CFB Season

Well, it starts tomorrow, the greatest viewing sport on the planet IMO.

I am a die hard FSU fan, but can sit and watch college ball all day long (once I get home from the course). I can watch about any matchup on TV.

I am from Iowa, so have the Big10 - Midwestern roots. I can't stand the Hawkeyes, so have rooted for Michigan as my other team since the 80's.

I like to see both FSU and UM kicking off the year with quality opponents, get tired of the weak Word not allowed OOC schedules so many play. Good on the Noles book ending the season with Bama and UF.

Road_King and I are cool, but it is on 9/2 my brother, hope both teams bring it for a battle. I want to see a well played game with no injuries. May the best team win!

It's game time!!!!!

We have a kid from the school I teach at just verbal to Miami so I will be following them even more now. Hes a jr this year so will be a class of 2019 frosh. I have been listening to Finebaum in the afternoons just listening to what other people think and I think its gonna be Bama again this year. The SEC west should be interesting with LSU a little better from last year and Auburn up this year. The East is even a little better.

Im like you Warrick, I can watch college football all day, especially SEC games.

Being from MS, I will also follow Southern Miss as well as the other two in state schools. I am hoping Ole Miss only wins 5 games or less this year and gets beat by LSU (I have money on all these things).

Well, given SilverBullets is the nickname for Ohio St.'s D, I am a diehard Buckeye fan. There is a ton of excitement around the Buckeyes this year and it seems like a year which could be special, but, I am waiting until I actually see what happens. I am mainly waiting until I see 2 things: 1 - If the new offensive coordinator really does revamp the offense and gets it in some more rhythm. 2 - Just how good are the new defensive backs. I don't care who you are, it's nearly impossible to replace 3 first round draft picks at the same position in one year.

What I think ultimately happens:

1 - Offense does improve but isn't nearly as improved as the Buckeye faithful are expecting. It takes step forward but not a leap forward.

2 - The secondary is going to be significantly worse than last year (it was probably the best defensive back field Ohio St has ever had last year). But the older, more experienced and supremely talented dline makes up for any gap and it ends up being a net-net.

Ohio State drops 1 regular season game (looking at OU or Michigan... sorry I don't believe in PSU... I think they were just a momentum team last year) and is sitting there at the #4 or #5 spot at the end of the regular season... either in the playoff by the skin of their teeth or just out.

Well, given SilverBullets is the nickname for Ohio St.'s D, I am a diehard Buckeye fan. There is a ton of excitement around the Buckeyes this year and it seems like a year which could be special, but, I am waiting until I actually see what happens. I am mainly waiting until I see 2 things: 1 - If the new offensive coordinator really does revamp the offense and gets it in some more rhythm. 2 - Just how good are the new defensive backs. I don't care who you are, it's nearly impossible to replace 3 first round draft picks at the same position in one year.

 

What I think ultimately happens:

 

1 - Offense does improve but isn't nearly as improved as the Buckeye faithful are expecting. It takes step forward but not a leap forward.

2 - The secondary is going to be significantly worse than last year (it was probably the best defensive back field Ohio St has ever had last year). But the older, more experienced and supremely talented dline makes up for any gap and it ends up being a net-net.

 

Ohio State drops 1 regular season game (looking at OU or Michigan... sorry I don't believe in PSU... I think they were just a momentum team last year) and is sitting there at the #4 or #5 spot at the end of the regular season... either in the playoff by the skin of their teeth or just out.

OSU always seems to just plug in DB's and then in a few years they all get drafted....lol.

I am interested to see if JT can take the next step.

Well, given SilverBullets is the nickname for Ohio St.'s D, I am a diehard Buckeye fan. There is a ton of excitement around the Buckeyes this year and it seems like a year which could be special, but, I am waiting until I actually see what happens. I am mainly waiting until I see 2 things: 1 - If the new offensive coordinator really does revamp the offense and gets it in some more rhythm. 2 - Just how good are the new defensive backs. I don't care who you are, it's nearly impossible to replace 3 first round draft picks at the same position in one year.

 

What I think ultimately happens:

 

1 - Offense does improve but isn't nearly as improved as the Buckeye faithful are expecting. It takes step forward but not a leap forward.

