Week 1
Michigan at Utah at 8:30 on Fox Sports 1 on Thursday, September 3rd:
He is back everybody! Jim Harbaugh is back in college football!
I say this in the nicest way possible, but Jim Harbaugh is a bit of a lunatic. His intensity level in all facets of life reaches that of only Tom Thibodeau. There is no denying that his personality is a little eccentric and unconventional, even for somebody that coaches sports for a living. Everybody knows that Harbaugh's insistence on going about things a certain way on the field can wear his players out, not to mention how his temperament and unrelenting manner off the field can get on the nerves of the administrators and executives around him (just ask 49ers CEO Jed York and GM Trent Baalke about that).
However, Harbaugh has won everywhere he has coached, and he dramatically improves the makeup and composition of his teams by bringing in a sense of toughness and demanding excellence through intra-squad competition.
The Wolverines have undergone an identity crisis since the end of Lloyd Carr's 13-year run in Ann Arbor. The 3-3-5 defense under Rich Rodriguez was a complete mess during his three-year tenure, and the Wolverines won fewer games then the previous season in each of Brady Hoke's successive seasons at the school.
Harbaugh is a "Michigan man" as they love to hear in Ann Arbor. He played under the great Bo Schembechler from 1983 to 1986 and lead Michigan to the Fiesta Bowl and a #2 ranking in 1985 and to the Rose Bowl in 1986, a year in which he was the Big Ten Player of the Year and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde and Temple running back Paul Palmer. His dad, Jack Harbaugh, was also the defensive backs coach at Michigan from 1973 to 1979. If Jim Harbaugh wins big at Michigan, they will gladly put up with his peculiar and intense character.
The first year for Harbaugh, though, could be his most difficult one at the school. Remember that Bob Stoops was 7-5 in his first year at powerhouse Oklahoma in 1999 (one of his only four non double-digit winning seasons in 16 years at the school), Mike Gundy was 4-7 in his opening season at Oklahoma St. in 2005 and 1-7 in conference play (from 2008 to 2011, Oklahoma St. was one of only six teams along with Alabama, TCU, Oregon, Boise St., and Virginia Tech to finish in the top 25 of the coaches poll all four years), and Nick Saban was 7-6 and 4-4 in the SEC in his first year at Alabama in 2007 (since then his record is 84-11 at the school with 3 National Championships).
I suspect Harbaugh to face an initial struggle at Michigan as he attempts to instill a new identity and re-shape the roster to fit his liking. Michigan has a question mark at the quarterback position heading into 2015, and Brady Hoke struggled to recruit the type of top-level talent that the school had become accustomed to grabbing in the past (Hoke had the #31 recruiting class in 2014 and Jim Harbaugh's late arrival in Ann Arbor pushed Michigan's 2015 class down to #50 according to Rivals).
I remember going to the Michigan-Utah game back in 2008 when Michigan put up a valiant fight in the Big House but lost to the then-Mountain West Utes 25-23, a team with Paul Kruger and Sean Smith that went on to finish 13-0 and beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl 31-17. I see a similarly closely tested affair this year from Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The Wolverines quarterback battle is likely going to come down to lefty Shane Morris and Iowa graduate transfer Jake Rudock, who threw for 311 yards and 2 touchdowns last season in a game against Wisconsin for the Hawkeyes. Whoever starts for Michigan is going to have to deal with a resilient Utah front seven, which includes promising young defensive linemen Hunter Dimick and Lowell Lotulelei (the younger brother of Star Lotulelei). In fact, Utah led all of college football last season with a combined 55 team sacks, including a 10 sack game on Brett Hundley in a 30-28 upset victory over UCLA. Although the Utes will not be able to make up for the loss of Nate Orchard and his nation leading 19 sacks with one player, they bring back almost everyone else on defense.
Utah is lucky to bring back consistent senior quarterback Travis Wilson, dynamic running back Devontae Booker, who was second in the Pac-12 with 1,512 rushing yards in 2014, and four of their five starting offensive lineman from last season. As great as a grab it was for Michigan to bring Harbaugh back to Ann Arbor, I like the Utes to hang him a loss in his first game at the school.
Texas at Notre Dame at 7:30 on NBC on Saturday, September 5th:
Amongst FBS programs, Notre Dame has the second most wins in college football history with 882, and Texas is third in that category with 881. The Fighting Irish have the best winning percentage amongst any NCAA football program at .732 while the Longhorns are tied with Nebraska for sixth at an impressive .712. Notre Dame's 7 Heisman Trophy winners (Angelo Bertelli, Lohnny Lujack, Leon Hart, Johnny Lattner, Paul Hornung, John Huarte, Tim Brown) is tied with Ohio St. for the most in college football and Texas is one of only ten schools with multiple winners of the award over the last 40 years along with Ohio St., Michigan, Florida, Florida St., Auburn, Oklahoma, USC, Nebraska, and Miami (running backs Earl Campbell in 1977 and Ricky Williams in 1998 won it for UT). Notre Dame's 22 total championships are the most in the FBS and Texas's 9 are in the top 10. The Fighting Irish have had 33 unanimous All-Americans, the most of any program, while the Longhorns are not far behind with 22 such selections. Notre Dame has had 485 players selected in the NFL draft including 63 in the first round, which are second and third most in the country respectively. Under head coaches Darrell Royal and Fred Akers from 1957 to 1986, the Longhorns finished in the top 5 of the AP poll an 12 times, playing in 13 Cotton Bowls over that stretch. Notre Dame is so big that they do not even need to be apart of a conference while ESPN agreed to a 20 year, 300 million dollar deal with the University of Texas to set up the Longhorn Network, largely centered around UT football.
