Week 1 Picks

Well FINALLY we are here. College football basically only runs September through November and then you are basically done except for the bowls. It is always a LONG offseason but this one for Auburn fans has seemed longer than most. It is finally over with and we are ready to kick things off for another season. Week ones are always filled with a lot of creampuff games and this is no exception but we do have several interesting matchups. Let's get to it...

BAMA VS. VIRGINIA TECH AT THE GEORGIA DOME (7pm ABC) - THE GAME OF THE WEEK
Definitely the game of the week this week. This whole Chick-Fil-A SEC vs. ACC kickoff game played at the Dome is brilliant. $aban and the boys were smart to jump on this thing and use it for all it is worth and now they are in it for the second year in a row. The competition gets a little stiffer though this year. Clemson came in all hyped up last year but was proven that night and over the season to be much less. This year Bama gets a Va Tech team that won the ACC and the Orange Bowl and are expected to win the ACC again this year.

Also unlike Clemson, Va Tech is an tough in-your-face type defensive team. In fact both teams seem to have the same defensive philosophy of a big aggressive blitzing pressure defense. It will be fun to watch two of the best on defense, $aban and Va Tech DC Bud Foster, take their shots at each other.

Over the summer I pretty much had Va Tech penciled in winning this game. They bring a lot of guys back from last year's ACC champion team including their QB and leading rusher. They always have a great defense. However they definitely took a big blow when TB Darren Evans who ran for 1200 yards and 11 TDs last season tore his ACL. Bama also suffered a blow this week when DE Brandon Deaderick was shot in the arm during a robbery attempt at his residence. However I think Bama has enough bodies to better replace Deaderick than Va Tech has talent to replace Evans.

Also, consider the fact Bama played in this game last year and ended the season on a two-game losing streak. Much has been made of Bama having to do some retooling on offense with a new QB and OL and I definitely think that will slow them down some. But you look at Va Tech's championship team last year and even with Taylor and Evans they were 103rd in the country in total offense and 128th in points scored. Va Tech won with defense pure and simple. Bama's offense might slip some from last year especially starting the year but they won't slip that far. I think Bama will have more playmakers on the field and that will give them the edge in this game.
$aban has done a great job over his college career of putting his QBs in good situations. I think McElroy will probably not be different from Rohan Davey, Matt Mauck, JaMarcus Russell and SJPW last year. It is also a nice luxury to have Julio Jones to loft the ball to in man-on-man coverage when Va Tech is sending the house after you. Even with a new QB I think Bama's passing game will be a bit better than Va Tech's.

Tyrod Taylor is a playmaker but he will probably not see a faster or stronger defense all season long. I think the trademark SEC speed on defense will limit his effectiveness scrambling. It will be as it always is in defensive struggles important for each team to get ahead. Both of these teams play for that and are awfully hard to beat when they get the lead. It should obviously be a defensive struggle but I think Bama has a few more weapons on offense and that is why I will go with... BAMA OVER VA TECH

GEORGIA AT OKLAHOMA ST (2:30pm ABC)
Most years this game would be the game of the week. You have the #9 team in the country vs. #13. Very interesting matchup between two very different teams. The Cowboys have their highest preseason ranking in their history. They have an unbelievable offense with QB Zac Robinson rolling up over 3000 yards passing, RB Kendall Hunter with 1500 yards rushing and WR Dez Bryant with almost 1500 yards receiving. A college version of "the triplets". These guys also accounted for 60 TOUCHDOWNS last year. I mean wow. They are definitely a big-time Big 12 offense. The problem would be defense. Their defense unlike their offense is down near triple digits in most of the team categories.

Meanwhile Georgia is replacing #1 NFL draft choice Matt Stafford with steady senior Joe Cox and TB Knowshon Moreno with a stable of RBs let by Richard Samuel. I think they will be OK at RB but the jury is still out on Cox. Most importantly for the Bulldogs though they return their entire offensive line including start Trinton Sturdivant who missed last year with a knee injury and whose injury doomed any championship chance Georgia had. People just don't seem to understand that just about every championship caliber team has an awesome LT and this guy is it for Georgia.

The wildcard will be Georgia's defense. They were not terrible last year but they were not as strong as in years past. This is a tough one. I do think Georgia is going to be stronger than expected this year and be a pretty good football team. However I think I am going to go with the high flying Cowboys at home... OKLAHOMA ST OVER GEORGIA

SOUTH CAROLINA AT NORTH CAROLINA ST. (THURSDAY 6:30pm ESPN)
The ol' Ball Coach heads further and further into the sunset of his career. It is looking more and more than he is not going to be able to break through in South Carolina and will probably not last much longer. I think the main problem for Spurrier is he simply cannot get championship caliber football players or enough of them to Columbia. He is definitely slipped some as a coach but recruiting has turned into the toughest part of college coaching.

Back to the game at hand... South Carolina opens the college football season again for like the 4th straight year on Thursday. They have been pretty successful. This South Carolina team looks like more of the same from the last few years. A pretty good team but not a serious challenger for the SEC East.

Meanwhile Tom O'Brien is in year 3 of his rebuilding job at NC State. He is a proven winner from his time at Boston College and it was in his third year at BC when he started a string of 8 straight bowls and 7 seasons of 8 wins or more. I look for more of the same at NC State.

I see more improvement from NC State and not much from SC but Carolina did crush NC State last year 34-0. With that in mind I think I will go with... SOUTH CAROLINA OVER NC STATE

Most of the other games are pretty clear cut although an upset or two is possible...

OLE MISS OVER MEMPHIS... Seemingly an easy game but this game is always a tough one for the mrs. They better be careful. What to watch for: The Ole Miss offensive line.

LSU OVER WASHINGTON... A BCS conference matchup but Washington was one of the worst teams in NCAA football last year. What to watch for: John Chavis' LSU defense.

AUBURN OVER LA TECH... The Gene Chizik era looks to open with a win although La Tech won the Independence Bowl last year and returns a lot of players so Auburn better be careful. What to watch for: The new Gus Malzahn spread offense.

Elsewhere...
TENNESSEE OVER WESTERN KENTUCKY

MISS ST OVER JACKSON ST

FLORIDA OVER CHARLESTON SOUTHERN

ARKANSAS OVER MISSOURI ST

VANDY OVER WESTERN CAROLINA