Week 1

Texas vs Ohio State – Praise God and all that is holy, College Football has arrived! Most games are, of course, cupcakes, but this year we are starting off with some real humdingers! First up, beginning Saturday at 12:00 noon, Texas will be taking on Ohio State in the big Horseshoe. Preseason #1 vs #3, a little hard to get better than that. The Longhorns come into this game as the odds-on favorite, but only by a slim margin. For a team that lost 12 players to the draft and eight of them on offense, they sure are getting the benefit of the doubt, and that is because the powers that be, whoever they are, are very high on this Arch Manning fellow, who will be taking over at Quarterback. Maybe you’ve heard of him. He’ll have to live up to the hype if he is to get this offense going like it did last year with all the new players in the lineup. If the rebuilt offensive line can give him some good protection, he’ll have a slightly above-average chance of playing well. Head Coach Sarkisian is very good at calling the plays and creating the mismatches that he wants. The defense doesn’t have that many players to replace, and that’s a good thing especially with the defensive backs. Texas is one of the few teams that can play a two-high coverage and still stop the run, they don’t rely on man-to-man coverage. With the defensive line being good enough to shut down the run it makes creating secondary holes very difficult.

Ohio State comes into this game with the best receiving corps in the nation led by Jeremiah Smith who had an outstanding freshman year. If newbie QB Sayin can just protect the ball by making good decisions throwing the ball, this Buckeye passing game could be tough to stop. The Bucks will be relying on new running backs this year, but they all have some experience, which, hopefully, will pay off as they go up against the Burnt Orange defensive line. If, and this is a big “IF,” the OSU offense is able to get into a rhythm early, they can put the Texas defense on their heels, just like they did last year in the Semi-finals of the playoffs, which, of course, led them to a victory and then to the National Championship. On the “D” side of the ball Ohio State has star players but they are breaking in a new Defensive Coordinator in Patricia. He is coming to them via the New England Patriots and his creative schemes are going to be put to the test from the opening snap. Ohio State has the home field advantage, they are the defending Nation Champions, yet they’re the underdog? This should be a great opening game. Look for it be close all the way through the fourth quarter. Chances are it’s going to come down to the wire, and Ohio State just has a knack of winning these types of games when they are at home, and because of that, they’re the pick to upset Arch Manning’s first collegiate football start.

Alabama vs Florida State- The Redemption Bowl! – Each team is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2024 campaign. Alabama lost four games last year, which, to the spoiled Bama fan base, is completely and utterly unacceptable. Florida State had one of its worst seasons ever, only winning two games. So, both teams are looking for Redemption. Ty Simpson will be taking over the reigns as the QB for the Crimson Tide after serving as the backup for the last two seasons. He comes with a lot of promise, he was one of the top five quarterbacks in the 2022 high school class, and, on top of that, he has stuck around Alabama when he was getting plenty of offers to transfer elsewhere. He’s a very good passer but he is also a dangerous running threat. Since spring training, he has shown that he has complete command of this offense and performed very well, if all the reports are true. On top of that, HC DeBoer has his long time Offensive Coordinator back with him in Ryan Grubb, who created that high flying Washington attack that led them to the National Championship Game. The expectations are sky high for this Bama offense with three returning All-Star linemen which makes this O-Line the top-rated unit in the nation. Now the Tide is not going to have Jam Miller as the lead running back for this game as he suffered an injury in practice, but true to Alabama form, they have full stable of capable backs. Defense-wise, Alabama has built its reputation on having a killer defense, but last year….not so much. This year, however, their entire secondary returns and with the unexpected return of their top two linebackers and their top two linemen, this defense has the potential to live up to the Alabama standard. This first game will be a good test.

