Official College Football Week 1 thread

[cartman]

The season kicks off this week! There are only a couple of matchups between Top 25 teams:

Georgia at Clemson
LSU vs. TCU at AT&T Cowboys Stadium

There are games from Thursday to Monday. Can't wait to finally see some college football again!

[Logan]

Rutgers opens at Fresno State Thursday night. 10:30pm start for us here, going to be weird getting fired up for a football game that late.

Fresno is something like an 11 point favorite which I thought seemed high. Our defense has a lot to replace from a great unit last year, but there's talent throughout coming up. The secondary is very green though, and coupled with going up against Derek Carr, I guess I see why the line is shaping up like that.

[Vegas Vic]

College Football Week 1 Televised Games

[JonInMiddleGA]

While true Top 25 matchups are slight this week,there's several interesting games (or games that could be interesting)

UNC vs #6 South Carolina is the one that stands out to me, I know nothing odd should happen, but ... that's why they play the games, right?

The other T25 teams that might have interesting games would be
Toledo at #11 Florida
#24 USC at Hawaii
#1 Alabama vs Va Tech
maybe even Boise at Washington and/or Northwestern at Cal.

Close games,even with wins, might change the perceptions of some of those teams.

[Lathum]

Really excited for next Saturdays game. We open the new stadium with a big test against Boise State. The place should be rocking.

[miami_fan]

Ohio State Buckeyes made NFL scouts swap shirts, according to report - ESPN

Don't wear blue while watching Ohio State practices.

Apparel resembling the colors of rival Michigan are not welcome while coach Urban Meyer has a say, no matter if the offenders are fans, media members, or, reportedly, NFL scouts.

At least two NFL scouts who wore blue while observing Ohio State at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center this month were told to change their shirts, according to a report by Fox Sports Ohio.

Staffers informed the scouts of Meyer's rule and some Buckeyes players even yelled at the scouts, according to the report. The school then gave the scouts Ohio State shirts to wear while watching practice.

Other NFL scouts who were not directly involved told Fox Sports Ohio the incident was "embarrassing" and could have been avoided.

"It's just not something that needed to happen," a scout said. "It could have been handled much better, and if that (blue-shirt) rule is going to be enforced, they could let us know."

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

maybe even Boise at Washington and/or Northwestern at Cal.

Close games,even with wins, might change the perceptions of some of those teams.

Boise State opening up the new Husky Stadium should be a pretty compelling game. The Huskies will jump into the top-25 with a win, and it's one of the few times you get back-to-back rematches, as the last game each team played was against each other in last year's Las Vegas Bowl.

Plus you get some awards candidates in action in TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins (assuming his broken pinkie allows it and Sark doesn't suspend him), RB Bishop Sankey, WR Kasen Williams, LB Shaq Thompson, DT Danny Shelton and QB Keith Price looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2012 season.

Only down side is that the current weather forecasts call for rain, so the that - combined with it being a night game - mean you might not get a lot of great scenic shots from the stadium.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Ohio State Buckeyes made NFL scouts swap shirts, according to report - ESPN

Absurd.

[tarcone]

Iowa hosts Northern Illinois. This is a tough start for Iowa.
Im kind of excited. Im hoping to be real excited after the game.
Iowa has a new QB, Jake Ruddock, who played for one of the best HS programs in the nation.
A rebuilt O Line. This line could be very good.
We added a some speed with JUCO WRs.
3 returning starting LBs.
A D Line that is a year older. But not sure if that will mean much.

I see a record of anywhere between 2-10 to 8-4. It could be that type of season.

[Cuckoo]

Oklahoma with a QB competition for the first time since 2007 and, surprisingly, the redshirt freshman Trevor Knight beat out junior Blake Bell, who has played well in short yardage package the past couple of seasons. Practices were closed, but in the spring game, Bell looked quite easily like the better choice. Word is that Knight runs extremely well and looked great over the past couple of weeks to win the job.

OU hasn't had a mobile QB in years, so I'm excited to see what he can do. In contrast to Landry Jones in '09 and even Sam Bradford in '07, Knight comes in with a lot of experience and talent around him on offense. Defense? Well, that's another matter...

Louisiana-Monroe is the Week 1 opponent, and though I don't know much about them, apparently they beat Arkansas last year and played Baylor pretty close.

[Izulde]

UNLV @ Minnesota on Thursday. I think it's a winnable game because I can't remember the last time the Gophers were actually relevant in football, and it's Bowl or Bust this year for Hauck.

