You’re Nuts: Outside Ohio State’s opener, which game are you looking forward to this weekend?
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
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Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
On Saturday we got a little taste of college football, as a few Week 0 games were played. There definitely were some fun moments throughout the day:
Georgia Tech upsetting
Florida State in Ireland, Montana State mounting a comeback against New Mexico, and SMU rallying to beat Nevada in Reno. Essentially Saturday was a bit of a dry run for what we’ll see this weekend and for the next five months.
While there are some interesting matchups on this week’s schedule,
Ohio State’s game against Akron isn’t one of them. Seeing the Buckeyes in action at Ohio Stadium will be great to see, but there shouldn’t be any mystery in the result, as Ohio State is favored by 50 points. With the talent gap between the teams, the Buckeyes should cruise and be playing backups in the second half. There is no reason Ohio State should have any trouble with Akron on Saturday afternoon.
Since there isn’t much intrigue with Ohio State’s season opener, today we are going to focus on other entertaining matchups around the country this coming weekend. There are three matchups between ranked teams on the schedule, as well as a number of schools making their debut in a new conference. Maybe there is a ranked team that you think could be on upset alert in their first game of the season. No matter what game you most want to see, we have what is shaping up to be an incredible college football season ahead of us.
Today’s question: Aside from Ohio State’s opener, what game are you most excited to see this weekend?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: No. 14 Clemson vs. No. 1 Georgia
Seeing Dabo Swinney humbled is always must-see TV. Clemson’s head grifter’s seat is getting hotter with each season that passes. Since losing in the national title game to
LSU at the end of the 2019 season, Clemson hasn’t won more than 11 games in each of the last four seasons. While most schools would kill to win anywhere from 9 to 11 games a year, prior to 2020 Clemson had won at least 14 games four times in the previous five seasons. Things might have been a little better at Clemson recently if Dabo didn’t have so much disdain for NIL and the transfer portal.
On the other side of this matchup are the
Georgia Bulldogs, who have to still be smarting from missing out on last season’s CFP after losing to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. The loss to the Crimson Tide was Georgia’s first loss since the loss to Alabama in the 2021 SEC Championship Game. Not only will the Bulldogs return quarterback Carson Beck, they brought in Trevor Etienne after the running back from Florida entered the transfer portal. Georgia does have some tough regular season games on the road this season, but they are still one of the favorites to make the College Football Playoff.
Even though this game is being played at a “neutral site” in Atlanta, this might as well be a home game for the Bulldogs since they are so used to playing at Mercedes Benz Stadium. I’m hoping Georgia lights up Clemson, adding to uncertainty in Dabo’s future with the Tigers. You already know he is feeling the heat since he isn’t taking calls on his call-in show after Tyler from Spartanburg embarrassed him last year. Even though I’m really interested in this game, it’s not because I want it to be a close game. Clemson getting blown out in this game would be a hilarious thing to watch before Ohio State kicks off at 3:30.
Matt’s answer: Fresno State vs. No. 9 Michigan
I’m not gonna lie, the pickin’s... they be rough this weekend. Brett picked really the only marquee matchup of interest. You’ve got No. 7
Notre Dame vs. No. 20
Texas A&M and No. 19 Miami vs. unranked Florida, but neither of those games truly excite the cockles of my heart. ND and A&M are two brands that I have grown incredibly tired of in the past half-decade. After hearing about them ad nauseam only to have them regularly turn out underwhelming products has been tedious at best. Then there’s the two Florida schools... I live in Orlando, and you couldn’t get me interested in a game between the Canes and Gators unless you paid me. Talk about programs that underperform on a regular basis.
So, I’m stuck looking at a slate of matchups that is uninspiring, at best. But to be honest, it’s Week 1, that’s probably the way that it should be. Of course, having a few titanic struggles to open the season is always awesome, but in all actuality, the excitement of this week is just the fact that we have games to watch at all. Let the teams, coaches, and players get their feet underneath them before we get into the major matchups.
Nonetheless, I am forced to pick a game, so I am going with the one featuring our friendly neighborhood cheaters, the No. 9
Michigan Wolverines. The Skunk Bears will open their national title defense at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC against the unranked Fresno State Bulldogs. No, this won’t be a major ranked vs. ranked matchup, but Fresno St. is one of those Group of 5 teams that has just enough spunk to make games interesting. They aren’t picked to contend for the G5 spot in the College Football Playoff or anything, but they just might have enough to jump up and sting a team missing most of its major contributors from last year, both in terms of the sign-stealers and players.
I wouldn’t say that the Corn and Blue are in complete disarray, because, despite what we would hope for, they do bring back a lot of experienced players and have more than enough talent to be a force in the Big Ten this season...
but there might be just enough disarray with the Notice of Allegations being presented this week for the Bulldogs to pull off an App. State-type performance.
So, while I’m not predicting a TTUN loss on Saturday, I will damn sure be watching just in case it happens!
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