College Football Week 1 Picks: Georgia-Clemson, Miami-Florida + OSU, Alabama, Nebraska Openers

Welcome to Until Saturday as long as georg's offensive line can protect Carson Beck he may have a big day where we come out Sunday saying that's the new you know Heisman Trophy leader after week one I'm David abbin I'm Chris venini and I'm Damen Harris and this is until Saturday the Athletics college football podcast week zero was already full of surprises and if that's any indication of what the season's going to hold we are ready for week one we are here there is football games real football games a lot of them we're going to talk about a whole bunch of them on today's show we'll preview we'll pick those week one matchups from Clemson Georgia to Notre Dame Texas A&M Miami and Florida later in the show dozens of programs are set to debut new starting quarterbacks but how will they Fair we're going to look at some of those from will Howard at Ohio State Dylan Rola at Nebraska Jackson Arnold at Oklahoma and plenty more go under center for the first time in their new schools uh and which teams can recover from their weak zero hangovers that's you Florida State they've got a big Monday night game and to close out Today's show a new week means new trivia and of course crunch time running you through the news and notes that you need to have and I hope you enjoyed our new theme music I think that was uh Chris Vini on the horns there uh playing I think that was good Chris uh welcome to the show guys it's we're here it's it's week one week zero I don't even think calling week week Colorado-NDSU zero an appetizer is fair it was more of an Amo boou we are here with a real games and a real slate of games how are we feeling Damen all I got to say is bust down my AP perfect timeing listen I am so excited to see Colorado open up the season listen you got the songs you got the cars you got the nil deals you got the jewelry now it's time to see if we'll get some wins so I'm super excited to see what Colorado puts up week one yeah for those of you guys watch on YouTube on Friday you probably already know what happened but for those listening to the podcast this afternoon we we hadn't played the game yet so we're going to talk about a little bit I will be there uh I'm excited to see this Colorado well I'm there now be I will be in the stadium I'm currently in the state of Colorado uh waiting to head up there a little bit later uh again all lines today by the way are presented by bmgm Colorado a 10-point favorite tonight against the North Dakota bisen over under of 60 and a half it's also notable uh Tim pesic new coach uh he said star safety Cole wisuki out for a significant amount of time after foot surgery so the Bison already down probably their best player and they're already rebooting the coaching staff after Matt an left um but Tim pesk has been at North Dakota state for 10 total Seasons throughout his career various iterations of the program a deeply Wisconsin man I watched his press conference this week the Wisconsin is is oozing off of him I know he loves cheese Chris wait wait real quick you want know how bunch of Wisconsin man he is he was working at a I think D3 or D2 uh Wisconsin school as like a volunteer assistant essentially and beat he was a lumberjack on the side when he got a call from Craig Bow saying hey do you want to come work at North Dakota State and uh Tim POC I wrote the story back in 2020 he was in the middle of drinking Miller Light he's in his like big machine that they used to cut down the trees and he went to nor he he had to sell a golf club to get the money to drive up to North Dakota State for the job interview he slept in the Fargo Dome for a while he's bounced around been at Iowa been at Wyoming now he's back at North Dakota State he is uh he is as Upper Midwest as it gets I was going to sayest than that well guys how how we feeling coming into this one uh Daman what are what are you g to be watching tonight and where do you think this thing ends up yeah I'm super excited about tonight you know first and foremost I want to see how does shadur Sanders perform like I said you got the songs you got the jewelry you got the mayback truck the Tesla truck you got the songs I mean you got it all but I want to see if you can produce some wins and I think the best way that Colorado has a chance to do that is by protecting him like last year all we talked about was Colorado's offensive line they're not protecting shadur he doesn't have enough time he's a great player but he doesn't have enough time to make plays so I really look to see if Colorado has stepped up this off season stepped up their offensive line stepped up their job protecting shadur Sanders that way he can get the ball fall out to Travis Hunter and let him make plays yeah I think that's kind of going to be what this this game is about and this whole season is about about absolutely does car have something can they have something resembling a running game you know not only just protecting shora but part of that is teams knew they didn't have to respect it you know Dylan Edwards is gone but they pick up D Hayden from Ohio State we'll kind of see if if Charlie Alfred all the the walk-on that Dion loves you know shows up there but Dion said hey we want to run the ball we want to stop the run they didn't do a ton of that last year um Chris what are you keeping an eye on tonight I think it's important to know this isn't the North Dakota State of a few years ago when they were winning all those FCS championships they have fallen short of that the last couple years they still are a top five FCS program but their coach Matt an just left for the linebacker job at USC in the offseason that's why they had a coaching change so it is a program in transition like you said I just think like there is so much on the line here we talked about it on on Monday but like the vies coming out of Colorado in Fall Camp have not been good not good at all it's not been good but it's all for nonf football reasons too it's not like uh there's certain things that that are it's it's all this stuff with the media and and all that kind of stuff maybe Deion Sanders is taking the attention away from the team to put it on himself less pressure on the kids maybe coaches do that maybe but but everybody is waiting he's he's right everybody's waiting to pounce on Colorado if this doesn't go well and if you lose this opening game you got to make sure the the floodgates don't don't go from there I do think Colorado is going to be improved from last year they're going to be better in the trenches especially the defensive line and and I think that should be enough I think I think North Dakota State's gonna have a real issue covering I mean the the strength of this Colorado team has been for the entirety of the Sanders tenure shador can throw it around and they got a bunch of receivers they only added if you will Shepard came in from Vanderbilt lante Wester from from Florida Atlantic they only got deeper they still have Travis Hunter they still have Jimmy all those guys so I think that's going to be a struggle for North Dakota state but I also think North Dakota state is going to be able to grind it out slow it down I think Colorado wins this game but I like North Dakota state to to cover uh Damen what do you like tonight I like Colorado I think if they can protect shadur Sanders and he can get the ball out to Travis Hunter and his other skilled players I think they'll be just fine again a key emphasis for their team has been improving that offensive line getting some bigger guys getting some guys that can protect shadur I think they can also use some work on the defensive line I mean North Dakota state is going to try to slow this game down they're going to try to run the ball they're going to try to control the clock they're going to try to control the tempo of the game but their defensive line needs to stand up they need to be tough in the trenches their offensive line needs to be an anchor they need to uh set depth and width in the pocket let shadur be able to play from inside out and get the ball out to a skill players if they do that they'll be able to win Chris what do you got tonight yeah I think that's a good point there if North Dakota State's going to win this game they're going to have to keep possession of the ball in long drives it's what we saw Georgia Tech do to Florida State last week and Colorado I'm curious what their Tempo is going to be cuz last year they ran a ton of plays on both sides of the ball so can they keep Colorado off the field ultimately I think the skill of Colorado is too much I think they'll hold up in the trenches I think Colorado wins I think they cover and I think everybody kind of holds off on uh jumping on Deion Sanders uh for for another week until next week at Nebraska we'll see uh let's Notre Dame-Texas A&M get to the games that have not happened yet uh for all of our listeners and we got a big one Notre Dame a top 10 team going on the road they're going to be an underdog Damian what do you see here Notre Dame three-point Underdog at Texas A&M the over under 46 and a half again brought to you by bam Jim Dam what do you see for forre Dame in their opener I see an unbelievable opportunity I mean you're a top 10 team in the country you're the underdog in your first game you're playing in a tough environment at Kyle Field like we've talked about at nauseum I mean what an opportunity that Notre Dame has to come out and show that they're for real we've talked about the 12 team playoff expansion and in my opinion it's perfect for a team like Notre Dame somebody that's always knocking on the door but just not quite good enough this year they have an extended playoff and they have a perfect opportunity so if I'm one of those guys on the Notre Dame team if I'm in that locker room if I'm one of the leaders on that team I've got a and I'm making sure everybody on the team has a walk in your trap and take over y trap mentality because we feel disrespected like how are we the higher ranked team and we're the underdog like this is supposed to be our year so like I said at the beginning it's an incredible opportunity to come out and show what this team is about put all the N all the naysayers to bed at the at the beginning of the season and this is a win that I feel like can give a team confidence going out throughout the rest of the year you know tough games in the middle of the Season tough games at the end of the season down the stretch I mean I feel like if you win a tough road game against a tough Texas A&M team uh to start the season I definitely think that'll give you confidence is going into the year and I I think I could earn some some respect I think you know not to the level of Colorado but people are kind of waiting to pounce on Notre Dame too I mean Notre Dame outside of Colorado probably leads the nation in haters and one of them if you can yeah and if you can win this game listen Texas A&M's not World beaters but they're a good team with a good roster and and there's not going to be a lot of questions about is this team legit you went into Kyle you beat a pretty good A&M team so I I think A&M wins this game but I do think that there is an opportunity there uh sorry I think Texas yeah Texas wins this game but I think there is an opportunity for Notre Dame to to get it done and and actually really um have a have a chance to be a a team that that earns a lot of respect in week one Chris what do you see I I I want to see what Notre Dame's passing offense looks like you brought in