Triple Option

By Michael Maynard

Published 8/29/19 @ 12:45 PM CT

Game of the Week: Florida 24 Miami (FL) 20, Hawaii 45 Arizona 38

This is a default tie because there were only two games in Week Zero, although the Florida-Miami sucked and the Arizona-Hawaii game was incredible.

College football fans including myself were anticipating the Week 0 in-state showdown in Orlando for months purely because it was the first game on the schedule. That anticipation was guarded by the fact both teams had great defenses and uncertain offenses, so it could end up being an ugly game. Ugly is a nice way to describe that matchup.

Miami basically continued the storyline that they don’t have a quarterback, and made matters even more confusing by playing Tate Martell at wide receiver. Is this permanent? Do they really think the only way to get him on the field is to change positions? There is no way he committed to Miami knowing he ends up a receiver.

Meanwhile, whatever potent offensive production Florida found in the last two games of last year was is ancient memory. Feleipe Franks made some horrible decisions including an interception in Miami territory that should have cost them the game except Jarren Williams couldn’t hang on to the football. Neither team deserved to win this game, and both should start 0-1 but someone had to win. So Florida’s grand aspirations live on and Miami goes back to the drawing board. I may be overreacting with Florida because this is the first game of the season so the offense will get better, but Miami is not the best defensive team on the Gators schedule. That performance won’t be enough to beat Kentucky or Georgia or Auburn.

On the other hand, those who stayed up to watch the Hawaii contest saw an electric showdown that honestly might end up as a Top 10 game of the season. The Over 72 was an easy lock. Khalil Tate had some early nerves looking like last year’s Khalil Tate, but then transformed into the player that emerged into the Heisman race Sophomore year. Now Arizona wasn’t winning more than 8 games regardless, but it’s too bad they lost because now their National aspirations are probably shot after losing to a Mountain West team. But Tate is going to put up some ridiculous numbers.

Meanwhile, Hawaii beat a Power 5 team. So the 11:59 PM CT kickoffs might have significance aside from degen bailouts. The flip of Hawaii quarterbacks was insane. We start with Cole McDonald and his white dreads and hear how he bulked up in the offseason and was poised for a big year. He throws 4 TDs but also 4 picks, after only throwing 10 last year. So they bench him and bring in the Freshman Chevan Cordeiro. A Hawaii kid, within five minutes I’m hearing the names Marcus Mariota, Tua Tagovailoa, and Mckenzie Milton mentioned with the hype of this kid. I mean those are three of the best college quarterbacks in the last decade, that’s gonna get my attention. But anyway Cordeiro comes in and leads a touchdown drive and closes the game for Hawaii.

Best moment of the game: Arizona’s down ten about 4 minutes to go. 4th down lining up for a 38 yard field goal. Snap, hold kick is good, wait no delay of game. Do it again. Snap, hold, kick is good, wait no there was a false start. Snap, hold, ANOTHER FALSE START. Now Kevin Sumlin has to call a timeout to send his team a message and give his kicker a rest, because they miss this kick and the game’s over. Eventually it’s a 53 yarder, and the kicker-Lucas Havrisik-drills it to make it a one-possession game. That was a huge turn of events that could have won Hawaii the game but instead Arizona hung around where if their defense could get a stop for once in the game they could give Tate the ball back to win.

I haven’t even gotten to the ending of the game. Arizona has maybe two plays left about 40 yards out, so they send everyone deep while Tate takes off. He uses his legs to get close enough where he can score, but gets tackled at the one yard line. So we were one yard away from Arizona probably going for 2 to win the game and getting the game of the season before a positive numbered week.

Player of the Week: Cedric Byrd; WR Hawaii, 14 rec, 224 yards, 4 TDs)

Tate has a case but I can’t pass up this stat line. In PPR format that’s about 60.4 points. Arizona could not cover anyone and Byrd got behind the secondary often Saturday night and Sunday morning. It doesn’t matter who’s quarterbacking if this is their #1 receiver.

Bet the mortgage lock of the week: Alabama (-34.5)

Disclaimer that I do not actually gamble so in these picks I’m investing my word. This is the weekly pick that I’m so confident hits it makes me want to bet it. First pick of the season (0-0-0)

Alabama has been pissed off for the past nine months that Clemson absolutely embarrassed them in the National Championships and they are going to take it out on their opponents this year, starting with a lesser ACC opponent. Also Tua returns with possibly the best receiving corps in Alabama history. This will be all gas no brake. Duke is at best a 6-win team, and Saban feasts off 6-win teams. Roll Tide.

Alabama scored 50+ points in 9 of their 15 games a year ago. They won nonconference games by 37, 50, 42, and 43 points, scoring 50+ in each. Duke has a QB transition that they’ll try to figure out Week 1 after losing Daniel Jones. Funny how Alabama always seems to play these non-conference power five games against teams that end up disappointing from the previous year (Duke year after Jones, Louisville year after Lamar Jackson, Florida State falls off a cliff, USC didn’t have QB situation figured out and later goes with Sam Darnold and wins the Rose Bowl). Alabama actually scheduled a road game in 2023 at Camp Randall, so Saban confirmed retiring after the 2022 season.

