Welcome back to college football (if you didn't tune in to see the Noles get blarneyed by Georgia Tech last week). No tiptoeing out of the gate this year, as you can find a ranked matchup just about any time you tune in, even on the Lord's Day, with a nice mid-afternoon break on Saturday to enjoy dress rehearsal #1 for our beloved Buckeyes in this much anticipated season.
Clemson Tigers vs. Georgia Bulldogs
Draper: The Dawgs enter 2024 as everyone's "clear cut" number one team. The numbers have them lapping the field (although I'd argue the Buckeyes are nipping at their heels). Their ace in the hole is Carson Beck leading the charge at QB. Regarding Beck, I'm not 100% sold. While he MAY be the best QB this year talent-wise, I don't think we've seen evidence on the field to prove that...yet. There's no doubt that he is surrounded by a ton of talent and Smart will have the defense at a high level like normal. Clemson has certainly fallen from the "elite" tier over the last few years, but they're still pretty darn good. Cade Klubnik was a bit underwhelming last year, but should see some upgrades this year. The biggest problem for the Tigers is they simply don't match up well across the board with the UGA and OSUs of the world. They'll be hype around this game since these coaches both boast 2 national championships (AFLAC trivia question anyone?), but the talent gap is far too large to lean on an upset. As we know, the Dawgs will be moving fast in the Benz. Clem: 13--UGA: 31
Hoying: The death machine rolls on in Athens. Lest we forget, this was the consensus #1 team all last year until they faceplanted in the SEC Championship against the only coach that seems to be able to beat Kirby in the post-COVID era. And I don't see Old Nick prowling the sidelines at Clemson (or even in Tuscaloosa anymore). You can put together the finest non-cheating roster in America and that'll still only get you within 1 point of this decade's new SEC dynasty. Nobody else comes close. And that includes little ol' Clemson, who hasn't looked quite right since Justin Fields's finest hour in the Superdome back on New Year's 2021. What program used to churn out Heisman-caliber Alabama-threatening QB's like no other has stumbled since DJU turned into a pumpkin (look no further than last week for continued proof of that) and nobody has stepped up to restore the Clemson O to its former glory. I'm not sure they can turn this around under Dabo. The most surprising college football success story of the 2010s may be heading back into hibernation for another 40 years. They won't be missed. Clem: 13--UGA: 28
Hoying: The death machine rolls on in Athens. Lest we forget, this was the consensus #1 team all last year until they faceplanted in the SEC Championship against the only coach that seems to be able to beat Kirby in the post-COVID era. And I don't see Old Nick prowling the sidelines at Clemson (or even in Tuscaloosa anymore). You can put together the finest non-cheating roster in America and that'll still only get you within 1 point of this decade's new SEC dynasty. Nobody else comes close. And that includes little ol' Clemson, who hasn't looked quite right since Justin Fields's finest hour in the Superdome back on New Year's 2021. What program used to churn out Heisman-caliber Alabama-threatening QB's like no other has stumbled since DJU turned into a pumpkin (look no further than last week for continued proof of that) and nobody has stepped up to restore the Clemson O to its former glory. I'm not sure they can turn this around under Dabo. The most surprising college football success story of the 2010s may be heading back into hibernation for another 40 years. They won't be missed. Clem: 13--UGA: 28
Schweinfurth: Has Dabo done anything in the last few years to show he runs
a program able to compete? The guy shirks at NIL and the transfer portal. Fine,
to each his own. But cherry picking the best transfers every year to complement
the current roster is the way to win in the 2020s. UGA knows it, Ohio State
knows it. Clemson doesn’t get it. There is a clear talent gap and the Tigers
are on the wrong side of it. Dabo’s still a clown. Clem: 13—UGA: 38
Seeberg: College football is, mercifully, back! At least we can count on that every year, unlike the Longhorns. In any event, this is a banger of an opening week game. Wait, sorry, just now hearing it's 2024 and not 2018. I am beginning to get the distinct sense that we will be able to look at Clemson in 20 years' time and find out Fields and Co. may have broken that program like Krenzel and Co. broke the U. Of course, Dabo's pathetic inability to accept change is having a large say in that as well. How many Brinks trucks would the Tigers send to Saban's address right about now? Regardless, they just don't have the horses to compete for four quarters with the Bulldogs. UGA pulls away in the second half. Clem: 16--UGA: 34
Notre Dame Fighting Irish @ Texas A&M Aggies
