When I was a kid my father was a much more invested football fan than he has become in his later years. I vaguely recall him actually going to WVU games at old Mountaineer Field before the current stadium opened in 1980. Back then the ‘Eers weren’t on television much. ESPN didn’t yet exist and the networks only aired the biggest games featuring elite programs. As time passed and sports evolved West Virginia was on TV more often. Dad isn’t superstitious, but he is a little stitious, so when things weren’t going well he’d get frustrated, mute the television, and turn on the radio broadcast featuring legendary play-by-play announcer Jack Fleming & color commentator Woody O’Hara. Technology is a bit more advanced now, and I’ve had to laugh in recent weeks as I found myself muting my television during WVU & Marshall football games and finding more familiar audio on my phone. A lifetime ago, not long after I’d graduated from college, my sister happened to be riding shotgun in my car when I popped in a Dean Martin CD. She gave me a puzzled look and simply said “Oh my God…you’re turning into Dad”. If only she could see me now 😂.
Observations from Last Week:
- Perhaps the biggest surprise is Georgia Tech upsetting Clemson. I ranked Clemson 10th in my preseason poll and felt like they were a level below legit national championship contenders but would remain competitive in a weak conference. Now they’ll have to win every remaining game & claim the ACC title to even get into the playoff.
- Allow me to reiterate…Notre Dame was my pre-season #1 🤨.
- Less than a month ago, while discussing the Virginia Tech Hokies, I said “head coach Brent Pry is entering his 4th season in Blacksburg, and I’m not confident there’ll be a fifth”. Pry was recently fired after starting 0-3 and losing to Old Dominion by almost three TDs. Sometimes I know what I’m talking about.
- Where was THAT Russell Wilson a season ago when he was in Pittsburgh?!?!?!?? Or…or…perhaps, once again, it’s time to ask questions about the Steelers’ coaching staff 🤔.
- Joe Burrow is out for three months. JJ McCarthy will miss 2-4 weeks. Austin Ekeler is gone for the rest of the season. George Kittle is injured, as are Jayden Daniels, Aaron Jones, and Justin Fields. Pay attention fantasy owners, and adjust your lineups accordingly.
My Season: 9-8
Zach’s Season: 5-12
Texas Tech at Utah (-3)
The Red Raiders are 3-0 and average 58 points/game while only giving up less than a dozen points/game. The Utes are also 3-0, and they’re putting up nearly 46 points/game with their defense yielding only eight points/game. Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff show will be in the house, and the winner of the game will sit in the Big 12 driver’s seat. I ranked Tech 14th in the pre-season, and they haven’t given me any reason to move off that yet. Conversely, Zach can’t overlook the home field, so he believes Utah will win a high scoring shootout.
My Pick: Texas Tech
Zach’s Pick: Utah
Oregon State at Oregon (-35)
Rivalry games used to occur much later in the season, but conference realignment has obliterated so many of those old traditions. They call this one The Civil War, although officially that name was discontinued in 2020 because of…*checks notes*…George Floyd, which is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. Good God…why has our society given so much credibility to a fentanyl addicted domestic abuser?!?!?? At any rate, f*#k those pansies, I’ll call the game whatever I want. It hasn’t been that competitive in recent years, with the Ducks winning six of the past eight meetings. Obviously the oddsmakers don’t see that trend changing, but wow…those points!! I don’t know if we’ve ever considered a game with that kind of spread. I tend to be somewhat conservative, so I’m looking at a 42-14 kind of score, with the home team winning comfortably but not covering. Zach thinks Oregon might be the best team in the country right now. He predicts they’ll be able to rest their starters in the second half and still cover.
My Pick: Oregon St.
Zach’s Pick: Oregon
Washington (-20.5) at Washington State
It’s really a shame what has happened to the once mighty Pac 12. Why the hell are UCLA & USC in the Big Ten?!?!?? What in the world are the Cal Bears doing in the freakin’ ACC?!?!?!?? The Pac 12 will be rebuilt next season with the addition of Boise St., Fresno St., and others, but it’ll never quite be the same. Anyway, the 117th Apple Cup isn’t shaping up to be all that compelling, with the 2-0 Huskies heavily favored over the 2-1 Cougars, who were beaten by nearly 50 points by North Texas last weekend. With all due respect to the Mean Green, that result would’ve been unimaginable just a few years ago. It might be a relative nail biter, but I foresee the visitors winning by 21-24 points. Zach points out how the Huskies fell off under a new coaching regime last year, a season after falling short in the CFP Championship. He believes State will rebound from last week’s ass kicking and atleast make things interesting.
My Pick: Washington
Zach’s Pick: Washington St.
Illinois at Indiana (-4.5)
It could be the best game of the weekend. Both teams are 3-0, and every victory is huge in the ultra competitive Big Ten. I like the Hoosiers to win at home, but this feels like one of those situations that’ll be decided by a field goal in the final minute, or possibly overtime. Zach thinks the Illini has a slight edge with a better QB, which will be the difference.
