Everyone is whining about the college football slate today, saying it’s boring and there’s only one ranked game etc. First of all, see above. Second of all, that ranked game involves The U. So as far as I’m concerned, today is going to be awesome.
.
Tulane -6.5 vs Navy
Two words – triple option. Navy’s got the classic scheme; Tulane’s got the spread. Old school vs new school in football tactics that you’ll never see in the NFL.
Tulane -6.5 is the obvious play here. We’re on the up-and-up and should be in semi contention for the AAC this year. The new QB is a redshirt senior transfer from Southern Miss, Keon Howard. He’s pretty sick.
They struggled for a bit last week at South Alabama, but were lights out the entire 4th quarter in a comeback. It was probably just a case of rust and covid-practice-anxiety, as South Alabama had already played their first game a week earlier.
Speaking of covid-practice-anxiety, Navy had the worst training camp in all of NCAA. They didn’t have any spring or summer workouts, and the practices they managed to have were entirely non-contact.
Last Monday on ESPN, they got murdered 55-3 by the Mormons at BYU. Oof. They’ll get better by end of season, but it’s gonna take some time.
.
#17 Miami +1.5 at #18 Louisville
This will be on during the Stanley Cup Finals so it will be intermission watch only for me, but I’m still pretty stoked. It is a quasi play-in game for the ACC championship vs Clemson.
The U has a stout defense as normal under Manny Diaz, but now they have themselves a King at QB. D’eriq King. I wrote about him last year when he was at Houston and saw his last game for the Cougars at Tulane. He’s fucking good.
One of the best Texas high school quarterbacks ever and has done nothing but make plays in the college ranks. Miami is the perfect home for him. For a good read on him, check out ESPN’s compelling feature from preseason.
All of his plays last week vs UAB are here. A little bit of jitters to work out, but very good overall.
Louisville on the other hand I don’t know much about. If they still had Bobby Petrino, I would be scared. But they don’t, so I’m not.
.
North Texas +14.5 vs SMU
I wrote about these two Dallas area teams in my week 1 betting picks. I was hyped for both of them going into the season, but SMU eking out a win vs Texas State was unimpressive to say the least. UNT looked good though. Take them with the two touchdowns in points at home.
7th Floor Krewe 