This was a pretty lackluster slate of games for the opener, although we always get a bunch of FCS tuneups. I'm a little tired of this point at seeing South Carolina kick off the season every year. I always know I'm going to get lackluster offensive outputs every time (Spurrier had some very talented offenses, but he always found a way to struggle at QB; Muschamp will be 10x worse).
I had my eye on the Oregon State / Minnesota matchup. Oregon State is going to make some strides this year, they were usually overmatched last season but I think they're getting better. The App State game was a lot of fun, I was cheering for them hard tonight. But, I've seen this script a million times, I'm desensitized at this point so the loss wasn't a let-down. The small teams usually choke. I think Lamar Jackson started his Heisman campaign tonight (he's actually my pick to win the Heisman, although McCaffery will give him a run for his money). Reservations about their opponent are duly noted, I just think the guy is special regardless. I have Louisville in the playoffs this year with Alabama, LSU, and Stanford (I haven't gone on record at CFP yet this year, what is wrong with me?
). I think they're a one-loss type of team along with the other two (Bama/LSU winner will probably be undefeated). Never thought I'd say this, but I'm cheering hard for USC Saturday night.
I put some money down on the Jackson State / UNLV game tonight just to make it interesting (I took Jackson State +40, how dumb was that?
). I didn't think much of the Rebels coming into this year, but they're on my radar now as a possible bowl team coming out of the Mountain West. They look like they have some underrated talent at the skill positions and their freshman QB looks like one to build around for the future. I knew JSU was going to be God-awful, but I expected UNLV to come out flat. They didn't. I should have known better than to bet on the SWAC. Now if Eastern tomorrow was favored by 30 points against Mississippi Valley State, I might have to violate my newly-adopted rule
I was also expecting the William & Mary vs. NC State game to be a lot closer than it was. W&M got pounded. Maybe NC State's defense is getting better? Nah, I doubt it. Let's see what they do against North Carolina and Florida State before we jump to any conclusions.