My Pick: Illinois
Zach’s Pick: Illinois
Denver at LA Chargers (-2.5)
All the sudden the AFC West is in play for the first time in a decade, with Kansas City sitting at 0-2 and looking like they’ve lost their championship edge. I’m not ready to give Last Rites to the Chiefs just yet, but the other teams in the division are looking more impressive than they have in quite a long time. The Broncos lost a heartbreaker in Indianapolis last week, with there being a variety of opinions about how that played out. Meanwhile, the 2-0 Chargers have jumped out of the starting gate with consecutive divisional wins that could become huge later in the season. It’ll be a tight battle, but I like the home team to win by atleast a field goal, perhaps a touchdown. Zach is a huge Jim Harbaugh fan and believes the Chargers should be considered a serious Super Bowl contender.
My Pick: LA Chargers
Zach’s Pick: LA Chargers
In my pre-season poll I predicted that it’d be the Bulls who would reign supreme among the “non-power” teams, but it’s the undefeated Knights 
who have emerged at the top of that particular heap. USF isn’t far behind though, and with a victory could catapult themselves into a New Year’s bowl game against a “power” opponent. The winner of this game will face Memphis in the AAC title game. I’m pretty stubborn when it comes to sticking with my pre-season picks, and it’s not as if 9-1 USF is a bad team. The two campuses are less than a hundred miles apart, so I don’t think the home field advantage is much of a factor. Kickoff is on Black Friday afternoon, and I’ll be glad to be home cheering for the Bulls rather than fighting crowds at a shopping mall. Zach likes UCF head coach Scott Frost (who’s probably leaving soon for Nebraska), so he’s going with the favorites.
Lamar Jackson took the NCAA by storm en route to winning the Heisman Trophy, but they’ve still had a nice season. The Wildcats are also 7-4 with impressive wins over Tennessee and South Carolina. Kentucky has the home field and the double digit points are a bit much in my opinion, so I’m leaning toward the underdogs. Zach concurs.
must win to even become bowl eligible, a circumstance they’re certainly not accustomed to in Tallahassee. The Gators are also 4-6 and have already fired their coach. They have no chance at qualifying for a bowl unless the NCAA makes some kind of exception since an early season game was cancelled due to Hurricane Irma. What it all boils down to is that this is as close to post-season action as one or both of these teams might get, which makes it atleast somewhat interesting. Because the Seminoles still have a reasonable shot at being invited to a bowl game I have to give them the nod. Zach agrees.
bowl game. Stanford may or not be heading to next week’s Pac 12 championship, but at 8-3 will be playing somewhere in the post-season. This game doesn’t affect their conference situation either way, but pride, momentum, & bowl position are on the line. It feels like a toss-up to me, but I’m going to pick the home team to score the mild upset. Zach agrees.
meet USC next week based on their victory over Washington a couple of weeks ago. They call this game the Apple Cup, and when you peel away the hype and look at the core of the matchup the more fruitful offense belongs to Washington St., while Washington’s defense has a bit more juice. Ok…yeah…that was fun!! Anyway, The Vibes are telling me that Cougars’ QB Luke Falk…a potential first round NFL draft choice…will have a big day and lead his team to a huge win. Zach really likes State head coach Mike Leach and believes he will lead his team to victory.
Everyone was a lot more excited about this matchup a few months ago. Since then the Wolverines have gone 8-3 and are nowhere near the 
playoff conversation or conference title contention, while the 9-2 Buckeyes will be playing in the Big Ten title game but are 9th in the playoff poll and would need a lot of dominoes to fall the right way. Still…it’s Ohio St.-Michigan. This IS college football. I’m not sure what exactly has gone wrong with the Wolverines this season, but I believe they are better than their record. The game is in The Big House in Ann Arbor, which is another factor to consider. Ohio St. is clearly the superior team and motivated by a lingering yet admittedly miniscule chance at a playoff spot so I think they’ll win, but what about the points?? The smart assumption is probably that it’ll be a closer game than the oddsmakers indicate, but sometimes one has to go big or go home. Zach’s opinion…in the interest of full accuracy…is “screw Ohio St”.
They call this the Iron Bowl because the city of Birmingham was a big producer of iron & steel back in the 70’s. More tangibly, this has become
one of the most anticipated annual games on the calendar because one or both teams are consistently near the top of the rankings and there is usually a lot riding on the outcome…this year is no exception. ‘Bama is the undefeated #1 team in the country and will secure a spot in the SEC title game with a victory. In my opinion if they make it that far they’ll be in the playoff win or lose. However, Auburn would take that SEC championship game spot and vault themselves into the playoff conversation with a victory. Tide head coach Nick Saban grew up in Monongah, WV which is about a half hour up the road from me, so most folks around here like to see him be successful, but as a football fan not only do I usually cheer for the underdog but I am also thoroughly bored with Alabama. Dynasties are only entertaining to fans of that particular team…everybody else is rooting for them to get knocked off. I also love chaos when it comes to the playoff because the methodology just doesn’t frost my cupcake. So that’s why I’ll be cheering for Auburn. Zach is fully invested in the Saban lovefest and thinks the Tide will roll by three TDs.
The Manofesto 