Day One 2013: Kickoff Extravaganza & Intrigue ...

[Cane from the Bend]

With the Season about to kickoff in 1 week & 1 day, I thought it be fun to give a small glance ahead, and see what kickoff day has in store for us.

Here is the schedule for Day One:
eastern
6:00 PM --- North Carolina at No. 6 South Carolina --- espn
6:00 PM --- Liberty at Kent State --- espn3
6:30 PM --- Presbyterian at Wake Forest --- espn3
7:00 PM --- Indiana State at Indiana --- Big Ten Network
7:00 PM --- UNLV at Minnesota --- Big Ten Network
7:00 PM --- Tulsa at Bowling Green
7:00 PM --- Illinois State at Ball State --- espn3
7:00 PM --- Akron at UCF --- espn3
7:30 PM --- Southern Utah at South Alabama --- espn3
7:30 PM --- Towson at Connecticut --- espn3
7:30 PM --- Western Carolina at Middle Tennessee
8:00 PM --- Utah State at Utah --- FOX Sports 1
8:00 PM --- Jackson State at Tulane
9:15 PM --- Ole Miss at Vanderbilt --- espn
10:00 PM --- Sacramento State at San Jose State
10:30 PM --- Rutgers at Fresno State --- espnU
11:00 PM --- No. 24 USC at Hawaii --- CBS Sports Network

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Those whom have a moderate interest vested in certain games:
I colored each team that was taken by the Fantasy Conference players, in their representative hue.

It seems Eric has the most going on, opening day/night.

Spence & Eric are competing right off the jump.
Donovan is competing against himself.
Eric & I have a game @ 10:30.

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So --- which game(s) are you planning to watch? --- which game is most interesting to you? --- anything special planned for the day/evening? --- anybody have a kickoff meal planned?

Me; August 29th is my wife's Birthday. So I will likely miss most of the early stuff.

I just hope she gets tired before too long, and wants to go to bed. (maybe a little spirits in her will push that along) [I'm glad she doesn't read this site]

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On a side note --- this is topic # 4500 on the General Discussion forum.


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[Eric]

I'm just going to veg out on the couch from maybe 5:00 to 2:00

I'm pretty scared of Illinois State against BSU. That just seems like a "MAC" thing to do: Lose to an FCS opponent but still go to a bowl game while being one of the top teams in the conference Hopefully with the roll the conference has been on over the last two years, that kind of stuff is behind them. Keith Wenning and Jahwan Edwards should be good enough to pull that out, but you never know with the rust and odds are Illinois State will be solid. I went ahead with the risk even with the half point reduction should they lose.

I also predict that you'll get the better of me in the Rutgers/Fresno game. Rutgers has a solid shot at winning that, but I expect the Bulldogs to take it. I wanted Rutgers more for the AAC conference schedule. I think they'll lose to Arkansas and Louisville and probably somebody else along the way, but their easier games make them a good bet to win 8 games.

I'm really interested in the USU/Utah game. It's been a good rivalry the last couple years and I'd like to see where the new head coach takes the Aggies. They still have Chuckie Keeton and a good deal of defensive talent, but I think Utah will improve from last year too.

[Cane from the Bend]

I went ahead with the risk even with the half point reduction should they lose.

heh, yeah, but it would be a 1 point reduction.

You lose a half point for every loss, and a full point for one of your teams losing to an FCS opponent.

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[donovan]

Well....I can go to the bank with 1/2 point. I think the Utah State v Utah game will be good.....

[Cane from the Bend]

I know that one ... day three I bank a half point off of myself with, No. 5 Georgia at No. 8 Clemson.

And, Yep!

Opening Day rivalry games are always fun to splash into the new year; deemed as the "Battle of the Brothers" ... Utah lost to State last year by 7. This game could set the stage for a decent season for either school. Utah, trying to bounce back after a 5-7 year --- Utah State breaking in a new system under a new coaching staff, with Gary Andersen having left for Wisconsin. ( as well, the Aggies will have to replace a 1,500 yard runner in Kerwynn Williams, who went to the nfl)

Utah plays BYU on September 21rst, the game simply known as, "The Holy War"
Utah State plays BYU on October 4th known as the "Battle for Old Wagon Wheel" (donovan's 7th year anniversary to this site)

These 3 schools play for an annual best of series, to which, the trophy called the "Beehive Boot" is awarded.

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I also think Ole Miss & Vanderbilt could be a good game.

The Rebs went 6-6 in the regular season last year, and are looking toward improvement.
The Commodores finish 8-4 in the regular season, but, have had off field trouble in the down time.
(Vandy could be in trouble, with 4 players being out)


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Anyway ... this sets up to be a good way to shuffle in the season.

