Roy Exum: Five Straight Days Of Football

  • Thursday, September 3, 2015
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

If I covered my first high school football game as a fledging sports when I was 16 years old, and I am now 66, I figure that’s darn near about a half-century of passes and punts. The mystifying part is that I still get as big of a kick hovering around the game as I did on my very first time so as we usher in the start of the college season with five straight days of games, here are some notes I find on my desk, in my pants pocket, on the bedside table and beside the TV as a long weekend of gridiron glory begins:

THE BEST THURSDAY GAME

South Carolina is a 3-point pick over North Carolina in the 6 o’clock kickoff TONIGHT in Charlotte (ESPN) but UNC has got enough mustard on offense to make the Ol’ Ball Coach a little nervous.

The Tar Heels return virtually their entire offense that centers on QB Marquise Williams, a cat who threw for 35 touchdowns in 2014. 

The reason UNC had a 6-7 season last year was because the defense was horrible but new defensive coordinator Gene Chizik, a name that has an Auburn tingle to it, has installed his 4-3 defense at UNC so don’t think it will be a waltz for the Gamecocks. Steve Spurrier, ever the wizard, will go with a “green” QB, Conner Mitch, but the obvious match-up is the Gamecock defense against Marquise & Co. 

“We played pretty well on defense in the preseason. The defense often (beat) the offense in scrimmages,” Spurrier said this week. “You can’t always tell from one game to the next but now I think our defense will represent South Carolina in a very positive way. I think we’ll fly around and be a better tackling team, be in better position. We’ve emphasized getting turnovers and taking care of the ball. So we’ll see.” Finally, there is this: UNC has never beaten a Spurrier team – not at Duke or USC or anywhere else. MY HUNCH? South Carolina in a 24-18 slugfest.

THE BEST FRIDAY GAME

Southern Methodist is catching 20 points against Baylor in Friday night’s game against No. 4 Baylor and I’m not so sure SMU is going to be that bad or that Baylor is going to be that good in the opener. Granted, SMU stunk it up last year while Baylor remained in the nation’s elite but after June Jones bolted as the SMU coach just nine days into the 2014 season, the Mustangs made a dazzling hire when they lured Chad Morris back to Texas.

Morris, a high school coach for 15 years in Texas, was hired as a coordinator at Tulsa in 2010 where his offense thrived, jumping from 71st to 15th in one year. From there he joined Jabo Sweeney at Clemson and his presence was felt immediately. From 2008-to-201 the Tigers were winning 7.3 games but in the four years Morris was there, Clemson won 10.5 games a season.

What I’m telling you is the guy can coach and the Mustangs believe in him. So take the points and be amused! MY HUNCH? Baylor in something of a 32-24 game.

THE BEST SATURDAY GAME

I was leaning towards Texas at Notre Dame as the best “amusement bargain” before I found out the Longhorns have 23 (!) freshmen on the two-deep roster so that forces us to look at No. 20 Wisconsin facing No. 3 Alabama in the 8:00 p.m. feature.

The biggest factor from this view is that the Badgers, picked to win the Big 10 West, do not have a single player on the two-team depth chart that could challenge for a starting spot on this year’s Crimson Tide. Such a belief means giving Wisconsin bettors 10 points before the kickoff is almost like stealing.

Alabama has been one of the fortunate teams emerging from fall camp without any horrible injuries so if the biggest question is who will start out of three quite-able quarterbacks, that’s a good sign. The second omen is that the Tiders have had to endure a winter and summer with that foul-tasting 42-35 loss to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl hanging around so I’m thinking with seven starters returning on defense, this will be a big start for Nick Saban’s bunch. MY HUNCH? Once Cooper Bateman impressed coordinator Lane Kiffin as the best passer, Alabama will air it out, utilizing speed to cash in on a 36-17 rout. 

BEST SUNDAY GAME

There isn’t much choice, since the Marshall-Purdue game at 3 o’clock won’t be as much fun as when the pros open a week from Sunday. But Marshall is indeed “mighty.” Last year, you’ll remember, the men of Marshall outscored opponents by an average score of 47-16 and only once won by fewer than 19. 

Then the Thundering Herd tumbled Conference USA East runner-up Middle Tennessee by 25 points, then avenged the 2013 loss to Rice with a 41-14 whipping. Yeah, so I’ll give the Boilermakers 7½ in the belief MU has it really going on in a year they feel there is more to prove.

Purdue? Darrell Hazell said this week, "This is a game that we're going to put all of our eggs in one basket." 

No kidding… He had every player take a piece of paper taped to an egg – really – and write down his hopes and what he wanted to provide to the football team. The notes will be read leading up to Sunday’s game, which isn’t a bad idea at a place that has lost 20 of the last 24 games. You like giving up the points even more, don’t you. MY HUNCH? Marshal will have a lot of egg on its face if the Herd doesn’t win by at least something like 42-15.

Hazell said Tuesday during his weekly press conference.

No, the third-year coach actually meant it.

Hazell provided each player with a piece a paper taped to an egg.

"They had to write a note on what they were going to contribute to this football game," Hazell continued.

All the eggs were then place into a basket and the notes will be read later in the week. After 20 losses in the last 24 games, the Boilermakers need to show signs of moving the program forward.

"It symbolizes what this game means to us," senior receiver Danny Anthrop said. "There's no way around it. It's huge for our season. It's going to set the tone for the season, like every first game does."

THE BEST GAME ON MONDAY

The defending national champions, Ohio State, are picked in almost every corner to repeat last year’s national championship, one where they clobbered a good team of Oregon Ducks by 22 points in Cowboy Stadium but the thing to remember is Urban Meyer’s OSU was 14-and-one for the year.

That “one” came in a 35-21 loss to Virginia Tech in Columbus last year so Urban Meyer won’t exactly have to do a saliva test on his troops before the Labor Day bash at 8 p.m. (ESPN) in Blacksburg, Va.

Va. Tech, went 6-6 after upending Ohio State in the 2014 opener, will have a ferocious defense but OSU, with co-quarterbacks now the answer, will put an imposing offense on the Tech field that may be the best ever at Ohio State. Really! Here’s how it sets up … and why Ohio State in a unanimous preseason No. 1

The Buckeyes return 45 letter-winners from last year's team, including 16 starters: seven on offense, seven on defense and two specialists. But the huge part is that Ohio State returns 88 percent of its offensive production after returning only 12 percent last season from the 2013 team. Back are four starting offensive linemen with 75 career starts between them in senior Taylor Decker, junior Pat Elflein, Senior Jacoby Boren and sophomore Billy Price. ESPN’s Heather Cox could score twice behind that wall in high heels.

Historically, college teams have no excelled under duel QBs but OSU coach Meyer is adamant he won’t pick between last year’s starter, Cardale Jones, and J.T. Barrett until Monday night. “We'll announce the starter when the first guy takes the snap," Meyer said.

So, with the Buckeyes a solid 12-point favorite, MY HUNCH is you throw your entire entertainment dollar behind the visiting team in Blacksburg in what I believe with be a 36-to-21 game if VT is lucky.

* * *

TENNESSEE football got a double-dose of bad news this week after Andrew Butcher, a 4-star freshman tackle out of Alpharetta., Ga., was arrested for public intoxication over the weekend and Austin Pope, a Vol commit from Christian Academy in Knoxville, has now been suspended for one game for a team-rules violation. Pope, a 6-5 tight end, hopes to enroll at UT next year.

royexum@aol.com

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