History, tradition, legacies, huge fan bases, and immense financial backing from supporters will be very present when the schools square off in South Bend on September 5th.
Some of the particulars of the game have to be overlooked if you want to be interested in it. Charlie Strong dismissed anybody that talked at Texas in his first year at the program, as 9 players left the team for legal or disciplinary reasons. Strong wants to create a new culture of accountability with the Longhorns, but it is going to take time for that to happen.
Texas's 6-7 season last year was just the third time in over 20 years that they finished below .500, and Tyrone Swoopes struggled to ever get the offense going once he took over for David Ash at QB (Ash's career came to an end during the season because of multiple concussions). Strong has the management capabilities and heavy resources at UT to build a roster full of disciplined players like he did at Louisville, but it is not there yet.
The ghost of Mack Brown's recruiting past still haunts Texas. He tried to recruit eventual Heisman Trophy winners Robert Griffin III and Johnny Manziel at defensive back. Brown did not pursue future number one pick Andrew Luck, who played high school football in Houston. He did not offer a scholarship to another eventual Heisman Trophy winner James Winston, who said, "If I'd gotten the offer from Texas, I'd be going to Texas right now. But I never got offered." Texas's problems run deeper than the QB position, but they have not been able to find a good signal-caller since Colt McCoy left.
Meanwhile, Brian Kelly ran Everett Golson out of town just 3 years after the quarterback led the Fighting Irish to the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama. For as magical as that run was with Tyler Eifert, Zack Martin, Louis Nix, Stephon Tuitt, Manti Te'o, and Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend, that was the only time that the Fighting Irish have finished in the top 10 of the coaches poll in more than 20 years. To make things even worse, Notre Dame is still paying Charlie Weis more then Brian Kelly (the Fighting Irish initially paid Weis $6.6 million back in 2009 when he was fired and they have given him $2.1 million for four straight years as a part of their separation agreement. How did Weis get such a sweet deal you may be wondering? Back in 2005, Notre Dame started the season surprisingly well in Weis's first year, including a victory over #3 Michigan in Ann Arbor. As NFL rumors began to swirl around the former Jets and Patriots offensive coordinator, ND freaked out and gave him a ridiculous 10-year deal after 7 games in charge).
Obviously, this is not your father's Texas or your father's Notre Dame, but this game still means something between the two powerhouse college football programs.
Despite having a very tough schedule with games against Georgia Tech, Clemson, USC, and Stanford, Notre Dame has enough talent to be a sleeper top 10 team by the end of the season, especially if they can start off the season with a momentum building win over the Longhorns. I really like the Fighting Irish defense, which should be more reminiscent of the stout 2012 unit than the defense from last season that was 84th in the nation in points allowed. ND is getting a lot of players back on defense from injury and suspension, including cornerback KeiVarae Rusell and defensive end Ishaq Williams from academic suspension and Jarrett Grace from the knee injury that he suffered in 2013 against Arizona State. They return 19 starters from last season's team, and nearly their entire defense.
Texas has just 5 returning defensive starters (only Kansas is bringing back less players on that side of the ball in the Big 12). As you would expect, the Longhorns have plenty of young talent and speed, especially after bringing back running back Jonathan Gray and defensive back Duke Thomas. However, they still have a lot of holes to fill on both sides of the ball and a question mark at the quarterback position with a battle in camp ensuing between Tyrone Swoopes and redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard. This could be an intriguing game between two pillars of the sport.
Wisconsin vs Alabama at 8:00 on ABC on Saturday, September 5th in the Cowboys Classic from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas:
Alabama lost a lot of key players from their 2014 college football playoff team. Amari Cooper, a Fred Biletnikoff Award winner for best college football wide receiver and a Heisman Trophy Finalist after setting school records in catches with 124, receiving yards with 1,727, and touchdowns with 16, was selected 4th overall in the NFL Draft. Landon Collins, one of only three unanimous All-American defensive backs and who led the team in tackles and was tied for the team lead in interceptions, was picked by the Giants in the 2nd round. T. J. Yeldon was also selected in the 2nd round, a running back that rushed for more than 970 yards and 11 touchdowns in all three of his seasons in Tuscaloosa, which is something that Kenneth Darby, Glen Coffee, Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, and Eddie Lacy never did at the school. Blake Sims, who broke the school's single-season passing record, is gone. Alabama is also not returning three of its starting offensive linemen from last year, making it one of only three teams in the SEC along with Florida and Mississippi St. to have only one or two returning offensive linemen.
With all that being said, Alabama is still the SEC favorite to represent the conference in the College Football Playoff, and their season will be considered a failure if they do not make it back there. Every school in the country loses pieces in any given season due to the NFL Draft, transfers, and graduates (just look at Bama's week one opponent, Wisconsin, who is losing Doak Walker Award Winner and Heisman Finalist running back Melvin Gordon and consensus first team All-Big Ten offensive tackle Rob Havenstein).