2 - The secondary is going to be significantly worse than last year (it was probably the best defensive back field Ohio St has ever had last year). But the older, more experienced and supremely talented dline makes up for any gap and it ends up being a net-net.

 

Ohio State drops 1 regular season game (looking at OU or Michigan... sorry I don't believe in PSU... I think they were just a momentum team last year) and is sitting there at the #4 or #5 spot at the end of the regular season... either in the playoff by the skin of their teeth or just out.

 

OSU always seems to just plug in DB's and then in a few years they all get drafted....lol.

 

I am interested to see if JT can take the next step.

I think JT kind of is what he is. I think he's very much the definition of a system QB. He has a pretty average arm but a very high football IQ, is a great leader, and has above average athleticism. He's a guy who isn't going to win you a game by putting the team on his back but he also isn't a guy who is going to lose you game making a critical errors... he's a product of what's around him.

When you look at 2014 and the success he had, he had a better system around him. Tom Herman was an incredible coordinator, game planner and took advantage of individual mismatches like I have never seen in the college game (it was very Belicheck-isque). He had a ton of creativity and knew when to methodically take shots. Throw in a guy like Devin Smith on the outside who had great speed and this incredible ability to time jump balls and it made JT's mediocre arm and vertical passing game look like a weapon. You then watch the games when Cardale came in and you can see just how much more of a weapon the deep ball was due to Cardale's massive arm (his inaccuracy was made up for by Devin Smith and Michael Thomas' ability to track down anything in their vicinity). In 2015, Herman left and the offense was fully taken over by that bumbling idiot whom I've already forgotten about. Offense was out sync, play calling was predictable, and mismatches were never exposed (in 15 and 16). Barrett was the same QB with an average arm it was just exposed because they weren't able to identify mismatches to expose. It's crazy to think in 2015 their offense had Zeke, Mike Thomas, Curtis Samuel, Braxton Miller, a really solid O line and yet they looked completely out of sync and not dominate until they shredded Michigan and Notre Dame. Last year, the WR corps were very weak and inexperienced. The Buckeyes really had no vertical threat and Barrett simply doesn't have the arm to throw guy's open or into position.

What I am getting at is Barrett is Barrett. His IQ, leadership and game managing capabilities are what makes him an upper echelon college talent. He doesn't have an incredible arm or out of this world athleticism like a Deshaun Watson or Sam Darnold, You can't ask him to be something more than what he is. He is a guy who's success is predicated on the weapons and most importantly, the system built around him. I think most realistic Buckeye fans understand this and are hoping the shake up with the coordinators gets them back to the place where they not only out talent other teams, but, out game plan them as well. Dabo, Dantonio and Franklin blatantly out schemed the Buckeyes and beat them in recent years because of it. Last year, Clemson not only had a better game plan, but, they were more talented as well. End result, 31-0.

Interested to see who starts at QB for UF.

Like to see Franks start and be developed.

Not having Callaway for the 1st game will hurt. Michigan lost a lot on defense though.

Ready for the season to start. College football is my favorite sport.

Bama fan here (please withhold your judgement). A lot of new faces on defense this year. They retained a lot of the secondary including minkah Fitzpatrick which is good but not nearly as talented up front. Don't get me wrong they still have a solid front seven but it's really hard to replace the names they had last year. I'm curious to see how Jalen Hurts meshes with the new OC. He seemed to be really comfortable with Kiffin. It's nice to have a ton of options at RB and still having Calvin Ridley though.

Side note. Watching this FSU Bama game Derwin James is an incredible player.

Pretty good day for opening Saturday.

My Wolfpack lost a heartbreaker to South Carolina. Gotta show up for 4 qtrs though. Doreen is on the hot seat this year and today wasn't a good start. Hopefully we can make some noise in ACC though.

FSU, Clemson and Louisville are looking tough though.

Georgia fan here. Eason went down Early and Fromm stepped in and looked very good. He seemed a lot more accurate and way more poised in the pocket than Eason. We shall see what they do going forward though

Georgia fan here. Eason went down Early and Fromm stepped in and looked very good. He seemed a lot more accurate and way more poised in the pocket than Eason. We shall see what they do going forward though

Tuned in late. What happened to Eason? Tuned in late and never seen him play. Really enjoyed watching him throw it around last year

Roll Tide

Too many mistakes.....

