Before I begin things today I’d like to thank Eric Szulczewski for plugging me in his column last week. I’ve been reading Eric for years now and he is someone who I think very highly of so for him to shout me out was pretty cool. I sent him an email regarding a column that he wrote and told him who I was just so he wouldn’t think I was some obsessed fan. I didn’t mean for it to turn into a plug but it did and I am very thankful for that. Hell I might have even gained a reader from it. Thanks again though Eric, it did not go unnoticed.
As many of you might have already seen, we will be switching to a new style on September 18th. I welcome the announcement because now not only am I incapable of blowing the surprise, but the switch in format should help me immensely. I’ll be writing less on a daily basis instead of one weekly column, so color me excited! Another thing that will change is I will no longer be predicting 30 or so games like I did last week. Considering that that is nearly half the slate of games, I think we can all agree that it may become a little crazy to do each week. So for now it appears as though I will be just predicting 10 games per week. Following a 16-8 week against the spread, you better believe that I am going to continue with that feature. I pretty much covered everything that I wanted to in the Tailgate Crashers preview so today’s column features a few quick notes and then my week 2 picks.
-My initial thoughts following the Florida State/Miami game are, did someone score yet? Yes, FSU and Miami are both sound defensive teams but that game was just downright ugly. There is no doubt that the early date of the game hurt the level of play. ESPN’s Bruce Feldman really hit the nail on the head in his blog when he stated that it almost looked like the coaches were scared to go for the big play on offense. The offenses had enough trouble picking up first downs last night let alone going for big plays but just maybe a big play or two would open the field up a little more.
-Something that I failed to mention in the Tailgate Crashers preview but wanted to bring up here was the fans who attended ESPN’s Gameday this past weekend at Georgia Tech. It’s hard to believe that Gameday has been on the air for 13 years now and while I am strictly going on memory, Georgia Tech by far had the best signs I have ever seen. The Tech fans were relentless on Brady Quinn’s sister as well as the rest of the Golden Domers. For future reference, if you ever want to get on my good side just make a bunch of off-color jokes and we will be best friends in no time. I’d have to guess that Texas is getting Gameday this weekend and sign-wise they will have their work cut out for them.
Week 2 Picks
(Season Record vs. The Spread: 16-8, Last Week: 16-8)
#18 Clemson (-2.5) at Boston College: Whether it was over Florida Atlantic or not, Clemson looked good last week. Real good. I’m willing to give BC a mulligan in their opener but it’s a moot point because Clemson is that good. The injury to Anthony Waters is a tremendous blow to the defense but I think they will be okay. Welcome to Clemson’s coming out party America.
Clemson 31 – BC 17
Illinois at Rutgers (-11): I wanted to pick Rutgers last week but went on to forget them in my picks, whoops. If you haven’t noticed I am a huge fan of Greg Schiano and what he has done at Rutgers. On the other hand, I had the “pleasure” of watching Ron Zook run the show here at Florida for a year so I think it’s safe to say Rutgers wins this one.
Rutgers 34 – Illinois 14
Mississippi (+10) at Missouri: Sticking with my go with the better coach theory, I’ll go with Ed Orgeron over Gary Pinkel any day of the week. Ole Miss has sleeper team written all over them this season and should go into Columbia and pull off the upset.
Mississippi 24 – Missouri 20
#19 Penn St (+8) at #5 Notre Dame: I think Notre Dame wins this game but I have a hard time seeing them winning by more than a touchdown. If the Irish offense catches up to the defense this week (never thought I’d say that), then Notre Dame might run away with this thing. Don’t overlook Penn State though as a win on the road here is not totally out of the picture.
Notre Dame 35 – Penn State 31
Tulsa (+5) at BYU: Consider this my weekly pick of Tulsa until the oddsmakers realize how good they are. Tulsa has one of the most underrated coaches in America in Steve Kragthorpe and his team comes prepared each week. Talent-wise they don’t have anyone who is going to wow you but they make up for whatever they don’t have with effort and preparation. A win here over a solid BYU team might put them on the radar.
Tulsa 21 – BYU 16
Arizona (+15) at #8 LSU: Ever since Mike Stoops took over at Arizona, I have been a huge fan of his. He has been there long enough now that the program contains “his guys” and it’s starting to show. Arizona had a hard fought victory against BYU last week and should give LSU a run for their money. I think LSU wins this one by 2 touchdowns but it might be a little bit closer than the score indicates. Arizona’s defense might be able to even make it a game.
LSU 31 – Arizona 17
Idaho (+17.5) at Washington State: Confession time, this is the only game that I will be picking all week without knowing anything about the teams involved. Usually I know some basics about a team and then research further on them but that is not the case here. I know one thing and that is Dennis Erickson is the coach of Idaho. Now if this was an NFL game I would pick the other way but it’s college. Dennis Erickson doesn’t lose in college, it’s like an unwritten law. Does Idaho win this game? No but they keep it close which is good enough for me.
Washington State 38 – Idaho 24
Minnesota at #23 California (-8.5): Yes that is a #23 next to Cal’s name. Following the embarrassing loss on the road last week in Knoxville, I can’t see any possible scenario where they don’t come out and blow Minnesota out of the water. Unless California just isn’t that good and maybe the Tennessee game was just an indication of what’s to come.
California 41 – Minnesota 21
#11 Georgia at South Carolina (+3): Another confession, I was a bit surprised to see Georgia ranked 11th. I knew that they were in the top 25 but I just thought that they were about 19 or 20. The #11 seems just a little too high for me, especially with JT3 at QB. Steve Spurrier just doesn’t seem to lose these games and I think that this one is no exception.
South Carolina 23 – Georgia 17
#1 Ohio State (+2.5) at #2 Texas: Well I picked Ohio State to go to the National Title game, didn’t I? While I think Colt McCoy will have a successful career at Texas, I think he might not be ready for a defense like Ohio State’s just yet. Troy Smith on the other hand has not only seen defenses like Texas’, he has already played against them. I remember watching the first half of this game last year at the bar (Gator City) but I couldn’t tell you what happened in the second half. Whoops. Expect another classic this year, perhaps one that I might even remember.
Ohio State 34 – Texas 31
That’s all for now, enjoy the games this weekend.
