A Great Weekend of College Football Matchups

Submitted by alum96 on

I know this is a Michigan focused blog but some of us just enjoy the entire landscape of college football and for those folks, this is an exciting weekend of matchups.  One benefit of the playoff seems to be (generally ...excluding much of the SEC) some better inter conference matchups.  So with this website stocked full of analysis of Utah-Michigan all day Friday and overflowing into Saturday I'll sneak this in today, and give some thoughts on the bigger matchups of the weekend.  Share what games you are looking forward to and why if you wish.  I expect to overdose on CFB this weekend!

Thursday (EST)

  • 6:00 PM  North Carolina v South Carolina - something to keep us busy starting @ 6 PM.  ACC v SEC.
  • 8:30 PM  The only game that matters
  • 9:00 PM  TCU v Minn - I expect TCU to bring the Gopher hype train to a rude stop.  With the loss of Mad Maxx and Cobb, Minnesota's offense has no way to keep up with the Boykin machine that is TCU's offense (which itself was totally revolutionized in the 2013 offseason from a plodding run based system).  Big 12 v Big 10.

(Local flavor - CMU takes a road trip to what should be a much better Oklahoma State squad)

 

Friday

  • 7:00 PM  MSU v Western Michigan - MSU went hardcore with their scheduling, with a MAC team.  Of course WMU disrespected MSU by deciding to actually play this game rather than foreit.  I do expect MSU's defense to give up pts in this game as Western has a QB better than 80% of what the Big 10 has to offer, and a stud WR.  But MSU should dominate the trenches and dominate WMU's defense.  Projecting a 45-21 type of game that will be relatively close at halftime and raise blood pressure before it turns into a 2nd half blowout.
  • 7:00 PM Baylor v SMU - another strange road game for a top 5 team.  While in state you'd thnk Baylor was at the point SMU would come to them.  Expect a score of 150ish-30 as Baylor breaks in a new QB.
  • 8:00 PM Weber St v Oregon State - a turrible game by all accounts but if you want to preview what could be the Pac 12s worst team this year (competing with Colorado), and Michigan's 2nd week opponent here is your chance.  Oregon St will be breaking in a new QB, and a new defense that was bad last year and lost almost every starter.
  • 10:15 PM Washington v Boise State - A mid tier Pac 12 goes on the road to take on what could end up an undefeated squad this year in BSU.  Don't adjust your television sets, that's the correct color field.  Pac 12 v Mountain West.

 

Saturday

  • Noon  Stanford v Northwestern - A rare decent noon game in the modern era.   Stanford's offense should be better than the crap show that showed up last year, and combined with its now annual solid defense will prove a big test for Northwestern in its raucous home field.  Pac 12 v Big 10
  • 3:30 PM  Louisville v Auburn (@ Georgia Dome)  -  Petrino is an awful human being but a darn good coach.  Auburn breaks in a new QB but brings in one of the best DCs in the country to help balance their team as they make a push to get back to the SEC title game.  Root for Petrino if you like Gary to UM!  ACC v SEC.
  • 3:30 PM  BYU v Nebraska - this is my UPSET SPECIAL of the week.  Taysom Hill and that prolific offense is going to overwhelm the blackshirts, who are adjusting to Mike Riley and lose Randy Gregory from what was a not great defense last year (amiright Wisconsin?)  With a not very accurate QB in Armstrong Jr and Abdullah gone I suspect Nebraska is going to have a very difficult time keeping pace with the offense output BYU will deliver.   Nebraska fans will politely thank BYU for beating them after the game.  Watch this game for Taysom Hill alone.  Ind v Big 10.
  • 7:00 PM  Arizona State v Texas A&M - this could be the most entertaining game of the day.  Both offenses should be a fireworks show and A&M hired one of the best defensive coordinators in the country after Sumlin figured out following the Rich Rod model at UM doesn't really work very well.  Defense is no longer optional at A&M but we'll see how long it takes for Chavis to impact that side of the ball.  If Arizona State did not play in such a tough division where everyone will beat each other up they'd be my darkhorse for the 4th playoff spot.  Pac 12 v Big 12 SEC duh.
  • 7:30 PM  Texas v Notre Dame -  Charlie Strong had to clean out the stink left over from the Mack Brown era and his "2013 Michigan like" offense last year was not a thing of beauty.  He did immediately have Texas (usually) playing very good defense and I'd expect the longer he is there the more frightful that defense becomes at Texas.  Can the offense do anything this year?  Notre Dame brings back a ton of starters and a purple faced coach.  To hell with Notre Dame.  Big 12 vs Ind...errr ACC.
  • 8:00 PM   Wisconsin v Alabama (@Jerry Jones Dome)  - Not the mismatch most think it is IMO.  Alabama lost almost it's entire offense and yes they are all 4-5 stars to replace the old 4-5 stars but still no Cooper to bail out the offense, and the OL is being rebuilt.  This is the perfect time for a relatively veteran team to play a very young Bama.  Wisconsin is tough in the trenches and should give Bama a good battle there.  Wisconsin is built like Arkansas and Arkansas gave Bama all it could handle last year without a good QB themselves.  If Stave can do anything in this stage and Clement is half the hype they have made him out to be, this could be a very close game to the end. 