Georgia fan here. Eason went down Early and Fromm stepped in and looked very good. He seemed a lot more accurate and way more poised in the pocket than Eason. We shall see what they do going forward though

 

Tuned in late. What happened to Eason? Tuned in late and never seen him play. Really enjoyed watching him throw it around last year

They are saying an ankle sprain but haven't said anything about to the severity yet

Valparaiso where I played years ago hung tough with perennial fcs contender Montana. This was a pay check game for valpo when I played we got destroyed by tenn tech, Murray state, and North Dakota state.

My D1 team Illinois barely beat ball state gonna be another long year for the fighting Illini.

After watching my Husker barely hang on against Arkansas State (and credit to them, they played well) I think each Saturday when the game comes on I'll throw on a DVD of the 1995 season and watch that instead.

My Spartans looked good after shaking off some early rust. Just hope Lewerke stays healthy and continues to improve. Defense looked alright, receivers played decently, and looks like we've got a new RB option that will be good. I don't have real high hopes since it looks like Michigan, PSU, and OSU are all gonna be pretty great, 7-5 or 8-4 and a decent bowl would be pretty great.

I remember when Illinois had a football team.

Now we're a golf school.

Interested to see who starts at QB for UF.

 

Like to see Franks start and be developed.

 

Not having Callaway for the 1st game will hurt. Michigan lost a lot on defense though.

 

Ready for the season to start. College football is my favorite sport.

What has happened to the offense at Flordia??

No idea. Didn't the offense at CSU dominate offensively? Isn't that where mclewain is from? The Saban coaching tree hasn't been the greatest success but he still gets his guys jobs

Huge one this week in Columbus as the Buckeyes take on OU. Most likely a must win game for OU to make the playoffs, OSU can probably stand to lose the game as long as they run the table in the Big Ten (that would mean even with the loss they would have wins against Penn State, Michigan, and likely Wisc in the BIG champ).

Buckeyes looked sluggish in the first half against IU but turned it on and looked great in the second half. Something we have not seen in a couple of years in Columbus are half time offensive adjustments. I was thrilled to see the new Coordinators through the ineffective game plan out of the window in the first half and run a little more simple and effective plan in the second half. It worked. I thought Barrett looked very solid. Much like the Barrett we saw in 2014. Good decision making, no real errant throws unless he was getting hit and he connected on the shots he needed to.

The young, inexperienced WRs looked rough in the first half with a few critical drops. None bigger than a perfectly thrown deep ball in the End Zone which was dropped by a wide open Paris Campbell. That would have broken the game open early in the 2nd half as opposed to the buckeyes breaking it open a couple drives later.

The secondary is now a bigger concern than I previously believed. Very inexperienced and didn't look very good. In the first half I am not sure a single OSU DB turned their head around to break up a pass. They looked out of position and were trying to catch up to the ball/WR instead of being in position to turn their head and make a play. The secondary looked much better in the second half as they started breaking up some passes and even had a couple of picks. But it was still rough. IU's WR Cobbs is NASTY. He made some fantastic 1 handed grabs and looked like a man amongst boys out there. I guess he was a Bama recruit who got in trouble and ended up in JUCO. He looked like a upper echelon college receiver.

Baker Mayfield may throw for 500 yards this weekend in Columbus unless the Buckeyes grow up in a hurry. Ohio State's Dline is downright nasty, if they aren't the best line in the country they are certainly right there in the top 2 or 3. IU was able to limit some of that by ensuring the ball was out of the QB's hands in less than 2 seconds. That meant a lot of short, quick passes. Cobbs was able to use his height (6'5) as an advantage so IU was able to run some quick throws a little deeper along the sideline. OU's WRs are smaller than IU's (something I never thought I would say) so I think if OU is running those quick passing routes they will have to keep it in the middle of the field using slant and crossing routes as opposed to fade routes like IU used.

It's going to be an interesting game. I don't think OU is going to be able to run the ball at all against that OSU Dline. Indiana's longest run was 9 yards all game long and they totaled 17 total yards. But OU's strength is passing, like IUs. And Baker Mayfield is no joke. I think we see Mayfield throwing the ball 50+ times. The question will be can the OSU corners come up with enough stops to win? If not, can the OU defense stop the OSU offense? OSU has 2 great running backs and an adequate passing attack. I think we see a score with both teams in the 40s. It very well may be first 50 points wins.

