College Football Breakdown

A huge difference in athletic ability should make this one a lopsided finish. Andrew Luck wants his Heisman this year and we see the Cardinal scoring early and often against a local competitor. The smaller San Jose St Spartans will have trouble with depth and shouldn’t be able to mount any comebacks because of the physicality of the Cardinal in the second half.

Auburn is of course down in talent but still possesses athletes, a system and a venue that the Aggies rarely get a chance to compete against. OC Malzahn is a system coach who will want his players to execute at a high level throughout the game in order to get ready for Mississippi State next week. This is bad news for the Aggies who won’t be taken lightly because of their close lose to Oklahoma last year in Week 1. Although the Tiger offensive line is filled with new starters, they are highly recruited and going against a defensive line that has 3 players weighing only 250 pounds. Big strength and speed edge for Auburn.

Indiana HC Wilson has not settled on a QB as of yet and and Indiana’s rush game struggled last year. Ball State returns 10 starters on offense and 7 on defense. Although Ball State is a notch below Indiana as far as athleticism goes, I will take the experience edge plus six points against a team breaking in a new system without a solid QB.

The Sooners are extremely tough at home and will be going against a defense that, although better than last year, struggles to stop offenses inside the CUSA. Tulsa’s defensive line will struggle to get any pressure on QB Jones allowing Oklahoma to score plenty of points. On defense, the Sooners will be challenged by the up tempo style of Tulsa but with an advantage at the line and with speed in the back 7, they will contain the Golden Hurricane offense. Sooners roll at home!

Expect both offenses to move the ball. Northern Illinois possesses one of the top offensive lines in the country and should be able to dominate the line of scrimmage on offense. On the other hand, NI is inexperienced up the middle on defense which should allow Army to establish is ground attack. Normally I don’t like overs when both teams are running teams but see great edges for the offenses. See Game Preview for more

Colorado State manhandled New Mexico Last year 38-14 and the game was not as close as the final score. Colorado State had trouble with the quality teams they played last year but physically beat up on UNLV and New Mexico. They now have a more experienced QB in Thomas and a more experienced team in general. Colorado State can double their win total from last year with an easier schedule and this is one they need if they want to make a bowl game this year. Lay the points against a Lobo team that has managed a win a year the last two years.

UCLA will clearly not win the quarterback battle in this contest. Prince has been named the starter for UCLA but he will probably split time with Brehaught. Neither starter had much success last year but Prince was hurt and they had a slew of injuries on the O line. They are healthy and should dominate on the ground with Franklin keeping Houston’s Keanum on the sideline as much as possible. They are stronger upfront than Houston and many times that is what wins the close games. Houston is solid but UCLA will win this game in the trenches. Take UCLA plus the points

I watched almost every game of South Florida last year and they struggled to move the ball. Notre Dame is solid on defense and so is South Florida. I see a grind it out game. Notre Dame gave up 20 points or less to seven of their opponents last year and South Florida gave up 20 points or less to eight of their opponents. I expect a close defensive battle as that is the strength of both these teams.