Gonna pick a few more games between unranked teams this week since quite a few top 25 teams (Auburn included) have this coming weekend off...
Toledo at Cincinnati (at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio)
Finally the opener has come for ex-Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville and his Cincinnati Bearcats. Instead of playing on campus at Nippert Stadium though, the Cats will be playing this game as well as all home games in 2014 at the home of the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals, Paul Brown Stadium. Similar to how old Big East foe and now ACC member Pittsburgh plays their games at Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In regards to this game, former Notre Dame and highly touted high school QB Gunner Kiel will be under center for the Bearcats. He'll look to keep pace with a high powered Toledo team looking to avenge a 49-24 loss to Missouri. I think the Rockets will show better in this one but come up short. Kiel should light it up in his Bearcat debut and that should be just enough for them to win their season opener.
My Call: Cincinnati 41, Toledo 34
Ohio at Marshall
Marshall may have the best QB in the nation a number of people don't know about in Rakeem Cato. In 2012, he threw for over 4200 yards on 39 TD passes against just 9 interceptions. In 2013, he added 3916 yards passing while throwing for 37 TDs against just 11 passes and he added nearly 300 yards and 6 TD rushes on the ground. He's off to a solid start in 2014, throwing for over 500 yards and 5 TDs against no interceptions his first two games. He'll look to keep that going against an Ohio team that's struggled a bit out of the gate this year offensively but has generally been solid under former Nebraska head coach Frank Solich. I've got the Thundering Herd here. They'll ride Cato's arm and legs (when necessary) to a 3-0 start.
My Call: Marshall 35, Ohio 21
Boise State at Connecticut
That's more like it for Boise State. After slumping to a 35-13 loss in the season opener to Ole Miss, they bounced back in a big way on their home blue turf in their Mountain West Conference opener, pounding Colorado State 37-24 in a game that wasn't as close as that score indicates. Given UConn's struggles to beat Stony Brook, I think the Broncos should be able to keep things rolling. They'll do a little bit on the ground and a little in the air while that defense holds the fort down.
My Call: Boise State 24, Connecticut 10
West Virginia at Maryland
First game that leaves me a bit flabbergasted in regards to who to pick. West Virginia looked much improved in a solid effort during a 33-23 loss to Alabama while Maryland cruised over James Madison before struggling to a 24-17 win on the road against South Florida. I took this route with my Pittsburgh/Boston college selection last week and it worked well, so I'll try it again here. When in doubt, go with the team you believe has the guy who can come up with the big play on offense when needed. The Terps appear to be the team who has that guy in WR Stefon Diggs. He's been injury prone during his time at Maryland, but if he can get over that, he's got legit NFL talent. Not only legit NFL talent, but very high potential NFL talent.
My Call: Maryland 30, West Virginia 27
Kansas at Duke
If we were talking basketball, you wouldn't get a much higher profile matchup than this. However, we're talking football here. The Duke football program is currently having a resurgence under head coach David Cutcliffe while KU's program has been floundering the last five years under the guidance of three coaches, the last three years under Charlie Weis. I don't see the Blue Devils having much of a problem here. They should cruise as their offense rolls up big numbers against a KU defense that can't keep up.
My Call: Duke 38, Kansas 17
Arkansas State at Miami (FL)
While nobody would confuse Arkansas State for a "measuring stick" type of game, it comes somewhat close here for the Hurricanes after they lost by a fairly wide margin against Louisville in the first week and cruising to a win over Florida A&M in the second. The Canes will have to avoid the potential of overlooking the Red Wolves since they travel to Lincoln to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers next weekend. I think they will. It may not always be impressive, but the big thing for Miami will be scoring more points than Arkansas State. Duke Johnson leads the way.
