NCAA Football - Week 1
News, Notes, Plays
127 South Carolina
128 NC State
Battle of mid-pack Atlantic ACC division versus mid-pack East SEC division here. Final box score last year in this matchup shows a 34-0 final score but first team all ACC quarterback Russell Wilson was knocked out early in the 2Q w/ a concussion. He got hurt quite a bit last year, but you have to believe that he will have an even better year this year coming off a successful freshman tilt. NCState really couldn't move the ball once Wilson went down, and it seemed as if they had lost all their muster. That game only hit 34 points, with the first 3 points coming at the 20 second mark until halftime. Up 13-0 going into the 4th, South Carolina continued to throw the ball when it had opportunities and scored three touchdowns in the final stanza, the last coming on a drive of which 6 of the last 8 plays before the touchdown were passing plays (while up 27-0 with 3 minutes to go in the game). Possible revenge spot, albeit weak though. NC State will give redshirt freshman a series or two at QB to throw in a wrinkle. Time Warner Cable has donated a white "Beat Carolina" Shirt to everyone that walks in the door to the game, hoping for a white-out. It appears as if SC will be going RB by committee to start the season. Spurrier has not liked how practice has been going thus far. One of SC's starting defensive ends has been suspended indefinately for a slew of offenses. Don't really have a feel for this game, hate mix-matching conferences this early in the season, especially big ones, or bigger name conferences like these. Pass.
129 Utah State
130 Utah
My top of the MWC versus bottom tier WAC. Hard to lay a 20 spot on a team w/ no real starting QB yet, but both are capable of beating Utah State I would think. What i don't like is the experimentation factor if that is the case. Wittingham has said their has been numerous injuries on the o-line, including the center, so that ain't a plus either. The Gary Andersen era begins (former DC at Utah), so he'll be familiar with what Wittingham is wanting to do. Still, this team's pretty bad. Didn't score in an intersquad scrimmage against their own team until the last play of the game. That can't be promising. Game wreaks. Pass.
131 Oregon
132 Boise State
Boise earned a 5 point road win last year in this spot, but held a lead of 24 points at one point late in the 3rd quarter. Boise is my top WAC squad, with Oregon upper Pac-10 tier. Boise is 3-11 against the PAC-10 all-time, and all 3 wins are against teams from Oregon. Boise brings in a great defense this year. Not only great, but they're mostly seniors. The thing about this matchup is Oregon's defense. Their offense is decent returning quite a few yards, but their defense is missing a few key components, and Boise's style of offense should be enough to keep Oregon off balance for a majority of the night. Oregon's got a bit of revenge here, and a not-so-easy start to the 2009 campaign. Three things come into play here: 1) This is Boise's super bowl. They don't play a big BCS for the rest of the year. They need to make a statement 2) Can I really trust Oregon's defense to stop not only a familiar opponent, but an opponent with tons of wrinkles and options on the offensive end with a returning quarterback for the first time in what seems an eternity (3 years). 3) You gotta go back to September 2001 to see the last time the Broncos were laying less than -6 on the Turf. They're 64-2 at home and have won 49 straight. Sorta like em here, but not worth the risk. New coach, should really expect the same from Oregon, probably a bit tougher on the kids. I'll Sit back and watch this one, and then prolly watch Boise -24 the rest of the year. Pass.
133 Troy
134 Bowling Green
I got Bowling Green in contention now w/ the injury at Buffalo to Starks. Probably won't win it, but they'll have their chances. New coach Dave Clawson, who did absolutely nothing at Tennessee in the offensive role, figures to make a much bigger impact here at Bowling Green. He's bringing a West Coast style offense, which is what this squad has been lacking. They have the talent at QB to do so in Sheehan, and the receivers and tight ends fit the mold perfectly. The team last year was not consistent. Had the talent, didn't have the consistency. How do you explain a 1-4 mark at home and 5-2 record on the road? The running game lacks this year, but I don't see them running much other than Sheehan. Their defense is awful, i'm expecting them to out-score people with a chance at the MAC east crown. Throw in the fact that Troy's only defensive starter was recently ruled ineligible for the season, Troy's defense might not be up to par either. Two sketchy defenses, and two teams that should like to go up and down the field looks like an over play here. At a total of 58.5 in the first game of the season, i think i'm gonna sit it out. I'll look to play totals a bit more in week 2. Pass.
135 North Texas
136 Ball State
Too many changes, too many unknowns, too many new additions, and too big of spread. Ball State mid-to-bottom of MAC west against bottom tier Sun Belt.
That's Thursday. No reason to rush. Conference games this week that I will get to:
#2Tulsa / #6Tulane
#7Stanford / #10Washington State
#8Idaho / #9New Mexico State
#5Cincy / #4Rutgers
Haven't looked at Saturday yet w/ exception of conference games. Think last year started out w/ three plays first week, probably going to be less than that this year.
GL