2012:
On to 2013:
Bibendi Special: Northwestern -5.5(3.3u to win 3)
What a spot for these guys in week 1. I know laying 5.5 on the road is never something to get too excited about but they bring back every skill position player on the offense and return 7 starters on defense. They run into a Cal team in Berkeley in Week 1 who is going through a huge transition. They are adapting to a new coach and a brand new defense including a formation change. Surely this will take time to adjust to for their established players.
Northwestern was potent on offense last year and it is all down to speed. What did Cal struggle against the most last year? Speed. I know it’s hard to judge a teams defense vs. Oregon but they simply could not keep up. Now they are going to be struggling with all new gap disciplines with the formation change.
Northwestern did struggle on defense last year but Cal is going to be starting a QB who has zero career passing attempts! They will try to rely on the explosive Bigelow in the backfield but Northwestern has the speed at linebacker to contain him. While I think Cal develops well under the new coach and they have talent incoming at QB, this is just too large a task for them week 1.
USC -11. 1 unit
My 2nd play of the season. I always like to favor SEC over ACC even though it pains me to do so. UNC has recruited well and are showing more promise under Fedora but they still have a long way to go to catch up with South Carolina.
UNC could not stop anybody last year and USC returns 4 of their 5 offensive linemen. Mike Davis should run wild versus this defense in the opener as UNC continues to adjust to the 4-2-5 defense from Fedora. I’ve never been a big fan of dual QB system but they will focus on the running game and both QB’s are actually pretty good. I’d prefer to see Shaw get all the time as senior but he is injury prone so at some point I expect Dylan Thompson to take over. With this being a home game I’ll be really surprised if USC turns the ball over enough to keep UNC relevant in this game.
And of course USC has the X-factor in Clowney. Bryn Renner is a good QB but USC had the 11th ranked defense in country for a reason. They are going to deploy a defense that UNC has never seen before(“rabbit” package) and will challenge Renner to beat them. USC is not thin in the secondary either as they return 3 of 4 starters. Renner is good at not turning the ball over but that is against ACC defenses and the piss poor OOC schedule they played last year.
I also like the edge Ellington will bring USC in the kick return game as he will enter his 3rd straight year with that duty. I remember watching a few UNC games last year where they gave up KR touchdowns so I’ll hope for a good showing in that department as well.
Overall I just think USC is too talented and experienced in this one and look for them to jump ahead early and then have Renner run around like a chicken with his head cut off for the remainder of the game.