Riley Leonard from duke he's coming off of injury you also brought in some transfer receivers that that has been the problem for Notre Dame the last couple years they haven't had the really good receivers that they used to have so so can they show something there can they move the ball in the air you've got Mike denck the offensive coordinator came back from LSU where he coached Jaden Daniels to a Heisman Trophy last year with some first round wide receivers so I really want to see if Notre Dame can move the ball through the air and we talked on on Monday who has the most to lose in these week one games Notre Dame I think I had Notre Dame three I feel like I should have had Notre Dame higher because if they lose this game I don't know if a 10- two Notre Dame gets in the playoff you know at at the end of the year it's going to be close they only have so many only have like three opportunities for some some not wins I don't think so we'll see I got a question here though not Dame three-point under three-point Underdog throw rank number seven A&M's number 20 can we call this an upset if A&M wins I know technically it's not how do we Define upset here I feel like this is the quintessential like iset it's more of a coin flip because they're it's the preseason it's week one we don't know anything about these teams A&M might be one of the five best teams the country we we don't know preseason polls are are literally guesses so I probably will not refer to it as an upset because I think it's pretty close to a coin flip I don't particularly care about the preseason polls but you know you hit on a new OC new quarterback no Joe no Joe Al no Blake fiser I going on the road to for a new offensive line and and communication and all that stuff in Kyle Field that's that's a tough place to uh to to get started I almost would call it an upset though personally just because when you look at what Notre Dame has done they've had two improved Seasons the last two years they won two bowl games I think the trajectory that they're on and again with them again it's it's preseason rankings don't necessarily mean anything we haven't seen anything of these teams yet so we don't know what they're going to be but I think the direction that Marcus Freeman is taking this team if they start this season out again a top 10 ranked team and losing on the road to a granted Texas s him his favor but a team that on paper isn't supposed to be as good as you and my mind I think that would be an upset all right so I've got A&M winning that game and covering Chris what do you got I've got Notre Dame winning and covering the three points they're getting I've got text winning got it I got A&M granted I just talked about how huge of an opportunity that Notre Dame has and I would love to see them take advantage of it believe me I want to see Georgia-Clemson them solidify themselves as a team who is to be reckoned with but cyfield and agilan I'm going to go with A&M Georgia and Clemson are going to play Georgia 13 and a half point favorites against the Tigers over under 48 and a half a lot of story lines in this game Georgia sort of rebuilding but still a bunch of pieces still back from that team Chris what are you looking for for the Bulldogs my big question in this matchup is really on the Clemson side and it's can Cade kumnick live up to that hype still or or or is that train pass cuz Clemson's offense last year they were 90th in the country in a explosive plays of of 30 plus yards this is you're not going to be able to Dink and dunk against George's defense you're going to have to get explosive plays and it's a team that could not do that last year and so you know georg's got some injuries in the middle of that line got some new guys in the secondary uh replacing Malachi Starks and such so I'm sorry not replacing him but they've got Malachi Starks and such so can Clemson move the ball through the air they haven't been able to do that the last couple of years the receivers have not been on that level um and and so that's that's the question we have I think what I'm looking at this matchup you you you last year you mentioned the lack of explosiveness it wasn't just lack of explosiveness it was lack of Effectiveness I'm not a huge you know scoring defense scoring offense guy but it is the most important thing in the sport 19.4 points a game for Clemson last year against Power five opponents that's a pretty significant drop uh from from 2022 Georgia gave up just over 15 a game last year gave up more than 21 twice one of those was Alabama as well oh is this going to be is this going to be that much different than the 2021 game in Atlanta like if you had to bet your life that Clemson scores double digit points in this game would you do it because I I I don't think that I would and so my lock of the week actually is going to be Clemson under team total of 17 and a half I just think they're going to have a lot of problems moving the ball I'm curious if we're going to have that Cade kumnick Breakout game but we've seen him play enough football and I'm not sure sure that that Georgia is going to be the game that that you see the breakout Damian what do you see in this matchup one thing that's important to note um both of you kind of alluded on the fact of Clemson wasn't very efficient last year granted they didn't have a lot of explosive plays and you know big chunk plays but their effectiveness wasn't there so if you're going to be a team that's not making these big explosive plays in the short chunk game you know running the ball for two three yards four yards quick easy completions like that's the game that you have to live in but you have to be effective if that's going to be your game you can't go out here and know if it's a Florida State throw the ball five yards down the field and not get anything out of it like you've got to be able to have possession plays that guarantee you four five six yards that way you're not living in third and 10 third and 12 to where you have to make those big chunk plays and if you can do that and you can maintain a rhythm and a system throughout your offense then you're going to move the move the ball down the field more efficiently and then ultimately score points because that is I mean that's the most important part of the game I mean I remember one of the first things bill bich ever asked the rookie whenever we got there is hey um what is the what's the easiest way to beat your opponent so we're all sitting around looking at each other like uh tell us something philosophical please and he's like you score more points than the other team we're like well okay thank you thank you very much thank you so again I think that the key for Clemson is going to be efficiency not necessarily you know looking for 20 30 yard chunk plays you know once or twice a drive I think just move the ball efficiently down the field have a rhythm have a system have a plan in place and then once you get to the Red Zone finish your drives off and score points and that's the only way you can give yourself a chance against a tough Georgia team let's hit our picks Chris what do you like in this game I've got Georgia winning and covering I think the matchup I'm most interested in is georg's wide receivers against Clemson's defensive backs georg's got some veteran receivers but guys who are going to be in bigger positions now and Clemson might be down one or two starting quarterbacks uh they got some guys that were banged up in Camp and dbos said their dayto day so as long as georg's offensive line can protect Carson Beck he may have a big day where we come out Sunday saying that's the new you know Heisman Trophy leader after week one so keep an eye on uh Clemson's defensive backfield I've got Georgia winning and covering the 13 and a half Damen what's your pick go dogs Grant I'm still I'm still listen I'm still an Alabama guy I only did that because I live in Georgia now and I hear it once or twice so again I got Georgia Miami-Florida we are united which is always a dangerous place to be I could see it being a slowish day for georg's offense uh we still don't really know if Trevor etn is going to play I I do think he is going to be a big piece for them this year but I like Georgia I think this will be something like a 3413 type of situation I I like that I like Georgia uh to get it done here down in Gainesville Florida on Saturday we have I think one of the more interesting games of the week there's a bunch of of good ones but we have Miami a two and a half Point favorite in the swamp at Florida over under of 54 and a half I'm intrigued by this game Graham MZ last year people were kind of rolling their eyes at him coming over from Wisconsin Florida looking around striking out in the portal and then all gr Merz did last year was have the best touchdown uh touchdown interception ratio of any returning SEC quarterback only Jaden Daniels was better last year 20 touchdowns three interceptions four of his five receivers are best top receivers are back Elijah Badger comes over from Arizona State a really nice pickup an underrated pickup I think but you look at the other side of that Pro Football Focus last year uh rated cam W it graded him out at 88 with a clean pocket when he's pressured that drops to 57 but Miami only gave up 16 sacks last year that's 17th nationally they have two all ACC tackles uh ANZ Cooper guard also ACC then they add Zack Carpenter from Indiana and all Big 10 guy Florida doesn't have game records up front I don't think Florida is going to be able to give uh cam Ward the test that I think people are are thinking they might be able to and to me that's the difference I worry the expectations for cam Ward are a little too high but I don't think Florida has the defensive front to test that or show that I like Miami in this game but what uh Damien what do you see from this group I like Miami too um this is a Mario cryst ball coach team and Mario crystal ball was another guy that was Alabama when I was there so you got a little a little bit of connection with him but just another hard-nosed tough dirty physical coach that just wants guys that play that way so I can fully expect that Miami and the trenches offensive side of the ball defensive side of the ball they'll be ready like you said they've already got two all all ACC excuse me um tackles and I know they're going to be stouted up front on both sides of the ball I think with the introduction of camard into this offense I really think that he can be the quarterback that this Miami team needs and again whenever he's going to be protected by a star studded offensive line I think at that point he just has to manage his own expectations you don't have to go out there and be a superstar you're not going to be a guy that's going to be running all over the field scrambling you're going to have time just make the right reads make the right throws and I think that he is the guy that can really uplift this Miami offense I think again stouted up front you've got a good quarterback let him make plays I like Miami in this game and christopal hired a uh or assigned a game management coach to quote over harp on late game situations uh we'll see Chris what do you see in this game I feel like we've we've had coaches do that like many times I feel like we've heard them say that right like yeah we got a person who's an expert at the clock I feel like going out for 10 years I 13-year-old with a PlayStation Remote that'll get it done I I feel like the clock management has not getting any better but look good for Mario Chrystal ball for acknowledging