And, we’re off! Last night, we had several entertaining games to tie us over until Saturday. We had blowouts, and we had drag outs. Two ranked teams were in action with one displaying power over an inferior opponent while the other showed multiple question marks. A “Way-too-Early” Heisman candidate put up ridiculous numbers in limited action, but it was a place kicker who might have won the night. Before we get into the Friday slate of games, let’s look at what you’re talking about this afternoon.

 

Crisis Averted!

Tennessee came into their opener as a three touchdown favorite, as the announcers kept reminding us. Appalachian State led the entire game until Tennessee scored on a 67-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Later in the period, redshirt freshman kicker Michael Rubino, who had already missed an extra point, sent a 41-yard field goal wide right. The Mountaineers would win the toss before overtime, and elect to go on defense first. From the 3-yard line, Josh Dobbs rolled to his right, leaped, stretched, and took a hard shot at the goal line which in turned caused him to fumble the football forward. Quick thinking on the part of Jalen Hurd, who jumped on the ball, would give Tennessee the score they needed in overtime. App State was ineffective with their turn, and Tennessee’s defense sealed the game, 20-13.

This game will give Tennessee fans fits. It was an obvious letdown for a team that has such high expectations. Luckily for them, they have more than a week to prepare for Virginia Tech when they face the Hokies at Bristol Motor Speedway.

 

Early Heisman Showing

The Fighting Lamar Jacksons defeated lowly Charlotte last night in a rout, 70-14. Jackson only played one half, but in truth, he didn’t need that much time. Jackson completed 17 of his 23 passes for 286 yards while running for another 119. Of the eight touchdowns he was responsible for, six came from his arm while two from his legs. Granted, it was Charlotte playing the Cardinals, but where do we place all of the praise? Is Lamar Jackson that good? Did Bobby Petrino just run it up? Is Charlotte just that bad? Louisville takes the field again next Friday against ACC foe Syracuse. Maybe we’ll have a more clear picture then.

 

Pride of the SEC?

If we’re throwing out Heisman candidates already, what about jumping onto a band wagon? As early as the season is, South Carolina currently holds the path to it's own destiny in the SEC East...along with five other division opponents. However, for this night, the Gamecocks are on top of the standings. In Will Muschamp's return to head coaching, the Gamecocks rallied from being down 10-0 at the half to squeak by the Vanderbilt Commodores by a final of 13-10. The Player of the Game was the senior place kicker Elliot Fry. Fry nailed a 55-yard field goal with 0:35 left that would eventually be the difference. With a road win in the SEC, albeit Vandy, South Carolina will play next week in Starkville against a Mississippi State team they have beaten seven straight times. 

Other Scores from Last Night

Central Michigan 49, Presbyterian 3

Wake Forest 7, Tulane 3

Cincinnati 28, UT-Martin 7

UConn 24, Maine 21

North Carolina State 48, William & Mary 14

Indiana 34, Florida International 13

Utah 24, Southern Utah 0

Utah State 45, Weber State 6

Western Kentucky 46, Rice 14

Minnesota 30, Oregon State 23

New Mexico 48, South Dakota 21

Idaho 20, Montana State 17

UNLV 63, Jackson State 13

-Dug

@chansm1th

Halftime Report

Show Me

Tennessee finds itself trailing 13-3 to Appalachian State at the half. In my earlier post, I demanded that Tennessee show me that they deserved all of the hype that they were being given. Through the first 30 minutes of play, I am disappointed. App State has controlled the momentum since this game kicked off. Tennessee has caught several bad breaks though. On their first full offensive drive of the game, Tennessee had a touchdown overturned when a receiver dropped the ball while going to the ground. Instead of seven points, they settled for three. Not long after, the Vols' defensive leader, Cameron Reeves-Maybin was ejected on a targeting foul when he lowered his head into a Mountaineer who had signaled for a fair catch on a punt. After all of this, Tennessee found itself having the ball with under 5:00 to go in the first half. Josh Dobbs connected on a pass to Josh Smith over the middle for about a 25-yard gain. Dobbs then rushed the offense to the line to set off another play, which they got off. After Hurd's run up the middle, the play before was reviewed and determined that the ball hit the ground before the receiver caught it. Now, I have always been led to believe that if the next play gets off, the previous cannot be reviewed. It would appear that the rules have changed.


Butch Jones better give the speech of his life in the locker room. In most cases, when a team that is favored finds itself behind, they mount a ferocious comeback. From one half of play, I haven't seen an ounce of the type of fight that UT will need. The Mountaineers have a legitimate shot of pulling this off if something doesn't change in a hurry.




Let's take a look at other games going on right now. Early in the third quarter, Louisville leads Charlotte 56-0. Lamar Jackson has had a hand in all eight of Louisville's scores.


Two minutes before halftime, Vanderbilt is ahead of South Carolina 10-0.


7:00 left in the second quarter, Western Kentucky is on top of Rice 30-7.




Check back later for more updates.


-Dug
@chansm1th

College Football Thursday

Finally!!

A new season of college football will kick off tonight. Predictions and talk will now turn into reality as is is time to make the statements on the field. It all begins tonight as we have 16 games on the schedule. Here are three things to watch for, along with predictions for each of tonight's games.