 

Monday

  • 8:00 PM Some Random Team south of Michigan v VA Tech -  VA Tech wins with defense and special teams.  Random team wins with 18th string QB.   Hopefully history repeats itself.  Big 10 v ACC.

BornSinner

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:08 PM ^

The BYU Nebraska match up will give us a great look at how Taysom Hill recovered from his injury last year. 

Texas Notre Dame is my other intriguing match up... I just want Charlie Strong to be successful. Nothing would be sweeter than Texas turning it around over Notre Dame. Haha. 

alum96

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:17 PM ^

I am a big Charlie Strong fan - I love old school bad asses.  With the talent they get if Charlie can do anything on the offensive side of the ball they should be back to being a perennial top 10 team in short order.  Their OL was like UM in 2013 and PSU in 2014 last year.  #NoGentryForYouCharlie

Unfort ND has one of the most experienced 2 deeps and Texas the least experienced among P5s and its in South Bend. 

GoBlueInNYC

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:24 PM ^

I believe Texas just announced that they're starting two true freshman on their OL. They are so, so young - tons of freshman and RS freshman all over their depth chart.

I also want Strong to succeed; I just hope he can keep his head above water long enough to rebuild the roster post-Brown.

alum96

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:29 PM ^

Yep that sucks, I wonder what happened to their OL recruiting in the late Mack era to cause this clusterf****.

Well I assume he gets 4 years which is the ceiling at blue bloods to turn things around.  With their very popular AD (ahem), they might both get swept together by 2017 if he can't deliver an offense.  Which would be fine as by then Durkin will be a HC somewhere and we'll take Strong as our DC.  Strong has Harbaugh guy written all over him and he and Mattison worked together for years (unfort he is also a Meyer guy).

GoBlueInNYC

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:50 PM ^

I can't speak for the alumni that matter (i.e., the rich ones), but among all me and my UT alumni friends, everyone seems much more taken with Strong than with AD Patterson. I doubt Strong gets caught up with the AD if and when Patterson finally gets ousted.

As to what happened with their OL, I think it has less to do with recruiting and more that the OL was particularly hard hit by Strong's hardline discipline. There were at least a couple of key guys who got tossed last year for disciplinary reasons. Plus I think there have been some injury issues, which just compounded the depth problems.

Hopefully, their QB play will be improved. With their OL issues, I really hope Swoopes has calmed down and learned to keep his head under pressure better this year.

TheFugitive

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:09 PM ^

This isn't Vietnam, there are rules. Mr Yost is going to be pissed you put up an open thread 28+ hours before kickoff.

DonAZ

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:17 PM ^

Arizona hosting UTSA is interesting, but not compelling.

Interesting because UTSA is where Russell Bellomy transferred to.