However, Alabama may be the only school in the country that can recover year after year from all of its departures because of the boatload of five and four star players that the team is able to recruit every year. According to Rivals, Alabama had the number one recruiting class in 2012, 2013, and 2014, and the Tide were second in the team rankings in 2015 behind USC. While landing top recruits does not guarantee success by any means - Georgia had the #7 class in 2008, #6 in 2009, #15 in 2010, #5 in 2011, #12 in 2012, #12 again in 2013, #7 in 2014, and the #6 class in 2015 and has not made a BCS Bowl game or College Football Playoff over that stretch - it does make life a lot easier.
We all know that Wisconsin loves to run the football. Even though I think that new head coach Paul Chryst will bring a little more balance to a Wisconsin offense that could barely move the football if it was not in Gordon's hands last season, the Badgers are still going to try to pound the rock.
The problem with that strategy in against the Crimson Tide is that Alabama's front seven is downright scary. It all starts right up the middle with A'Shawn Robinson and his teammate Jarran Reed, two massive defensive tackles for the Tide that make up the best interior tandem in college football. Robinson is going to be a first round pick if he comes out after his junior season, especially since he is versatile enough to play nose tackle or defensive end in Bama's usual three down linemen sets. If Wisconsin's offensive line can somehow push Robinson out of the way, Reuben Foster and Reggie Ragland will be there to clean anything up in the Tide's linebacker unit. Ragland had the second most tackles on the team last season, and he is Alabama's most athletic player in their stout front seven, as he showed with his jumping interception against Kenny Hill and Texas A&M.
The problem for Wisconsin is that the Alabama front seven is not going to surrender the amount of rushing yards that the Badgers need to make up for their sub-par passing game. Joel Stave is a serviceable quarterback, but he is not going to win a team any games on his own, which is a problem because, as Ohio St. showed in the College Football playoff last year, the Alabama secondary is susceptible to big plays down the field. To make matters worse, the Badgers are losing both guards and an offensive tackle from the front that helped Gordon rush for 2,587 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2014.
Unless Wisconsin pulls a quickie on Nick Saban and Alabama and substitute in the Cowboys terrific offensive line in "Jerry World," I fully expect a Crimson Tide victory this time around in a Big Ten-SEC game.
Ohio St. at Virginia Tech at 8:00 on ESPN on Monday, September 7th:
Ohio St. was the best team in college football last season, and I'm not sure if you have heard about this, but they won the National Championship with their 3rd string quarterback. To me, that statement rings a little hollow at this point because when you have three of the top seven or eight quarterbacks in college football, a third-stringer is almost in a reversible position with your starter. As John Calipari might say, "Ohio St. did not have subs. They had reinforcements."
The Buckeyes only loss last season came not at Michigan St., not against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Title game in Cardinal Jones's first start, and not in the inaugural College Football Playoff, but at home to Virginia Tech. Yes, a Virginia Tech team that finished the season 7-6 with a home loss to East Carolina and who tied for last in their ACC division at 3-5 with a three game conference losing streak to Pitt, Miami, and Boston College. Obviously, context matters in sports, and J. T. Barrett was really bad against the Hokies in the second start of his career with two second half interceptions, including a complete miscommunication with his wide out when he was picked off by Donovan Riley to seal Virginia Tech's victory. The Hokies return a lot on defense in 2015, most noticeably first-team all ACC cornerback Kendall Fuller, but whoever does start for Ohio St. is going to be in complete control of the offense this time around.
So, J. T. Barrett, Cardale Jones, or Braxton Miller? That is the question on everybody's mind in the college football world right now, and here is where I stand on the QB battle.
Braxton Miller is a distant third option for the Buckeyes, and I do not think he is in the competition to start on opening night in Blacksburg. That is very odd to say about a quarterback that lead his team to an undefeated 12-0 season when they were ineligible for postseason play in 2012, passed for over 2,000 yards and rushed for over 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons (amongst power 5 conference quarterbacks, only Vince Young, Brad Smith, Cam Newton, Collin Klein and Johnny Manziel have done that a season since 2004), and is a two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year (amongst the power 5 conferences, only USC running back Charles White, Stanford QB John Elway, Washington St. running back Rueben Mayes, USC quarterback Matt Leinart, USC running back Reggie Bush, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, Texas running back Ricky Williams, Oklahoma quarterback Jason White, and Arkansas running back Darren McFadden have done that).
Miller has had two surgeries on his right throwing shoulder since last February, and he has barely thrown a football since he re-injured his shoulder in August of 2014. He even missed out on the Buckeye's recent spring practices because he had still not fully recovered from the operations. Although some successful NFL quarterbacks have come back from labrum repairs like Drew Bress and Blaine Gabbert (ok, so just Bress), it is a difficult for a quarterback to come back from two such surgeries. Even when healthy, Barrett and Jones offer more to Ohio State's offense, which means that Miller is likely going to be one of the two odd men out in Columbus.
As for J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones, either one of them could end up being under center when the Buckeyes take on the Hokies in week one, but I lean towards Jones. As he showed in the College Football Playoff against Alabama and Oregon, Cardale's arm is massive and he can vertically stretch a defense so much because of his ability to get the ball down the field to receivers like Michael Thomas and Corey Smith. Barrett is quicker than Jones, and a better dual-threat option to run the option and make the right read with Ezekiel Elliott. He has also been getting rave reviews out of the Elite 11 camp, where he seems to have fully recovered from the broken ankle he suffered against Michigan.
