The football season is finally upon us, so all the preseason postulation can be cast aside and we can start judging the teams solely by their product on the field, rather than preconceived notions of team quality. Over the next fifteen weeks we will learn which teams are fraudulent, and which are for real.
As always happens, we get so excited for the arrival of the football season that we forget how many mismatches are on the schedule at this time of the season. Thankfully, the SEC tends to eschew those easy openers, ensuring we have a handful of excellent opening week matchups to look forward to, though we will grind our teeth later in the season, when some SEC programs take a break from conference play to fit in a cupcake match.
Game of the Week
Clemson at Georgia
A high stake matchup between rival programs; the winner gains a win that is sure to impress a playoff selection committee that claims it will place a heavy emphasis upon strength of schedule, while the loser leaves itself with a mountain to climb. This is a contest between two eerily similar teams. Each has replaced a lost long serving star quarterback with their long serving backup with both quarterbacks playing behind rebuilt offensive lines. Both teams return potent defensive fronts with some question marks about the secondary behind. Neither new starting quarterback is going to have an easy ride, but Georgia do have the benefit of a stud running back to lean on. Expect Todd Gurley to see the ball early and often.
Other games to look
Texas A&M at South Carolina
This all-SEC game sees the Aggies take on the Gamecocks at Williams-Brice stadium. Both have new starting quarterbacks and all eyes will be on Kenny Hill making his first start for the Aggies in place of Johnny Manziel. However, the Gamecocks have home advantage in their favor, and their new starting quarterback, Dylan Thompson, has played sporadically over the past two seasons, so the advantage is firmly in the Gamecocks court.
Boise State vs. Ole Miss
This is an intriguing matchup in the Georgia Dome. Boise State is arguably the best team in the Mountain West, they bring a strong ground attack which matches up well with the main weakness of an under-sized, but extremely athletic Rebels defense. However, the Rebels should have too much overall quality for the Broncos.
Wisconsin vs. LSU
Wisconsin takes on LSU in Houston. Both teams are known for a strong running game and both have undergone significant turnover since last season. The Badgers have opted to start dual threat quarterback Tanner McEvoy, who will combine with Melvin Gordon and Corey Clement in a triple-pronged ground attack, but they may lack the offensive balance to truly threaten the Tigers. LSU's depth chart looks youthful throughout, with young starters at quarterback, running back, receiver and defensive tackle. However, while both teams must rebuild, LSU's talent stock is superior to Wisconsin's and they should prevail.
Colorado State vs. Colorado
The Rocky Mountain Showdown has primarily favored the Buffaloes of Colorado, and they prevailed over the Rams last season. However, the presence of impressive senior quarterback Garrett Grayson, and dynamic receiver Rashard Higgins gives the Rams every chance in this match.
Bowling Green at Western Kentucky
This game pits the MAC against Conference USA, and offers the first glimpse of Bowling Green's exciting Bayloresque offense. The Hilltoppers will have their hands full trying to contain what promises to be one of the best offenses outside the Power 5 conferences.
Matchups to look
Josh Harper against the USC secondary (Fresno State at USC)
These teams faced each other in the Las Vegas Bowl last season when Fresno State's star receivers, Isaiah Burse and Davante Adams, were held in check by the USC secondary, with Josh Shaw in particular emerging from the game with credit. Nine months later Burse and Adams are gone and it's fair to say Shaw will be out for the USC line up for a while, leaving a less experienced USC cornerback unit to handle Da'Mari Scott, Aaron Peck, and the impressive Josh Harper. Harper is something of an unknown quantity for the USC defense. He missed that USC game through injury, something that has happened too often in his Bulldogs career, but has the experience (with career totals of 138 receptions, for 1841 yards and 22 touchdowns) and talent to be a major factor. The Bulldogs will be hard pressed to challenge this talented Trojan team, particularly while breaking in a new, as yet to be named, starting quarterback. However, head coach Tim DeRuyter (not MacIntyre) knows what he is doing and will seek to test USC's disrupted secondary.
Jay Ajayi - Ole Miss defensive line (Boise State vs. Ole Miss)
At 6' 0" and 216 pounds, Ajayi has the size and power to pound the ball through the heart of a defense, and enough speed to take it to the house when the opportunity arises. He rushed for 1425 yards (5.7 avg) and 18 touchdowns in 2013. He is running behind an offensive line shorn of three starters, but against an undersized Ole Miss defense that looks likely to be without it's starting nose tackle Issac Gross. The Rebels do have the prodigiously talented defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, but the former defensive end remains somewhat inexperienced at tackle. If the Broncos are to trouble the Rebels, they need to find a way to open running lanes for Ajayi, if he gets going they have shot.
Vic Beasley against John Theus (Clemson at Georgia)
The key to the game for Georgia will be whether or not the offensive line can open running lanes for Todd Gurley, and protect Hutson Mason. They have to do that with a rebuilt line that mixes experience with youthful potential, but which also faces a defensive line that might be the best in college football, which is a tall order. The Tigers defensive line is both talented and deep with players such as Grady Jarrett, DeShawn Williams, D.J. Reader, Josh Watson, Shaq Lawson, and Corey Crawford providing a rotation as strong as any team in the country, but it is weak-side defensive end Vic Beasley who must be feared. With a super fast first step, Beasley wrought havoc in 2013, recording 13 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and 23 tackles for a loss. The unenviable task of stopping him falls largely on the Bulldogs left tackle John Theus. They must scheme up some help if they are to keep Beasley under wraps and failing to do so would ensure that Hutson Mason is in for a torrid time.
Storylines to follow
Arkansas at Auburn
Last season's star quarterback, Nick Marshall, found himself in the doghouse after being cited for marijuana possession during the off-season. As a result he will be held out for a undefined portion of Auburn's opener against Arkansas. When announcing that Jeremy Johnson, Marshall's backup, would start, Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said: "Jeremy Johnson will start and then Nick Marshall will play. I'm not ready to say exactly when and all that, but he definitely will play."
The question is whether Marshall is due to miss a set amount of time, or whether the duration of his punishment is inversely proportional to the obduracy of their opponents. If Brett Bielema's Razorbacks prove to be feisty, Marshall might find himself summoned to the game in short order.
Appalachian State at Michigan
Reliving one of the greatest upsets in college football history, the Appalachian State Mountaineers return to Ann Arbor to open the season at the Big House. In 2007, a Mountaineer team on its way to a third consecutive FCS National Championship, overcame Michigan in a thrilling (or nightmare, depending upon your perspective) 34-32 contest. However, this is not 2007, and the current teams bear little relation to those that competed that day. The 2014 Mountaineers are in their first full season as an FBS program and will be far more concerned with impressing in Sun Belt play later in the season than they are with trying to relive history. No matter what happens this time around, the Appalachian State fans will always have September 1st, 2007, the day they rocked the college football world. However, for Michigan, this is a no-win situation; if they cruise past the Mountaineers they are simply meeting expectations, job done but no real credit earned. However if Michigan make hard work of it, or somehow contrive to lose, they double the ignominy earned from that first contest, leaving the Ann Arbor natives in a mutinous state.