Week 2: Catch Your Breath

 Catch Your Breath

Someone bring out the oxygen mask and is there a return policy on these bad beats I paid for? What a long and fun weekend! With games on Sunday and Monday, it feels like we have such a short week until Louisville and UCF kick off on Friday. I hope you got outside and enjoyed the last bit of summer while you can, hopefully these notes give you some things to talk about at the water cooler this week.

A Week (1) in Review

Favorite Game: North Carolina vs Appalachian State

No one can blame you for turning off the tv after the 3rd quarter when UNC was up 41-21. But App State battled back, scoring with 31 seconds left and missing the 2pt conversion to be down 1. Then all hell broke loose. UNC returned the onside kick attempt for a touchdown. Appalachian State has a big kickoff return of their own and two great passes to score with 9 seconds left to go down 2, missing the 2pt conversion AGAIN. This is why we love football. These two teams scored more than when their two basketball teams played last year. If UNC keeps chucking the ball around, running everywhere, and never playing defense they will be in some of the most fun games of the year. No one would argue that this was the pinnacle of high-level football on Saturday (see: Utah at Florida) but it sure was entertaining and worth talking about.

Favorite Uniform: Utah Utes

Very similar to the uniforms they busted out in the Rose Bowl last season, I love the simplicity and the way the red pops on the white backdrop. Overall, the look of the game in Gainesville matched the amazing game we got to see as the jerseys worked great against Florida's home jerseys.

Other Notes from the Weekend

The Backyard Brawl delivered. ESPN had to be happy they had this game to open the season. You could really tell that emotions were high because the execution was all over the place, including on the fateful pick six... Purdue vs Penn State was a rough one. Purdue has to get better in the red zone, but it's hard without a mobile QB. I may not be the driver of the Sean Clifford bandwagon, but he is tough as nails and will keep Penn State in some tough games in the Big Ten East... Ohio State worked out the kinks and survived in a great primetime game. I was impressed with how the Irish mucked things up; they brought pressure and left their secondary on a lot of islands and they held up quite well. Hopefully Smith-Njigba is okay, but Stroud will build some chemistry as the season goes on. Notre Dame did a lot of damage with their tight ends and Buchner moved well, just hard to beat the better team for four quarters... Georgia unleashed a beatdown on Oregon. Did you see Jalen Carter just explode into the backfield? Absolutely incredible. It also felt like Stetson Bennett wanted to show he was more than just a game manager, and he had some great passes down the field while also making great decisions. Will they the undefeated and facing Bama in the same building later this year? I wouldn't bet against it... Utah battling in Florida was another great primetime game that most people probably did not watch. Give credit to Coach Whittingham for taking his team into the Swamp to start the season. It looks like the Utes won't be competing for the playoffs again, but I think they gained the respect of the Florida faithful for their physicality. Anthony Richardson was a monster, looks like he will take a big leap. They host rival Kentucky this weekend and may be underdogs in that in a rare role reversal, should be fun to watch... We had a high scoring affair in Myrtle Beach considering one team only threw 8 passes. Holding Andre Carter II to 0.5 sacks is a tough task and both teams executed well in the run game... UTSA almost beat Houston giving some pause to a lot of people's G5 darling. But the Roadrunner's look like they can have an encore last season despite losing some key pieces... NC State survived against East Carolina. Can they bounce back, or is this another snake bitten year for a Wolfpack team with sky-high expectations... Arkansas dug deep and looked good, they definitely bring the physicality. Credit to the Bearcats for going into a hostile environment and showing they can hang with the big boys... IU pulled out a win against the Illini, showing some fight. It was a rough season in B-Town last year, but I think I will be having to sweat my under pick... USC and Oklahoma's new coaches gave their fan bases things to be excited about. Who do we think wins more games this year? My money might be on USC now, Caleb Williams is a star... Fun game Sunday night in New Orleans. Florida State tried their best to lose it, but LSU's kicking game tried harder. Looks like FSU is building back up and can contend in the ACC after showing they can handle the physicality of an SEC West power... Clemson's defense was ready for the spotlight on Monday but definitely still some concerns on offense. Barrett Carter was a sideline to sideline force, dare we say Nakobe Dean-esque? Keep an eye on how much time Klubnik plays QB in the second half, maybe he goes for a Trevor Lawrence midseason takeover...

Favorite Play of the Week

One of the fun things about Labor Day weekend is they put games on Sunday and Monday since there is no NFL. LSU played Florida State Sunday night in New Orleans (are any of these "neutral" games really in neutral places?) providing another chaotic game in a chaotic weekend. One of the great plays of the game was Jordan Travis' touchdown throw in the 3rd Quarter against an all-out blitz, a play that saw a a fifth year senior ejected for targeting and yet Travis still made a perfect throw to a receiver who ran a perfect route. Let's jump in.


In football, you'll hear a lot about coverages by the secondary. The easiest thing to remember is the number you hear (e.g., Cover 1, Cover 2, etc.) is how many players are playing zone on the deepest portion of the field. Here, LSU runs Cover 0, meaning the defenders covering the wide receivers have no help deep or "over the top".

