Week 1 Picks

Football season is finally upon us. Its the Sunday before games start and we can officially say its the season, since we are all encountering the same wait we experience every week during the season. Week 1 is the hardest week to have a gauge on simply because no team has played yet and as much as people think they know about the upcoming season nothing's been proven yet. Sure Florida returns essentially there whole team, but how well did the team work in the offseason? How are they going to replace Murphy and Harvin? Questions surround all 120 teams in the country and some will be answered this weekend, while others won't. Week 1 features a few interesting matchups, but for the most part the weekend just features the big teams getting a warm-up cupcake matchup. Each week I'll be showing people my picks for the week's marquee match-ups and my pick for upset of the week.

Thursday

South Carolina @ NC State
This isn't a marquee matchup, but it will be beneficial in showing how good NC State is and how much of a contender they are in the ACC. South Carolina has too many question marks in the early season with a green secondary, a situation at running back, and a quarterback that hasn't reached everyone's expectations quite yet. Russell Wilson should avenge last year's result at home this season.
Pick - NC State

Oregon @ Boise State
Oregon lost last season to the Broncos in Eugene and this season they have to travel to the blue turf. Boise State has a weapon at quarterback in Kellen Moore, but so does Oregon in Jeremiah Masoli. LaGarrette Blount finally gets to be the man for the Ducks and a hungry Oregon team should pull out a pivotal game for Boise State's BCS hopes.
Pick - Oregon

Georgia @ Oklahoma State
In what might be the most exciting matchup of the week, Georgia travels to Stillwater. Zac Robinson, Kendall Hunter, and Dez Bryant should be operating at a high level. Georgia must recover from the loss of Moreno and Stafford. Joe Cox and Richard Samuel will be the replacements, but the potential loss of Caleb King to injury could hold back the Georgia offensive attack. Georgia should be better on defense this season, but the three headed monster of Oklahoma State at home should be too much for the Bulldogs.
Pick - Oklahoma State

BYU vs Oklahoma
BYU returns quarterback Max Hall this season after he put up ridiculous numbers to start last season and was gaining some Heisman hype. The problem for BYU though is they have to play the player that ended up with the Heisman last season in Sam Bradford. Bradford has weapons at his disposal in Jermaine Gresham, DeMarco Murray, and Chris Brown and BYU just won't have the athletes to keep up.
Pick - Oklahoma

Alabama vs Virginia Tech
Alabama starts the season with a new quarterback in McElroy and technically a new starting back in Mark Ingram (even though he proved himself last year as a freshman). Virginia Tech needs a new running back after receiving a devastating blow by losing Darren Evans for the season. Tyrod Taylor must prove that he's capable of leading a competent offense against a stingy Alabama defense. The game should be low scoring, but I don't see Virginia Tech putting the points on the board they need.
Pick - Alabama

Upset Alert - Notre Dame (against Nevada)
Notre Dame faces a team in Nevada that majorly underachieved last season. Colin Kaepernick is one of the top quarterbacks in the country and threw for almost 3000 yards and rushed for over 1100 last season. He was part of 39 TDs to only 7 picks. His back Vai Taua isn't too shabby either rushing for over 1500 yards as a sophomore. Dontay Moch will be the man to watch on defense and it should be interesting to see if he can put pressure on Jimmy Clausen. Notre Dame appears stacked at certain positions on paper, but there are weaknesses. Clausen has a tendency to throw a lot of picks and the running game leaves some to be desired. David Bruton will be missed at safety and it will be interesting to see if Kaepernick can capitalize. Don't be surprised if Nevada pulls out a game with the score in the mid-20s.

Views