What to Watch: Week 5

So, what do I watch while the Hokies are on a bye?

Thursday, September 29
8 PM
UConn at Houston, ESPN.  Revenge of the Cougars.  UConn is the only team to beat Houston last year.

Friday, September 30
9 PM
Stanford at Washington, ESPN.  I think this is a sneaky little Pac-12 matchup that could come into play later on this season.

Saturday, October 1
Noon
Miami at Georgia Tech, ESPN2.  Always down for an ACC Coastal match.  I don't think GT is a contender this year, but they could play spoiler here.

3:30 PM
Tennessee at Georgia, CBS.  This could be the turning point of the season for the SEC East.  Or it could be the next nail in Georgia's coffin.

UNC at FSU, ESPN.  While cross-divisional, a very pivotal ACC matchup.  If for no other reason, the outcome of this game will determine the game times of three ACC games next week.

Wisconsin at Michigan, ABC.  A true test for Wisconsin, or if they pull off the upset, the beginning of a wacky ride for the Big Ten.

8 PM
Louisville at Clemson, ABC.  The first top 5 matchup of the season, and it's courtesy of the ACC, including one of the teams in the first top 10 matchup.  This is likely the game that decides the ACC Atlantic.

September wrap up

We finally have the first month in the books, and a few questions have been answered, and not always in the manner in which we expected.

Who did the FSU kicker outscore in week 4?

FSU rebounded this week, scoring 7 TDs and 2 FGs, giving Ricky Aguayo 13 points.

Who did he outscore this week?

Reactions from Week 4

Some streaks broken, some live on.  My Week 4 reactions are below.

Week 4 wrap up

We haven't gotten every team into conference play, and we already have a few teams in a deep hole.

What to Watch: Week 4

Conference games are coming at us hot and heavy this week.  It's still going to take a little bit of time for storylines to develop.

Thursday, September 22
7:30 PM
Clemson at Georgia Tech, ESPN.  This is possibly a battle of contenders on either side of the ACC, although I'm still not sure which GT we're getting this year.  Clemson hasn't looked too hot against FBS foes, though.  Even though it's a cross divisional match, the loser will definitely be taking a significant step back.

Friday, September 23
9 PM
USC at Utah, FS1.  USC's last stand, I think.

Saturday, September 24
Noon
Georgia at Ole Miss, ESPN.  Cross divisional, but a must win for Ole Miss if they want any chance of taking advantage of a possible Alabama stumble later on in the season.

Wisconsin at Michigan State, BTN.  Could this be a preview of the B1G championship game?

12:30 PM

East Carolina at Virginia Tech, ACC Network.  Probably the biggest thorn in the Hokies' sides, the Pirates come to town, having a two year winning streak in this rivalry that shouldn't exist.  But the Hokies have something they haven't had much of in recent years:  an offense.

3:30 PM
Florida at Tennessee, CBS.  Could this be the week that Tennessee realizes the gift they were given in week two by virtue of five fumbles?

Pitt at UNC, ESPNU.  We start separating some of the contenders in the Coastal early.  Although, when six of the seven teams in the division could be legitimate contenders, this could just be the first spin on the ACC Wheel of Destiny.

8 PM
Stanford at UCLA, ABC.  Okay, ABC, we get it.  Stanford is good.  Or Christian McCaffery is.  You don't seem to care about the rest of the team based on the promos.  But good grief, this is the third Saturday Night game out of four with the Pac-12.

Reactions from Week 3

Some good games this week! As is the new weekly tradition, some of my reactions are below.

Who did the FSU kicker outscore in week 3?

FSU got spanked by Louisville, but still had some garbage time points, allowing Ricky Aguayo to score 8.

Who did he outscore this week?

Week 3 wrap up

What a week.  Quite a few big games, in and out of conference.  We're already getting some separation in all of the races for the season.  FSU allows so many points that I thought I was playing Xbox.  And, the FCS picked up another win over the FBS.  And when will players learn to keep hold of the football until after they get into the end zone?

What to Watch -- Week 3

This week, we start wrapping up some non-conference schedules as others begin their conference matchups.

Thursday, September 15
7:30 PM
Houston at Cincinnati, ESPN.  Quite possible the last speed bump on Houston's schedule until November.

