What stood out?
Oregon blows another lead..
Once is luck, twice is a coincidence, but the third time is a pattern and Oregon has made a pattern of blowing leads. This didn't start now. It has been going on with Oregon teams for years now. From the Mariota days, to the Vernon Adams days, and clearly to the Justin Herbert era, they just have a really bad habit of blowing big leads. They have a quick hitting offense that seems to score at will and they jump out to big leads often, but then I don't know what happens! Is it complacency, coaching, or what? If they ever want to compete for a title that has to stop. They have more talent than anyone else in the PAC 12 when healthy, but it won't matter if they don;t fix this. Also, can Cristobal take the handcuffs off of Herbert? The NFL sees Herbert has a big time top pick kind of talent, yet Cristobal plays him like a game manager with short passes and screens. Let him play!!!
Bo Nix
Gus Malzahn has found himself a quarterback. The true freshman didn't play perfect and threw a couple of interceptions early but what we found out, is that he is a true baller and a competitor. He showed zero signs of fear the entire game even when Auburn found themselves down double digits. He shook those mistakes off to drive Oregon down the field to score a game winning touchdown with 9 seconds left on the clock! This bodes well for Auburn this year as they try and compete to win the SEC.
Oh, the SEC...
Now I know people will hate me for it but who cares? This is another "Prove It" year for me when it comes to the SEC. It's literally been Alabama, Georgia and everyone else for the last few years and nothing I saw in week one gave me the impression that that was changing. Ole Miss looked horrible losing to Memphis, Mississppi State looked like an average team, Arkansas looked pathetic struggling to a 7 point win against Portland St. And I can't forget about Tennessee losing to Sun Belt school Georgia State....at home. Missouri lost to Wyoming in Clemson transfer Kelly Bryant's debut. And South Carolina blew a 4th quarter lead and lost to rival North Carolina. It's week 1, I know this, but the SEC just doesn't look too good....per usual.
Jalen Hurts
Get your #HURTS4HEISMAN shirts out! The former Alabama quarterback BALLED out in his Oklahoma debut against hometown Houston. He accounted for 6 touchdowns and more than 500 yards of offense, looking nothing like the guy who was benched in favor of Tua in Tuscaloosa. He was poised, accurate, made quick decisions, and was the best player on the field Sunday night. What I liked most about him was his response after the game to all the hype about his play. Jalen only wanted to talk about what they could do better. This is a man who has matured greatly both on and off the field and I would not be mad if there is a Oklahoma VS Alabama playoff matchup down the line! If Hurts keep this up, it could be 3 straight Heisman trophy winners from Norman.
WEEK 3 PICKS
TEXAS A&M VS CLEMSON
I didn't know who Jared Hocker was until a day or so ago when he made a guarantee that Clemson would lose in the matchup Saturday. Poor Jared just does not understand that even though Clemson does not need bulletin board material, they will gladly take some! Now I respect Texas A&M and coach Jimbo Fisher, but Clemson is different. This was a close game last year but way before Trevor Lawrence has established himself and since he did play poorly in that game, I expect him to come ready to ball this week. A&M lost their best player in running back Trayveon Williams to the NFL, but they do return quarterback Kellen Mond who I actually really like. He is super talented and can both run and pass the ball and it'll be interesting seeing him get his second crack at the best. In the end, Clemson just has to much talent. They played a conference opponent in Georgia Tech last week, didn't play great on either side of the ball and won by almost 40., A&M will battle but it won't be enough.
CLEMSON 38
TEXAS A&M 20
TEXAS VS LSU
Another big time game this Saturday in primetime as both teams are looking to make a statement. LSU is ready to prove it can contend in the West this year and a game against the physicality and speed of Texas will definitely help prepare them. Texas has a good team so hopefully this game lives up to the hype. Texas a darkhorse Heisman contender in quarterback in Sam Ehlinger, and he will be looking to take advantage of a young LSU secondary. LSU manages to always find talent back there so I wish him luck. Where LSU doesn't have a standout, is at running back. If LSU wins this game, they will have no choice, but to establish some kind of rushing attack whether with quarterback Joe Burrow or another running back stepping up.Texas benefits from this game being at home and I think they do find a way to win.
TEXAS 23
LSU 19
UCF VS FAU
UCF has a squad. FAU has some good players and Lane Kiffin. Notre Dame transfer Brandon Wimbush leads the FAU attack and he has great skills players all around him that he will be getting the ball too on Saturday. FAU has a solid defense and though they did lost by 28 against Ohio State, they had a few plays that definitely made you think twice. Scoring 20 plus against a Buckeye's defense is no small task. The spread opened at UCF -10, and that sounds right to me.
UCF 45
FAU 35
As the weeks continue, I will surely have more games to pick from, but as I learned before, sometimes the games without glitz and glamour can be some of the best games of the year! Week 1 was great....as always, so many questions left unanswered but we did learn a couple of those answers....Bo Nix is a man, Jalen Hurts is a beast with a chip on his shoulder and the SEC isn't what you want it to be! Sorry, I really am.
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