[CU Tiger]

Going to be a crazy weekend in lil ole Clemson, sc

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Ohio State Buckeyes made NFL scouts swap shirts, according to report - ESPN

So, are blue jeans ok to wear?

I'm interested to see the OLs for 'Bama and Michigan as those are the areas of being the biggest question marks.

[Kodos]

Hopefully IU takes care of Indiana State with ease on Thursday night.

[sterlingice]

It's the only time in the season Kansas will be ranked as high as 3rd in the Big XII as that's where they are alphabetically?

SI

[britrock88]

Pumped for Carolina/Scarolina Thursday night, even as the 11-point dogs, and even as I expect the Heels will wear something garish.

[MacroGuru]

BYU travels to Virginia, I am excited to see what the new offense can do.

[bhlloy]

Kiffin decided because the guy he wanted to win the starters job didn't look the best throughout training camp, he's going with co-starters vs Hawaii. Sigh.

[digamma]

I'm pretty excited to see this Georgia tech team play, but unfortunately the early season is pretty poor for that. Open with Elon, who are the Phoenix but might as well be elon musk running around by himself. Then a weird/horribly timed off week before opening the acc with the fighting cutcliffes of duke.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Going to be a crazy weekend in lil ole Clemson, sc

My wife and I will be there with our 2 boys, as she wants to get in at some crazy early time to town so we can swing by College Gameday and then head off to lunch before the serious tailgating gets underway. Really excited for that atmosphere... I hope the Tigers give the fans reason to get into and STAY into the game.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by digamma

I'm pretty excited to see this Georgia tech team play, but unfortunately the early season is pretty poor for that. Open with Elon,

I was at the infamous Gardner-Webb game ... I hope they don't take Elon too lightly.

[digamma]

Calvin Booker isn't the 3rd string qb. This is a name your score game.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Kiffin decided because the guy he wanted to win the starters job didn't look the best throughout training camp, he's going with co-starters vs Hawaii. Sigh.

Some thoughts:

1. As a UCLA fan, I delight in any quandary in the USC camp, of course, but...
2. ...I want Kiffin to remain the coach at USC, because as long as he is there, an actually good coach won't be...
3. ...so Kiffin screwing this one up only furthers the likelihood he will be gone after this season and USC will spend Urban Meyer money on a quality replacement.

Oh, and 4. it's completely annoying that the muddled QB situation for a likely at best 8-4, mid-division squad like USC has gotten so much national play.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Some thoughts:

1. As a UCLA fan, I delight in any quandary in the USC camp, of course, but...
2. ...I want Kiffin to remain the coach at USC, because as long as he is there, an actually good coach won't be...
3. ...so Kiffin screwing this one up only furthers the likelihood he will be gone after this season and USC will spend Urban Meyer money on a quality replacement.

Oh, and 4. it's completely annoying that the muddled QB situation for a likely at best 8-4, mid-division squad like USC has gotten so much national play.

Quoted for posterity. Even with the muddled QB situation this team is winning 10 games this year barring significant injuries to either Lee or key defensive players.

[britrock88]

You could both be right. A division-winning 8-4 USC team wins the PAC championship and the Rose Bowl to go 10-4.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Quoted for posterity. Even with the muddled QB situation this team is winning 10 games this year barring significant injuries to either Lee or key defensive players.

Quote away. USC has a weak schedule, so they could do pretty well, and neither guy Kiffin is deciding between is necessarily a bad QB. But USC has serious depth issues because of the sanctions and they will have to be very fortunate to get through the season without suffering key injuries which will make it difficult for them to keep up even in the Pac 12 South, much less the Pac 12 overall.

And if you're right, well...yippee, Kiffin for another year, lol! I hope they give him lifetime contract.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by britrock88

You could both be right. A division-winning 8-4 USC team wins the PAC championship and the Rose Bowl to go 10-4.

Depends on the other team in said Rose Bowl.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Depends on the other team in said Rose Bowl.

Oh, don't get me wrong--my immediate family and cousins have graduated from half of the Big Ten schools. I hope you're right.

[Matthean]

I think OSU goes undefeated and thus are in the title game, but Kiffin wants no part of Meyer.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Quoted for posterity. Even with the muddled QB situation this team is winning 10 games this year barring significant injuries to either Lee or key defensive players.

They certainly have a lot of talent, but we said that last year when they were being mentioned as possible BCS Title contenders...

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Quoted for posterity. Even with the muddled QB situation this team is winning 10 games this year barring significant injuries to either Lee or key defensive players.