Draper: Honestly, this should be the most interesting game of the week. Both teams enter with title aspirations, but there are questions EVERYWHERE. Can Riley Leonard pick up the mantle in South Bend? Can the Aggies finally break though without Jimbo hamstringing them? I don't really think either of these teams is up to the task this year, but this may be do or die already for Notre Dame with a relatively soft schedule and no conference championship game. A&M will have the SEC to plow through but this would be a nice feather in the cap for later resume arguments. In the end, I tend to think that the 12th man will be a little too much for Irish. If Connor Wegman can be serviceable, the Aggies will get a statement win for the SEC in week 1. One final thought: the Aggies new defensive minded head coach comes from Duke....the same place the new Irish QB comes from. Uh oh... ND: 20--TAMU: 24
Hoying: This game's too funny not to pick. One of these gets to come out of this one screaming, "It's finally our year!" while the other sucks down the copium that the shiny new 12-team Playoff will be their salvation after a disappointing start. And that's sad in a way: this game won't be nearly as devastating to the loser as it would have been even a year ago. Somehow A&M is favored in this game, which is surprising given that the Aggies have done a boatload of nothing since Johnny Football was freshman year Johnny Football, other than famously beat Alabama in 2021 (which accomplished nothing) and almost beat them a bunch of times since. Heck, even in the COVID year, when A&M went 9-1, they lost to the only good team they played (Alabama again) by 28 points (can you imagine). Notre Dame, meanwhile, has been achingly on the edge of greatness ever since Brian Kelly took over. In 2022 it was clear that they were a QB away from being a serious competitor. Then they picked up Sam Hartman, which was almost good enough to score more than 17 points against Ohio State at home. And then, after getting sliced and diced by Duke until Hartman's last minute scrambling heroics, they decided to steal Duke's QB, Riley Leonard instead. And he sucks! Regardless, and notwithstanding Kyle Field, the 12th Man, the Impossible Drill, Dude Perfect, etc., the Irish are the better team and should come out on top. ND: 24--TAMU: 20
Hoying: This game's too funny not to pick. One of these gets to come out of this one screaming, "It's finally our year!" while the other sucks down the copium that the shiny new 12-team Playoff will be their salvation after a disappointing start. And that's sad in a way: this game won't be nearly as devastating to the loser as it would have been even a year ago. Somehow A&M is favored in this game, which is surprising given that the Aggies have done a boatload of nothing since Johnny Football was freshman year Johnny Football, other than famously beat Alabama in 2021 (which accomplished nothing) and almost beat them a bunch of times since. Heck, even in the COVID year, when A&M went 9-1, they lost to the only good team they played (Alabama again) by 28 points (can you imagine). Notre Dame, meanwhile, has been achingly on the edge of greatness ever since Brian Kelly took over. In 2022 it was clear that they were a QB away from being a serious competitor. Then they picked up Sam Hartman, which was almost good enough to score more than 17 points against Ohio State at home. And then, after getting sliced and diced by Duke until Hartman's last minute scrambling heroics, they decided to steal Duke's QB, Riley Leonard instead. And he sucks! Regardless, and notwithstanding Kyle Field, the 12th Man, the Impossible Drill, Dude Perfect, etc., the Irish are the better team and should come out on top. ND: 24--TAMU: 20
Schweinfurth: Two teams that I don’t believe in until they actually win a
big game. TAMU has been a mess the last few years and it may take a while to
dig out. Notre Dame at least seems to be building something. The Domers should
win this. ND: 28—TAMU: 20
Seeberg: Are either of these teams...good? Signs point to maybe. Both are in the top 20. We know that Coach Freeman has struggled in big early season games, but playing the Buckeyes may be a bit of a high bar. The Aggies are certainly a step down from that. I don't see a ton of offense in this one, so the 12th man will be largely silenced. ND overpowers the Aggies. ND: 20--TAMU: 13
Southern California Trojans vs. Louisiana State Tigers (Sunday night)
Draper: This game has the potential to be really fun because neither team really knows what a "defense" is. I suppose the question is how good the LSU backup QB is. Lincoln Riley will certainly have playmakers flying around the field and a brilliant scheme, but the trenches should be dominated by the Boys from the Bayou. The loss of Alex Grinch will be a thing of the past, but one doesn't resurrect a defense in a heartbeat. I think the main winner in this game will be those betting the over, but the Tigahs should be able to parlay the Vegas crowd into a big early season win. USC: 30--LSU: 34
Hoying: OK, USC, welcome to the Big Ten. I'm ready to be disappointed. This is USC's first big-time early season SEC game since they got absolutely waxed by Alabama back in 2016 (which still didn't prevent them from ending up ranked #3 for some reason). This year's opponent isn't quite as daunting but this isn't 2016-17 era USC, either. The last time the Trojans were relevant they were graciously getting destroyed by Utah to open the door to CJ Stroud's last gasp at Buckeye immortality. Last season was just a series of comical farces in which Caleb Williams recorded inhuman feats while the defense refused to give the bare minimum to help him out. LSU wasn't exactly a steel trap on defense last year either, giving up north of 40 in each of their losses and above 30 in another five of their wins, but USC had offensive defense down to an art, giving up at least 34 points in each of their last nine (!) regular season games. Thankfully for the Trojans, the Grinch Who Stole Paychecks is no longer prowling their sidelines, but unless Jeff Hafley magically appears as his replacement, you aren't going to wash that stink off in just one season. LSU had the nation's top scoring offense last year and, while they may take a step back after losing their own Heisman winner, USC is about to find out that the SEC still just means more (points). USC: 27--LSU: 38