However, Cardale is so big that he can make up for those lost rushing yards when he scrambles and runs over guys as he gets a full head of speed with his 250 pound frame. Like when he destroyed Oregon defensive lineman Alex Balducci, or when he did trucked Alabama defensive back Landon Collins. Plus, Cradle Jones always keeps things very interesting on twitter. I'm keeping this question open and reserving my complete and final judgement on the OSU QB battle until I see how things shake out.
What I do know is that no matter who Urban Meyer decides to start on September 7th, Ezekiel Elliott is going to be running out there, Joey Bosa is going to be a menace against Va Tech's offensive line, Joshua Perry is going to be chasing guys down, and the Buckeyes should take it to the Hokies.
Week 2
Oklahoma at Tennessee at 6:00 on ESPN on Saturday, September 12th:
Is this finally the year Tennessee jumps back into the national picture?
It has been such a long time for Volunteer fans since the glory days of Phillip Fulmer in the 1990s and early 2000s, but I think that Tennessee is on the cusp of returning to national relevancy. Tennessee had 8 double-digit winning seasons from 1993 to 2004 and won the first BCS National Championship in 1998 despite losing Peyton Manning to the NFL draft. In the last 7 years, the Vols have had 4 different head coaches and an overall record of 40-47 without a season of more than 7 wins, by far their worst stretch as a football program since all the way back from 1958 to 1964.
Butch Jones has had two years to instill a new culture of responsibility in the program, and he brought in the #5 recruiting class in both 2014 and 2015, including more five star recruits then any school but Alabama and Florida State according to Rivals. The third year is typically the big season for a coach at a new school (just ask former Tennessee coach Derek Dooley about the need to produce some results in that year).
The Vols have as much talent on their roster as they have had in nearly a decade. Tennessee are bringing back 2014 second team All-SEC defensive end Derek Barnett, second team All-SEC outside linebacker Curt Maggitt, and one of the best defensive back pairings in the SEC along with Alabama's duo of Eddie Jackson and Cyrus Jones with their own tandem of Cameron Sutton and LaDarrell McNeil. Tennessee football may not be what it once was, but a win over Oklahoma would bring them closer to returning to some of those great "Rocky Top" glory days.
Frankly, you could also ask: is this the year that Oklahoma finally lives up to expectations and makes a run at the National Championship?
The Sooners were the biggest disappointment in college football last season (South Carolina was a close second). They finished 8-5 with a 40-6 bowl game loss to Clemson despite returning quarterback Trevor Knight, recruiting star running back Samaje Perine, and bringing back 9 players on defense from a team that went 11-2 with a win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl the previous year.
"Big Game Bob Stoops" has disappeared over the last several years in Norman, as the Sooners have failed to get over the hump and get into the title conversation for more than 5 years. Losses like their 2010 defeat to unranked Texas A&M when they began the season 7-1, and their failure to beat unranked Texas Tech at home in 2011 despite having won 39 straight games in Norman up to that point and being the #1 team in the country with wins over #5 Florida St. in Tallahassee and #11 Texas in the Red River Rivalry, have epitomized Oklahoma's underachievement in recent years. For a school that has won 10 or more games in 4 of the last 6 seasons, the Sooners have left much to be desired because of their massive letdowns against lesser opponents and disappointments in big games (like the 2013 defeat to #5 Baylor in Waco 41-12).
Of all the non-conference college football games this season, the contest between Oklahoma and Tennessee from Neyland Stadium may have the largest implications on how the winner and loser perform for the rest of the season.
If Oklahoma can get by the Volunteers on the road in Knoxville, things part like the red sea for them. Following that game and a relatively easy non-conference game against Tulsa, the Sooners play West Virginia at home, Texas in the Red River Rivalry in Dallas, at Kansas St., home to Texas Tech, at Kansas, and then home against Iowa State. While I generally dislike pre-season conference predictions, they do provide a general outline of the talent level of certain teams, and Oklahoma plays its first 6 conference games against the team's projected to finish 5-10 in the Big 12 standings. The Sooners are not a top 5 level college football team, especially after losing two all Big 12 first-team offensive lineman with Daryl Williams and Tyrus Thompson graduating. It is conceivable, though, that with a win over Tennessee, the Sooners could go into their final stretch against the superior Big 12 teams - at Baylor, home to TCU, and at Oklahoma St. in Bedlam - undefeated because of how their schedule sets up.
Tennessee has the opposite scenario as Oklahoma. After playing the Sooners and then having an easy game against FCS school Western Carolina, the Volunteers go to Florida in the Swamp, play at home against an improved Arkansas team, host SEC East favorite Georgia, and then play Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Vols have a much softer end to the season with games against Kentucky, North Texas, and Vanderbilt. A loss to Oklahoma would steal the early season thunder from Tennessee, especially before such a brutal stretch of conference game. For a team that expects to be a contender in the SEC East, Tennessee has to avoid beginning the season 3-4 because that would certainly deflate their sails.
The question looming over this game is who Oklahoma starts at quarterback between incumbent starter Trevor Knight and Texas Tech transfer Baker Mayfield. Knight was the darling of college football heading into last season, but he threw at least one interception in 8 of his 10 starts. Knight's poor decision-making, and his failure to look off defenders from the pocket, were evident in the Sooners crushing loss to eventual co-Big 12 champion TCU. Knight threw a pick 6 when it was 31-31 in the 4th quarter and then tossed another interception with nearly 6 minutes left in TCU territory when the Sooners were down 37-33 (jump to 2:31).