Game of the Week: Oregon vs. Auburn in Arlington, TX

I give College Gameday credit: they usually get the game of the week correct. ESPN recognizes where the people want them to go, and they send their A-team to the hotspot. For this reason I like Gameday and will most likely stick with their game of the week unless I like another game better.

The 2010 BCS Title rematch is absolutely the right call. I doubt we’ll get a ridiculous score (22-19?) this time, but this is the first playoff eliminator game. The Pac-12 is too deep where Oregon is only going 8-1 at best, and they have to travel to Seattle in addition to road games at Stanford and USC. Auburn has Alabama, Texas A&M, LSU, Georgia, and Florida on the schedule. Whoever loses has an uphill battle.

Justin Herbert was a top five pro prospect, but returned for his senior year. I’m excited because he’s never been healthy for a full season, so I hope he can put together a full season. They add Penn State transfer Juwon Johnson to deepen the receivers, and plucked coveted five-star DL Kayvon Thibodeaux from SEC territory. Mario Cristobal was a sneaky good hire, even if they did it to keep continuity after Willie Taggart bolted for FSU. He rebuilt Florida International and was fired kind of randomly, I learned this recently. But he deserved a second chance at a head coaching job, and this is his best team ever to make some noise with. The last time Auburn played I was there in Nashville when they embarrassed the entire University of Purdue. Bo Nix has the hype as a true Freshman, and they could be due for a bounce back season. I think Oregon wins the game but it probably ends up a coin flip.

Super Dog: Georgia State +26 at Tennessee

I’ll also borrow this from Gameday because its a great segment. Tennessee is an obvious up and coming pick. 18 months removed from not being able to hire a coach, they have a returning quarterback, a great recruiting coach from the Saban tree, and lost to in-state rival Vanderbilt for a right to play Baylor in the Texas Bowl. But they still have an uphill climb, and if you look at my preseason projections I have them missing a bowl game for a third consecutive season. Georgia State wasn’t good last year, but after finishing a dismal 2-10, some improvement is inevitable so they could due for a bounce back season with experienced starters to challenge App State in the Fun Belt East race. I doubt the Panthers win, but Tennessee is notorious for Week One trap games. It’s at least closer than four touchdowns.

Other Notable Games:

Utah State at Wake Forest

Utah State returns quarterback Jordan Love and should be in the MWC Mountain division race up until the Nov. 23 showdown with Boise State, and this year the Aggies host. This should be a ten-win team for a second year in a row, even amidst a coaching change. Meanwhile, Wake Forest still hasn’t announced a starter between Sam Hartman and Jamie Newman, both sophomores who had extended playing time a year ago. I would guess Newman gets the first crack at the job considering he orchestrated a few late season wins to get the Deacs eligible, and then defeating a good Memphis team in the Birmingham Bowl to secure a winning record. The ACC is wide open after Clemson, and Wake could be a team who take an unexpected step forward like Syracuse last year. These are two really good teams. Wake is about a field-goal favorite, so this game projects to come down to the wire. Clemson-Georgia Tech is getting all the attention as the ACC Network opener, but the USU-WF game is much more appealing.

Boise State at Florida State

The second of two ACC-MWC Week 1 got moved up Saturday to avoid Hurricane Dorian. Boise State has some questions with a new QB after four-year starter Brett Rypien departed, but the Broncos are regardless a safe pick for ten wins. This could be one of the losses, but Florida State has even more questions after failing to qualify for a bowl game in Willie Taggart’s first season in Tallahassee, snapping the longest streak in the FBS. A rebound is imminent at FSU after two disappointing seasons. Is 8-4 good enough? Is that record even achievable? Florida State could be a Wild Card in the ACC or another middle of the pack team vying for the Quick Lane Bowl. The opener vs. Boise will set the table for what to expect out of the Seminoles in 2019. On the flip side, a win on the other side of the country in a crazy road environment would help the Broncos make a case to jump UCF as the marquee Group of 5 team.

Houston at Oklahoma

The last time these two squared off, the Cougars stunned the eventual Big 12 champs, helping Tom Herman get the Texas job where he would play Oklahoma more often in higher stakes. This time, Oklahoma sees another familiar face on the opposing sideline as Dana Holgorsen takes over after a long tenure at West Virginia. The last time Lincoln Riley and Holgorsen squared off in Rivalry Week 2018, Oklahoma out scored West Virginia en route to a third playoff appearance in four years for the Sooners.

This Cougars team probably isn’t as complete as the one that upset Oklahoma four years ago, but with D’Eriq King leading the offense, Houston’s at least going to make Jalen Hurts score some points. Oklahoma hired Alex Grinch to shore up the spotty defense that made too many games close a year ago. This is a good test for the potent Big 12 offenses OU will see every week October onward.

What I’m writing about next week

Top 10 teams win easy against clearly inferior opponents. Oregon beats Auburn on a late TD drive and Gus’s hot seat moves from warm to toasty. No other ranked teams lose aside from maybe Utah at BYU and some random upset against a team that shouldn’t have been ranked in the first place. Nebraska beats South Alabama 40 so the “Nebraska is back” talk escalates even further, while UConn and Rutgers secure their lone wins of the season. Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa set the Heisman race, but Justin Herbert’s late game heroics and Jonathan Taylor’s 250 rushing yards at USF make the early Heisman race interesting. I hype up Texas-LSU and Clemson-A&M, and look back on how wrong at least one of those projections were.

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