Standings:
1.) Seeberg 7-2 (1-1 upset)
1.) Draper 7-2 (0-2 upset)
3.) Hoying 6-3 (2-0 upset)
4.) Schweinfurth 5-4 (1-1 upset)
Well, one of these years Ohio State will win a nonconference home game of consequence. The Buckeyes haven't had one since...2002 over top 10 Washington State? 1995 over Notre Dame? At least the Domers are returning next season. Good for what ails ya. Until then, let's just hold our collective breaths that CJ Stroud can suddenly turn into 2018 Dwayne Haskins or 2020 Justin Fields, because he's going to have similar defenses backing him up for the foreseeable future.
Alabama Crimson Tide @ Florida Gators
Draper: Is this the year that Bama starts the inevitable decline that affects everyone? HAHAHAHAHAHA.... no. Saban is just chugging along and will continue. UF has an interesting situation at QB with Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson, but it's still Bama. Even though Saban has transitioned to focusing on the offense, they don't suck on Ds.... This isn't a hard call. Death...Taxes...Bama...Bama: 38--UF: 24
Hoying: Florida is 2-0, has an average margin of victory of 21.5 over those two games, is playing at home in one of the loudest stadiums in the world, and is locked in as a 2+ TD underdog. Yup, the annoyingly invincible Tide are back, and they're likely still a little steamed at the only team that played them within single digits last season. The Gators are likely to take a step back this year now that they're fresh out of juggernaut Kyles. As for Bama, well, they seemingly lost a whole starting NFL team's worth of talent from last year's team, even with a free year of eligibility and NIL money waiting for them in Tuscaloosa this season, but they haven't slowed down. The Tide continue to rebuild at a level that Ohio State can only dream at (just don't look up their leading receiver). Then again, Clemson already lost this year, and Ohio State already lost...maybe Bama could...no. Just no. BbaM (Bama by a Million) until further notice. Bama: 34--UF: 20
Schweinfurth: Is there really any thought that Bama wins this game by a million. Florida is a top half SEC team, but there is the top few teams in the SEC, a gulf that dwarfs the Pacific Ocean, and then Bama. Florida has some good players to keep it close for a half, maybe, but Bama wins this going away. Bama: 35--UF: 20
Seeberg: Honestly I should dig into this game more, but, I mean...it's Bama. Home crowd might keep the Gators around but, I mean...it's Bama. You get the idea. Bama: 42--UF: 17
Auburn Tigers @ Penn State Nittany Lions
Draper: Imagine my surprise with an SEC team travelling to a home site outside of the footprint...let alone against a ranked team. The question is: is Penn State really a top program at this point or was the snoozer in Madison simply noise? I honestly have no faith in the Lions long term outcomes, but I know very little about Auburn. For this game, an additional question is the USC issue hanging over James Franklin. Franklin strikes me as a guy who is good to jump as soon as an opportunity arises. That being said, I think the white out in Happy Valley will be enough to pull out a close win, even with the distractions. Aub: 17--PSU: 20
Hoying: Kudos to Auburn for making the trip out of the deep south for a true road game in Big Ten country. Penn State's already won a road game of their own, storming into Camp Randall in their season opener and escaping with an ugly win. I suppose any win's better than giving the game away in pylon-reaching fashion like they did to open the season against Indiana last year. But I didn't leave the Wisconsin game feeling particularly impressed with the Nittany Lions. Clifford is just not the answer at QB, and the return of Noah Cain hasn't been the shot in the arm that the running game was hoping for either. Auburn was the height of mediocrity in 2020 and got blasted by Northwestern in the Citrus Bowl, and goodness knows I have no faith in BoNix as any kind of catalyst for the Tiger attack, but I can't shake the feeling that Penn State's opening win was more a function of Wisconsin haplessness than any harbinger of great things for the Lions this year. Auburn does just enough to outscore a sluggish Penn State offense. Aub: 17--PSU: 16
Schweinfurth: This is an absolute conference measuring stick for the B1G. Auburn is a middle of the pack SEC team, and it would be really bad for the B1G for Penn State to lose this one. The Lions have a very good defense, but Sean Clifford is the limiting factor on this team. I really can see this being a QBLOLZ game, because BoNix and Clifford just make dumb decisions sometimes. In the end, I'll take the White Out and Doctson making the play for the win. Aub: 14--PSU: 17
Seeberg: How is Bo Nix still at Auburn? I feel like he's been there about as long as Aaron Craft suited up on the hardwood for the scarlet and gray. In any event, we've got two supposedly elite quarterbacks with a stable of "meh" around them battling this one out. The Tigers have demolished two lousy opponents thus far but the Nittany Lions have been tested, squeaking out a win in Madison. Things may be starting to get stale for Franklin in Happy Valley, and the allure of his home state Trojans are calling. A win here probably gets him another couple hundred thousand a year when he bolts. Seems like good enough motivation to me. Aub: 16--PSU: 24
Arizona State Sun Devils @ Brigham Young Cougars
Draper: Whee....no one cares! What's weird is there was all this talk of issues in the desert, but Herm apparently just plays to win the game and doesn't care about off field issues. BYU had a nice last week and return home to glory. They're riding high and I think the wave continues. Cougs nip the Devils. ASU: 28--BYU: 30