Mayfield, the first ever true freshman walk-on to start a season for a power five conference team, sat out all of last season, but he can sling the ball around the field. He is well-suited for Oklahoma's new air raid offense and its emphasis on quick pace, no huddle play calling and variety of screen passes and trips wide receiver sets.
With everything pointing towards Mayfield possibly winning the job, why did Stoops select Knight to talk at Big 12 media day? And since the Sooners start off in week 1 against a heavily under-matched Akron team, I would not be surprised if Stoops plays both Knight and Mayfield to give the Vols defense some things to think about heading into their week 2 clash. Tennessee may not be what it once was, and Oklahoma may have been a disappointment over the last few years, but this is the most underrated game of the early college football season.
Oregon at Michigan St. at 8:00 on ABC on Saturday, September 12th:
There are a ton of compelling early season non-conference college football games this year, especially since the commissioners of all the power 5 conferences have insisted on their teams scheduling marquee games before conference play begins (the SEC has made it mandatory to play once game against another power 5 school in non-conference play). The increased emphasis on difficult non-conference games has been heightened in the College Football Playoff era, as one of the major knocks against Baylor last year was their cupcake of a non-conference slate against SMU, FCS school Northwestern St., and Buffalo.
Historic college football programs like Texas and Notre Dame are squaring off in week 1 for the first time since 1996, and traditional powers Nebraska and Miami(FL) are playing again this year in week 3. A trio of SEC teams are playing high-profile week 1 neutral site games with Alabama tangling with Wisconsin, Auburn taking on Louisville, and Texas A&M battling with Arizona State. In one of the hardest non-conference schedules, Michigan is playing two teams from the Pac-12 (at Utah in week 1 and home against Oregon St. in week 2) and the Wolverines also play a BYU team that was 4-0 in 2014 with wins at UConn and Texas before star quarterback Taysom Hill missed the rest of the season after suffering a leg injury against Utah State. Michigan's schedule pales in comparison to the Virginia Cavaliers, who are traveling to UCLA in week 1, then play Notre Dame at home in week 2, and also take on Boise St. in week 4.
There may be some match-ups that are higher scoring or between programs with a more storied past, but of all the games in the early season, the Oregon-Michigan St. game in East Lansing in week 2 will have the largest championship implications.
Things are going to be significantly different this time around between the Ducks and the Spartans due to the departure of Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Marcus Mariota, who lit the Michgian St. defense up last season in their top 10 battle in Eugene for 318 yards and 3 touchdowns in a come from behind 46-27 victory (people forget that Michigan St. led that game 27-18 with under 5 minutes left in the third quarter). You can still be sure that the Oregon and Michigan St. coaching staffs are going to be reviewing a lot of game tape from their encounter last season to understand the opposing team's offensive and defensive tendencies.
The Spartans are going to have figure out a way to slow down Oregon's offensive tempo. Their defensive front seven last season, with the likes of Shilique Calhoun and Taiwan Jones, was unable to stay up to pace with the Duck's offense or make substitutes quickly enough to bring on fresh bodies. The Spartans defensive coordinator last season, Pat Narduzzi, left to take the vacant head coaching job at Pittsburgh, so the newly minted leaders of Michigan State's defensive unit, Harlon Barnett and Mike Tressel, are going to have to figure out a way to contain the Duck's offense.
The Spartans will need to be better conditioned on defense than they were last season because as the game got late into the third quarter and into the final period, Oregon's offensive line began to overpower a tired and beat up Michigan St. defense. Oregon's lead running back Royce Freeman had just 21 yards in the first three quarters of the game. He exploded for 68 yards and 2 touchdowns in the fourth quarter after huge gaps began to come available as Michigan State's tired front was unable to get off blocks and plug the holes. On Freeman's 38 yard touchdown scamper when the Ducks were only up 32-27, Michigan State's linebacking core over-pursued the football, leaving a counterattack lane for the Oregon freshman back to run through behind his offensive line. The Spartans will have to maintain better gap discipline this time around against the Ducks.
Michigan State has enough athletes and experience coming back on defense to do a better job against Oregon's offense this time around. Shilique Calhoun, a two-time Big Ten all first-team defensive end, is back for his senior season at Michigan St. despite being a first round draft talent. Calhoun had 12.5 tackles for loss in 2014, and Joey Bosa is the only returning player in the Big Ten that had more sacks then him last season. One of the reasons that the dominant defensive end decided to return to Michigan St. was that defensive tackles Malik McDowell and Lawrence Thomas, two interior linemen with solid hands and that can get leverage off the line, are coming back to school. They allow Calhoun to exploit one-on-one matchup that come his way and they also clog up the interior, so that he can get a jump off the edge to rush the passer in their cover 4 defense.
Michigan St. likes to play a fair share of press coverage with their corners, and I do not think that will change this season if they stay with their 4-3 over defensive scheme. Their defense will put a lot of pressure on defensive backs Arjen Colquhoun, Jermaine Edmondson, Darian Hicks, and Demetrious Cox to stay with Oregon's loaded group of wide receivers, which includes Devon Allen, Keanon Lowe, Dwayne Stanford, Charles Nelson, and Darren Carrington. Michigan State has had plenty of good cornerbacks in the past that could play that kind of tight coverage on skilled wideouts with the likes of Chris Rucker, Johnny Adams, Mitchell White, Darqueze Dennard, and Trae Waynes. However, with a more inexperienced group of corners this season, Michigan State's safety group, featuring RJ Williamson, will have to be all over the field in their usual 2 or 3 deep zone coverages. The Spartans defense will have a very large crowd on their side this time around in East Lansing, making it more difficult for the Ducks to communicate their play calls at the pace they would ideally like.