it and not trying to hide it and and prideful and all that stuff good for him good to not kneel yeah so I I think God help me I think I'm going with Florida here wow at home I really like Graham MZ I think Florida's a lot better in the trenches they were very young last year especially I think in the offensive line I think they'll be better there and they just as long as they like get the logistical stuff down this should be a much improved team remember last year that Utah opener uh false start penalties just really bad Organization for a for a staff that has like 60 people on it you know based on that picture from a couple years ago if they can just like get those simple things down I think this team can be pretty good I'm going with Florida I'm ready to be wrong about it I guess I did put I did put Miami in the playoff but um want the gator we are GNA do some trivia this season and we have our first question of the new season producer cam what is this question we're going to we're going to answer at the end of show really excited for this inaugural edition of trivia here in week one here is the question for you guys since the start of the Kirby Smart era at Georgia in 2016 how many season openers against ranked opponents had the Bulldogs had and what is their record in those games and we'll answer that at the end of the show this is just a good opportunity for you guys to mle it over between now and then it's a good question it's a good question what do you guys think of week one between now and when we have our show on Monday we want to hear from you guys and there's going to be a lot of football that happens between now and then so what do you think are you mad do you have some rants you have some questions do you have some beef with our piics whatever you got let us know on our until Saturday phone line at 316 46298 52 that is 316 462 9852 leave us a voicemail and we'll react to them live on our Monday recap pods it's a really great addition to the show we are back and in Vegas on Sunday night we have two teams who are currently trying to beat some some allegations that they are quite soft with a capital T and they hire yes and they they they hired two new defensive coordinators on both sides of the ball uh Blake Baker coming over from Missouri at LSU and USC hires Dean USC-LSU Lynn from UCLA just across town he didn't have to sell his house that's always nice uh lsua four and a half Point favorite over under 64 and a half which might be the lowest over under we've seen in a USC game in in quite some time Daman what are you looking for in this game on Sunday night listen here's the story LSU hasn't won a season opener since 2019 I mean you have that's crazy right that's crazy think about that we just talked about we're going to ask our trivia question being how many season openers has Georgia won against ranked opponents well LSU hasn't even won a season opener against a ranked or an unranked opponent since 2019 so they need to come out and just establish from the start of the Season that they're a different team we want to start better we want to have a better season and we want to finish better I mean Will Campbell already said we're not going to gamble we ain't going to Caesar's Palace we're going to get in a fight and that's kind of the mentality that those old LSU teams that I used to play against had you know whenever we played those teams we knew that it was going to be like two heavyweight boxers stepping in the ring going Toe to Toe for 15 rounds throwing punches until somebody didn't get up and we knew that when we played LSU were going to have that exact same mentality so clearly it's on display they're not hiding it you know they want the world to know that they're looking to get in a dog fight so I expect them to show up be physical you know they're big fast physical guys that play with a dirty Edge well I shouldn't say dirty with a swampy Edge a little bit of a swampy Edge if if you will I I don't want to call him dirty but definitely a little bit of a swampy Edge so I think if they come out and play their style of football with the mentality that that they're clearly showing I think that they have a good chance to you know knock off a tough USC team and uh start their season better than they have in the past couple years Chris what do you see in this game you know LSU may have the best offensive line in the country uh at least that is the Hope Will Campbell as you mentioned potential top 10 pick they might have a couple other NFL guys on there too and that's going to be huge because yeah they're they're this is a lot of people around that program feel like this is the best offensive line they have had in a very long time it's so it has to live up uh to that you give Garrett NM a time he hasn't played a bunch he's been there for a few years I feel like Garrett NM is really going to break out onto the scene in this game came in in the SEC Championship Game a few years ago against Georgia through for I think almost 300 yards uh played the the bowl game against Wisconsin last year threw for almost 400 yards so he I expect him to have have a big game they've got some new receivers obviously they lost Brian Thomas Malik neighbors but Kiron la they really like him as long as he kind of stops with the drops they got CJ Daniels the transfer from Liberty so they should have some pretty good options in in the past game so I expect this LSU team to continue to score points question is what happens on defense and the thought is it can't be much worse right I I mean they bring most of those guys back in the secondary they weren't great last year but they were banged up last year question is defensive line they don't have a lot of depth at tackle they Tred to get some guys in the portal in the spring didn't really work um so kind of up and down there but I I expect LSU even with all the changes on offense to be able to score a lot of points yeah I think one of the things you you look at what Blake Baker did at Missouri and even a little bit to Miami before that you know they were they were defenses that overperformed relative to talent and Missouri had a lot of talent but they still were playing above what they had and LSU was not doing that for a few years defensively um they've really been struggling there and if they they can play to their talent level much less above it I like it cuz you look at what LSU did last year there were some schematic issues but there's a lot of effort there's a lot of tackling and that's coaching that's coaching and and if you have some connection with your players and guys are are playing hard I I think you looked at what you saw from that LSU defense last year I'd like to I'd like to go back and count how many loafs there were when Old Miss is running down the field or when Florida State's busting a big play I mean that second half against Florida State last year was a debacle and it's hard to not point to effort it looked like they broke um and they never really recovered the rest of the season so if you can fix those things I think you win this game I let's get to the picks I like LSU in this game I think USC is a team that does still have some upside I'm higher on them than a lot of other people for the a lot of the same reasons LSU I think they can fix some of that defense but I like LSU in this game to get it done win the game on the line of scrimmage fix the defense big game for for Garrett nus Meer give me LSU uh what do you guys like Damen where do you stand on this one yeah give me LSU I'm buying all the stock I mean I'm an SEC guy at heart obviously so that's who I got I want to see LSU get back to their brand of football I want to see them improve in the secondary I want to see that that spirit that that that LSU that Swagger you know they from the boot like I want to see that on display like we're over here talking about games last year where we're counting Loaves and you know their Spirit was broken and like that's not the ls that's not LSU like whenever we talk about LSU football football that's not LSU so I want to see them get back to their style of football and go ahead and put away an opponent who again no offense to USC but played against them in a season opener and we know how these SEC versus West Coast team matchups are supposed to be so I want to see LSU come out and handle business as they should Chris what do you got I know you say West Coast teams but technically it's a big 10 team Big 10 teams in open so we don't really know yeah I'm going LSU as well even with the four and a half um I think I probably take the over two I just I I think LSU's just G to score a lot of points I like Miller Moss but like we'll see when it's not just like a Holiday Bowl and whatnot and you know for for LSU they've won 10 games each of the last two years Brian Kelly's third year is always the year that's the year he took the big jump in central Michigan at Cincinnati I think they went to the Orange Bowl Notre Dame his third year was when they played in the national championship game so you know maybe the offense was a year early it'd be nice to have some of those guys from last year back but I think LSU's going to be right in that cfp mix at the end of the season the schedule is pretty favorable in terms of the buy weeks and who they get at home and I think LSU is going to have a big year so I'm I'm taking LSU in this game right on the G5 has never been more relevant and Chris a pretty big one to start the season boisey State a team that a lot of people like to make the playoff would you say they're the favorite for people to get in the playoff it's close there's yeah I think they're probably the most popular pick yeah they're 13-point favorites going on the road at Georgia Southern aka the fighting clay hton over under 56 and a half Chris what do you see in this Boise matchup going down to the South and starting the season with a pretty good opponent it's not Oregon they they'll see lat later in the season but George Southern pretty good team yeah I I'm interested in this game Boise St.