia leads series 41-18-4 … great old
rivalry (first played in 1897) with fierce battles in the trenches on a sunny,
hot (87 degrees and humid, humid) late August afternoon with possible big break-away
plays to electrify the Dawgs faithful in old Samford Stadium
Winner: Georgia
Fresno State at No.15 USC – 7:30 p.m. Fox
First year USC coach Steve Sarkisian and the rest of
the Trojan family have their hands full after the suspension of team captain
Josh Shaw … but the Trojans will be focused come Saturday night …. the Song
Girls will dance, Traveler (the horse) will run out the tunnel following USC
TDs and the band will play Fight On! and Conquest late into the night ... USC
is 92-19-7 in home openers.
Winner: USC
No.1 Florida State vs. Oklahoma State – 8 p.m. Arlington,
Texas, ABC
Led by Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston, te
national champions travel to Stillwater and should take care of business led by
Heisman Trophy winner … OSU is 67-40-5 in season openers … last loss to open
the season was to Georgia in Athens in 2007 … FSU is 51-16 in season openers.
Winner: Fla. State
No.14 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 LSU - Houston, 9 p.m., ESPN
Lots of LSU fans will travel to Houston … Tigers
from Baton Rouge should handle a good Big 10 team … in a great old school
setting, the return game in 2016 has the teams playing at Lambeau Field in
Green Bay, Wisc.) … Wisconsin cannot
seem to get enough of the SEC as the Badgers take on Alabama in Arlington,
Texas to open 2015 … Wisconsin (9-4) lost to South Carolina in Capital One Bowl
Jan.1, 2014
Winner: LSU
Sunday Game
Utah State at Tennessee – 7 p.m. SEC Network
A good Utah State comes to Neyland Stadium … have
lost to traditional powers USC, Auburn and Wisconsin by less than five points
in the past few years … UT coach Butch
Jones has been preaching to his kids how good the Aggies and QB Chuckie Keeton are
… A large Big Orange crowd is expected and the Vols
cannot afford a loss.
Winner: Tennessee
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net