In terms of Oregon's offense, most of their question marks without Mariota will not be answered until they come up against Sparty in week 2. Who is going to be behind center for the Ducks?
I feel like there are more QB competitions this year in college football then any year in the past, and Oregon coach Mark Helfrich will have to decide between last year's backup Jeff Lockie, who attempted just 28 passes all season long, and Vernon Adams, who played three seasons at the FCS level with Eastern Washington before transferring to Eugene and being eligible to play immediately.
I personally see Adams taking the starting job over Lockie. Adams, who was the runner-up to John Robertson of Villanova last season for the Walter Payton Award for the best FCS player, is not as quick as Mariota but he can definitely run the zone read when Oregon needs him to. While at Eastern Washington he ran an up tempo offense that used a lot of the same language as the one he is heading to in Eugene. Although he may not be the most prolific math student in the world and is an unknown to fans despite knocking off Oregon St. 49-46 in 2013 (he threw for 411 yards and 4 touchdowns and ran for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns in that wild game in Corvallis), Adams could be the most impactful transfer in college football in 2015.
Since so much of the game last season came down to Oregon's offense against Michigan State's defense, I have ignored Michigan State's offense against Oregon's defense. However, one of the ways that the Spartans can slow down the Ducks attack is by going up and down the field with their offense and pounding the football on the ground behind an offensive line with three returning starters. Despite losing Jeremy Langford to the NFL, Michigan State's running backs should be able to follow the lanes opened up to them by 2014 first team Big-Ten center Jack Allen and second team Big-Ten offensive tackle Jack Conklin. The Spartans will need a little better game this time around from Connor Cook to help them exact revenge on Oregon, which I think they will be able to do in East Lansing.
Boise St. at BYU at 10:15 on ESPN2 on Saturday, September 12th:
Every year in college football, there is always at least one player that is must-see television because of his explosiveness and ability to reel off big plays at any moment. There is invariably one player that a team desperately rallies on to be their do-it-all play maker, and to make everybody around them seem so much better. They may have some slight back pain after a game from carrying their teammates to such a great extent (just ask James Harden how it feels to do that for an entire regular season due to so many Rockets injuries).
In 2007, running back Kevin Smith did almost everything for the UCF offense, rushing for 2,567 yards and 29 touchdowns, including having 9 games with more than 170 yards on the ground. In 2011, Kevin Sumlin put the ball in Case Keenum's hands and let him sling it around anywhere he wanted, as Kennum threw for an astonishing 5,631 yards and 48 touchdowns. In 2012, Jordan Lynch was that guy for Northern Illinois, throwing for 3,138 yards and 25 touchdowns and rushing for 1,815 yards and 19 touchdowns to push the Huskies all the way into the Orange Bowl against Florida State.
The do-it-all guy to watch this season in college football is BYU quarterback Taysom Hill, who is a definite dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate. Hill is part of a long line of exciting BYU quarterbacks including Gary Sheide, Gifford Neilsen, Marc Wilson, 1985 Bears Super Bowl winning QB Jim McMahon, 1983 Heisman Trophy runner-up and 1992 and 1994 NFL MVP Steve Young, 1984 National Championship winning QB Robbie Bosco, former Sammy Baugh Award winner and current USC coach Steve Sarkisian, and 1990 Heisman winner Ty Detmer.
A quick tangent here: Penn St. claims to be linebacker U with past stars at the position like Jack Ham, Shane Conlan, Lavar Arrington, and Paul Posluszny. LSU sees itself as defensive back U due to the school having had players like Jerry Stovall, Tommy Casanova, Patrick Peterson, and Tyrann Mathieu. USC is known by many as tailback U since Reggie Bush, OJ Simpson, Charles White, and Marcus Allen all attended the school. BYU may be quarterback U for all of college football. The Cougars possible competition could only come from Purdue (Len Dawson, Bob Griese, Gary Danielson, Jim Everett, and Drew Bress), Stanford (John Brodie, Jim Plunkett, John Elway, and Andrew Luck), USC (Pat Haden, Paul McDonald, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart), and Miami (Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Ken Dorsey, and Gino Torretta) for that spot, but I think they may have it solidified at this point.
Back to Taysom Hill. Hill, once a Stanford recruit when Jim Harbaugh was still there, is fast, strong, quick, mobile, tall, shifty, smart, and the best player in the country that nobody knows about. Hill has always had a very rare athletic ability for a quarterback, as he showed against Texas in 2013 when he ran for an absurd 259 yards and 3 touchdowns, the second most yards in a game in school history behind only Eldon Fortie's 272 yard performance in 1962 against George Washington and the most yards that UT has ever given up in a game (their tackling was laughable against Hill). In 2014, Hill fractured his leg in a game against Utah State and he had to miss the rest of the season, including a 55-30 loss to Boise St..
It is very hard to get a read on how things are going to play out in Provo between BYU and Boise. Hill has been as integral to BYU as any single player to their team in college football over the last couple years, so Boise's smashing of BYU will play out differently this season with Hill in the game.