Hoying: You didn't know this was a ranked matchup, did you? Maybe you didn't stay up late enough last week to see BYU take it to their Holy War rivals to break a 9-year streak of futility in that series. I don't blame you; I wanted to go to bed around 4 PM last Saturday too. Why is Arizona State ranked? I don't know; it's hard to find 25 teams good enough to put on the ballot. You can tell the pollsters are desperate, as they're still ranking teams like Miami, North Carolina, and Ohio State. Anyway, BYU is making its penultimate Pac-12 tour before it joins the big(ish) boys of the Big 12 in 2023, and the Cougars are still underdogs in this one after dispatching Arizona and Utah to start the season. What have the Sun Devils done to inspire such confidence? Blow out UNLV? I know the Cougs don't have Zach Wilson anymore but his absence doesn't seem to be slowing them down. BYU rides the disrespekt train to a 3rd straight win over the Pac-12. ASU: 24--BYU: 27
Schweinfurth: Yay, Pac-12 After Dark No One Cares Game of the week! Yea these two are ranked, but I just can't steel myself to stay up that late on Saturday night for PAC-12 ROFL. Let's go with BYU here. ASU: 27--BYU: 30
Seeberg: Both teams have looked decent thus far with the Cougars posting the most noteworthy win, beating their in-state rivals the Utes last week. The Sun Devils, a la our Buckeyes, have put up a lot of yards but have struggled to pay off those drives with touchdowns, settling for 5 FGs in the first 2 weeks of the season despite an excellent rushing attack. Too many FGs against a higher quality opponent may very well be their undoing (looking at you, Tressel vs. Texas in 2005). The Cougars sneak out another resume-boosting W. ASU: 23--BYU: 27
Tulsa Golden Hurricane @ THE Ohio State University Buckeyes
Draper: It's been 3 years since the Scarlet and Gray came to the Shoe to lick their wounds in season. There is a real question of how the team will respond. The media storm of the 'unimaginable upset' by the 11th ranked team in the nation (no matter how crazy narrative is) could have lasting repercussions. I think Day is going to be successful in motivating the troops after a loss, but we haven't seen it yet. Much will fall on the shoulders of CJ Stroud and the defense. Will the storm surrounding Coach Coombs linger? I have faith that Day will right the ship and move forward. The offense will be (and was) fine --not great, but fine-- last week. The defense needs fixing, and that's not a simple change. Expect the growing pains to continue on defense, but this week should be a nice 'get-right' game. The line gets some pressure (finally) and makes for a smooth outing. Tulsa: 17--OSU: 52
Hoying: Good luck figuring out the Golden Hurricane. They opened the season by losing to UC Davis, then turned around and played Oklahoma State to a standstill. Hmm...who else looked like garbage week one and then turned completely around for a road game against a marquee opponent...Should the Buckeyes be worried about Tulsa? The way they're mismanaging their (admittedly undeveloped) defensive personnel, the Buckeyes should be afraid of any team that can move the ball. Also, the run game's not working, and while Stroud is looking better than a freshman QB usually has any right to, we're in the age of Tua and Trevor and all kinds of first-year phenoms, and CJ just hasn't hit that transcendent level yet. This team has some serious soul-searching to do over the next couple of weeks before Big Ten season restarts, and it doesn't look like there are going to be any gimme games in the East this year. The rebuild starts now. Don't embarrass us again. Tulsa: 24--OSU: 45
Schweinfurth: What a mess. The Buckeyes were absolutely out coached and out schemed last week. This makes the second time in three games that the Bucks have no answer running a cover-3 shell with no creativity in the front seven. This MUST change. Nothing allows for the type of changes that need to be made like two straight over matched opponents. Look, I'm not delusional. This defense is does not have the players we are used to on the d-line and in the secondary. It will take a few weeks to get the D right, but why not try a few things? Tulsa is going to score a bit. It's just what this defense has done lately. With that said, there shouldn't be a match up Tulsa can win when Ohio State has the ball. Ryan Day is going to bludgeon Tulsa with Williams and Henderson early and take the top off with Wilson and Olave late. Get right. Get some confidence and move on to Akron. Tulsa: 21--OSU: 52
Seeberg: Well, welcome to 2018. And no, it's not 2014 Ohio State that lost a marquee matchup week 2, took a few weeks more to find their stride, and peaked at the perfect time. This is 2018 we-better-outscore-everyone mode. Mediocre schemes can be overcome with elite personnel. Mediocre personnel can be elevated with great schemes that put them in consistently correct positions. We have neither. On the other side of things, 615 yards of offense last week looked great, but red zone play calling continues to be an issue. CJ actually isn't all too bad. He's not making it through a ton of progressions yet (nor should he as a second-week starting QB), but he does hang in the pocket well and doesn't bolt immediately. The accuracy as compared to Fields or Haskins, however, just isn't there yet. The run scheme needs more diversity. No counters/misdirections and CJ isn't pulling the ball to run either (also a la 2018 Haskins) despite seeming a capable runner. The big run Miyan Williams had 2 weeks ago? It was a mistake, he was supposed to go left with the entire line but heard the call wrong and went right where nobody was home. Even accidental misdirection helps. Find some run diversity, find ANY diversity with the defensive scheme, and get some mojo going before conference play resumes. Tulsa: 20--OSU: 49
Upset Special
Draper: Fresno State over UCLA
Hoying: Purdue over Notre Dame
Schweinfurth: Michigan State over Miami
Seeberg: Tulane over Ole Miss
Fix it! Fix it! Fix it!
