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 Week 1 college football predictions
| Predictions Part 1 |
This is a new weekly NCAA football exclusive column for MP brought to you by longtime Madden Planet members and NCAA fans, Austinwolv and SeminoleDynasty. Each week during the college football season these two college football junkies will take a look at the top games of the week and give you there opinions on who will win and why. For week 1, they have chosen six games that they feel are the biggest.
LSU @ Miss. St.
Aug. 30, 8pm ESPN
SeminoleDynasty's take:
The Tigers will come in at #2 for this matchup. Last season, the Tigers whupped up on the Bulldogs 48-17 in Baton Rouge. Once again these two meet early in the season.
LSU is loaded and should have an easy day against a talented but young Tiger squad. MSU has been playing sloppy in practices and I believe it will show in this one. QB Matt Flynn will have a loaded weapon in WR Early Doucet that the Bulldogs and S Derek Pegues will have to contend with. With LSU having arguable the best defense in the SEC with guys like Ali Highsmith, and Tyson and Chevis Jackson, I doubt Mississippi St. will be able to contend with the Tigers.
I believe Pegues, DE Titus Brown, and the Bulldogs defense will have a long day at home. I'm taking LSU big in Starksville.
LSU 45 Mississippi State 13
Austinwolv's add:
Agree that this is likely the weakest of this week's top matchups, with LSU basically getting a nice warmup game compared to some other challenging games this week. LSU scores early, easily, and often before pulling the starters.
LSU 38 MSU 6
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Washington State @ Wisconsin
Sept. 1, 3:30pm ET ABC
Austinwolv's take:
Wisconsin, fresh off a near-perfect season last year, is a favorite contender to win the B10. WSU…..not so much in the Pac10, but still perennially a “gotcha” team that has enough weapons, coaching, and athletes to win game.
The question is if they can package that together to harass new Wisconsin starting QB Tyler Donovon into mistakes while shutting down the vaunted Badger bread ‘n’ butter running game, which year after year just keeps chugging along. However, the Badgers have one of the better TEs in the nation who is a proven commodity by hauling in 61 catches last year. Throw in likely the best CB tandem in the conference, along with a solid DL, and the Badgers should be a tough team in the trenches and in the redzone where it counts. It is the long-play ball in the middle of the field that they might be lacking.
WSU, on the other hand, doesn’t feature the names in the trenches, but instead features experience and production at WR. Also in their favor is an experienced QB who has improved his completion % every year. The WSU backfield is young however and fixing a porous OL from the 2006 squad will define if WSU sinks or swims at Wisc.
Early in the season game means the passing game won’t be sharp enough to keep the Badger ground game from eating up clock.
Wisc 27, WSU 16
SeminoleDynasty's add:
I can't say I disagree with AW on this one. Wisconsin is at home, has a great running game, and a good returning defense. All this speaks to me of blowout city.
Wisconsin 31 Washington State 17
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Oklahoma State @ Georgia
Sept. 1, 6:46pm ET ESPN2
Austinwolv's take:
Ok, a team returns 14 starters, so you expect them to be pretty solid, right? Well, that team was 7-6 but did win a bowl game against a big-name opponent. The problem? The team was 7-6 and that win came against Alabama. Oklahoma State has some positives though, despite that. For example, all of those losses were close games, which means their experience should carry them farther in close games this year.
Throw in returning skill position players at QB, RBs, and WR…..Oklahoma State has the tools to put up points. If the defense can step up to become just better than average, this will be a solid team.
However, facing a Georgia team which always presents solid rushing attack, the young new Cowboy DL will have a lot to prove.
Georgia returns Matt Stafford at QB, the highly-acclaimed young QB who should be coming into his own this year….he better be as he can’t get much more inefficient than he was last year. Lucky for him, solid WRs are back as is the typical garage-full of tough UGa running backs.
On defense, the Bulldogs took one on the chin when star CB Paul Oliver decided that class wasn’t fun. The secondary is inexperienced, but c’mon, you all know that Southern speed trumps even the speed of light, right? Lee Corso said so. If the DL can step up, the Bulldogs will be fine.
It comes down to a potentially explosive OKST offense matching up with a solid UGa front seven, while a solid UGa offense gets to test a defense that has questions. Advantage: Bulldogs
Georgia 24, OKST 20
SeminoleDynasty's add:
I don't see this game being as close as AW. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying blowout. I just see the Bulldogs are at home and face an inconsistant Cowboy squad. That makes me think easy win.