Man I'm so happy college football is back!!

Big time Buckeye fan! OSU vs. OU is gonna be quite the ball game!!

Or maybe it's gonna be an old fashion a** whooping like it was in Norman last year! :D

Hoping our D-Line can get home on Baker boy before he shreds that young secondary. They're growing every game, but someone w/ Baker's arm in the second game of the year is baptism by fire.

Thoughts on other college games - USC sure seems groggy after finishing 2016 as the hottest team in the country.

Michigan looked lackluster taking down a FL team that's a shell of what it used to be and had no business being ranked.

Bama is going to be very tough to beat!!

BIG10 will be premiere conference in the land, with Michigan, Ohio St., Wisconsin, Michigan State, Nebraska, Indiana, among others all being either top tier competitors, or at the very least tough outs for their competitors.

Kevin Sumlin's seat is hotter than the gates of hell.

So sad to see Florida State's QB (Francois), two Bama LB's, and so many other talented athletes suffer season ending injuries in week 1. Hoping they can all recover and come back in 2018 or late 2017 healthy!

I'm pumped for this Saturday! Watched the first half of Ohio St (sorry OSU means Oklahoma State in these parts!) IU game and am thinking Mayfield will have success throwing the ball. Second half Ohio St looked impressive. I don't think their D Line is better than Tampa Bay's as Schiano says, but clearly looks to be the best group in the county.

I remember what Weber did last year and Dobbins looks better, which is scary. I don't know if OU will be able to slow the run enough to force Barrett to throw the ball, which will be key if OU is to win. I do think Mayfield will be able to spread it around a little more this year and not rely on one player like he did with Westbrook last year. I just hope the game lives up to the hype this year.

I'm pumped for this Saturday! Watched the first half of Ohio St (sorry OSU means Oklahoma State in these parts!) IU game and am thinking Mayfield will have success throwing the ball. Second half Ohio St looked impressive. I don't think their D Line is better than Tampa Bay's as Schiano says, but clearly looks to be the best group in the county.

 

I remember what Weber did last year and Dobbins looks better, which is scary. I don't know if OU will be able to slow the run enough to force Barrett to throw the ball, which will be key if OU is to win. I do think Mayfield will be able to spread it around a little more this year and not rely on one player like he did with Westbrook last year. I just hope the game lives up to the hype this year.

Weber is kind of a one speed, one direction, north and south runner. He was good last year but not great. He didn't seem to have the big play, home run capabilities. He got tripped up a lot and was unable to turn the big run (the 20 yarder) into a huge run. Dobbins looks like a young Zeke out there. That jump cut he threw in the first half against IU was downright nasty.

I'm nervous about this game (as a Buckeye fan). The tOSU dbacks looked seriously outmatched against IU (granted Cobbs is going to have a massive year). They made Lagow look like Aaron Rodgers and he isn't near the talent that Mayfield is. tOSU's D line is downright nasty though. IU had a ton of success running quick passes and any play that took more than 2.5 seconds and Lagow was getting crushed.

tOSU may give up 450 yards passing to Mayfield, but, I'm not sure OU has the defense to stop tOSU. I think the game is going to be closer than last year. It very well may be first team to 40 wins.

Listening to sports talk of OKC station broadcasting from Columbus on Thursday and their impression is that neither fan base seems overly confident. If OUs front seven shows up could be a great game!

On a side note, I have several friends who have made the trip to experience gameday in Columbus who have nothing but good things to say.

I'm hoping the problems OSU corners had the first half against IU was just first game jitters. It wasn't like they were getting beat and giving up space. They just weren't making plays on the ball in good coverage. That, I think, is nerves and inexperience. Hoping a game under the belt and playing at home helps.

I was wrong. The DBs are just bad.

This is a 3 loss Ohio state team, easily

This is a 3 loss Ohio state team, easily

Clemson isn't going to win out either. Should make for an interesting shake up in The polls after week 5 or so.

Same old OSU offense. bad playcalling, wr's not getting open and Barrett not able to hit them when they do. JT has not been the same since he broke his leg. Couple that with a young/bad secondary this could be a long season. Over 800 passing yards giving up in 2 games. Atleast next week we will hold the passing game in check