-Georgia Southern just because of that geography um we remember when Boise State went down to Florida State a number of years ago and I think all the FSU players were cramping up or something like that it was like Hank bachmeier's first game this is going to be in in the 90s I think in the mid to low 90s in Statesboro Georgia uh it gets pretty humid down there Daman well knows and so how is Boise State G to handle that coming from from the northwest it's an interesting matchup too because you know Georgia Southern if you haven't been paying attention they're not a triple option team anymore they've been doing they've been done that forever since Klay hton came in they're one of the most pass happy teams in the country they they're they've been top 15 in passing yards per game the last several several years so how does Boise State handle that in that environment um Georg Georgia something's got a new quarterback taking over but they've got some pretty good receivers uh so we'll see how the defense does there and then we'll see how m MX Madson does as a quarterback coaches in the Mountain West told me they like him he's accurate he's maybe not as dynamic as some other guys but he gets the ball where it needs to go and then the star player to watch here is Ashton jenty he's maybe the best running back in the country rushed for almost 1400 yards last year came back to Boise State despite getting a lot of people who wanted him to transfer and Georgia Southern's rushing defense 95th in yards per carry last year that has been a problem I'm expecting Asen jenty to have a big game and good stat here from Boise riter BJ Reigns Boise dat 11 and3 all time when the temperature at kickoff is 90 degrees or higher Damen what what do you got in this matchup should should the backs be be worried about the heat absolutely listen I'll tell you it's hot as Fish Grease down here in Georgia I mean it is hot it's humid it's muggy but one thing and a kind of un understated thing about the heat is it's so hot outside that it makes you want to beat the out of the guy that lines up against you even more I mean I can't tell you how many games that I played in the SEC where I was like it's so hot out here I just want to punch the dude across me in the mouth as hard as I can so I can just go home you know but yeah it's going to be hot and so these guys need to hydrate they need to be drinking water um they need to make sure that they're ready for the elements of this game because if not it's going to result in misplay it's going to result in cramping you're going to be out on the sidelines so you know guys that are going to be running the ball which this this could be a run heavy game definitely prepare yourselves because I mean running in this heat it's not it's not easy for anybody I I'm I'm really intrigued to see if the Boise that we saw in the back half of the Season continue they were so dominant late and it was it was jarring because they looked really hapless in the first half of the season and I kind of wrote them off and then all of a sudden you pay attention and they're beating the heck out of team so I I don't know that they going to cover two touchdowns on the road I'm going to take Georgia Southern here but I do think Boise wins I don't think they have to have to have style points or anything like that going into the playoff I think they'll be okay just win your games Chris who do you like in this game GNA take boisey state with the 13 points I I think just the the rush defense of Georgia Southern's been tough and new quarterback breaking in I think Boise State kind of runs away with it uh pun intended with with Aston Genty Damen who you got I got Georgia Southern Georgia Southern in the heat um I know you just gave me a good straight straight up or covering straight up or covering the straight up I just like him straight up I just like him I just like him straight up straight up and got an upset yeah like you said you know it is going to be hot and Boise state has a winning record when the temperature is above 90° but I tell you when I walk outside here in a minute I'm going to start sweating right off the rip so it's going to be hot I think the elements might be a little bit too much I think it'll be interesting to see this Boise State Run game against a lackluster Georgia state run defense but I'mma go with the upset give me Georgia State even Steven I like him uh West Virginia is going to host Penn State these teams don't play that often but Penn State will come to Morgantown as an8 and a half Point favorite over under a 51 and a half this game whenever West Virginia has the ball I'm a little more interested to kind of see what that looks like West Virginia should have one of the best offensive lines in the Big 12 only one power four team gave up fewer sacks last year and they were 14th nationally in yards per carry that's about as good as it gets but nobody in the power four had more tackles for loss than Penn State last year either how Penn State-West Virginia much of that is beating up on overmatched Big 10 teams that didn't have a lot of offens last year we'll see but when you look at this West when you look at this West Virginia team they're looking a lot more like the Neil Brown team as we saw at Troy like when he beat LSU and I haven't seen anything really to tell me that Penn State's offense is going to be more explosive than it was a year ago uh this is where we have Cam dropped the infamous Chuck at deep uh cut that I love so very very much but receivers the biggest there it is there it is receivers receivers are the are the biggest question mark on a on a very good Penn State roster that has a lot of pieces everywhere but I just don't see it drew Aller as well toolsy but can you make decisions can you can you deliver the ball accurately he's got a lot to prove there I think this going to be a really low-scoring game I think both these teams are going to be pretty methodical I think it's going to be a really physical game but to me I like West Virginia to make this really competitive hang with them I think Penn State survives but but is very very close to being serenad with country roads they leave the field Chris who do you like in Morgantown I'm going West Virginia actually like you said I you know this game is it's the big noon game it would have been really cool if this was a night game I know there's a lot of big games going on especially in week one and you kind of want to spread them but this would have been a really cool night environment I think especially since it's on on a campus but I'm I'm going to go with West Virginia really like or with the points uh outright West Virginia get the upstate I'm just not a believer in penate I don't have them in my cfp um if if if they play well here and Aller looks good and everything like then I'll readjust um I I know Penn State won the game last year and everything like that and it was kind of a weird game but West Virginia figured things out I think as last season went on and uh I'm going to go with the Mountaineers what do you got Damien I got Penn State I put them in my college football playoff um like both of you said I think it's going to be a really monotonous kind of dull game I think it'll be lowc scoring um but ultimately I got I got Penn State I think that they grind it out I think they find a way to win and I think that again that granted West Virginia they're not World beaters but this is a team a tough team they're going to be playing on the road it's going to be a tough environment so I think if Penn State gets even just a small one even a small window of of victory in a game like this I think that that could give them confidence throughout the rest of the season you just you just like those backs at Penn North Carolina-Minnesota; Nebraska-UTEP; Syrcause-Ohio + more State Daman I think that's you see those backs you're like I can't say no I love Nick Singleton he's my guy you know they've got they've got good backs and you know I still live in the world of if you've got a if you got a good back two good backs and you can run the ball efficiently you're going to be in any game you can be in any game because you can control the clock you can keep the possession the time of possession on your side and you can control the tempo of the game so if they can do that again that's that's a part of what goes into this kind of dull monotonous game plan that we're kind of expecting like I think it'll be lows scoring uh probably low excitement but I think that I think that Penn State grinds it out and finds a way to win yeah well those were our uh the big games the games you need to have on your main screen but there's still a lot of really good football we're going to call these next games are our quad box games or our games that you need to pay attention to but they might not be on your main screen it's a jam-packed weekend people forget too when you get get all these FCS games in there there's way more football games being played I mean it's like you know 60% more than on like a conference play weekend we're going to start with another game on Thursday night so we'll be brief here because a lot of listeners know what happened here but North Carolina going to Minnesota they're in one and a half Point favorite that line has kind of jumped around quite a bit an over under 50.5 two new quarterbacks Max Johnson comes in to North Carolina from Texas A&M and Max brosmer brosmer comes up from the FC s level to take over at Minnesota uh also two really really good running backs this G damn good running backs Omari yeah Omari on Hampton he might have my pick as one of the best backs in the country I mean it's tough to get past olly Gordon but Hampton is right there and then uh Darius Taylor another really really good player he can kind of star right there yeah a good good good player uh Damon what do you like about this game and and what are you going to be keeping an eye on well exactly what we're talking about the running back matchup I mean you got Maran Hampton who's coming off an All-American year he ran for 1500 yards 14 touchdowns he was a do Walker finalist I mean this guy said he could run for 2,000 yards this year so those are some pretty lofty expectations and obviously he thinks that they're achievable and that speaks to his confidence going into another year looking to improve looking to get better and looking to solidify himself as the number one back in this in this class um and then you've got Darius Taylor who like I said is a rising star I mean this guy started four out of six games last year he averaged 133 rushing yards as a true freshman he had three games with over 200 allpurpose yards including a bowl game where he had I think 208 yards allpurpose one MVP set of freshman record so I mean these are two box office running backs and again as a guy who loves running the football just like my man Brent key I'm looking forward to this matchup and seeing who comes out as the as the better back with the better stats in this game who you taking here North Carolina or Minnesota Dam North Carolina I am also taking North Carolina I I I'm not crazy about Max Johnson I'm I I think if if that doesn't win it's going to be because Max brosmer sets the world on fire coming up from New Hampshire Chris what do you like I'm gon to go with Minnesota uh like you said I'm expecting some things from ma Max broer there it's on the road it's at it's in Minnesota G to go with the Gophers who were getting one and a half and I man I'd forgotten Max Johnson was at North Carolina man two years at two years of Texas ANM these guys are just they're never going away no they're not uh we got a quarterback debut Nebraska hosting UTEP as 27 and a half Point favorites over under 49 and a half uh Dyan Rola guy that I mean he looks like an NFL quarterback but you have to actually you have to actually play play football uh there's a lot of guys that look good but can you play good and and with with Nebraska I think the biggest thing is just can you you get out of your own way can you stop doing the dumb things that have plagued Nebraska football for seemingly forever uh this is a team that just we've seen them make so many curious mistakes and I think it sounds like they're still going to play Henrik heinberg or hobber a little bit we'll see what that looks like but uh Chris what are you looking for when you look at at Dylan rola's first performance against a UTEP program that's not in great shape Scotty Walen taken over there what do you want to see from them just making the simple plays I I think we we're all going to look into hey is he getting explosive plays thrown down the field or whatever it's just is he managing the offense right off the bat that that's that's the hardest thing especially your first game as a college quarterback utep's going to run a very very fast tempo offense with Scotty Walden the head coach who's also the fastest talker I've ever heard in my life if you've ever if youve ever talked to let not disrespect Jimbo on the podcast uh so Chris come on now so if if if utb's going fast and not getting first