Friday, September 16
We'll just pass on the three games scheduled tonight.  I don't even know if they're worth watching while you're in a hotel waiting for your game on Saturday.

Saturday, September 17
Noon
Florida State at Louisville, ABC.  The first top 10 matchup of the year, and it's the site of GameDay.  Louisville is having their first real test, and could finally show if they really are a force, or just benefiting from a weak opening schedule.

3:30 PM
Oregon at Nebraska, ABC.  These teams haven't met in 30 years.

Alabama at Ole Miss, CBS.  This is a game that has tripped up both teams in the past few years.  Early separation in the SEC West.

Boston College at Virginia Tech, ESPNU.  The old offensive coordinator comes back to Blacksburg.  Could be an interesting rematch of the last few VT spring games.

7 PM

Mississippi State at LSU, ESPN2.  A nasty outcome here could turn the dial on Les Miles' hot seat up to 11.

7:30 PM

Michigan State at Notre Dame, NBC.  Definitely a key game in determining the playoff field this year.  ND can't afford any more losses to stay comfortably in the conversation.  Michigan State still needs to prove themselves this year.

8 PM
USC at Stanford, ABC.  Pac-12 dominance starts here.

Week 2 wrap up

After the "Greatest Opening Weekend Ever", we were left with the flip side with only a few major matchups.  We also only have two of the power 5 conferences that actually have conference games.  Interestingly enough, the two conferences with the fewest conference games are the ones that start their conference schedules sooner.

Reactions from Week 2

A week without any ranked matchups, but certainly not devoid of action and excitement!

Who did the FSU kicker outscore? Week 2

With 52 points, FSU scored 7 touchdowns and a field goal.  So Ricky Aguayo accounted for 10 points.

Who did he outscore this week?

Who did the FSU kicker outscore? Week 1

Courtesy of the Key Play and ESPN, it was brought to my attention that freshman kicker Ricky Aguayo scored a fair number of points.  He set a school record for 6 field goals in a game, plus he tacked on 3 extra points.  That is 21 total points (out of 45).  Seeing as how Ricky is the second brother from that family to be a high profile kicker at FSU (his brother only missed one kick during his entire college career, set several records, and was taken in the second round of the NFL Draft, after Tampa Bay traded up for him), it looks like it is possible for him to outscore many teams.

So, I decided to start a weekly feature, tracking how many teams the FSU kicker can outscore by himself.

What to Watch -- Week 2

The flip side to the "Greatest Opening Weekend Ever" is the barren wasteland of week 2, but ESPN won't ever admit that.  All of those teams playing in the marquee week 1 games come home to their cupcakes.  At least we have a marquee week 2 game to look foward to.

Thursday, September 8
C'mon, it's the NFL kickoff...go over to NBC and watch a rematch of the Super Bowl.  No college ball here.

Friday, September 9
8 PM
Louisville at Syracuse, ESPN2.  This should give us a better indication of how Louisville will do this year.

Saturday, September 10
Noon
Penn State at Pitt, ESPN.  Renewing a dormant rivalry, this is an interesting non-conference Power 5 matchup.

3:30 PM
Kentucky at Florida, CBS.  An early season rivalry, although it might be a bit lopsided.

8 PM
Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee, ABC.  The long awaited Battle at Bristol.  The game played at a racetrack.  Tennessee struggled against App State in week 1, while VT showed promise against Liberty.

10:30 PM
UVA at Oregon, ESPN.  The nightcap looks to be very one sided, and UVA will probably prove to be a decent alternative to SNL.

Reactions from Week 1

I thought I'd do a new weekly feature, this time in response to the weekend of games gone by.  And my, how Week 1 left some reactions!

Week 1 wrap-up

We have finally come to the end of what ESPN billed as the "Greatest Opening Weekend Ever".  Honestly, while that could be true, compared to other opening weekends, I felt like much of Saturday was a bit of a let down.  During the primetime window, when Clemson/Auburn and USC/Alabama were both on, Tony and I were actually feeling a bit bored.  Now, Sunday was a different story with the Notre Dame/Texas game being the best game of the weekend.

And we actually got some conference games.