Hoying: OK, USC, welcome to the Big Ten. I'm ready to be disappointed. This is USC's first big-time early season SEC game since they got absolutely waxed by Alabama back in 2016 (which still didn't prevent them from ending up ranked #3 for some reason). This year's opponent isn't quite as daunting but this isn't 2016-17 era USC, either. The last time the Trojans were relevant they were graciously getting destroyed by Utah to open the door to CJ Stroud's last gasp at Buckeye immortality. Last season was just a series of comical farces in which Caleb Williams recorded inhuman feats while the defense refused to give the bare minimum to help him out. LSU wasn't exactly a steel trap on defense last year either, giving up north of 40 in each of their losses and above 30 in another five of their wins, but USC had offensive defense down to an art, giving up at least 34 points in each of their last nine (!) regular season games. Thankfully for the Trojans, the Grinch Who Stole Paychecks is no longer prowling their sidelines, but unless Jeff Hafley magically appears as his replacement, you aren't going to wash that stink off in just one season. LSU had the nation's top scoring offense last year and, while they may take a step back after losing their own Heisman winner, USC is about to find out that the SEC still just means more (points). USC: 27--LSU: 38
Schweinfurth: Has USC found a defense yet? Did they find a Heisman type
QB? Yea, I didn’t think so. LSU isn’t great, but they will be able to ball
somewhat easily. I don’t think LSU is any type of contender here, but they are
better than the Trojans. USC: 28—LSU: 42
Seeberg: Bit of a rebuild for both of these squads as both lost Heisman-winning QBs. USC, however, didn't really have much of a defense to lose to begin with. Quite frankly I'm astonished they're even ranked in the preseason. Lincoln will probably get the offense to function without Caleb Williams, but traveling to LSU in week 1 is bound to be a rude awakening for any team, regardless of talent or coaching. Say what you want about Brian Kelly but he's essentially Bo Pelini 2.0: Good for 10 wins a year. Yay upgrades! USC: 20--LSU: 31
Akron Zips @ THE Ohio State University Buckeyes
Draper: This is going to be one of those games in which Buckeye nation will just find something stupid to gripe about (I know I know...that's NEVER happened before). Of all the games this weekend, this is probably the worst of them all. A 50.5 point spread is laughable, but it is what it is. This year is all about making statements for this team. These seniors came back to beat TTUN, win the B1G, win the Natty, and chew gum....and they're all out of gum. While this game won't be close and the result will never be in doubt, an early interception, long pass given up on defense, missed FG, etc. will be magnified to epic proportions about why Day isn't the guy for the job. Stop it. Day has all he needs and we'll know on Nov. 30th at 3:30 PM if he can drive the ferrari, but for now, sit back and enjoy the ride. My pick for the surprising star of the afternoon will be true freshman Jeremiah Smith. I expect him to exceed the ridiculously high standards placed on him. Howard throws for 3 (2 to Smith) and runs in another (much to the joy of Buckeye nation) while Judkins and Henderson each account for another on the ground. The defense will be out for a statement so I'm calling for the shutout. Akr: 0--OSU: 58
Hoying: I'm trying to remember the last time this much hype surrounded the #2 team in the country. Yeah, there was Ohio State in 2020 and 2022, and Alabama/Clemson during their fierce mid-2010's rivalry. But the general consensus nationwide this season seems to be that the #2 Buckeyes, not #1 Georgia, have the best team in football on paper. The same consensus, however, points to Georgia winning the title due to the question marks over the heads of the Buckeyes' offensive line and the man standing behind them. The line should be...better...this year, but I feel like we've been saying this for three years straight at this point and we have precious little to show for it. If the line could have held out for a few fractions of a second more on one crucial play last year, the national championship wouldn't have needed to be asterisked and eventually rescinded. Of course, the Buckeyes were put in that position thanks to an atrocious early interception, the likes of which you would not expect to see from Stroud, or Fields, or Haskins, or even JT Barrett (that 2017 Iowa game, though). And I think that's all that we really need Will Howard to be. JT Barrett-level. He doesn't need to have a flawless deep ball, although it would be wonderful to be able to take advantage of the separation this year's WR corps is sure to create. Speaking of WRs, did I mention that Ryan