downs it's going to be even more plays for Nebraska to be out there on the field so uh you know Nebraska is winning this game it's really just how does Rola look do we get enough hype before that Colorado game next year I'm I'm gonna say Nebraska by the way covers the 27 and yeah I'm gonna take Nebraska also I I think they're just going to win this game on the line of scrimmage UTEP is it's going to be an uphill battle uh for for for Scotty walon Damen who you like in that game I like Nebraska and to Echo Chris's point I want to see how rayola comes out and just manages the game there are going to be opportunities for him to push the ball down the field and make the make the sexy throw show off your arm but take what the defense gives you make the check Downs make the the secure passes you know really just put yourself put your team in a position to always be successful you know we're over here talking about Nebraska the past few years have made you know curious curious mistakes that we're sitting here like well what was that about you know some real head scratchers so uh a quote that came to my mind another one from the great Bill pich you know he just always say you can't win until you keep from losing so as a young guy just go in Know Your Role just manage the game manage the expectations make the right plays make the right throws if he does that Nebraska will take care take care of business pretty easily another new quarterback and a new coach Syracuse hosting Ohio at 17 and A2 Point favorites over under 46 and A2 Kyle mcord up there Fran Brown got a I I don't even think it's necessarily fair to call it hype it's just putting together a really good staff talking a big game on the recruiting Trail and getting a nice boost but you got to actually like play games Win games here I don't know what to make of the Syracuse team they are a good squad Ohio should be pretty an interesting test for them I think I will go with Syracuse to cover the 17 and a half here I don't feel great about it anytime it's a new staff a new coach you're not really sure what to make but I'll take that I I don't know that they're going to do it with Kyle mccor but I think they can do it by winning in the battle on the line of scrimmage Chris who do you like in that matchup yeah I'm going to have Syracuse cover the 17 and a half Ohio they lost Curtis Rook the quarterback to Indiana they lost their starting running back um so there there is kind of change on both sides I think K mcord he got a tough r at Ohio State and that's ultimately what this is about the the Kyle bord um I don't say revenge tour but but kind of uh getting back IM yeah the rehab tour that's that's maybe the best way to put it so curious to see obviously how he looks in that game that's kind of the focus who you got Daman I'm going with the the Kyle McCord revenge tour I got I got Syracuse 17 and a half give me the spread I want to see the breakdown for the bets on the next game Ohio State 48 and a half Point favorites against akan Joe Morehead down there it be it'll be interesting to see there the running that game 58 and a half will Howard making his debut uh Ohio State 4-0 against acaron about scored the Zips 40 149 to 23 over those four games I think people just think that Ohio State's going to score a touchdown on like every drive and every play is going to be 30 yards I think sometimes things don't work out quite like that especially some of these teams that walk in with you know elite players everywhere and and that it's just going to be easy from the start I I kind of I'm I would I would do the nose plug and take akan here and maybe it gets a little messy with the subs in the in the fourth quarter and maybe it's like 4210 half or something like that and they and they take the gas off I will take uh akan here I'm very curious what this looks like but I I don't know uh what the the distribution of the carriers are going to be as well I'll be very interested to see what that looks like with trayon Henderson and quinan Judkins uh Damien who do you like with Ohio State 48 and a half Point favorites that's a lot of points against akan it is a lot of points but Ohio state has got a lot of talent I mean an embarrassment embarrassment of riches at Talent at all positions so I'm with you you know cuz I definitely played in those games where we would at Alabama we would play a season opener against the team and you know we were obviously the more talented team we had the better coaches like we were supposed to win by 50 points and you ended up being like a like a 3814 or like a 34 to 17 kind of ground it out kind of find just find a way to win and make it look convincing but again I think this is just an overpowering matchup for for the Zips I think that Ohio State rolls and again I think this will be a game where the where the the second stram guys will be in early but I think they'll be able to maintain the the level of expectation and I think it'll be a pretty pretty convincing win for Ohio State i c that big number yeah I think Alabama had a rep for a while when they'd be 40 Point favorites that they weren't in that very often that was it was very much a thing that just happen with with with with Alabama yeah only only it was only whenever we played like the top ranked teams you know like the Florida States or the USC's where we really just like you know what let's let's turn it on let's turn the flamethrowers on time yeah but we would then we would play a citadel and then we'd be tied at halftime and fumble the opening kickoff of the second half and everybody's like what the hell's going on we going to win this game or what the Citadel game was hilarious that might be one of the funniest games in the history of that was one of the to be a part of I can assure you that Chris can they cover this huge number uh well first off I don't think we're going to learn anything about will Howard in this game um he's not going to need to pass much we know he's a solid player we've seen him um I'm going to say Akon covers because I got burned last week picking these high spreads and going with the favorites so I'm going going with The Underdogs to cover here Oklahoma with new offensive coordinator Seth Latrell and new quarterback Jackson Arnold we saw in the bowl game 42 and A2 Point favorites against Temple over under 59 and A2 uh this a Friday night game uh I'll be getting back from Colorado I'll be able to watch a lot of this I I I'm not that intrigued with this Temple you know understand Drayton is looking a little sh a little shaky a little shaky uh but I think this another game where Oklahoma I'm not so sure that the offense is just going to you know roll through them so I'll take I'll take temple in the 42 and a half here Chris what do you got man like akan like Temple has been so bad the last couple years I have akan at 128 I have 128 in my rankings Temple's at 130 this year they lost their quarterback EJ Warner to rice in the off season I guess I'll have to go Temple again to cover though because I I'm getting burned by the these large weak on spreads are they're tough really tough and and don't always play out we'll see how Jackson that that last game we saw Jackson Arnold several interceptions against Arizona um I we don't learn anything about Oklahoma in these games remember last year I think they started off scoring like 70 points against Arkansas State or something like that and yeah I think I learned a lot about Arkansas State in that game honestly Arkansas stay going to a bowl game though but it was a very weird start to the year for Oklahoma they do dominate the teams they're supposed to dominate even under Brent venables but I'm going to have Temple cover Damen who you got I've got Temple covering um I think that Oklahoma wins this game obviously like you guys said we don't learn a lot about him we don't figure out too much about what Oklahoma's going to be uh I am interested to see Forest Brock make his first division one start um you know coming from AO um you know it' be interested to see how he handles his first division one game at quarterback so I think that it'll be um a game to watch but again I don't think we learn a lot about both teams I think Temple covers the spread but again Oklahoma Oklahoma cruises and you know we'll spin next week or the week after that trying to figure out is Oklahoma actually good or not all right we got Virginia Tech going to Nashville playing at Vanderbilts uh Virginia Tech-Vanderbilt; Texas-CO St.; Alabama-W. Kentucky + more still ongoing construction site I think the the the the stadium should be in better shape before too long I do like some of the mockups that they've had but there was a lot of attention given to that last year over under 48 and a half Virginia Tech 13 and a half Point favorites first time that they've played since 1989 the hokes are six and3 in the series Brent pry also was the former co-defensive coordinator at Vandy between 20111 and 2013 I'm in on Virginia Tech I'm in on Virginia Tech I have not seen or heard a lot of encouraging things about Vanderbilt this off season give me Virginia Tech I I think they win this game big big I think it's like a 4520 sort of situation give me Virginia Tech good good note from producer camer i' had forgotten Brent pry was the DC codc at Vandy 2011 to 2013 I think that was James Franklin yeah uh I like Virginia Tech here as well I've been high on them all offseason I think they'll have a big year covered the 13 and a half Vanderbilt still under construction figuratively and literally yeah Daman who you got give me Virginia Tech I mean I've been low on Vandy since they called us out a couple years ago I mean not particularly a tough place to play um Virginia Tech I'm high on them I like them give me BT Texas 32 and a half Point favorites against colado Colorado State over under 60 and a half Colorado State gave up 270 passing yards a game last year ninth worst among FBS defenses I'm very curious I want to see the new weapons from Texas Amari iblack Isaiah Bond you know what can they is Jaden blue gonna be that guy uh without CJ Baxter and obviously Jonathan Brooks is gone as well a ton of injuries for them at running back I I I think Texas covers this number I think their defense slows down Colorado State's passing in game and I'll take Texas and the points here I think they'll be focused and and motivated first time playing with that SEC patch on their chests uh I think Daman what do you like in this game I'm telling just means more means more now come on uh give me Texas I love Texas I love everything about Texas I love Quinn yers he's my favorite player in all of college football um I'm with you I'm definitely interested to see how they replace their weapons um ad Mitchell Xavier worthy um but I think when you've got a a stout leader like Quinn y under Center I think you've got nothing to worry about I mean all this harp about HARP all this hype about Archie Manning and what he was going to do and this that and the third is he in the game Quinn you said hold my beard give well maybe not hold my beard because he's still in college but hold my hold my strap for a second because we got stuff to do I'm qb1 I'm about to go lead this team to a playoff run a championship run give me Quin ofur give me Texas all year I love them that that conversation going to be interesting all year if if Quinn does have a bad game or gets banged up I I think it's going to be very annoying and a bit stupid but and I think it's and I think it would be completely unwarranted because Quinn ERS granted if he has what one