By now, I'm used to being totally wrong when I first view the college football season. Week one is never good to me. In some respects this season has started no differently. Michigan got hammered by what looks like an average Notre Dame team, LSU beat the crap out of the Hurricane (didn't see that coming) and Alabama dominated Louisville in another snoozer of a game that bodes ill for the end-of-season theatrics.
But then, I rallied. Colorado took care of Colorado State and Ole Miss pretty much had their way with a Texas Tech team that's probably stuck with a coach who is in over his head.
Final Record: 2-3. But with an extra half point for the ML pick on Ole Miss.
Let's review quickly:
1. Northwestern @ Purdue (-1.5) [52].
Pick: Purdue to cover
Final Score: Northwestern 31 Purdue 27
The best thing about this game were the train tracks circling the field in the stadium. Despite the score it was a sloppy game by both teams. Pretty typical B1G opener.
2. Syracuse (-5.5) @ Western Michigan [64.5].
Pick: Western Michigan to cover
Final Score: Syracuse 55 Western Michigan 42
I was wrong about the Cuse. Dino Babers team looked much better, or Western Michigan looked worse than I thought they would be. I only watched some of the game so I'm not entirely sure yet.
3. Army @ Duke (-13.5) [45.5].
Pick: Army to cover and win on the ML
Final Score: Army 14 Duke 34
I thought I might have a chance to pull out the backdoor cover on this one but Army just couldn't stop stepping on themselves and Duke looked like the better coached team.
4. Colorado (-7) @ Colorado State [66].
Pick: Colorado to cover
Final Score: Colorado 45 Colorado State 13
Bottom Line: The Rams are not good this year. But a much needed win to get me off the early schneid.
5. Ole Miss @ Texas Tech (-2) [67].
Pick: Ole Miss to cover and win on the ML
Final Score: Ole Miss 47 Texas Tech 27
Texas Tech is not a good football team, so it's too early to get a handle on just how good Ole Miss might be.
Thoughts on other games:
Florida Atlantic @ OU (-21) [68.5] FAU 14 OU 63 - Totally bought into the Lane Kiffin hype here thinking the Owls might keep it close. Uh-uh. OU is still really good.
Houston (-25) @ Rice [55.5]. Houston 45 Rice 27. The Cougars didn't cover, mainly because offensively they were offensive in the first half. Ed Oliver is truly amazing to watch however. Despite being double and even triple teamed all game he still had 13 tackles and 3.5 of them were for a loss.
Utah State @ Michigan State (-23) [51] Utah State 31 Michigan State 38 - Sparty looked, not very good and Utah State just sent a signal to the Mountain West that they're not going to be an easy out.
Wake Forest (-6) @ Tulane [55] Wake Forest 23 Tulane 17. Tulane's offense is awful, but their quarterback is really, really good. Wake is meh.
San Diego State @ Stanford (-14.5) [49] San Diego State 10 Stanford 31. Workmanlike by the Cardinal but they needed a half to figure it out. San Diego State has many questions on offense.
Oregon State @ Ohio State (-36) [64]. Oregon State 31 Ohio State 77 - Lost in Ohio State's offensive explosion is the fact that the Beavers did score 31 points against a Buckeye defense that looked lost at times.
Kent State @ Illinois (-16) [55]. Kent State 24 Illinois 31 - Prior to the 3rd quarter people were writing the obituary for Illinois football. Another reminder that it's not wise to judge a team's worthiness based solely on the first half of the first game. (I still don't think Illinois is that good however)
Texas (-13.5) @ Maryland [57] Texas 29 Maryland 34 - LOL at the Longhorns, who might be the slowest "major" college program I've seen in a while. They have big problems in Austin. Good on Maryland winning an emotional game.
Washington @ Auburn (-1.5) [48] Washington 16 Auburn 21. - Washington came out of the blocks looking like they were going to be overwhelmed by a speedier Auburn team. Then they settled down and the game became a war of attrition that Auburn's hot early start allowed them to win. Good game however.
Miami (-3.5) @ LSU [48]. Miami 17 LSU 33. - I totally whiffed on this game. LSU is scary talented on defense and their offense showed signs of life. Miami has questions, especially at O-line.
Virginia Tech @ Florida State (-7) [57]. Virginia Tech 24 Florida State 3 - I should have placed this game in my FIVE. Virginia Tech beat down a Florida State team that looked completely and utterly lost at times. Offensively the 'Nole's are so limited right now. If not for the FSU defense this would have been a shellacking.
And now, the two games in which I had a rooting interest......
UNLV @ USC (-26.5) [64] UNLV 21 USC 43 - This game was close heading into the 4th quarter, where USC exploded for 24 points as the Desert Rug Rats wore down. Offensively though the Rebels did some good things, and they looked much improved on defense. Worryingly for them, some of the games where they need a win to get to a bowl they had opponents who looked good as well. It's going to be a nail-biter of a season to get to six wins, but they have to keep Armani Rogers healthy at all costs.
Michigan @ Norter Dame (-1) [47]. Michigan 17 Notre Dame 24. - The Irish came out and looked like they were going to run away and hide. But Big Blue's defense stiffened and kept the Wolverines in the game. Unfortunately the Michigan offense is a hot mess right now. A bigger concern for Michigan is that I'm not all that convinced Notre Dame is that good. Offensively they are very limited and they're not exactly stocked with speed on defense. Michigan's wide-outs are a shadow of what the school usually offers, the offensive play calling is atrocious, predictable and just bad. Higdon is the best player on the offensive side of the ball and they didn't use him well. Shae Patterson might be a good QB, good enough to win, but they put handcuffs on him all game.
All in all a frustrating start to the season.
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