  • Yellow circle: you can see there are seven defenders in or around "the box". Normally, when an offense is in shotgun, you don't see so many players around the line of scrimmage because the offense is more spread out. This is Travis' first signal that a blitz may be heading his way.
  • Secondary (dots 1-4): these four defenders are showing man coverage signs. They are looking at the receivers and tight end more than the QB, and are lined up over the player directly in front of them rather than cheating to an area of the field they would have to cover in zone. This shows Travis a blitz is coming and he will not have much time to make the throw.
  • Safety (1): Travis confirms that there is no safety over the top because he is coming down to cover the crossing route out of the slot. This tells him he has 1:1 coverage on the outside to the go route.
  • Wide Receiver (2): The receiver is running a go route but notice in the video how he runs closer towards the numbers as he takes off down the field. He is bringing the corner inside and giving Travis a throwing lane towards the sideline. This is exactly how you are supposed to run the go route and will come into play later.
  • Offensive Tackle (3): As you can see around the line of scrimmage we have six rushers and five blockers; someone has a free path to the quarterback. The tackle decides to pick up the nickel corner on the blitz to the outside rather than the defensive end rushing to his inside. I am not sure if he was coached to do this because I do not know the protection called (perhaps he thought that the offensive line would all slide to his side and the running back would pick up the backside rusher), but it leaves a free path for Ali Gaye (6'6", 255 lbs) to go hit the quarterback. Not ideal.
  • Quarterback (1): Travis steps into the throw despite knowing he would get hit. You'll often see QB's shy away from the hit, causing the ball to be thrown short and hang in the air (throwing is a full body motion, not just the arm). Florida State has had quite a few offensive line issues in recent years so no one could blame Travis for hearing footsteps, but he hangs in there an delivers the ball. That's how you win your teammates over.
  • The ball is thrown towards the sideline and up the field. Remember how the receiver ran towards the numbers at the beginning of his route? This gave the QB room away from the defender towards the sideline to place the ball without pushing his receiver out of bounds. Also, remember how Travis stepped into the throw instead of fading away from the hit? This gave the ball zip to get over the outstretched arm of the corner and into the receiver's hands. An amazing one-handed catch is made, and six points are scored.

Week 2 Preview

Favorite Power 5 Game: Tennessee at Pittsburgh

A fun rematch from last year and probably going to be a track meet. Pittsburgh weathered the rivalry game well, but now have to keep up with Hendon Hooker and the Volunteers. Will the Vols be able to execute when they are playing a physical defense? Last year Hooker came in as a backup and they started their run to a good season, so I think they can. But hats off the Slovis and the gang for showing that without Pickett and Addison they still have a lot going on. This will also be a beautiful uniform matchup, maybe the best all season.

Also Worth Watching: Kentucky at Florida

Favorite Group of 5 Game: Boise State at New Mexico

A fun game between the Lobos and the Broncos and one we have to respect because of brand recognition. A lot of the things that Boise used to rise to prominence (i.e., transfers) have now become mainstream and they have lost their advantage. Can they right the ship after a late loss on Saturday night? I'm not sure, but I hope it's good because the other game in contention will be upset (lol like they will read this) they didn't get the top choice.

Also Worth Watching: UTSA at Army

Favorite Player to Watch: Will Anderson Jr. (OLB - Alabama) vs. Texas

The best defensive player in the country (and maybe can drop the "defensive" in the front) goes into Austin and faces a stud running back and an all-time QB recruit. This guy is a monster. Last year he had 17.5 sacks and 34 tackles for loss. He is not just a third down player, he plays every down. Sark was at Alabama for his freshman year and I am excited to see what UT schemes up. It's hard to go right at him but I definitely would not run away from him. Good luck, Longhorns.

Also Worth Watching: Brennan Armstrong (QB - UVA) vs. Illinois

Biggest Game of the Week: Alabama at Texas

How can a game where one team is favored by almost three touchdowns be the biggest game of the week? Easy, brand recognition. Texas has been flirting with relevancy for a long time since Vince and Colt left Austin. Now they have a hometown QB who is supposed to be God's gift to quarterbacks and a running back that Reggie Bush compared to himself last year. Everyone knows they have the talent, but can they execute? Probably not as well as the Tide. Neither team faced anyone last week, so this will be a fun game to see if Texas will be able to hang around and has positive momentum before they join the SEC here soon. Bring sunscreen and water, this one will be hot.

Also Worth Watching: Baylor at BYU

3 and Out

Season Totals: Spread Picks (1-1) -0.1 Units, O/U Picks (0-2) -2.0 Units, ML Picks (0-2) -2.0 Units

Spread Pick of the Week: USC -9 (-110) vs Stanford

I'll bite on this one. Stanford's recruiting has fallen off in Covid and USC looked great last week. I think early on this season USC's high profile transfers will show out and then as the season drags on depth could be their undoing. Caleb Williams and Jordan Addison have to be loving the California sunshine right now.

Over/Under Pick of the Week: Arizona State vs Oklahoma State o54.5 (-110)

I am not the biggest believer in Emory Jones but the Cowboys hit the over in the first half last weekend. A ton of lines are in the 60's and yet two teams that put up points are in the 50's still? The line stinks, but I'll take it.

Moneyline Underdog Pick of the Week: Iowa State (+150) vs Iowa

So Iowa's offense was uh... not great this past weekend. I know everyone is down on the Cyclones after missing expectations, but this is where Matt Campbell thrives. This game feels like a toss up, so take the better odds and check the score while watching a more entertaining game.

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