bad game a bad throw a bad decision that doesn't take away from his long list of all the things he's done to con consistently put Texas in a position to win football games so I think that his job should be under under zero pressure essentially like no pressure whatsoever Chris what do you got in this game uh I've got a uh Quin URS is 21 by the way I looked it up so he can say hold my beer we're exactly so R hold my beer hold my beer we're good that's a lot of points for a Colorado State team I think is going to be improved got a pretty good quarterback in BR Nicolosi got a good receiver and Tory Horton year three for Jay oral who has connection who I think he's been at Texas he's been at Oklahoma I'm going to say Colorado State covers obviously not win but I'm going to say Colorado State covers interesting Alabama 31 and a half points favorites uh at home against Wester Kentucky and Tyson hton shout out to Big Red over under this game 59 and a half Alabama's won 22 consecutive season openers that's pretty impressive they played a bunch of big games over that time Daman what do you make of this Alabama team big picture and and who do you like uh in this in this game for them to cover 31 and a half in the Kalin deor debut and this matchup to me is all about kayin debor I what I want to see is can you take your winning Culture Your winning formula and bring it to a place where winning is the standard where winning is expected where winning is it's winner bust I want to see how he makes that transition he's had a ton of success everywhere else he's been and I want to see if that continues with Alabama you know you've got a great great quarterback and Jaylen milro a great dual threat um who definitely elevated his passing game last year I remember at the beginning of the year I was one of the guys that talked about like can this kid throw the ball like is he is he looking downfield is he reading the defense or is he just taking the snap and deciding to run he elevated his passing game consistently throughout the year obviously we know what he can do with his legs and he's really the the leader in the heart and soul of this team so I think that with dor if you can take your winning formula and again bring it to somewhere where winning is the standard you got a stud expected to be All-American quarterback I think that you have the tools and the resources to be successful you know this game and I and I go back to my Alabama playing days uh Alabama season is not defined or anything by this game I mean ultimately this game means nothing this is just a statement game to come out and show what have we've been doing the past couple months where everybody's been talking about oh Nick savin's gone oh Caleb DS was in the transfer portal oh this guy left oh these guys like while everybody else has been talking about all of these other external things that don't matter when you step on the field what have you guys been doing what has kayin dor been doing what has this team been doing how have they been coming together I think that is what's most important for this team not for this game but for the entire season and for all the Alabama fans that are going to be watching to see how successful this team is going to be this year I think the one thing that we we haven't talked about in some of these games with the bigger spreads is how many of these teams want to keep it pretty vanilla on both sides of the ball and not do a lot of things they're going to do because with with Western Kentucky no Austin Reed no Malachi Corley Tyson helton's kind of gotten them back to that identity though of being able to throw the ball around but I I I think Al that if if Alabama doesn't cover this I think it's going to be because they don't want to show a ton of stuff and and they look pretty uh just pretty vanilla in what they want to do and how they want how they want to use Jaylen milro I'm really excited to see what uh what kayin debor can cook up if you but let me let me ask you this D if you're and Chris if you're a theor in a situation like this do you want to sit back and be vanilla or do you want to come out and again like I said show everybody like this is what while you guys have been talking and wondering about this are we going to be cover like are we going to be good over here are we going to be good on this front like if I'm King the I want to come out and show everybody like this is what I've been doing y'all been over here looking this way I've been doing this Chris what do you make of that quick question uh Pop Quiz who trivia who is who was the starting quarterback for Western Kentucky I don't know TJ TJ Finley oh that's right he left he left Texas State thinking he wasn't going to LSU formerly of Auburn formerly of Texas State he is now on his four school and he did have a very good season at Texas State last year he has played Alabama twice and in those games he's completed 57% of his passes with three touchdowns and one interception so he is familiar here okay the spread is 312 the last time these two teams played uh Alabama 2016 only won by 28 uh so it was pretty close is game I'm going to say Western Kentucky covers the 31 and a half think they're going to be able to put up some points uh with that Tyson hton offense and what they like to do so um interesting game for a lot of reasons I'm I'm really curious to see how that Alabama second looks against an offense that likes to throw it around and finally we're going to look at some games with teams that showed up in week zero and played some better than others and we got to start that conversation with Florida State they are hosting Boston College as 16 and a half Point favorites over under of 50 in that game Florida state has won the last five meetings by an average of just 8.6 points and three of the five meetings have been decided by three points or less on our picks on the athletic uh website which you should check out my pick of the week is Boston College plus 16 and a half shout out to Thomas castanos I think I'm just down on Florida State I I think Boston College Week 0 hangover teams is a good team that will probably sniff a bowl game they gave Florida State fits uh last season I I think they can mess around and and maybe have a chance to win this game in the fourth quarter give me BC here uh Damian just does Florida State bounce back are you are you selling all your Florida State stock or you holding on to some of it give me Florida State back I'm going to buy a little bit of it back because listen at the end of the day dju this Florida State team like they've heard all the noise that we've made for the past week us college football fans all the analysts everybody the PE all the playoff prediction ISS like we they've heard all the talk they've heard all the noise and I expect them to bounce back because as a team who is supposed to be up here and everybody's talking about how you're down here like you've got one of two choices you're either going up or you're going down you know what I mean you're going to go down with the critics or you're going to supersede and be like you know what this is where we're supposed to be this is the type of team that we are and that we know that we can be week one is not going to Define us and we need to we just need to get better so I think DJ comes I think he works him and his team work their tail off all week uh I think they really bounced back from that that Georgia Tech loss and again Boston College is going to be a good team it's going to be a tough opponent it's going to be a tough test but I think this is a game where if they win I've talked a lot about confidence and opportunities I think a win like this uh for Florida State will really give them a lot of confidence that they need back from that Georgia Tech loss I am trying to figure out why this is 16 and a half I mean it's really bizarre like we said like great great stats here pulled from cam the average margin the last five meetings is 8.6 Florida state was lucky to to to get out with a with a win last year castalanos threw for 300 yards ran for almost another 100 Florida State looked like they could barely move the ball like why is this 16 and a half you gave it your lock of the week but every time we have a line like this it just seems very fishy I I guess I'm going to go Boston College covering as well but it seems too easy that there must be something that feels a l you may be right New Mexico looked really good in their debut under Bronco menal until they didn't uh two defensive scores last week they had Montana State a really really good FCS team on the ropes as 13 and a half Point underdogs and ended up losing that game 3531 Arizona breaking in new coach Brent Brennan not breaking in a new quarterback Noah faf sticks around uh tet Ty McMillan sticks around but they do not have Jacob Coen who's off to the NFL over under a 58 and a half uh Vegas not big fans of New Mexico uh 31 and a half point spread here they were 13 and a half Point underdogs a week ago to Montana State who I think that was the widest spread of a FCS FBS game in in quite some time I uh the defensive scores have a way of skewing some of these results and Arizona is not going to give that up so I'll take Arizona 31 and a half uh give me faf going off against the Lobos Damen who you got yeah I like Arizona in this game um I'd be remissed if I didn't point out the fact that New Mexico had a perfect opportunity to uh steal a win last week and give themselves a lot of confidence going into week two against a tough Arizona team Unfortunately they did not now you're playing an even tougher opponent um I think it's going to be tough seding for New Mexico I mean I hate to say it but give me Az I think they're going to have a big day and I think that after this game New Mexico is really going to be trying to find themselves Chris do you believe what you saw in the first half last week well like you said the defensive scores and the comeback kind of masked you know the overall numbers of that game Montana state had 567 total yards they averaged 7.7 yards per carry um you take out those defensive scores it may be a very different game and then again if New Mexico State makes a field goal or catches a third down pass they probably win that game it's just how Football goes sometimes but I think the overall uh look at what New Mexico did last year last week I am GNA go Arizona as well it's a lot of points I know I keep I'm always I'm picking I'm picking I'm picking underdogs I'm picking underdogs over and over here on this show but I'm I'm going to go Arizona by the way first time since 2015 that Arizona has been ranked in the preseason poll I suppose that's more of a credit to Jed fish than bur Brenan but shout out to Burt Brennon for keeping those guys around and finally Nevada Jeff Cho takes over and they surprised a lot of people last week pushing SMU they'll go to Troy as eight and a half Point underdogs over under 45 so Vegas expecting a low-scoring game it be the debut for Jared Parker but more importantly Goose Crowder's debut at Roy the uh West Virginia transfer uh I I am I am going to take Nevada to keep it rolling here and keep it close I don't think they win but I think they cover something like 247 something like that Chris where do you uh where do you stand on the wolf pack you're you're a big choke believer we were talking after that game last week you were thinking like what I saw I liked what I saw a lot of toughness and I SMU didn't play well but some of that was because of Nevada once SMU stopped spitting on people and committing