Georgia 34 Oklahoma State 21
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Kansas State @ Auburn
Sept. 1, 7:45pm ET ESPN
Austinwolv's take:
The Wildcats travel to Auburn. They should just stay home. KSU was not good last year. Unlike OKST which was at least close in the games they lost, KSU lost big.
At least they return a lot of players on offense, and perhaps what QB Josh Freeman showed as improvements later in the season will carry over to this year. He’s linebacker-sized, so he should be able to stand in there and deliver the ball. He might have to since the OL is untested. The Wildcats are putting in a new defense, which will take some adjustment time.
Auburn is….Auburn. Tuberville knows how to get that program to win, although sometimes it is ugly. Don’t forget a couple key things here. Big-time DE Quentin Groves is back, as is senior QB Brandon Cox. A great DE and an experienced QB will take a team places. For Tiger fans’ sake, hopefully not into the dirt since Auburn has to replace most of their OL. Auburn’s defense is stout, so having 7 returning starters back bodes well.
KSU doesn’t bring enough to the table to pull off the win at Auburn, while Auburn will break in new starters at skill positions. Low-scoring game that is dictated by the Tiger front seven.
Auburn 17, KSU 6
SeminoleDynasty's add:
Once again I agree with AW. Auburn at home with a strong returning defense means good things for the Tigers.
Auburn 21 Kansas State 12
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| Predictions Part 2 |
Tennessee @ Cal
Sept. 1, 8pm ET ABC
SeminoleDynasty's take:
Both these teams come in ranked with the Vols at #15 and the Bears at #12. Last year the Vols won at home 35-18 over the Bears. The Pac 10 looks to this game as a showcase game against what many consider the best conference in the SEC. This game will be the only game for the Pac 10 against the SEC minus a possible bowl matchup.
The Vols will be breaking in new corners including a true freshman in Eric Berry at Cal. This doesn't bode well when the Bears have WR Desean Jackson staring you in the eye. Tennessee will bank on returning starting QB Erik Ainge to lead the way offensively, but he's going to have to find a go to receiver. The defensive secondary isn't all new with safety Jonathan Hefney returning. He will have to do more than his share against Cal returning QB Nate Longshore and his receiving core that includes not only Jackson but TE Craig Stevens. Both teams have excellent special teams with Britton Colquitt for Tenn and Tom Schneider and Andrew Larson for Cal at K and P.
My feeling is the Vols traveling to Cal will make it hard for them to take one on the road. Plus, with no proven play makers I find it hard for Ainge to win this by himself. I'm taking Cal to get some revenge from 2006 and win this one.
Cal 31 Tennessee 20
Austinwolv's add:
Agree, Cal gets back at the Vols. Breaking in new receiving corp on a tough road game could get ugly for Tenn. Berry is a playmaker though and if he's involved in the return game could help out with Vol field position.
Cal 28, Tenn 13
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FSU @ Clemson
Sept. 3, 8pm ESPN
SeminoleDynasty's take:
The Noles come in ranked #19 for this tilt. The last time these 2 conference foes met, the Tigers pulled a quick run on a bewildered Nole defense to win the game in Tallahassee. The Seminoles break in 5 new coaches (one old in Chuck Amato) with a retooled offensive coaching staff while saying goodbye to former OC Jeff Bowden. The Tigers have taken 3 of the last 4 in this series as the Noles haven't won in Clemson since 2001.
This year both teams will be rebuilding offensive lines so the defenses should have a leg up and help determine this contest. The Noles main play makers on offense are RB-Antoine Smith and WR-Greg Carr while the Tigers go to guys are RBs James Davis and CJ Spiller. The Noles defense returns a core group that includes DL-Andre Fluellen, LB-Geno Hayes, CB-Tony Carter, and S-Myron Rolle. Clemson will have to retool it's defense after losing guys like Gaines Adams, Anthony Waters, and both CBs. The Tigers have a new QB in Cullen Harper which is never a good thing going up against a Mickey Andrews led defense. The Noles bring back starting QB, Drew Weatherford, but he will have to show more in his junior year. The Tigers will be breaking in a new kicker and punter while the Noles return both.
With so many pluses minus home field advantage, I see the Noles new and improved offense under Offensive Coordinator Jimbo Fisher getting the better of the Tigers in this one and giving the Noles a victory.
FSU 28 Clemson 13
Austinwolv's add:
I agree with Nole on this one.......first game with a new QB against a blitz-happy Andrews defense is not a good situation for the Tigers. FSU stacks the box and slows up the Spiller/Davis show, giving Weatherford enough chances to make things happen in an offense that shouldn't be put you to sleep anymore.
FSU 24, Clemson 20
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