First Saturday of Football: Part 1

A look at our setup.

Good morning! It is finally Saturday and college football is officially back! Today, we here at Smith Bros will be celebrating with an "all day meet, greet, and eating on the ground"; an all day tailgate if you will. As you can see from the setup, we are ready! We have a lot of action today, so we hope to break it up into two parts with posts throughout the day. Let's get started with three things that you should keep your eye on today.

1. Oklahoma Plays at Houston...Sorta

While it may not be a true home game for the Cougars, they will face off at noon against the Sooners at NRG Stadium in Houston. Most polls have Houston ranked very high while Oklahoma is considered a strong contender or the National Championship. Both teams realize that they have to win the first game if they hope to go undefeated; a goal that could easily be attained by either team. For Houston, they will need all they can get out of last year's AAC MVP Greg Ward Jr. The senior quarterback joined Deshaun Watson as the only quarterbacks to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for another 1,000. For Oklahoma, senior Baker Mayfield must step up and lead his team. Houston has an experienced defensive front that will give Oklahoma fits all afternoon. The team who has the ball last in this high scoring affair will likely be the victor.

Oklahoma 41, Houston 35

2. Can LSU Hit the Ground Running?

LSU returns 18 starters from a team that went 9-3 a year ago. The key piece is Leonard Fournette. Fournette is one of two players who stand out when mentioning Heisman candidates. Last season, he accumulated 1,953 yards and 22 touchdowns. Even more impressive, the Tigers saw their season opener get cancelled. With all these starters returning, expectations in Baton Rouge are through the roof, like always. Their opponent in the Wisconsin Badgers, only return nine starters from a team that went 10-3. With only one senior expected to start in their front seven (Linebacker Vince Biegel), the young Badgers might get more than they have bargained for. 

LSU 31, Wisconsin 10

3. How Well Will Kirby Smart Replace Mark Richt?

The Kirby Smart Era at Georgia will begin with a tough task as his Bulldogs take on North Carolina today in Atlanta. Georgia will welcome back running back Nick Chubb who returns from missing the most of last season with a knee injury. Lining up with him in the backfield will be his replacement from last year, junior Sony Michel. Smart named senior Greyson Lambert his starter this week just ahead of incoming freshman Jacob Eason. The Bulldogs ranked near the bottom of the nation in passing offense last year. That is a category they must improve on this year.

Last year, North Carolina seemingly came out of nowhere. After dropping their opener to South Carolina, they would end up winning their next eleven games before falling to Clemson in the ACC Championship. The Heels return the bulk of their offensive production, and expect a lot out of this team in the upcoming season. Don't be surprised if they challenge Clemson and Florida State for the conference crown.

North Carolina 24, Georgia 20

Other Games:

Navy over Fordham

Purdue over Eastern Kentucky

Ohio State over Bowling Green

Western Michigan over Northwestern

Michigan over Hawaii

Boise over Louisiana-Lafayette

Mississippi State over South Alabama

West Virginia over Missouri

Maryland over Howard

Virginia Tech over Liberty

Pittsburgh over Villanova

Air Force over Abilene Christian

Washington over Rutgers

Texas A&M over UCLA

LSU over Wisconsin

Virginia over Richmond

Penn State over Kent State

Iowa overMiami (OH)

Ohio over Texas State

Illinois over Murray State

Oklahoma State over SE Louisiana

Arkansas over Louisiana Tech

Oregon over UC Davis

-Dug

@chansm1th

Wrapping Up the American

This week, we have learned about the American Athletic Conference. After previewing each team, we now have an idea of what we can expect from each team this year. Below are my predictions for the teams that if you read each of the previews, you could gather this information on your own. Lets begin with the standings.

East Division

1. Temple 9-3, 6-2*

2. South Florida 9-3, 6-2

3. Cincinnati 8-4, 5-3

4. East Carolina 5-7, 4-4

5. Connecticut 5-7, 3-5

6. Central Florida 2-10, 1-7

Temple defeats South Florida and owns the tiebreaker between the two. They will be attending the AAC Championship for the second season in a row. They will be meeting...