Interesting because UTSA damn near beat Arizona last year in San Antonio.  This year it's Tucson.

But not compelling because it falls smack against Meeechigan game!!!

alum96

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:20 PM ^

Yep I remember seeing that last year - same squad that got lucky to beat UTSA knocked off Oregon in Oregon half a season later.   RR was breaking in a RS FR QB however so it makes some sense. 

That Pac 12 south is friggin loaded, esp if USC is finally back to form or close to it.  UCLA game is interesting to me as well - if Josh Rosen can come in and play better than a typical true freshman that team is loaded almost everywhere else.  Then you throw ASU, Arizona, and Utah in there and its a case for the 2nd best division in CFB. And an easy case.

 

DonAZ

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:31 PM ^

I will keep half an eye on the UofA game, but I suspect this to be all Arizona.  I doubt Bellomy will play for UTSA.  But knowing something about the game will let me speak cogently at the water cooler the next day.

The other game this weekend I'm curious about is Florida.  They're playing a cupcake (New Mexico State), but it's their first step out of the darkness with a new coach.  Florida wins, but will we see anything like a glimmer of what might be?

Agree about Pac-12 South.  Last year my adopted school to follow was UCLA.  I can't bring myself to root for USC ever.

Rabbit21

September 3rd, 2015 at 9:40 AM ^

I'm frustrated by the SEC crazies too, but let's not go crazy just yet.  PAC-12 South has a lot of goog, but perhaps not yet elite teams.  USC is still coached by Sarkisian, UCLA has a freshman QB, Arizona St. and Utah just don't quite seem ready, and I'm not yet convinced Arizona wasn't the recipient of a crazy amount of luck last year, and Colorado is still a disaster.  

By contrast you can make a case for each of the SEC West teams to be in the Top 25 at the end of the year.   

HimJarbaugh

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:25 PM ^

I think your assessment is off on some of these teams. Washington should continue to improve and Petersen is one of the best coaches in the country. I wouldn't consider them middling, in fact they may be on the rise while Oregon and Stanford are on the decline.

Also, Wisconsin is kind of screwed. Their lack of a QB cost them against LSU last year and Alabama, while losing some guys, isn't returning much less than Wisconsin and Alabama's talent is very different from Wisconsin's. Plus, it is Paul Chryst's first game as HC. I would be very surprised if Wisconsin can keep it close.

alum96

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:34 PM ^

Well they were 8-6 last year - I consider that middling.  I am trying to figure out how they played 14 games without a conf title game - strange.  ??  Their wins were Hawaii, FCS Eastern Washington (yes which had a good QB but still), Illinois, GA State, and 3 dregs of the Pac 12 - Oregon State, Colorado, and Cal.

It's year 1 and I am not judging their very good coach on it but right now they are just a middle of the pack Iowa of the West until Peterson sprinkles his fairy dust.

 

Above and Beyond

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:26 PM ^

Not a bad schedule at all, actually. I will not be watching the MSU and OSU games, though; simply because I hate them and don't want to contribute to their television ratings. Now, when I check the halftime scores and see that they're losing, then I might tune to them.

This nonsense of playing college games in NFL stadiums needs to be put to death. I'm so fucking sick of it. College stadiums have far better character and atmospheres than those of the NFL.

Also, I wonder when the last time was when Michigan, MSU, and OSU all started their seasons on the road in the same season.

WolverineHistorian

September 2nd, 2015 at 3:07 PM ^

I tried looking it up but I discovered that OSU has opened their season on the road just three times since 1945. Against West Virginia in 1998, at Minnesota in 1974 and at MSU in 1973. So I don't think it's ever happened.

The last time Michigan and MSU both opened on the road was 1990.