Florida State is in a rebuilding year and HC Norvell is banking on the transfer portal. He has incoming Boston College QB Tommy Castellanos, who has generated a good deal of hype. So much so that he’s already started trash-talking about the Alabama squad. This might not be the best strategy, but we’ll see. He is explosive at times, other times he has a terrible time holding on to the ball and is known to throw it to the opposing team. With OC Gus Malzahn talking over, this should maximize his running abilities. The rest of the offense is being anchored by eight transfers, a complete remake of the entire offense. They did get some good offensive linemen from the transfer portal, but the Seminoles are very thin in depth. If called upon to rely on backups their house of cards could come crumbling down in a hurry. On the defensive side of the ball, the Noles have plenty of returning talent, their linebackers will be their strength in this opening salvo. The secondary is also loaded with talent but very short on experience, they are going to have to grow up fast in this first game. It’s tough to say how the FSU team is going to be, they are infused with transfers which brings in good talent, at least they hope it does, but they are very short on team and player development. Depth on both sides of the ball is an issue, they won’t be able to rotate all that many players during the game and come mid-third quarter on, that will become a big issue. Even if they come out of the gate strong it’s a big question if they can keep it up the entire game, in the Florida heat. The Seminoles must improve on their 2-10 record, there are no “if’s”, “and’s’, or “but’s” about it. It’s do or die time, and for trashing talking QB Castellanos, it’s “put up or shut up” time. Both teams want redemption, the only problem is that most of the FSU players starting this year weren’t even on the team last year, so they’re not really feeling all that pressure. Alabama has most of their players returning and there is an aura of hunger with the Crimson Tide. They want to win, and they want to win big. Alabama is the pick to win, it’s just a matter of by how much they are going to win. This could get ugly in the latter stages of the contest.

LSU vs Clemson – for the night game, we have the battle of the Tigers. LSU is a surprise top preseason pick. According to the powers that be, whoever they are, this just might be the year of the Bayou Tigers with QB Garrett Nussmeier returning for his senior year. He is a great talent, but last year he didn’t always play that way. In the Tigers’ losses to A&M, Alabama, Florida and USC, he wasn’t even close to being the All-American they think he is. He threw multiple interceptions and just flat out didn’t play well. But we are assured that those days are behind him and he’s ready to take center stage. He’ll have a good supporting cast with him, as LSU returns rusher Durham, who earned All-SEC honors, and he’ll have his top receiver, Anderson, who was his favorite target last year. The O-Line is the big question, they must replace four of their starters, and they had better gel quickly because it doesn’t matter how good QB Nussmeier might be, he’ll have a hard time throwing passes if he’s running for his life every play.  

Clemson also has a returning QB is Klubnik, who made some questionable decisions last year, but again, we are assured that he’s put those days behind him. The Clemson Tigers have their entire offensive line returning, which is a huge advantage. Defensive wise, Clemson brought in DC Tom Allen from Penn State and he inherits a top defense, with multiple returning players. This could be Clemson’s best shot at climbing back up to the top of the ladder. LSU under HC Kelly has lost its opening game for five straight seasons. The game is being played in Clemson, SC, not a neutral site by any measure. If LSU wants to return to their recent glory years, they have no option but to win this affair. They lose, and their season goes down the drain. It hurts my heart to have to make this pick, because I just hate teams that wear orange, and that includes Clemson, but the South Carolina Tigers are going to come out on top.

