College Football Week 1 Preview

by WCT, Wasting Company Time

Its here. Its finally here.

Like the first sip of water after an eight month trek through the desert, the first weekend of college football is upon us. Drink it in.

This weeks preview will be a little different than the ones that will follow. That is because most of the leg work has already been done for me. EC heckler/commenter FightingIrishman, in addition to being a wanna-be blogger, is a buddy of mine from college, and he emailed me his own preview of this weeks action (unsolicited mind you), in the hopes that I would use it in a post. Never one to deny someone else who wants to do my work for me, I obliged.

The 1st weekend of games usually has very few watchable games, let alone great match-ups, because most of the big boys like to kick things off against teams like Southeast Prairie View St A&M. However, I've managed to pull out some diamonds in the rough:

(all times eastern)

Villanova @Maryland [6:00 PM] Not really interested in this one, but I threw it on for Ben's sake. I'm pretty sure I'll be rooting for the underdog in this one.

Not to go all Sports Guy on you, but "Ben" is a mutual friend of ours, and a former Terp. There isn't enough bandwith on this blog to accurately describe him, or what makes him tick, so we'll just move on.

North Texas @Oklahoma [7:00PM] I've heard great things about [Sooners Running Back] DeMarco Murray, so I want to see him in action. Also, I'm interested to see how Oklahoma's redshirt freshman QB performs in his debut. This should be a bounceback season for Oklahoma.

Murray may get some playing time with the possible injury of stud RB Allen Patrick. But if Patrick doesn't heal up soon, then this season a lot of pressure will fall onto the shoulders of said redshirt frosh, Sam Bradford, and its anybody's guess how he will react.

Colorado St. @Colorado [Noon]....While it won't be cracking any "Greatest Rivalries" lists, it is nonetheless a rivalry and deserves some love. I like to see emotions running high and the blood boiling in the 1st weeknd of the season.

I think this is an underrated rivalry actually. Always good for some fights and post-play shoving matches. A couple of years ago, then Rams QB Bradlee Van Pelt said "we're supposed to respect them because they go to CU? I don't give a f*ck about CU." However, I don't know how much emotion will be running through anyone's body at 10am local time! Good god, who schedules these games?

Kansas St. @Auburn [7:45pm] Kirk Herbstreit picked Kansas St as the Big 12's sleeper this year. They beat Texas last year so they've shown recently that they can "stomp with the big dogs". Auburn, on the other hand, has something to prove. No one is talking about them as a legit SEC cotender this year, and that means the Tigers should be coming out with a chip on their shoulder to make a statement.

For the degenerate gamblers out there, I would load up on Auburn -13 in this one. QB Brandon Cox is back for his senior year and I think they could be a sleeper in the SEC.

Oklahoma St. @Georgia [6:45pm]People in Athens seem to think Matthew Stafford will become the best thing since sliced bread, and OK St. is a solid team to test that hype. Georgia had had a significant fall from grace in the past 2 years and they have a brutal SEC schedule this year. My prediction: an opening day loss at home would all but sink this leaky ship for the season. There I said it. That's why college football is great; every game matters.

Not so fast my friend! I don't see Georgia losing this game. I don't know much about the Dawgs outside of Stafford and big RB Kregg Lumpkin (no that is not a typo. His name is Kregg), but I know that Mark Richt knows how to coach 'em up, and usually puts a solid team on the field. Or at least a team capable of winning a home game against a Big XII also-ran.

Georgia Tech @Notre Dame [3:30pm] Ok, I'm a homer, but this is the 2nd biggest game of the day in most fan's minds. ND has a ton of question marks this season, mainly inexperience at every offensive skilled position. Moreover, the secondary was 78th in the country last year in passing defense and they were about the same in 2005. Bottom line, they need to be much better this year. This game will tell volumes about what kind of job Touchdown Charlie has done in the off-season to make this team competitive. With so many new faces having to step up, this will be Wily Weis' toughest test as a coach, but I like ND to win 8 this year, anything more and I'll be really pleasantly surprised!

"FightingIrishman" includes the ND game in his synopsis? Who knew? My prediction: By 7pm we will know exactly what kind of year this is going to be in South Bend. If Demetrius Jones - who, according to his facebook page, is starting Saturday - can smoke a very good Yellow Jacket defense and lead the Irish to a W, I think they could surprise some people this year. Will they fullfill Lou Holtz's laughable prediction of a 10+ win season, including a win over USC? Probably not.

Youngstown St. @The Ohio State [Noon] Admittedly, this will not be competitive, but I have respect for the way Coach Tressel does things in Columbus and it's my first look at a revamped OSU offense. Few give OSU a chance in the Big 10 this year, so let's hope the Buckeyes can use this game to get in synch before a tough Big 10 schedule.

Sorry. I had to. This will be our first look at Todd Boeckman.

Tennessee @Cal [8:00pm] Alot of ESPN "experts" love the Pac 10 this year with USC, UCLA and Cal on everyone's radar. Tennessee pistol-whipped Cal last year at Tennessee 35-18. The game was actually more lopsided than the final score indicates, with Cal scoring meaningless points in the 4th against Tennesee's 2nd and 3rd string. Cal will be out for revenge at home. Should be a good one.

I am of the opinion that Cal is, as they often are, overrated. I see a close game here in Saturday's marquee matchup. Cal might pull it out, but I don't see them punishing the Vols the way they were punished last year in Knox-vegas. Tennessee has too much defense to let that happen. My head tells me to take Cal at home in a big game, but my gut tells me to never bet on a Pac-10 team against an SEC team. I always go with my gut, so I will take UT +6.

So there you have it. The first Saturday of the season has some intriguing games, and will give us our first look at a lot of teams that have new faces, and question marks at key positions. I'll drink to that.