And good news comes my way (selfish as it may be for me to think this), as, my wife is planning to attend a local minor league baseball game with her father on her birthday which starts at 7 p.m. (without me )

Her parents live about a 35 minute drive from the stadium, which means, we'll have to be home by 5:45 - 6:00 .... just in time for me to see the first kickoff ... and I haven't mentioned a thing about opening night to her, so, she planned this without realizing any potential ulterior motive on my behalf .... (okay, so I may have helped to persuade her that she should go to the game with her dad ---- because he likes baseball, and she wanted to go to at least one game this year ---- but, I actually had forgotten about it, and was expecting in earnest to spend the evening with her ---- but I'm not speaking up now )


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[Eric]

I think Ole Miss will be a good team. How good, I'm not really sure. They do have a tough early schedule which would hurt their overall record. A lot of people seem to like Ole Miss so I picked them assuming that they knew something I didn't

[Derek]

Who's pulling for Hawaii??

I think Ole Miss will be a good team this year. They played well last year, and even hung with Bama for the first half.

They are usually the whipping boys of the West, along with Miss State....but I think they will surprise this year.

[donovan]

Who's pulling for Hawaii??

I think Ole Miss will be a good team this year. They played well last year, and even hung with Bama for the first half.

They are usually the whipping boys of the West, along with Miss State....but I think they will surprise this year.

I always pull for Hawaii....and you have to like Norm Chow coaching Hawaii...just seems like he is where he belongs.

[Eric]

I cheer for Hawaii too, but I don't think Chow is a good fit stylistically for them. They should just stick to the run n' shoot; it's what made them a popular destination for a certain type of recruit in the first place.

On a side note, I'm surprised Jones hasn't had more success at SMU than he's had. They've always been a middling team around .500 and their offenses haven't been nearly as explosive as they were at Hawaii. It seems like he can't find an appropriate QB to run the system.

[Cane from the Bend]

I started liking Hawai'i back in the early 90's when they came into South Bend and beat a Holtz's irish team. The short series the Warriors had with ND was nearly as exciting to watch as the games Notre Dame would have against Boston College . . . Holtz just couldn't seem to figure either of those teams out. (and anybody who beats notre dame is at least partially okay in my book [unless the gators were to play them, then I'd just pray for an act of God type disaster on the field they were playing at])

The problem Hawai`i faces against most of their competition, is in their lack of depth.
They have so little back up roster, that they hold only no contact practices.

So, to start off the season against a team like usc, is a rough way to begin the year.

Not saying I wont be pulling for the Islanders; if they were to somehow win, then it would give them a huge boost of confidence to march against the rest of their schedule ... and it would stun the living bejeezus outta the trojans.

If So Cal were to lose, I'm not sure Kiffin would make it to the end of the year.

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[donovan]

I do know this, that teams travelling to Hawaii have a difficult time staying focused. Hawaii as a tremendous home field advantage. When Boise was going to Hawaii, Petersen cut the zero slack. The players had more latitude when they went to a school on the mainland.

I am pulling for Warriorfan.....that would be a great win and knock the socks off a lot of people.

[Cane from the Bend]

And Kiffin might just be the coach foolish enough to allow his players to get tropical leisure before the game.

Not an easy thing to keep focus, going over to the Island, before the start of your school year. (kinda like a last shot at vacation time)

Many of these younger players have only traveled outside the state of California with their sports teams, or on official visits to other schools trying to recruit them.

usc could get the scare they need to keep focused the rest of the season ... or, Hawai'i could pull off a week one how-do-ya-do, and derail the trojans' expectations.

If I'm still on top of my info correctly, SC's star player, WR Marqise Lee is goig to be out injured --- and Kiffin just settled on his starting QB the other day.

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[Eric]

I think Hawaii does have a good homefield advantage, but I would be absolutely shocked if they kept USC within two touchdowns. They have absolutely nothing going for them offensively or defensively. As terrible as I think Kiffin's leadership at USC is, I don't think they stub their toe here. I would expect Hawaii ends the year as one of the 10-15 worst teams in the country.

[donovan]

Warrior needs to jump in, he would know best. What I note is Hawaii has a Pacific Region football roster. This is just from the names on the schedule. Discipline is not a characteristic of a laid back culture. In a good sense. We would all be better served to follow that lead, ala Billybud. I think Jones told the kids what to do where to be and when to be there and they followed. Had good success. Chow may be too traditional, but I think they will be all right soon. Look at the weight of their team. Not sure if there is a statistic of average weight of a roster, but those are some big boys. There are no small Tongans or Samoans. I hope they have a dog in the fight this year.

[Cane from the Bend]

With Warrriorsfan's final two Conference selections, Kent State & Vanderbilt, it would seem he has as much riding on opening day as Eric does (4 games each) --- consequently, it also pits Eric & Warrriorsfan directly up against one another with: Ole Miss @ Vanderbilt ...

That's 3 head to head games for you, Eric, on Day One.

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