On to Week Two
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Well, college football fans, we are off and on to Week 2 of the 2023 season! And what a week it was. Kick off started on Thursday when Charter/Spectrum kicked off their 15 million cable subscribers when Florida traveled to Salt Lake City to take on The Utah Utes. One beatdown of The Gators later, the weekend games finally ended when Clemson began “Clemsoning” again in Durham, NC, being upset by Duke. In between there was plenty of drama, plenty of yawns and several surprises during the first weekend of the college football season.
Auburn looked good against UMASS in the inaugural game of The Hugh Freeze era on the plains. Outside of the first offensive drive where UMASS drove the football down the field culminating with a touchdown on their first series against Auburn, The Minutemen put up a better fight when Cornwallis marched on the NE in The Revolutionary War. Tigers 59, Minutemen 14.
Across the state in Tuscaloosa, Jalen Milroe silenced several doubters with an amazing performance as starting QB against Middle Tennesse State. Five touchdowns later, three passing and two running, The Tide disposed of an outgunned Blue Raider squad 56-7. Alabama looked great but have a monumental task at hand with The Texas Longhorns coming to town in week two.
The rest of the conference, minus Florida, LSU, and South Carolina took care of business easily. The three laggards mentioned above not only lost the game, but they also lost their manhood over the weekend. Time will tell if they can retrieve it, but conference play is looming and all three start the season 0-3. If I had to start, bench, and cut the three, LSU would start, South Carolina would grab a towel on the bench, and Florida would be shown the door immediately. In fact, Florida looked so good last Thursday it gave some Auburn fans flashbacks of the Bryan Harsin era on the plains. Cringe.
https://www.radiofreeauburn.com/blog/6t6un1dawnscrq6giwt1qu1x1qvz6e
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After dismantling LSU in Orlando on Sunday night, Florida State has vaulted up the rankings to number 2 in the polls. Behind the guidance of a veteran and talented QB in Jordan Travis, The Noles’ physical run game punished LSU all night. But the real fireworks came from the FSU receivers. Massive target Johnny Wilson and Michigan State transfer, Keon Coleman, destroyed the so-called “DBU” backs from LSU. Radio Free Auburn knew the Noles were good heading into 2023 by placing them in their first ever Final Four predictions, but we did not know they were that good. With a schedule that sets up nicely for the remainder of the season, Florida State is back and will be a major problem for the competition all year into January.
Speaking of surprises, your new number 19th ranked Colorado Buffalos coached by the one and only, Deion “Prime Time” Sanders, completely stunned TCU and the college football world with an opening day victory over the Horned Frogs from Ft. Worth. A near 21-point underdog, Colorado came out hot in the opener and spoiled the home fans' fun 45-42. It was a heck of a statement made by Sanders, who then reminded everyone about it post-game with “receipts.”
Deion Sanders calls out doubters after Colorado upset win: "Do you believe now?!"
Finally, Upstate South Carolina has a mighty number of upset fans leading into Week 2. If you are like me and bought into the Gamecock hype spewed constantly by The SEC Network this past summer, please raise your hand. If you also called for Clemson to struggle this year and that they should watch out for Duke in the away opener, please raise your other hand. Both South Carolina schools looked inept at best against two North Carolina schools over the weekend. High Country 1, Low Country 0.
https://www.secsports.com/schedule/football/week/2
https://www.secsports.com/standings/football
It is wild to see Vanderbilt atop the SEC East standings, but nevertheless the Commodores are there at 2-0 staring down proudly at the rest of the division. Vandy travels to Winston-Salem, NC to take on Wake Forest catching 10.5 points on the road. I cannot shake the feeling that somehow, someway Vanderbilt gets the job done moving to 3-0 on the season for the first time since forever. The rest of the Eastern Division takes a break this weekend with the only semi-competitive game looming being Middle Tennessee State at Missouri. Remember this rule from Uncle TBONE. Small schools who played Alabama the week before and play on the road the next week look beat up, tired and slow from playing the Tide.
In the West there are several interesting games. Ole Miss will travel to NOLA and take on a solid Tulane team giving the GreenWave 7.5 points. That seems a little low after the offensive explosion the Rebels showed last week but remember rule number two from Uncle TBONE. Lane Kiffin and New Orleans do not mix well. Bama fans, IYKYK. Ole Miss in-state cousins Mississippi State will host way out west The University of Arizona Saturday night in Starkville. Both teams sit at 1-0 with the Bulldogs giving the Wildcats 9.5 points. Cowbells will be ringing, State fans will be singing, and Arizona fans will be dreaming of getting the heck out of bum f*%k Egypt without having tinnitus.
The Aggies from Texas A&M will travel to Coral Gables to take on the real Miami Saturday at 2:30 on ABC. Is there a weirder bunch in college football than A&M fans that may ever be seen on South Beach?
The college football world will be watching to see if The Bobby Petrino/Jimbo Fisher experiment will continue to work after the Week One success they found against New Mexico. The Hurricanes will catch 4.5 at home in this one, and do they ever need a win to announce their return to the bigtime like their brothers in Tallahassee did last weekend?
Alabama will host Texas in the game of the week in college football Saturday in Tuscaloosa at 6:00 PM on ESPN. Let us hope for the safety and health of the Charter Communications CEO, that Disney vs Spectrum has ended before the ESPN Gameday crew starts their show Saturday morning. I can promise you this if Tide fans in Blount, Jefferson, and Walker counties cannot watch Nick on Gameday then subsequently the actual game Saturday night, there will be blood! The 7.5 points Alabama is giving to Texas looks enticing, but never forget Uncle TBONE rule number 3 in life. If it smells like cologne, leave it the hell alone. Tide 37, Texas 28.
Last but not least, our Auburn Tigers travel way, way out west to Berkeley Saturday night to take on California. The game will kick off at 9:30 PM CST and most likely finish in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Talk about Pac-12 after dark! Hugh Freeze and staff need to continue the momentum they have grabbed for Auburn both on and off the field with a win against Cal then make their way back to Auburn for a tune up next weekend vs Samford. A loss here could be a big pothole in the freeway express Auburn looks to have entered to rebuild this proud football tradition. Lying in wait is a Bear team that runs the ball well, does have an injured QB and five to six Northern California Antifa battalions who would love to upset a team from a deep red-state. This is an awkward trip for Auburn travelling that far away from home and Hugh Freeze has made no bones about it all summer in saying so.
https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/38328986
That said, despite the uncertainty of taking a young team across the county, Auburn should have too many athletes for California. The line opened at Auburn –5.5 and jumped to –6.5 early in the week. Does Vegas know something we all do not as fans? Like Jarquez Hunter being freed and allowed to play ball finally???
If so, and I am not saying so, look for Auburn to run wild on Cal and cover late going away. Auburn 32, California 21.
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