Day is starting his first ever day one true freshman at offense this Saturday? That's right, Jeremiah Smith is about to do something that Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Marvin Harrison, Jr., never did: start on day one. This man may low-key be the Big Ten MVP by the time the season is done. As for the line, at least there's some consistency in personnel. Urban Meyer took a hit-or-miss 2012 O-line that anchored an inconsistent offense, and turned them into a nigh-unstoppable juggernaut in 2013. Just add Taylor Decker. And the addition of Alabama transfer Seth McLaughlin at center should be a huge boost to the big uglies up front, snapping yips in the Rose Bowl aside. I think I may be more confident in the line this year than in the QB, but that could just be the lingering McCord hangover and the known mediocrity of KSU Wildcat Will Howard. It could be that he just needs a better scheme to thrive in, but don't expect the second coming of Justin Fields. At any rate, with an opponent like Akron, we won't learn anything this weekend, unless something is really, really wrong. Bucks by a million, and fifteen more to go. OSU: 52--Akr: 7
Hoying: I'm trying to remember the last time this much hype surrounded the #2 team in the country. Yeah, there was Ohio State in 2020 and 2022, and Alabama/Clemson during their fierce mid-2010's rivalry. But the general consensus nationwide this season seems to be that the #2 Buckeyes, not #1 Georgia, have the best team in football on paper. The same consensus, however, points to Georgia winning the title due to the question marks over the heads of the Buckeyes' offensive line and the man standing behind them. The line should be...better...this year, but I feel like we've been saying this for three years straight at this point and we have precious little to show for it. If the line could have held out for a few fractions of a second more on one crucial play last year, the national championship wouldn't have needed to be asterisked and eventually rescinded. Of course, the Buckeyes were put in that position thanks to an atrocious early interception, the likes of which you would not expect to see from Stroud, or Fields, or Haskins, or even JT Barrett (that 2017 Iowa game, though). And I think that's all that we really need Will Howard to be. JT Barrett-level. He doesn't need to have a flawless deep ball, although it would be wonderful to be able to take advantage of the separation this year's WR corps is sure to create. Speaking of WRs, did I mention that Ryan Day is starting his first ever day one true freshman at offense this Saturday? That's right, Jeremiah Smith is about to do something that Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Marvin Harrison, Jr., never did: start on day one. This man may low-key be the Big Ten MVP by the time the season is done. As for the line, at least there's some consistency in personnel. Urban Meyer took a hit-or-miss 2012 O-line that anchored an inconsistent offense, and turned them into a nigh-unstoppable juggernaut in 2013. Just add Taylor Decker. And the addition of Alabama transfer Seth McLaughlin at center should be a huge boost to the big uglies up front, snapping yips in the Rose Bowl aside. I think I may be more confident in the line this year than in the QB, but that could just be the lingering McCord hangover and the known mediocrity of KSU Wildcat Will Howard. It could be that he just needs a better scheme to thrive in, but don't expect the second coming of Justin Fields. At any rate, with an opponent like Akron, we won't learn anything this weekend, unless something is really, really wrong. Bucks by a million, and fifteen more to go. OSU: 52--Akr: 7
Schweinfurth: No bones about it, this should and will be a blowout. The
only questions here is what does the usage look like for Judkins and Henderson.
What does the WR rotation look like? Can the defense pitch a shutout? Can Ryan
Day pull his starters before the end of the third quarter? I’m optimistic about
this team, but Ohio State’s best teams don’t win anything. I truly hope this
year bucks the trend. Kick back and enjoy this weekend. Football is back. OSU: 52--Akron: 3
Seeberg: A remarkable offseason in so many respects is FINALLY over. The Buckeyes take the field against an in-state opponent which has been a sure victory for over a century. Other than staying healthy I'm hoping to see two things: A consistent-if-not-yet-explosive offense and a dominant defense. There are at least five players on this side of the ball who would have been drafted if they had chosen to leave (Burke, JTT, Sawyer, Hamilton, Williams) and at least two more would have been drafted if they had been in college long enough (Downs, Styles). The 50-point spread has dropped to 48.5, likely a sign that smart money realizes the offense will need time to gel with a new QB, no Marv and an O-line that, while good, is thin, especially at tackle. Get out early, get comfortable, get LOTS of experience for new RBs and OL that they'll need inevitably for this long season. I'll be in the Shoe by 3 to watch TBDBITL kick off another season. Let's Go Bucks! OSU: 45--Akr: 3
Upset Special
Draper: South Dakota State over Oklahoma State (I wanted WVU)
Hoying: New Mexico over Arizona
Schweinfurth: WVU over Penn State
Seeberg: Fresno State over TCUN
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