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Brags123

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:28 PM ^

Western played a competitive game against MSU two years ago in the opener and that was the year WMU went 1-11 and MSU won the rose bowl so i am just saying anything can happen. WMU held MSU to one offensive touchdown that game and WMU star wr Corey Davis was just a freshman and beat MSU (future NFL) CBs on numerous occassions. MSU may have more talent but i won't put it past WMU to pull some tricks out of the play book and get into space with their speed on offense. Also MSU is probably looking ahead to Oregon thinking this game is in the bag. I am not saying WMU is guarranteed a win but i think they will definitely surprise a lot of people.

alum96

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:42 PM ^

Yep - that was Davis' first game and he as a true freshman had some chances vs a 1st round NFL pick in Dennard but their QB could not deliver the ball.   I think MSU's D knocked out Western's QB as well - not that he was doing well at that time.

Just recall that was the year Bullough was playing running back to start the year, and Cook was in an open competition with Maxwell (and maybe O'Connor?) and at that point looked like a 8th string QB when he threw the ball.  And the OL was coming off an injury ravaged season as well.  So it's a very diff MSU squad.  The MSU offense the first 2-3 games that year looked like  a FCS team.

But again, MSU's defense can be slashed if you have a good QB - something they rarely see in the Big 10.  Western's QB would probably be the 4th best QB in the Big 10 right now (if you mold all of OSU's QB into 1 player).  And Davis would be a top 5 WR in our conf.  Western is actually in good shape at skill position - I just expect their lines, especially their D line - to get mauled.

Brags123

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:44 PM ^

WMU QB had a completion % last year around 70%, albeit they threw a lot of screen passes. MSU is stout defensively up front but WMU returns a veteran O-Line. So if the WMU can give the QB time to throw he might have some luck against a LB corp missing their best LB and a depleted secondary. It might end up being a higher scoring back and forth game but with a spread at MSU -18 i would take that bet to not cover anyday!

alum96

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:54 PM ^

Franklin was also a revelation as a freshman RB.  Obviously Fleck can identify talent well.  Only issue is NO ONE runs on MSU who is not named OSU.  If Western can run on MSU it would open up a lot of things but I would doubt it with the way they scheme and devote 9 guys to stopping the run often.  You have to pass first, run second on MSU's scheme - if you can consistently deliver the 12 yard out patterns and get your slots to occupy their safeties, then you finally open lanes to run in.  Oregon finally did that early in the 4th quarter, and Purdue copied that since Appleby actually played well (completed 65% of his passes).  But the typical Big 10 QB is content with 53% - which is doom vs that defense. 

Brags123

September 2nd, 2015 at 3:07 PM ^

If WMU has any sort of run game it will drastically help their chances in this game. WMU also has a couple speedy back up running back options as well to compliment Franklin so he won't have the entire work load on him like last year. It just requires making a hole for them to run through which will be a challenge. Will probably see lots of screen passes to start until the defense keeps people back to protect against it and then hopefuly that opens up the run game.

Fun side note: Duckett brothers are honorary captains for MSU this game and i suggested to coach fleck that he should get Terry Crews (wmu football alum) to be their captain and he said he actually tried but Terry wouldn't do it.

WolverineHistorian

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:48 PM ^

That is a surprisingly good list of games. And nothing like what we've been subjected to this past decade with 95% of the bigger schools playing teams like Southeastern Idaho Community College on opening weekend.




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Steves_Wolverines

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:54 PM ^

It's a great opening week of college football even if we were to keep our midwest, B1G glasses on. HUGE week for the conference:

Obviously, Michigan @ Utah

TCU, projected to make the playoff, comes to MInnesota, the darkhorse to win the B1G west.

Wisconsin with a primetime match-up against a consensus pick for the playoff, Alabama.

Nebraska gets to preview BYU for us.

Michigan State on the road against and "on-the-rise" WMU.

Northwestern gets to host the darkhorse to win the Pac-12, Stanford.

Penn State and James Franklin open on the road in an interesting game with Temple.

Ohio State looks to get redemption against VT, on the road.

Purdue is another road game, against Rany Moss' alma mater, Marshall.

The rest (Rutgers, Maryland, Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa) look to not embarass the conference with home games against cupcakes. 