stupid penalties they average like seven or eight yards a play in that second half the my question here is I just don't know what to make of Troy you know like they've just there's a lot of turnover there Jared Parker I I get the hire he he knows Neil Brown he knows John sommerall it's kind of why he got the job I'm gonna say Troy I just I think they probably have overall uh more Talent Troy covers um the eight and a half that they're um giving Damen who you got give me Nevada in an upset I think they showed me enough against SMU which granted that game similarly resembled the New Mexico State Montana State game but Nevada showed enough to me to let me know that they'll be hungry in this game not that they're going to come away from this game like oh we let a win slip away like no we should have won that game and we were standing toe-to-toe with a team that was much much better than us and we just we let it slip away from us but that that needs to fuel us that needs because we were playing in a game that we weren't in my opinion they shouldn't have been in to to begin with so as a team like that come out hungry come out with a mindset of okay yeah we let the last one get away but we have another opportunity to go out and beat a team that on paper may or may not be better than us you know according to most people's opinion clearly the MGM the team that should be better than us but we've got another opportunity to come out and steal a win so let's be hungry let's let's pick up where we feel like we left off against you where we felt like we started to go like this like let's pick it up here and let's Elevate that this week so give me Nevada in an upset yeah two first year coaches part of me wonders you know that dynamic in the NCAA tournament where the team gets to play in the first four and you see them come out on that Thursday or that Friday and the nerves are kind of gone the the the the the the uh you know the the wrinkles are kind of ironed out I wonder if we might see something like that with this so if you guys missed our Wednesday show with Manny Navaro and Bruce Feldman which you should go back and listen to if you did we covered Oklahoma State and South Dakota State UNLV in Houston Michigan and Fresno State and Northwestern Miami on our uh on that show Chris and Daman any quick thoughts on these matchups Damian what do you any of those games jump out to you or anything that that you uh are interested in those yeah I want to see Michigan play I want to see the defending national champions come out and show us show us what you got this year I mean as a team who wins a national championship and then they the next year they come out and they're talking about well this team is the favorite to win the champ this team is the favorite to get in the playoffs this team this team granted Michigan's lost they lost JJ McCarthy they lost a lot of talent but they're still the defending national champion so the target is on their backs so I want to see how they come out with a new coach with a new operation a new quarterback and I want to see how they put their um National Championship um defense I want to see how they put that on display this year I feel like confident there's not going to be any documentaries made about this season but maybe I'm wrong Chris anything jump out to you in those matchups yeah I mean for one yeah Michigan is it Alex org a quarterback and how does he look because Fresno State is not a bad team they won nine games last year that they are expected to compete playoff this year keep an I'm interested in that and then Oklahoma state do they lay an egg they frequently lay an egg in these matchups you don't expect them to Lost to South Alabama last year lost to Central Michigan on a Hail Mary number of years ago Oklahoma state gets up for the big games they're down for the low games South Dakota State really really good program FCS uh number one team keep an eye on that one yeah I I like that well let's pick back up our trivia question I have not had Season-opener trivia any time to really consider it but I haven't either repeat it for us all right so here we go guys since the start of the Kirby Smart era at Georgia in 2016 how many season openers against ranked opponents have the Bulldogs had and what is their record in those games so we can get two points here if we get the if we get the number and the record I'm gonna say okay I'm gonna say five and I'm gonna say because they only had they were like seven and six in year one and then they've been pretty awesome since then they had the one year they lost to floorida they weren't great don't give your don't speak don't speak your answers while you're thinking because I'm s I'm sitting here taking all this all this information like okay good I'm going to say five and five and0 that's my official guess I'm going to say four 4 and0 I'm going to say six 5- one all okay guesses Chris was the closest here but none of you guys hit the nail on the head so for those of you who have been listening okay through any podcast player watching on YouTube and you were pulling your hair out knowing the answer congratulations I'll reaffirm it for you Georgia has had three season openers in the smart tenure against ranked opponents and in that time they are 3 and0 20 22 versus number 11 Oregon where as we know that was the start of the Dan Landing era Georgia trampled all over versus number three Clemson in 2020 I believe or 2019 2021 20 21 I think that was the 10 10 three final score and then in two 2016 first year of the smart tenure versus number 22 North Carolina in a 3324 which was the one I knew would trip yeah I knew that would trip everybody up I have no recollection of that zero whatsoever uh I all right Chris is there not a big game in Dallas in week one they haven't done that for quite a while now the the Dallas game is just not a thing I was going to say what happened did they do away with that after we embarrassed USC a couple years ago you know think they still do the game in Charlotte they still do the game in Atlanta but the people who run it here it's not not really for the uh for the week one last year for TCU Colorado that was uh that was interesting that was uh that was in Fort Worth not Dallas corre you got to make sure when that was when uh I was unfairly maligned for uh Uber eing uh Benny Hana it a great DEC it's been a year since that how about that what a day uh let's get Daman what are Daman thoughts on that by the way tell give me give me down down so last year I I covered TCU Colorado I wrote two stories from that and I had to get back and do the show I did not have a lot of opportunity I didn't have time to sit down and eat I had to come back and do our reaction show on Saturday night so I raced back to my hotel I had a I got a hotel near the airport because it was kind of in the middle cuz we're going to have to be in Dallas some and Fort Worth some right so did that booted up Uber Eats and Benny Hana popped up which seemed delicious to me I'm a big Habachi guy so I uh I ordered it had it delivered to the hotel uh there was no shrimp shrimp flipped in my mouth there was no rice volcano or onion volcano situation or rice heart or whatever but it was delicious food it was probably overpriced but I I'm sure it was I'm sure that delivery fee was out ass where do you stand on having experiential um uh restaurants delivered via Uber Eats you know so it's hard for me because I'm a big like I've got a bunch of dietary restrictions right like I'm no Dairy no gluten no red meat so like it's it's very it's like a very fine line so it's like every time I go somewhere I'm like spending 30 to 45 minutes like combing through door Dash Uber Eats for like what's the most viable option and I should say that there should be way more than there are but you know it's it's a slippery slope I necessarily I don't think that I would have done Bennie Hana but you know I I I could have found something I could have found something you've let me down you've let me down I've never but I've never had benih before so I could be I could just be messing out like I've had like your had like your local Tuscaloosa Alabama Habachi like I haven't had Benny Han before so it's very good it's very good the uh I will say I did find out just yesterday I've been to Colorado a bunch I just found out that they just got in and out so I ate there yesterday because I don't I don't they don't have it in Tennessee so I don't I don't get to eat it a ton before before I gave before I gave up red meat I tried In-N-Out one time and I swear it was the most overrated Burger I've ever had in my life like by far in a way I'll just go ahead and tell you like Five Guys if you if you're a burger person there's nothing that beats Five Guys and Five Guys is up there I the problem with five is also like it's fast casual it's not really fast well that's my H Five Guys if I'm going to get burgers for myself my wife and like get a Patty for our daughter that's it's crazy it's a lot it's a lot you might as well just go grocery shopping the best thing about living in Texas is that we have every yeah fast food here we've got the East Coast stuff we've got the West Coast stuff big fan of In-N-Out not the fries the fries terrible I actually like it more than waterb I'm not allow if we want to talk about overrated water bger is terrible and it not CRUNCH TIME: Charlotte's injury bug, Big Ten carrier dispute, Casey O'Brien + ABC theme terrible terrible nothing like nothing like spending 45 minutes in the drive-through line that's where all the Chick-fil-A rejects goes to Water Burger to work it work the drivethru anyway let's get to some news and notes uh Chris there's a delicate balance in having toughness and staying healthy some would argue that that's what Spring football is for what do you make of this situation at Charlotte does do you feel like Biff pogy is being too hard on himself definitely eight probably nine starters that are injured uh which is you know I'm not great in math but it's getting close to 50% and I feel very bad for those kids um but I know that the young people that will get an opportunity to play will play hard and and I take responsibility for that as the head football coach um you know when you when you open with JMU you know program at 194 over the last couple years uh uh you you can get a little overzealous and you have to bounce between that that that callous um that you want the players to have and then getting them healthy and I I get I think I get an F minus on that for this Camp I'm going to say Biff pogy as many times as possible in this segment just for the record uh but where do you stand on on their situation and what what their Outlook is going to that James Madison opener what I don't understand it's year two you've already done a fall Camp before like did did like what did you do that is not working here and he had been he had been at Michigan before that that he's been a high school coach for a very very long time I don't know if these are just incidental injuries but he's pretty dang hard on himself and you if you watch they were bad last year if you watch any post game press conference that he did he just ripped himself in the coaches to shreds and I would hear from other coaches or other agents who are like I don't know if I want to coach for this gu if he's just going to keep throwing you under the bus after every single thing that goes on so like there were there were expectations to be improved in year two and this is not at all how you want to start the season so I I don't know what's