West Division

1. Houston 10-2, 8-0

2. Navy 9-3, 7-1

3. Memphis 7-5, 4-4

4. Tulsa 6-6, 3-5

5. SMU 4-8,1-7

6. Tulane 3-9,1-7

Houston breezes through the west division to set up a rematch of last years title game. This year should be about the same as last year. I am thinking that the Cougs beat Temple again and improve to 11-2. By then, they should be ranked higher in the polls and have a long shot argument (as does any mid-major) of a playoff chance.

Bowl Eligible Teams

Houston

Temple

Navy

South Florida

Cincinnati

Memphis

Tulsa

Conference Player of the Year (Offense)

Greg Ward Jr, Houston Quarterback

Conference Player of the Year (Defense)

Auggie Sanchez, South Florida Linebacker

Conference Coach of the Year

Mike Norvell, Memphis

-Dug

@chansm1th

College Football Preview: Houston

Houston Cougars

2015 Results: 13-1 (7-1, T-1st West)

AAC Conference Champions

Defeated Florida State in Peach Bowl

Returning Starters: 6 OFF, 5 DEF, 1 SP

2016 Schedule

September

3rd Oklahoma (NRG Stadium, Houston)

10th LAMAR

15th at Cincinnati

24th at Texas State

29th CONNECTICUT

October

8th at Navy

15th TULSA

22nd at SMU

29th CENTRAL FLORIDA

November

12th TULANE

17th LOUISVILLE

25th at Memphis

Last year, the Cougars thrived under first year head coach Tom Herman. Should starting quarterback Greg Ward Jr have not been injured, the Cougs had a very good shot at an undefeated season and a possible playoff berth last year. This year will be tough to repeat the results of last year.

On offense, the Cougars will have just as much fire power this year as they did last year. Greg Ward Jr will be back along with two of his favorite targets from last year, Chance Allen and Steven Dunbar. However, Houston has lost its three top rushing leaders from a team that averaged 235.8 yards per game (13th nationally) from a year ago. Insert Duke Carlton. Carlton is a Texas transfer who was the 10th best rated running back of the 2014 class. It will be his first year starting and he will have a load put on his shoulders. The offensive line has been depleted. Only one starter from last year is returning. Ward should be able to make due with what he has.

Houston's defense was spectacular last year. They forced 35 takeaways and their turnover margin was +21; good enough for second in the nation. Linebacker Steven Taylor returns where a year ago he had 92 tackles and let the team with 10 sacks. Nose tackle B.J. Singleton will clog the middle up front. The defense only gave up 108.9 rushing yards per game last year, good enough for 8th in the nation, and the front seven will definitely keep up with what they did a year ago. The corners are the weak link. They are inexperienced and will be tested early and often.

Player to Watch: Greg Ward Jr

Greg Ward Jr returns for his senior season. Last year, Ward was one of two quarterbacks (along with Deshaun Watson) who threw for at least 2,000 yards and rush for another 1,000. His actual totals were 2,828 yards passing, 17 TDs, and only 6 INTs. He ran for another 1,108 yards and 21 TDs. Ward will be a contender for the Heisman, and one of the more enjoyable players to watch in the upcoming season.

If you only watch them once, watch:

9/3 Oklahoma (at NRG Stadium)

This game will feature two Top 15 programs matching up on a neutral field. It should be a very exciting, high scoring affair. Should Houston steal a win, an undefeated season should not be difficult after their only real out-of-conference test.

What to Expect

The Oklahoma game is big. If Houston wins, barring a slip up, they'll be able to set it to cruise control. The defense should hold up just enough that the offense won't have to heavily rely on them. 

Prediction

10-2 (8-0, AAC)

-Dug

@chansm1th