1.) Tennessee Starts the Season with High Expectations

This is by far the most hyped team that Rocky Top has fielded in the last 15 years. Butch Jones might have finally turned the train wreck he inherited into a title contender. Most polls have the Volunteers in their Top 10, and consider them to be the odds on favorite to win the SEC East. Now all they have to do is produce. Too many times has this team been talked up only to under perform. You want me to take you seriously? Show me. Don't overlook Appalachian State though. The Mountaineers like to run and put up a lot of points. If Tennessee does take them seriously, they should win convincingly. If not, State will keep this one close and put a scare into the Tennessee fans. 

Tennessee 38, Appalachian State 24

2.) Vanderbilt/South Carolina will Control the SEC East after Tonight

Scary, isn't it? One of these two teams will be leading the nation's strongest conference, and control their own destiny. Last season, the two combined for a 3-13 record in the SEC. Expectations this year seem to point toward a similar scenario. Take nothing away from either though. THEY WILL BE LEADING THE SEC AFTER TONIGHT! Let the victor have their moment of glory seeing as it will only last for a week as multiple teams open up conference play in Week 2.

Vanderbilt 17, South Carolina 9

3.) Western Kentucky Begins it's Quest for the Top 25

You read that right. The Hilltoppers are a legitimate threat as a mid-major program. Tonight will be the first of their many runovers as I firmly believe they will be ranked this season. WKU is going to win the Conference-USA, and they could very easily only have one loss on the year going into the conference championship game. A year ago, the Hilltoppers averaged 44.3 ppg and 526.4 ypg, both stats good enough to have them in the Top 10 nationally. Their opponent tonight, Rice, ranked near the bottom of the nation in all major defensive categories. Kickoff is at 8 PM, but this one will be over by 8:30.

Western Kentucky 63, Rice 17

Other Games Tonight:

Central Michigan over Presbyterian

Louisville over Charlotte

Wake Forest over Tulane

Cincinnati over UT-Martin

UConn over Maine

North Carolina State over William & Mary

Florida International over Indiana

Utah over Southern Utah

Utah State over Weber State

Minnesota over Oregon State

New Mexico over South Dakota

Idaho over Montana State

UNLV over Jackson State

Check back later for quick reactions to the games. Tomorrow morning, we'll look at where I was wrong. 

-Dug

@chansm1th

Sun Belt: Appalachian State

Appalachian State Mountaineers

2015 Results: 11-2 (7-1, 2nd in Sun Belt)

Defeated Ohio in Camellia Bowl

Returning Starters: 6 OFF, 9 DEF, 1 SP

2016 Schedule:

September

1st at Tennessee

10th OLD DOMINION
17th MIAMI

24th at Akron

October

1st GEORGIA STATE

12th at Louisiana

22nd IDAHO

27th at Georgia Southern

November

5th TEXAS STATE

12th at Troy

19th LOUISIANA-MONROE

26th at New Mexico State

We all remember the time and where we were when Appalachian State went into the Big House and knocked off the giant that was Michigan. Around that time, the Mountaineers began to take college football by storm from the FCS level. Entering their third year as an FBS school, the Mountaineers are continuing to turn heads. In two years in the big leagues, they have went 18-7 overall with a 13-3 record in the Sun Belt. Last year, they were 11-2 with their only conference loss being to Arkansas State that ended up deciding the Sun Belt Champion. This year, they are back for more.

Appy returns six starters on offense. Junior Taylor Lamb will return for his third year calling signals. Marcus Cox will be getting the bulk of the carries for his senior campaign, but the Mountaineers return 3,032 rushing yards from a season ago. There isn't much experience when it comes to pass catching as they only return one of their top four receivers from a year ago. Senior Tight End Barrett Burns, who pulled in 8 TDs last year, is the lone returner.

The Mountaineers return almost all of their defense from last year including their top two tacklers. Linebackers Eric Boggs (104) and John Law (72) will anchor the defense in the middle. Junior Corner Back Latrell Gibbs (7 INTs) will hold down the back line that only lost one starter. The only issue from a year ago that must be corrected is rushing defense. The Mountaineers held five opponents to less than 60 yards, but gave up a combined 741 to Arkansas State, Wyoming, and South Alabama.

Player to Watch: Marcus Cox

The senior tailback will lead a deep and talented rushing attack. As one of the best backs in the conference, Cox ran for 1,423 yards just a year ago. Watch out for the same.

If you only watch them once, watch:

9/17 Miami

The Hurricanes make the trip up to the mountains smack in the middle of September. This is a huge opportunity for the Mountaineers to make a statement against a Power 5 team. 

What to Expect

State gets to avoid the Red Wolves this year. Should they steal a win from either Tennessee or Miami in September, they would be in the mix for another 10-plus win season. Take care of business in conference, and they have a shot to win it.

Prediction

8-4 (6-2, Sun Belt)

-Dug

@chansm1th

Sun Belt 2016 Preview

The Sun Belt Conference, or as we refer to it, the Fun Belt, is one of the more intriguing conferences in college football. Teams are as far east as North Carolina (Appalachian State) and west to New Mexico. It also touches the southern part of the United States through Louisiana and Texas while going way up there to Idaho. With all of the territory to cover, teams will see their travel expenses (and jet lag) skyrocket.

The defending champion of the Sun Belt is the Arkansas State Red Wolves. They ran the table through the season and are presumably heavy favorites to repeat. The conference sent four teams to bowl games. Five teams tied for fourth place in the conference with 3-5 records. This year is shaping up to be just as competitive with a possibility of 6 teams that have reason to think that they have a shot at the crown.

We won't be going off of schedule to post each team, so check back often. Enjoy the Fun Belt!

-Dug

@chansm1th