This Weekend in College Football: Week 2

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

11:00: Ohio @ Pittsburgh (ACC): Why is this on this early? Who knows, I won’t (slash can’t) watch it anyway. Pitt.

Noon:

  • Cincinnati @ Ohio State (ABC): We’ve actually got a pretty interesting noon slate this week, and this might be most interesting of them all. Cincy probably doesn’t have the talent to win, but they’ve certainly got enough to make it interesting. So, suffice it to say, I’m taking the Buckeyes.
  • Army @ Michigan (FOX): I don’t think this will be as close as many say. Going with Michigan all the way.
  • Syracuse @ Maryland (ESPN): ‘Cuse? Yeah, sure, that sounds right, let’s go with them, mainly because the alternative is, you know, Maryland.
  • West Virginia @ Missouri (ESPN2): These are two teams trying to figure it out, but I think Mizzou may have gotten cosmically unlucky in Laramie last weekend, so I’ll go with them at home.
  • Rutgers @ Iowa (FS1): This is certainly a Big Ten conference game you could totally watch on any television. Yep. I have no idea why, though. Iowa.
  • Old Dominion @ Virginia Tech (ESPNU): VPI may downplay the revenge angle, but I say, embrace it. Don’t get embarrassed again!
  • Bowling Green @ Kansas State (FSN): I’m still easing into the 2019 season right now, so let’s just go with K-State.
  • Vanderbilt @ Purdue (BTN): Vandy lost to Georgia last week, which okay, fine, sure. Purdue went on the road to Reno and lost to Nevada. Whoops! I’ll go with Vandy here.
  • Alabama-Birmingham @ Akron (CBSS): I know nothing about these two teams right now, so let’s go with the people’s champ, UAB.

1:00: Northern Illinois @ Utah (Pac12): Lot of games this week, and this one of them that you could watch on the West Coast. Well, unless you have DirecTV, then I guess not. Anyway, Utah.

2:00: Southern Florida @ Georgia Tech (ACC): So I was able to watch the first half the Clemson game and I didn’t have time to watch the second half. Frankly, I didn’t need to. This GT team is definitely a work in progress. There were some encouraging signs, like a much improved defense that managed to hold Clemson in check to the highest extent possible. But nothing perhaps summarized the offensive differences than the repeated attempts in short yardage situations that lost year. I mean, get Tobias Oliver back under center if that’s what it takes to punch it in from a yard out, we should still be good at it. I despised short yardage deep handoffs even before my alma mater ran an offense that, generally speaking, was always good for at least a yard, so I would like us to be able to at least correct that deficiency from last week.

3:30:

  • Nebraska @ Colorado (FOX): BIG EIGHT TIME! Some folks may remember when this was a big game. I’d say my Mom, but she’s from Kansas, so yeah she didn’t like either of these schools. I guess I’m going with the Cornhuskers?
  • Texas A&M @ Clemson (ABC): I HAVE GOT NO SLEEP OVER THE PAST WEEK AND I NEED OT FIGURE OUT HOW I’M GOING TO WATCH GEORGIA TECH TOMORROW, SO… LIGHTNING ROUND! Clemson.
  • Southern Mississippi @ Mississippi State (ESPNU): Miss Stat,e probably./
  • Central Michigan @ Wisconsin (BTN): Wisky.
  • Illinois @ Connecticut (CBSS): Uh, Illinois?

4:00:

  • Texas-San Antonio @ Baylor (FSN): Baylor.
  • New Mexico State @ Alabama (SEC): Bama.

4:15: San Diego State @ California-Los Angeles (Pac12): SDSU!

5:00: Louisiana-Monroe @ Florida State (ACC): FSU?

7:00:

  • Brigham Young @ Tennessee (ESPN): BYU.
  • Central Florida @ Florida Atlantic (CBSS): UCF.
  • Coastal Carolina @ Kansas (ESPN+): This is the first one in a while to give me pause, and it is a FBS vs. FBS game! But yeah, Kansas, Les Miles or no, should win this one.
  • Wyoming @ Texas State (ESPN+): LIGHTNING ROUND RESUMES! Wyoming.
  • Western Kentucky @ Florida International (ESPN+): FIU?

7:30:

  • Louisiana State @ Texas (ABC): These are both good teams, but if LSU actually has an offense now, then I have to go with them.
  • Buffalo @ Pennsylvania State (FOX): Penn State.
  • Tulane @ Auburn (ESPN2): Auburn.
  • Arkansas @ Mississippi (SEC): Oh geez, this game already has the feel of a game that will determine who comes in last in the SEC West. Arkansas may be slightly less of a disaster than Ole Miss though, so let’s go with them.
  • Western Michigan @ Michigan State (BTN): Sparty!
  • Nevada @ Oregon (Pac12): Well, Nevada will be able to at least say they beat a Big Te team.
  • Liberty @ Louisiana-Lafayette (ESPN+): Go Cajuns.

8:00: Miami @ North Carolina (ACC): I think most were surprised by UNC’s win over South Carolina last week, and also surprised by how bad Miami looked against Florida. Naturally, I’m picking Miami to win.

10:30:

  • Stanford @ Southern California (ESPN): We’re arriving at the west coast night caps, and just in time. I like Stanford here.
  • California @ Washington (FS1): If UDub can score 21 in this game, I really like their chances, but that’s a big if.
  • Minnesota @ Fresno State (CBSS): I think this will go a long way to tell us about both of these programs, but for now I’m going to take Minnesota, but I don’t like it.