Even Karl Dorrell won 10 games at UCLA one year, so Kif winning 10 games this year is certainly plausible.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

My wife and I will be there with our 2 boys, as she wants to get in at some crazy early time to town so we can swing by College Gameday and then head off to lunch before the serious tailgating gets underway. Really excited for that atmosphere... I hope the Tigers give the fans reason to get into and STAY into the game.

I'll be set up by 8 am which means leaving home by 5:30..

If you make it near the Esso...I'll be in valley walk right behind there.

Hit me up if interested in some gate passes.

[Butter]

I sent you a PM. We're going to have like 8-10 hours to wander around, so I imagine we'll make it over near there at some point.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

I'll be set up by 8 am which means leaving home by 5:30.. If you make it near the Esso...I'll be in valley walk right behind there.
Hit me up if interested in some gate passes.

Dear Tigers,
Please take care of business Saturday, m'kay?

Thx.

Bye.

[digamma]

+1

[Chief Rum]

I was thinking about the USC QB situation again and how the prevailing thought is that Kiffin wants to play Wittek against Hawaii to keep him in the program.

If I am Wittek, and I believe I have a potential NFL future, no way would I step on the field against Hawaii unless I am told in no uncertain terms I am the starter, and then I actually take that first snap.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

I was thinking about the USC QB situation again and how the prevailing thought is that Kiffin wants to play Wittek against Hawaii to keep him in the program.

If I am Wittek, and I believe I have a potential NFL future, no way would I step on the field against Hawaii unless I am told in no uncertain terms I am the starter, and then I actually take that first snap.

Disagree. He's a RS-So, so if he wanted to go to another FBS program he'd only have his Sr. year to showcase himself (assuming he even wins the starting job). Better to just stick it out at USC, keep battling for the starting job there and know that Kiffin is on thin ice and there's a good chance he'll get another opportunity to prove himself in front of a new coaching staff within the next year or two.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Disagree. He's a RS-So, so if he wanted to go to another FBS program he'd only have his Sr. year to showcase himself (assuming he even wins the starting job). Better to just stick it out at USC, keep battling for the starting job there and know that Kiffin is on thin ice and there's a good chance he'll get another opportunity to prove himself in front of a new coaching staff within the next year or two.

He's a RS-SO who hasn't stepped on the field this year yet. So his sophomore year would be his transfer year--if he doesn't step on the field against Hawaii and transfers to a late starting Division 1 school.

My point is based on the presumption Kiffin wants to get him on the field for a snap to keep him in the program when he doesn't intend for Wittek to be the starter. That wouldn't be in Wittek's best interest.

[duckman]

Manziel is suspended for, get this, one half against Rice by the NCAA.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by duckman

Manziel is suspended for, get this, one half against Rice by the NCAA.

That's not an official suspension, right? Just their recommendation to A&M?

I presume A&M will go ahead and do it. They will beat Rice no matter who they have under center. They might even hold him out the whole game just to be safe.

[SirFozzie]

The deal is between NCAA and A&M officially apparently:

Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M Aggies suspended for 1st half of season opener against Rice Owls - ESPN

The article says that this "closes the book on this issue"

[Honolulu_Blue]

I am fine with this suspension. It's a stupid rule in the first place.

Play on, Johnny "Fucking" Football! Play on!

[Matthean]

Even if it increases the odds of A&M beating 'Bama, I want 'Bama to beat them with him playing.

[HomerSimpson98]

Taking the Heels and 13 points tomorrow night is getting awfully tempting.

[britrock88]

Up to 13? Wow. Let's shock the world twice--bad unis AND a big upset!

[Marmel]

I just wanted to complain that I live 5 driving minutes from a stadium where D1 football is played, the tailgating is actually fantastic if you can believe it (seriously, they do it really well here), and the ticket prices are as low as $5 for tonight's game (and most games every season). Why am I complaining? It is UConn, and I hate them. I can't tailgate with UConn fans and I'm not paying even $1 to watch them play Towson tonight. On top of that, it muffs up all the traffic on my way home for these Thursday night games, of which the AAC plays plenty.

Edited to add: They do host Michigan later this season. I can buy a Michigan tshirt and party with some of their fans, right???

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Marmel

Edited to add: They do host Michigan later this season. I can buy a Michigan tshirt and party with some of their fans, right???

Of course! My people are a welcoming people.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

The deal is between NCAA and A&M officially apparently:

Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M Aggies suspended for 1st half of season opener against Rice Owls - ESPN

The article says that this "closes the book on this issue"

Is it true that Johnny will be signing autographs for that first half? I've got the money.

[Izulde]

Fire Bobby Hauck's sorry ass. I wanted him gone at the end of last year.

[Eaglesfan27]

Turns out Kessler gets the start and the first half is his.