Boise are one of only 15 FBS teams to be returning all five offensive lineman from 2014, including first team all-Mountain West center Marcus Henry and second team all-Mountain West left tackle Rees Odhiambo. The Broncos have lost a lot of talent at the skill positions. Quarterback Grant Hedrick, who threw for a career high 410 yards and four touchdowns against the Cougars, is gone and so is third team All-American running back Jay Ajayi, who ran for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns against BYU last year and was a beast for the Broncos in the backfield.
There is no reason to underestimate the Broncos. Since 1999, Boise has an unbelievable record of 177-31 in 16 seasons and in three different conferences. That amazing mark includes their unforgettable trick-play victory in 2006 against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, a 17-10 win over TCU in the Fiesta Bowl to finish 14-0 in 2009, and a 12-2 season in 2014 that was capped off by a 38-30 Fiesta Bowl win over Pac-12 foe Arizona. Is it possible for a team to be underrated that has finished with undefeated or with 1 loss in 8 of the last 13 seasons and has had regular seasons wins over #12 Oregon in Eugene in 2008, #14 Oregon on the blue turf in Boise in 2009, #6 Virginia Tech at FedEx Field in 2010, and #22 Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in 2011 from the Georgia Dome?
I can guarantee that the Cougars defense will not allow 55 points again to Boise, including 31 points in one quarter. I think Tysom Hill will be able to carry his team to a victory against the always talented and well coached Boise State Broncos in week 2.
Week 3
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame at 3:30 on NBC on Saturday, September 19th:
There are a lot of different things that are cool or sexy in this world. Most people can agree that Hollywood sexualizes Margot Robbie in her films, as she is a modern-day sex symbol equivalent to Raquel Welch from the 1960s. Chris Pratt is cool, as anybody that has seen Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World can certainly attest to. How about some athletes? Allen Iverson had as much flare as any professional athlete, as he crossed over defender after defender on his personal mixtape. Bryce Harper is the "ultimate bro," a guy whose hair is so cool that the Washington crowd goes wild when he takes his helmet off and flicks his hair around after home runs. A lot of college football offenses are cool to watch, like when Washington St. spreads you out and throws the ball 70 times a game under head coach Mike Leach.
The old, traditional triple option running attack with a quarterback under center is definitely not the sexiest thing watch. I enjoy fullback dives and offensive linemen chip blocking defensive tackles and ends as much as the next guy, but I'm not watching a wishbone offense for its flare and excitement.
Paul Johnson, who coached at Navy from 2002 to 2007 and then brought the triple option flexbone attack to Georgia Tech in 2008, said, "Yeah, it's not sexy as some of the other stuff, but if you look now at the offenses, there's hardly a team that doesn't run some form of option." Johnson is absolutely correct. The triple option, especially out of the flexbone formation, is not a pro style offense, but so many teams run different variations of the triple option nowadays that it is not an anachronistic offense.
Although Auburn's offense under Gus Malzahn looks a little different than Georgia Tech's attack, it is a variation of the triple option offense with the quarterback just taking the snap from the shotgun instead of under center. When the Tigers run an inside zone with two half-backs in the backfield or run their inside zone with a jet sweep handoff or jet sweep fake, they are running a variety of the triple option. While the service academies, and now Georgia Tech, are known for the flexbone offense, triple option attacks have spread across college football.
Georgia Tech's offense may not be the prettiest thing in the world to watch, but it is not nearly as unconventional of an offense to run as it may seem. With all of its misdirection plays and cut blocks at the line, it is going to be a tall task for Notre Dame to stop the flexbone offense in week 3 in South Bend.
It is so important in a flexbone triple option offense to have a quarterback that understands how to read the opposing defense and make the right pitch. The QB must be able to identify the defense before the snap, read the defensive end's position on the field, and be willing to take a big hit once in a while before giving it off to the half back on an option run.
From 2008 to 2010, the Yellow Jackets had Josh Nesbitt at the quarterback position, who understood how to run the triple option behind center. Nesbitt led Georgia Tech to a 22-11 record over a three-year span in games in which he started, including an Orange Bowl appearance in 2009 after an ACC Championship, the team's first such game since the 1967 Orange Bowl against Florida. Without a foundational piece at the quarterback position from 2011 to 2013, (the Yellow Jackets switched off between Tevin Washington and Vad Lee under center), the Yellow Jackets could only muster a record of 22-18.
However, Paul Johnson has once again found a very a reliable quarterback option with one time Alabama commit Justin Thomas, who not only leads Tech's running attack to perfection, but also gives the Yellow Jackets more of a legitimate passing threat than any of the team's preceding quarterbacks. His 1,719 passing yards and 18 touchdowns through the air in 2014 were by far the most ever under a Paul Johnson quarterback in FBS play (in 2006 at Navy, his leading QB in passing yards, Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, threw for 384 yards and 5 touchdowns the entire season, and the team still finished 9-4). Thomas is at his best when he can get past the first line of defense and use his speed to escape any possible defenders, as he did with his 65 yard against Clemson when he made their entire secondary miss him.
The question that looms over this game is how Notre Dame is going to try and stop Thomas and Georgia Tech's offensive flexbone attack. In 2014, the Fighting Irish allowed 336 rushing yards and 5.6 yards per carry against Navy, who scored 39 points on ND. Notre Dame could not solve the Midshipmen's triple option all game long, allowing them to score touchdowns on 5 of 12 possessions. That spells a lot of trouble for Notre Dame heading into this year's clash against Georgia Tech.
