It’s national championship or bust for Baker Mayfield and the Sooners.
Opening weekend in college football is here! I can’t remember an opening weekend with this many great games. Here are my predictions for some of the top games this weekend.
#3 Oklahoma Sooners at #15 Houston Cougars: The Sooners are a national title contender but if they want to stay in the conversation, they will need to build a resume based on quality wins. They will win this game. The Cougs will put a scare in the Sooners but Baker Mayfield and company will pull it out in the fourth quarter.
#5 LSU Tigers at Wisconsin Badgers (At Lambeau Field): Many like LSU as a national title contender. I don’t think they are. Quarterback Brandon Harris and the defense are too inconsistent. That being said, I think LSU is the more athletic team in this game and that will be the difference. I like LSU in what should be a nip and tuck affair.
#16 UCLA Bruins at Texas A&M Aggies: It’s Josh Rosen versus his former offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone. Actually, it’s Rosen and the Bruins offense versus Myles Garrett and the Aggies defense. That’s the match up to watch in this game. This is a make or break season for A&M coach Kevin Sumlin. He needs a couple of quality wins to keep the heat off. Sumlin will get the much needed win to start the season. I like the Aggies in the upset.
#18 Georgia Bulldogs at #22 North Carolina Tar Heels: I think this game will be highly entertaining. Both teams will score points and the final score may come down to which team has the ball last. Georgia has a lot of question marks but they are better defensively and that will be the difference in this game. The Bulldogs win a tight one
#1 Alabama Crimson Tide at #20 USC Trojans: Quarterback questions my ass! Regardless of who the quarterback is for Alabama, they’ll be ready to play. They’ll run the football and play good defense so they’ll be no pressure on the quarterback. The Trojans are loaded with skill talent and they’ll hang around in this game into the fourth quarter but Bama will pull it out in the end because they know how to win big games.
#2 Clemson Tigers at Auburn Tigers: I doubt either team will play much defense in what should be a shoot out. I’m going to go on a limb here and call DeShaun Watson and Wayne Gallman the best backfield in the country. Now that we’ve established that, I think the Clemson Tigers will beat the Auburn Tigers because they have more firepower and play better defense.
#10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Texas Lomghorns: Charlie Strong has slowly but surely made the Horns relevant again. Can they pull off the upset against the Irish this week? Sure but Malik Zaire and DeShone Kizer would have to throw interceptions and the Notre Dame defense would have to give up plays on a consistent basis. I don’t see either happening. I don’t buy Notre Dame big picture but they are good enough to beat the rebuilding Horns in week one.
#11 Ole Miss Rebels at #4 Florida State Seminoles: Chad Kelly vs. Dalvin Cook in what is the first of many head to head Heisman candidate match ups this season. I love Kelly’s toughness and moxie. He wills the Rebels to success and his confidence is contagious.
Ole Miss is loaded with talent despite losing some talented players from last season’s team. I think the Rebels have talent to go into Tallahassee and beat a Florida State team that has a lot of question marks, especially at quarterback. I’m picking the Rebs in a mild upset.