My Call: Miami 35, Arkansas State 20
NC State at South Florida
I wish one of these teams would have looked good in their first two games this season. Neither did, USF struggled to beat Western Carolina while losing to Maryland while NC State struggled to beat the likes of Georgia Southern and Old Dominion. Looking at how awful Western Carolina was as an FCS program a year ago, I'll give NC State more of the benefit of the doubt. Old Dominion at least went 8-4 against their soft schedule a year ago while Georgia Southern of course went into Gainesville a year ago and took down Florida. Granted that was a very down Gator team, but still impressive for a team of their stature. Western Carolina was just awful even by Southern Conference standards a year ago. With this in mind, give me the Wolfpack to win.
My Call: NC State 28, South Florida 24
Arkansas at Texas Tech
Seeing how UTEP was able to run wild on Texas Tech (granted in a 30-26 Tech win) and how Central Arkansas was able to hang with Texas Tech in what was a 42-35 Tech win, it makes you wonder if the Red Raiders are due for a very down year or are very simply playing down to the level of their first two teams of competition. We should get a better idea of that this week when SEC member Arkansas makes the trip into Lubbock. The Razorbacks have to be licking their chops seeing UTEP's rushing totals against that Tech defense; the Miners rushed for 277 yards and 3 scores on 52 carries in spite of getting very little from their QB. Arkansas has an excellent two-headed monster rushing attack with sophomore Alex Collins and junior Jonathan Williams. Collins rushed for just over 1000 yards a year ago while Williams added 900 yards of his own. Those two should be able to gash that Tech defensive front. The Red Raiders will counter with their passing attack and I'm sure what will be a hurry up type of offense which Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema is known for hating. Whoever wins this game will better dictate the tempo of it. In what may be a stupid pick for me, I'll take Arkansas. Both defenses will struggle in this one, but I'm liking that rushing duo of Williams and Collins to control the tempo just enough to allow the Razorbacks to escape with a win.
My Call: Arkansas 41, Texas Tech 38
Iowa State at Iowa
Weird 0-2 start to the season for Iowa State. They got thoroughly manhandled by North Dakota State (granted NDSU is a terrific FCS team) before giving #20 Kansas State everything it wanted before falling 32-28. It's also been a bit of a strange start for in-state rival Iowa; granted they're off to a 2-0 start. The Hawkeyes struggled with Northern Iowa in a 31-23 victory while they needed two late TDs to rally past Ball State for a 17-13 victory. Where does that leave us for the battle of the CyHawk Trophy, which is awarded to the winner of this game? Most likely in a very tight game that I could see going either way. Iowa State is more desperate, but Iowa is at home. In a throw the dart and pick type of call, I'll go with the Hawkeyes.
My Call: Iowa 21, Iowa State 20
Minnesota at TCU
Another Big 10 (Minnesota) vs. Big 12 (TCU) matchup taking place here. The Gophers have gotten a couple pretty easy home wins over Eastern Illinois and Middle Tennessee while TCU got an easy victory of their own in their season opener against Samford. Thus far, the transition for TCU from the Mountain West to the Big 12 hasn't been easy. They went 7-6 in the first year before really falling off in 2013 to a 4-8 record. Given that TCU is in the stronger conference and is at home, I think the pressure is more on them to win this one than the Gophers. And I'll say they get it; not by a lot, but in some cases, it doesn't matter whether you win by a lot or a little. This is one of those cases.
My Call: TCU 27, Minnesota 21
Illinois at Washington
A couple of teams that have struggled to get their first two wins square off in Seattle. Illinois needed to rally tin the 4th quarter to beat Youngstown State by a 28-17 score and needed to do the same in a 42-34 win over Western Kentucky. As for Washington, they had a fight for their lives in Honolulu in an ugly 17-16 win over Hawaii while seeing their secondary get torched in what was a 59-52 win over a solid FCS Eastern Washington squad. I'm thinking that gives us another high scoring affair here. Maybe not to the tune of 59-52, but one that I'll take the Huskies in. Their offense looked a lot better with dual threat Cyler Miles under center and I'm expecting that to be enough here.
