lets Keep this feeling going
As we discussed in our last article we have a few games to get through this week before we get the full results from our week 0 picks, so I will have the results from week 0 and week 1 in the week 2 article.
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Well we did it everyone. Not only did we bring a competitive and fun to watch game to Ireland for the locals to see, we knocked of a #10 ranked FSU team. Fair to say things are good right now for the Jackets. Now it’s time to keep our winning ways going. Last year we had a bad habit of losing right after winning a big upset, Key is hoping to change that and I am hoping to see a winning streak by the time we face VMI. It’s certainly possible if we play like we did last week.
Only other thing to discuss last week was that SMU avoided disaster against Nevada. I imagine most Tech fans didn’t watch that game after our big win earlier in the day, but from a points given perspective Nevada beating SMU would’ve been a bigger upset than the one the Jackets pulled off over FSU. Luckily for the SMU mustangs, Nevada fell apart and the mustangs were able to avoid the annual early ACC upset against an unexpected opponent. I feel like this is going to be a fun season full of upsets and I can’t wait.
picks:
Georgia State Panthers @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-21.5)
Logan: Man, that was a sweet way to start the season last week. Based on last year this would be where Georgia Tech lets us down after pulling off a fantastic upset. I have touched on how Georgia State has the potential to be a huge trap game for GT if they don’t take the matchup seriously. Tech has the talent and experience after a hard fought week 0 to make their first home game a runaway victory, but that expectation might be exactly why Georgia State is able to keep things closer than we expect. I’m still taking Tech to cover, especially since Key seems to be cracking down on keeping his team more focused game to game, but I could easily see the Panthers making this more of a matchup than we expect. If I wasn’t a GT writer I would put my money on the Panthers to keep things within 3 scores.
Logan’s pick: Georgia Tech
Virginia Tech Hokies (-13.5) @ Vanderbilt Commodores
Logan: Time to see if all that preseason talk about how great Virginia Tech is comes to fruition. The Hokies start off the season against Vanderbilt. Despite being in the strongest college football conference, the Commodores are one of the worst teams in college football year to year. I would expect VT to have some first game jitters going on the road, but I see no reason that the Hokies won’t win this game by at least 2 touchdowns.
Logan’s pick: VT
FIU Panthers @ Indiana Hoosiers (-21.0)
Logan: There’s quite a bit of buzz around FIU recently. Not because of how good the team is but because Pitbull purchased the naming rights to their stadium. Good for FIU, unfortunately I don’t think the purchase will help their on field performance this year. Both Indiana and FIU had pretty rough 2023 seasons with FIU winning 4 games and Indiana scraping together 3 wins. Indiana is in the BIG 10 so they get a little more credit with talent, but 21 points is a big spread for a team that only won 3 games last year. I do think Indiana will win this game but I expect FIU to at least beat the spread in this game.
Logan’s pick: FIU
Boise State Broncos (-11.5) @ Georgia Southern Eagles
Logan: I’ve been a bit of a Boise State fanboy since the ‘07 Fiesta Bowl, so I’m always kind of biased when the Broncos show up. Boise State has fallen a bit from their highest peak, but they are still a good team with talent that can challenge most P5 opponents. Georgia Southern is not a P5 team, and they are coming off a 5 game losing streak going into this game. I expect Georgia Southern to be ready to bounce back after how last year ended, but I struggle to see how Boise State doesn’t win by 14 given the difference in talent level between these two teams.
Logan’s pick: Boise State
Boston College Eagles @ Florida State Seminoles (-17.0)
Logan: We can diss on FSU for the loss last week but it’s not like they were terrible. They looked like a talented team that was trying to figure things out week 0. Tech had the talent to win and got FSU at the perfect time on the schedule to do so. There is a potential for the Noles to keep getting better as the season goes on, and I’m not sure GT would be as successful facing the Noles again down the line. Tech will likely get better too, I just find the prospect of a team with as much talent as FSU has to be quite scary. BC has a talented QB who can scramble, but the rest of the talent on the team is questionable to be polite. FSU should cover here, the Noles are fired up and have the talent to run all over BC. If FSU doesn’t win by a fair margin here it will be a rough season in Tallahassee.
Logan’s pick: FSU
Ohio Bobcats @ Syracuse Orange (-17.0)
Logan: We are going to learn a lot about Syracuse in this game going into our matchup with them next week. Syracuse has a whole bunch of talent on their team, especially noting their QB transfer who they are hoping will carry the offense. Ohio is not nearly as talented as Syracuse and despite winning 10 games last year, Ohio only had 1 P5 game they played last year against Iowa State. To be fair Ohio did win that game against Iowa State, but they lost most of their talent to the transfer portal and the new players haven’t really been tested to the level you would like to see going into this game. Despite losing a fair amount of talent, I think Ohio is a competitive team, and if Syracuse struggles to get things together in their first game there is a fair chance that the Bobcats can at least keep the score within 17 points. I’ll take the Bobcats
Logan’s pick: Ohio
Wyoming Cowboys @ Arizona State Sun Devils (-6.5)
Logan: I thought we had seen the last of Jeff Sims after a rough go of things at Nebraska last year. Currently Sims is a backup on Arizona State, but there is a slim chance we could see him in this game. Wyoming had a heck of a run last year and come into this year looking to win the Mountain West this year. Arizona State is another one of those teams where they should be more talented than their opponent but recent record has been pretty terrible. This is one of the tougher picks this week since I really could see the matchup going either way. I will tentatively take Wyoming to cover.
Logan’s pick: Wyoming
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-1.0) @ Texas A&M Aggies
Logan: Texas A&M has been a bit of a joke since Jimbo decided to take the money and run. I think the Aggies still have plenty of talent, but with a untested coach and a lot to prove they get to stare down a Notre Dame team with plenty of experience. Talent isn’t going to win the Aggies this game on its own, and without much else to go on I can’t expect a whole lot from the Aggies. I think Notre Dame should run over the Aggies in this matchup.
Logan’s pick: Notre Dame
USC Trojans v LSU Tigers (-6.0) at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas
Logan: I’m not an expert on USC, but going off last year the team was getting carried by Caleb Williams. Caleb Williams is playing for the Chicago Bears this year, so USC isn’t going to be getting anything but donations (and probably not much of that) from Caleb this year. Despite being at a neutral site near the west coast, LSU has better coaching and has shown they have multiple players on offense and defense that they can rely on. I don’t expect this game to be very close.
Logan’s pick: LSU
Miami Hurricanes (-2.5) @ Florida Gators
Logan: This game seems to be awfully early this year. Florida gets Miami at home this year, but its hard to argue that Miami is in the better situation to win this game in terms of talent and coaching at the moment… I can’t wait to see how Miami messes this one up. I’ll take the Gators, because Miami is gonna find a way to shoot themselves in the foot.
Logan’s pick: Florida
Clemson Tigers v uga (-14.0) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta
Logan: I have had a habit of making a joke of uga in our picks, but I’m going to stop doing that this year since it feels like the bit is getting old. uga is undeniably one of the best teams in college football and a wall that most teams aren’t going to be able to climb. Clemson had one of their roughest seasons in recent memory in 2023 and they immediately get put to the test in a “neutral site” game against the dwags. 14 points is a pretty fair spread, unfortunately I think uga has the talent to pull off a two touchdown win, even if it is against a Clemson team which will be a top competitor in the ACC this year. I guess I have to take the dwags.
Logan’s pick: uga (ugh… it tastes bad to say that)