Of games with betting lines, the B1G is to lose 5 of the 10 (underdogs are Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, and Wisconsin). If, as a conference, the B1G were to win at least 2 of the 5 underdog games, and 5 of 5 favorites-to-win games (MSU, OSU, Neb, PSU, and Ill), then it will be a very impressive week, and keep the momentum rolling from bowl season last year. 

Prediction: B1G goes 11-3. Losses from Purdue, Northwestern, and Minnesota. 

wolverine1987

September 2nd, 2015 at 3:39 PM ^

I would love the conference to win all of them (I'm one of those guys who think people who don't root for our conference, or care about other teams in the B!G winning noin-conf. games just really are totally short sighted and wrong). But I think break even will be lucky, and in the big matchups, I think Wisc will be very lucky to even get within the spread, Stanford will be way better than  NW this year, and Neb will lose to BYU. 

WorldwideTJRob

September 2nd, 2015 at 3:09 PM ^

The only bad thing about this weekend is that next weekend is going to stink. Besides Oregon/MSU & Okla./Vols there aren't than many intriguing match ups next week. Wish it was a way to spread these games around all of September.




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Mr. Yost

September 2nd, 2015 at 3:18 PM ^

2015 College Football Viewing Schedule

Thursday, September 3

TIME (ET)

MATCHUP

TV

6:00 PM

North Carolina vs. South Carolina*

ESPN

6:00 PM

Florida Intl at UCF

CBS Sports Network

8:30 PM

Michigan at Utah

FOX Sports 1

 

Friday, September 4

TIME (ET)

MATCHUP

TV

3:30 PM

Charlotte at Georgia State

ESPNU

7:00 PM

Baylor at SMU

ESPN

10:15 PM

Washington at Boise State

ESPN

 

Saturday, September 5

TIME (ET)

MATCHUP

TV

PPV

MOBILE

TICKETS

12:00 PM

Stanford at Northwestern

ESPN

   

1,884 available from $17

3:30 PM

Louisville vs. Auburn*

CBS

   

Buy on StubHub

3:30 PM

Virginia at UCLA

FOX

   

1,481 available from $50

7:30 PM

Texas at Notre Dame

NBC

   

538 available from $450

8:00 PM

Wisconsin vs. Alabama*

ABC

   

Buy on StubHub

 

Monday, September 7

TIME (ET)

MATCHUP

TV

8:00 PM

Ohio State at Virginia Tech

ESPN

 

Saturday, September 12

TIME (ET)

MATCHUP

TV

12:00 PM

Oregon State at Michigan

ABC

6:00 PM

Oklahoma at Tennessee

ESPN

8:00 PM

Oregon at Michigan State

ABC

9:15 PM

LSU at Mississippi State

ESPN

10:30 PM

UCF at Stanford

FOX Sports 1



 

Thursday, September 17

TIME (ET)

MATCHUP

TV

7:30 PM

Clemson at Louisville

ESPN

 

Saturday, September 19

TIME (ET)

MATCHUP

TV

12:00 PM

UNLV at Michigan

 

3:30 PM

Georgia Tech at Notre Dame

NBC

3:30 PM

Nebraska at Miami (FL)

ABC ESPN2

3:30 PM

Auburn at LSU

CBS

6:00 PM

South Carolina at Georgia

ESPN

7:00 PM

Texas Tech at Arkansas

ESPN2

7:30 PM

Florida at Kentucky

7:30 PM

California at Texas

FOX

8:00 PM

Stanford at USC

ABC

9:15 PM

Ole Miss at Alabama

ESPN

10:30 PM

BYU at UCLA

FOX Sports 1

 

gwkrlghl

September 2nd, 2015 at 4:01 PM ^

Baylor played AT Buffalo last year so at SMU doesn't surprise me much. I don't know what Baylor's AD is doing but they're scheduling like they're a mid major program. If you're a big name in the Big 5 you really shouldn't be playing at a mid major. That goes for MSU too. You might not be college royalty yet but you might want to act like it if you ever wanna get there