Notre Dame vs Miami – Sunday- This game used to be known as the Convicts vs the Catholics, but not so much now. Miami desperately wants the world to believe they are back, they’ve been saying that for four years now and it has yet to come true. HC Mario Cristobal was brought in to bring the Hurricanes back and he’s teased fans with great starts, only to finish with a fizzle instead of a bang. This year they brought in Georgia transfer QB Carson Beck, who is coming off elbow surgery and he didn’t have near the year last season that everyone was expecting of him. Maybe this will be his year. They have a good offensive line but had to bring in some transfers to fill it out. Defense has not been kind to the “U”, they haven’t been able to even come close to capturing that indefensible spirit, closing out the season with a loss to Iowa State has put a big question mark on their back. Can they step it up this year? Maybe, maybe not. Notre Dame, who made a run to the National Championship game last year, must replace half their team this year and, on top of that, their schedule is tougher. Carr is expected to be the starter at QB and his got big shoes to fill after QB Leonard led with his feet most of the year. He’s got returning starters at receiver and with returning RB Love behind him, he’s got good skilled players. The question is, can HC Freeman rebuild that offensive line, where they lost most of their starters. The defense has to get beefed up so they can stand up to their bigger offensive line opponents. To do that, you guessed it, they went to the portal, which can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing as well. Notre Dame hasn’t been relevant for 31 years, last year was the best year they’ve had in three decades, the big question is will this be a rebuilding year, or can they match last year’s success? Both teams want to reclaim their glory years, and listening to the preseason powers that be, whoever they are, Notre Dame is their pick to be one of God’s Chosen People. They are always the Zebras’ Chosen People. Here at CigarSmokinFootball, we’re not buying all that hype, we’re not buying all the hype about Miami being back, either, but the Hurricanes do have homefield advantage and starting the season off against a big name opponent at home has its advantages. Miami is going to win, but it will be close and of course there are going to be calls from the zebras that favor ND as they always do.

Short Smokes

Friday night- Tarleton State, where the Daughter graduated, will be taking on Army, where Dad graduated, and if you think I’m going to pick a winner in this contest you are out of your mind!   

Michigan State will host Western Michigan and the Spartans will be victorious.

Auburn travels to the state of Texas to take on Baylor, a tough game to pick, but the SEC is better than the Big 12.

Georgia Tech plays the Deion Sander’s Colorado Buffalos,  and the Yellow Jackets are going to sting

Saturday

The Syracuse Orange will be taking on the tennessee Vols, and the rule is to always pick the SEC, except if it’s ut. Go Orange

Southern Miss used to have the reputation of upsetting big name schools and they’re going to upset Mississippi State

Maryland will take on the Owls of Florida Atlantic and the Turtle should be victorious

Northwestern better strap on their helmets good and tight because Tulane is no longer a push over, it’s very possible that the Green Wave wins this one.

Indiana will be hosting Old Dominion, and the Hoosiers shouldn’t have that much trouble

Penn State likes to start easy as they take on Nevada. Come on, PSU, you want to be ranked in the top five take on a challenge would ya!

Georgia, like Penn State, is taking a snooze, but against Marshall

Oregon will enjoy their cupcake game against Montana State

Oklahoma refuses to test themselves as they host Illinois State

Virginia may not have known that Coastal Carolina wasn’t going to be a push over when they scheduled this game

Kansas State needs their practice game against North Dakota after they didn’t perform well against Iowa State last week.

UTSA is going to test their meddle against Texas A&M but the Aggies will feast on the Road Runners. The Daughter will be at the game cheering on her Aggies, as she is an official student of A&M now, (Master’s program)

North Alabama is looking to calm the wind of Western Kentucky, Roar Lions!

Michigan, who has been known to lose their opener cupcake games, most likely won’t lose to New Mexico

USC will not be tested as they take on Missouri State

Ole Miss will probably cruise to victory over Georgia State  Note the “probably” in there.

Arizona State will play their annual game against Northern Arizona, this will not end well for the Lumberjacks

Washington State from time to time has had trouble with Idaho, the Vandals can be tough…sometimes

Oregon State will collide with California, the hippie Bears will win

Arizona better not take Hawai’i as an easy win, the Rainbow Warriors did beat Stanford

Utah wants to make a statement against UCLA and they more than likely will.

The Huskies of Washington will beat the Rams of Colorado State

Sunday

Virginia Tech and South Carolina butt heads and the Gamecocks are going to come out on top

Monday

TCU will be looking to ruin North Carolina’s HC Belichick’s college debut and they’ll make fun of his girlfriend in the process.