going we've had a lot of injuries and NFL college football fall Camp it feels like this year but that is a level at which you might be doing something something wrong Damen I don't remember Bama having a ton of this stuff in the preseason but when you're going through Camp how much conversation is there about like you know I'm going out to the practice field knock on wood you know because I hate seeing the guys that like blow out their knee and Camp you work for eight months and you don't get to see any of that payoff on the field what is that like going through Camp when like it's going to be more physical than practices during the season but you still have to kind of how do you manage that as players [ __ ] we didn't manage it at all I mean it was good on it was good on good every day I mean me and Ruben Foster were were headbutting you know five yards past the line of scrimmage every day and I say that because that's the mentality that you have to have I mean it's a tough game it's a dangerous game I mean we all know the risk when we sign up at 8 n 10 years old and you're playing at a level where it's going to be physical it's going to be hot the elements are going to be hard and your body is going to go through a lot but it's the mental fortitude it's the mental wiring that you have like how can I go above and beyond these circumstances that I'm facing I mean again you don't want to you don't want to go out there and you know put yourself in a situation where you can get hurt and you know not be able to compete during the season but at the end of the day like we took practice as competition so during training camp when we were practicing like those were it was a game every single day every single period whether it was seven on seven team run team good on good like it was a game so at the end of the day you just got to go out there and compete and then the piece that is obviously so important is recovery taking care of your body nutrition hydration sleep uh even mental even taking care of your mental health during these these twoe periods of where you're just grinding and grinding and grinding like that's a part of being uh a professional football player which is kind of the the road that these Collegiate athletes are getting to so it's just all about being professional and taking care of yourself that's really what it comes down to yeah the Big 10 and Comcast are currently in a carriage dispute we've seen a few of these over time and we saw them a lot more when the conference networks were debuting but the reality is that there's a shot that Oregon Washington UCLA and USC games will not be available on the west coast for Comcast viewers I did appreciate Oregon State tweeting out National brand with the sly smile and they have a big graphic that said available Nationwide even on Comcast with the beaver logo and the CW logo their opener will be will be available I you know is this a carryover of the same situation that doomed the Pack 12 Network that people are just not going to be taking their you know pitchforks and torches to their cable companies I think it might be I suspect this will be sorted out before too long but uh we'll see how that plays out Casey O'Brien real Qui Qui having a carrier dispute having a carrier dispute with with BTN is really a right of passage for any of us who grew up in Big 10 country and remembered when Big 10 Network launched and lot of places had it I had to go to bars to watch games uh at times so like this is the real big 10 experience that these four teams are are getting the michig state game was the debut for it I believe it it will be interesting because remember a couple years ago was like Dish Network and ESPN had a feud going on and they pulled the games uh on a Saturday for a minute and people freaked out and then you come together for a deal like you said the question is do Pack 12 fans freak out enough for there to be a deal the lack of freaking out is why the Pack 12 network was not as widespread as it could have been so um welcome to the Big 10 uh and YouTube TV is fine I'm just I'm just surprised you used to go watch Big 10 Network growing up shocker I remember that I remember that uh uh that App State Michigan game I was following the Gamecast on ESPN because there was like no way like I was in Arkansas that day I remember that game and there was no way to get any access to that ball game uh Casey O'Brien former uh Minnesota player at four time cancer sub Survivor uh was a recipient of the Disney Spirit award in 2019 he has had uh some other treatments that he needs and uh we not going to be covered by his insurance because it was experimental his GoFundMe page to cover his treatment is eclipsed $350,000 from nearly 3,000 donors it's very cool uh to see people come together for somebody that has inspired a lot of people so very cool um there and if you feel you know lad give to them uh a new book came out this week with Armen Kain and John T uh the price what it takes to win in college football's era of chaos there's a lot of stuff in here just about the the new era of college football and a lot of um I haven't read the book I've I've read a bunch of the excerpts that they've run and one of them includes a fiery quote from from Nick Sav uh basically highlighting his relationship with Lan kein calling Jimmy seon uh the quote that son of a [ __ ] sa allegedly said of kein to the agent according to review of the book I'm going to fire you Jimmy for ever talking me into hiring that narcissistic prick uh I'm sure in a moment of um intensity Nick probably didn't necessarily mean that Daman you were you were there for some of this what what what how would you describe the dynamic between Nick Sabin and Lane kein uh when when he was helping speaking of image Rehabilitation helping get Lan back well that quote seemed pretty spot I mean I definitely I definitely witnessed a few of those interactions live and uh they were they were fiery and they were full of excitement but I think it was because you had two guys who were so good at what they did they just didn't give a damn about what anybody else had to say I mean Nick Sabin obviously thought that he was the greatest head coach Lane kein thought that he was the greatest offensive coordinator and in their minds nobody could tell them anything about how to do their job and how to run their operations and when you've got two people with that mentality what do they do they they Clash they butt heads so there were definitely a couple instances where I think coach Sabin may have tried to relieve um Lane kein of his duties on the field uh there may have be a few instances of those but you know they were all resolved and they were all worked out in a uh peaceful manner um until the until the two decided to split ways but you know I was I right before the national championship game which which was very uh surprising to say the least but I can't say that we didn't expect something like that to happen at some point um I think I you know at the time I remember a lot of guys were thinking it was going to be at the end of the year or transition in the next season but um you know it just it just happened it was just dropped right on us and again I think that that just kind of highlights the level of intensity that the two had you know in their relationship but you know it was a lot of fun um and you know cuz Nick Sabin is a defensive guy Lan kein is an offensive guy so that used to fuel a lot of the guys at practice so whenever they would start going at it like all the offensive guys would get in the Huddle and be like all right yeah we going to piss off coach saving some more and then all the defensive all the defensive guys are like man we F to shut Lane ke's ass up like I'm tired of listening to this guy you know cuz Lane is very slick tongue very um he's going to beat you and let you know about exactly exactly for for a lack of better words so um but yeah it was a lot of fun um I think that seeing coaches compete at such a high level because because again they thought that they were the best and they were only trying to do what was going to put us in the best position to win I think that that fueled the players because then we channeled some of that energy and then on game days it was like okay well the offense is on this side the defense is on this side so we don't have to like coach sa and Lan kein aren't going to be arguing right now so it's just like we can take those two energies and just give them to the other team and just beat the [ __ ] out of them you know The Season's here we have football games on Thursday night I didn't want to wake up mad and then somebody sent me the SEC on ABC theme it's sort of like a remix of the 90 I don't even know what to call it Chris but what I call it is a sort of weird knockoff of Music That's supposed to sound familiar but doesn't really sound familiar and it just sounds like dated in a way that's not nostalgic at all I I don't know never before has a theme song just made me angry I I don't even know how to describe it Chris what did you what did you make of the debut of the new SEC on ABC theme s it's not getting great reviews it's a remix like you said of the late 90s ESPN theme so I have been banging the drum for a few years that ESPN ABC need to bring back the early 2000s ABC theme which was fantastic if anybody remembers watching college football at that time the energy is up it's ready to go and so I see this tweet and ESPN PR is like we're bringing back for the scn ESPN we're bringing back a late 90s theme I was like yes here we go and then I finished the tweet and it's like the ESPN theme and I click on it and I'm like I don't remember this theme I don't think many people remember this theme whether it's a remix of the original I went back and listened to the original I don't remember it nobody remembers it people remember the ABC theme this is the SEC on ABC why would you not bring back the ABC theme that everybody loves I just I they like it was a good effort I like the idea of doing it I appreciate the it's not a theme that anybody has any memories of you have you know the the the famous secn CBS music is now going to go to the Big 10 round ball rock is coming back on NBC so like classic themes are like a thing but ESPN ABC brought back the wrong one and so I was just very very upset about that that we were so close to getting what I've always wanted and instead we get this thing that nobody quite likes it's fine but like it's not Calles that's what I'm saying well thank you guys for for watching and listening it's great to be back talking actual football games not previewing the season anymore we are live and we are ready to go uh thank you guys again follow the podcast on Apple and Spotify overcast wherever you listen to your podcast and if you're listening this far in the show you probably like the show you should subscribe subscribe to our YouTube channel as well like this video we'll be back on Monday with our week one reactions and remember what did you think of week one what was your reaction leave a voicemail on our until Saturday phone line at 3164627 2 again that's 316 46298 52 we love hearing from you guys it adds so much to the show so please leave us a voicemail with whatever you've got to say questions comments rants uh who's an idiot who's the smartest guy on the show all those things uh for Damen myself and Chris Vini thanks again for watching we'll see you on the other side side of a whole bunch of football games and just remember bring back the turnover chain thanks for tuning in [Music]