However, the Fighting Irish had a very young defense last season, and are going to take great strides from some of their poor defensive displays. Outside linebacker Jaylon Smith, who was a 2014 second team AP All-American, free safety Max Redfield, and defensive tackle Sheldon Day are all returning for the Irish and are going to rectify a defense that was in all sorts of disarray last season. The Irish have way too much talent defensively to give up the kind of yards that they did last year, and Smith is going to be flying through the gaps to shut down Tech's rushing attack. It is especially important, though, that Smith and the other linebackers do not get sealed by Tech's pulling blockers and caught too deep down the field because that would force their defensive backs to make tackles in the secondary. I would like to see Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder mix up his defenses against the Yellow Jackets, even at times dropping his defensive backs in quarterback contains and QB spies to prevent Thomas from taking off or continually pitching the ball to his halfback.
Although the triple option is not sexiest thing in the world and will never be the football schematic version of David Beckham, the most important aspect of the Georgia Tech-Notre Dame game in South Bend will be how ND defends the Yellow Jackets flexbone attack.
Nebraska at Miami (FL) at 3:30 on ABC Saturday, September 19th:
If the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Miami Hurricanes played a game in the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, or early 2000s, it would be by far the biggest thing in college football that year. In a 30-year period from 1974 to 2004, Nebraska finished in the top 10 of the AP poll 20 times while Miami was not far behind with 15 finishes amongst the top 10.
The Cornhuskers won the National Championship with a 24-17 victory over the Hurricanes in the Orange Bowl in 1994 and then repeated as champions in 1995 with a 62-24 demolition of Florida in the Fiesta Bowl. Tommie Frazier finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting that year to Eddie George and Nebraska had one of the best teams of all-time with a 464 point differential over the entire season. The Cornhuskers also shared a title with Michigan in 1997 after smashing Tennessee 42-17 in the Orange Bowl.
Miami won their first National Championship by beating the Cornhuskers in 1983 after Tom Osborne went for 2 with under a minute left in the Canes 31-30 Orange Bowl victory. Miami won it all under Jimmy Johnson in 1987 after beating Oklahoma 20-14 in the Orange Bowl and then were National Champions again two years later in 1989 under Dennis Erickson with a 33-25 win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The Hurricanes shared the title in 1991 with Washington after beating Nebraska in the Orange Bowl 22-0, and then won it all in 2001 with a 37-14 win over Nebraska in the Rose Bowl, a team that would eventually have 38 players selected in the NFL Draft, including Ed Reed, Andre Johnson, Frank Gore, Vince Wilfork, Jeremy Shockey, Jonathan Vilma, Willis McGahee, Clinton Portis, Antrel Rolle, Sean Taylor, and Kellen Winslow II.
Nebraska and Miami played four times from 1983 to 2001 with the winner of their match-up going on to win the National Championship.
However, this is no longer the 1980s or 1990s. "Another One Bites The Dust," "Livin' On A Prayer," and "Can't Touch This" are not the top songs in the world, Back to the Future, Scarface, Pulp Fiction, and Fight Club are not the most watched movies, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush are no longer the President, and Nebraska and Miami are no longer the class of college football.
A lot has changed since the schools met in the Rose Bowl back in 2002. The Cornhuskers fired Bo Pelini after seven consecutive seasons of finishing 9-4 or 10-4, believing that they should be competing for the National Championship (we will miss Bo in Lincoln, but even more importantly, we will miss the fake Bo Pelini account now that he has left mainstream college football to coach at Youngstown St., which I give full kudos to him for doing). With Ohio St., Michigan St., Penn St., and Michigan all in the Big Ten East, Nebraska has a very solid chance to win the Big Ten West in their first year under new head coach Mike Riley, especially since they play Wisconsin in Lincoln.
Miami is still climbing a long road back from the Nevin Shapiro scandal, having mustered only one season with more than seven wins in four years under former Temple head coach Al Golden. If any team can prevent Georgia Tech from winning their second consecutive ACC Coastal divisional title, it may be Miami (Virginia Tech could surprise the Yellow Jackets as well). Nebraska and Miami will need to take small steps in order to take giant leaps to get back into the national fold.
I really liked what I saw last season from true freshman quarterback and ACC Rookie of the Year Brad Kaaya, whose mom was coincidentally the "Bye, Felicia" girl from the 1995 film Friday with Ice Cube and Chris Tucker. Aside from that amazing anecdote that Kaaya can always tell, he can also mention that he was one of the best freshman quarterbacks in all college football last season along with Ohio State's J. T. Barrett and Arizona's Anu Solomon (Clemson's Deshaun Watson is going to be the real star of this group if he can stay healthy).
Kaaya may struggle without the blocking up front of center Shane McDermott and Giants first round pick Ereck Flowers. At times last year, Kaaya held onto the ball for too long in the pocket, which could hurt him if his protection is not able to navigate around the Cornhuskers interior pressure from defensive tackles Vincent Valentine and Maliek Collins.
If Nebraska is unable to get to Kaaya, especially since defensive end Randy Gregory is now in the NFL with the Cowboys, it could be a long day for a Cornhuskers defense that allowed 59 points to Wisconsin and 45 points to USC last season. Mark Banker, Nebraska's new defensive coordinator, likes to line-up in a 4-3 scheme. However, the Cornhuskers may not have the secondary to play the man-free coverage that he likes from his defensive backs, which could be an issue when they come up against Kaaya and the Hurricanes on September 19th.
