Four decisions, all ill-advised, informed the mediocre results of my Week 0 predictions.
With six or seven minutes left, his team down only a FG and playing reasonably solid defense, Kansas State coach Chris Kleiman went for it on 4th & short at his own 29 yard line against Iowa State. Which failed. Didn’t take many clicks of the clock for the Cyclones to capitalize with a TD. Ball game.
Which coaching gaffe wouldn’t have caused me harm, had I gone with my heart and picked Iowa State, a program I have loved
and admired during the Matt Campbell regime, once owning some Cyclone gear. Instead I outsmarted myself, overthinking it. Forgetting Campbell owns K State (winning 5 of last six) and won 11 games last season.
(So distraught were the father and brother of Wildcat QB Avery Johnson after the loss, they got into a fight. With each other. Ah, a manifestation of Guinness Overload Syndrome. Hopefully they slept it off back in the Little Apple. Son/Bro’s first NIL purchase, a Sleep Number mattress, the kind Patrick Mahomes uses.)
Bad decision #3: Actually being on the phone with my archest of antagonists Bookstore, as the clock wound down in Dublin. He couldn’t stop tee heeing. How did I let that happen?
#4: Thinking the Andrew Luck/ Frank Reich makeover in Palo Alto would be good enough soon enough to best underwhelming Hawai’i in Honolulu. Diamond Head Effect prevailed.
UNLV survived Idaho State, the Hilltoppers prevailed in Bowling Green, and Kansas christened their renovated stadium with a W over Fresno State.
Three up, two down. Meh.
FYI, in their opener my JM Atherton Rebels, legit 5A contender, steamrolled Central Hardin 48-0.
This week’s winners:
Nebraska @ Cincinnati. Why weigh in on this one? Well, most of all, because I can. But also, in my neck of the woods, Scott Satterfield remains an obsession of sorts. Schadenfreudenish. He’s on the Dead Man Walking List. While Matt Rhule at 12-13 in Lincoln is aware he’s also receiving votes for that not so desirous designation. Says here the Cornhuskers give a hint of the possibility of sense that good times may arrive this season. Or at least that they are on the way. Nebraska.
Texas @ Ohio State. All things considered, season openers do not get any more huge than this. Two top teams. Both historically upper echelon programs. One the defending champ. Both legitimate CFP hopefuls. Both Game Day TV preview shows in the house. Lee Corso’s Last Hurrah. Arch Madness. Noon kickoff so we don’t even have to wait all day for kickoff. Cliché Alert: THIS is what it’s all about. What I know is that Ryan Day doesn’t lose many at home to schools not wearing maize and blue. Burnt orange is not maize and blue. Corso bookends his career with Brutus Buckeye. O-H-I-O.
LSU @ Clemson. The denizens of Death Valley Louisiana visit Death Valley South Carolina in another Week I battle of CFP aspirationals. Are my Tigers meaner than your Tigers? Oh the coincidences. An L gives little leeway for the Playdowns, even in this 12 contestant CFP Era. Especially for the ACC school. But Dabo’s got homefield advantage, that rubbing the rock thing. While the folks from Red Stick have the always insufferable Brian Kelly to wonder about. And which coach shall have more cajun ire to deal with after falling short. He may consider a stop in Clarksdale on the way home, selling his soul to Lucifer. Clemson.
Notre Dame @ Miami. Catholics vs. Convicts. Do not be surprised when running to the grocery before kickoff you see some dude wearing a knockoff of the infamous t-shirt that got a guy kicked out of ND. Were it not for the two battles just above, this would be the most publicized tussle of the weekend. Fans of The U are anxiously wondering if this is the season Mario Cristobal gets his team somewhere more lofty than a Cheez-It/ Pinstripe/ Pop-Tarts postseason? They know Carson Beck remains a serious question mark. While the Irish faithful are wondering, where have you gone Steve Angeli? Convicts.
TCU @ North Carolina. There are any number of curiosities about this one. Not just wondering how Bill Belichick will fare in his opener, one level down without that guy — you know whom I mean — not playing QB. But also whether BB’s May/ December GF Jordon Huson will be roaming the sidelines dressed to the nines like, oh. Beverlee Schnellenberger used to. Then there’s the coincidence that the Horned Frogs also provided the opposition for the first game of another famous coach, Prime. That one didn’t turn out so well for the team from Fort Worth. This one will. Mark it Purple.
Toledo @ Kentucky. Putative UK starting QB Zach Calzada has a reasonably impressive resumé thus far in a college career (23-9 as a starter) that began at Texas A&M — where he beat Alabama — wended it’s way to Auburn then to Incarnate Word. Where he was #2 in FCS in TDs (35) and passing yards (3744). Wonder however if he’s aware of Kentucky’s not so lustrous relationship with MAC schools? Ls to Bowling Green, Miami (OH) and Ohio U come immediately to mind. Last year, the Rockets beat, well, actually crushed Mississippi State 41-17. This year Toledo is league favorite. The Mark Stoops makeover train jumps the tracks right out of the station. Rockets.
Eastern Kentucky @ Louisville. Cards in a walkover. Fans just hope nobody gets hurt.
— c d kaplan