My Call: Washington 48, Illinois 38
UT-San Antonio at Oklahoma State
These two teams met in San Antonio a year ago. Oklahoma State cruised to a 56-35 victory in a game where the Roadrunners got a lot of points in garbage time to make that game closer than the score would indicate. If this game were also being played in San Antonio, I think it would have the potential to be interesting for quite a while. UT-San Antonio hung right in there with Pac 12 foe Arizona last Thursday night, proving they want to show they belong. That won't be as easy a task to accomplish in Stillwater, even if this Okie State team isn't quite as good as they've been the last few years or so. Cowboys come through with the victory pulling away about mid-way through the third.
My Call: Oklahoma State 41, UT-San Antonio 20
Wake Forest at Utah State
Chuckie Keeton and Utah State took out some frustrations on hapless Idaho State after getting trampled by Tennessee in Knoxville in a game where most expected them to be far more competitive while the Demon Deacons will look to keep the momentum going after a 23-7 win over Gardner-Webb. All in all, I've got to roll with the Aggies. They've got the best player on the field for either team and also have the better team overall.
My Call: Utah State 31, Wake Forest 17
Kentucky at Florida
Conference opener for both these teams. Kentucky coach Mark Stoops has done a solid job of recruiting to Lexington to try making the football team relevant while Florida coach Will Muschamp is coaching this year in order to save his job. For the latter to happen, these are the types of games the Gators need to win as schedules in the SEC only get tougher as the weeks go by. They'll get it. Jeff Driskel should be solid throwing the ball while the defense keeps the UK offense at bay as Florida gets that win they need before entering a real grind of seven games; 5 of those against currently ranked teams (at Alabama, home to Mizzou, South Carolina and LSU and the yearly neutral site game against Georgia) and one of those in Knoxville against rival Tennessee who is looking better in the second year of the Butch Jones era.
My Call: Florida 35, Kentucky 13
Nebraska at Fresno State
Shaky second win for Nebraska as they needed an amazing 59 yard catch and run from star running back Ameer Abdullah in order to put away FCS foe McNeese State. It's just been shaky period for Fresno State as they've been blown out twice on the road to start the year; first in L.A. against USC and then in Salt Lake City against Utah. Being at home on a Friday night should rev up the Bulldogs some, but I'm still liking Nebraska in this one. Just let Ameer Abdullah take care of things and they should be fine even on the road.
My Call: Nebraska 34, Fresno State 23
Nevada at Arizona
Can Nevada make it two in a row over the Pac 12? They took down Washington State in Reno, shutting down Mike Leach's Washington State Cougars in what was an ugly 24-13 win. They did a solid enough job defensively but are gonna need more than 24 to take this one on the road in Tucson. Not gonna happen. Arizona got all they wanted in San Antonio last week from a good looking Roadrunner program, but they'll feel more comfortable in their home environment and have an easier time of it as a result.
My Call: Arizona 37, Nevada 17
Penn State at Rutgers
Went through the college football predictions for each game over on bleacher report and realized I stupidly missed this game as I was looking over notable games to make predictions on. My bad! Anyway, this is not only the Big 10 opener for both teams, but it's also the Big 10 debut for Rutgers against a fellow Big 10 squad. After nearly 20 years as a part of the old Big East and one year in the newly named American Athletic Conference, the Scarlet Knights have moved onto greener pastures. They were joined in this move by the University of Maryland. The Terps, of course, moved from the ACC. I foresee a loss for the Knights in their first ever Big 10/Big 10 matchup. Nittany Lions QB Christian Hackenberg should have a big game through the air as he helps lead his team to a 3-0 start. The Lions are now bowl eligible this year after the NCAA immediately decided to lift all sanctions against them after the Jerry Sandusky saga. They also get their full allotment of scholarships to hand out beginning for the 2015 recruiting class. The PSU program had been in the third year of a four year punishment where they were banned from bowl games and were limited in the number of scholarships they could give out for yearly recruiting classes. State College celebrated when hearing the news and the team will celebrate with them after a win in this one.
My Call: Penn State 35, Rutgers 24
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