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Week 1 Preview

8/28 (THU 8:00) UNC @ Minnesota (total 50.5) UNDER, Fan Duel

UNC won last year's match 31-13 in UNC. Last year Drake Maye was the QB and the Tar Heels had more dynamic offensive playmakers. This year's offense has questions at QB with two QBs sharing time at Minnesota on Thursday Night, Max Johnson and Connor Harrell. Meanwhile Minnesota has an offense led by a deep RB room and weak WR core. They will have New Hampshire QB transfer Max Brosme under center. The gophers have a stout defense led up front by DE Jah Joyner. New DC Cory Heatherman likes to blitz so maybe he makes life difficult for two unproven UNC QB's on the road.

8/25 (THU 8:00) Southeast Louisiana @ Tulane (-25.5), Fan Duel

Bobby Boucher aint walking through that door for SE fella. Tulane has a hard schedule and needs to figure things out early with all the new pieces including HC John Summeral from Troy and Oregon QB transfer Ty Thompson. Expectations are still high for Tulane.

6/5 (FRI 7:00) Temple @ Oklahoma (-39.5), Draft Kings

Oklahoma is probably going to want to flex QB Jackson Arnold in his first game and I expect the defense to perform at an elite level this year under HC Brent Venables, OK defense could possibly put a score on the board. The question is in this game does Oklahoma let up in the fourth quarter and Temple gets the back door cover

8/30 (FRI 9:00) Western Michigan(+24) @ Wisconsin, Draft Kings

I like WMU to cover the 24 in this matchup. Wisconsin brought in QB Tyler Van Dyke from Miami and he had a battle for the job in fall camp. He won but I am not optimistic about him as a passer. Wisconsin is going to ground and pound in this game and hopefully WMU can keep it close and keep possessions away from the Badgers. WMU has a whole slew of new players through the portal, that replace a poor roster from last year, including new QB Hayden Wolf from Old Dominion.

8/28 (SAT 12:00) Penn State (-8.5) @ WVU, Draft Kings

Penn State has two new coordinators coming into this season, OC Andy Kotelnicki from Kansas and DC Tom Allen from Indiana. The new offense this year is looking to open it up more with QB Drew Allar. The WVU offense is led SR QB Garrette Greene, he will be looking over his shoulder because PSU has an elite defense led by DE Abdul Carter. Last year's match up was one of the only games PSUs offense was able to open it up. I expect the same this year.

8/29 (3:30 SAT) Miami @ Florida (total 54.5) UNDER, Fan Duel

I like the under for a couple reasons. First Florida has a great defense and to play them at home is tough. Miami's QB Cam Ward was the highest recruited QB in the portal this offseason, my question is if he is truly great why didn't he go to the NFL? On the other side, Florida offense is run by QB Graham Mertz who is nothing special and shouldn't be making big plays against a tough Miami defense.

8/27 (SAT 3:30) Miami Ohio @ Northwestern (-2.5), Draft Kings

Northwestern hasn't named a starter yet, but I assume it will be QB Transfer Mike Wright from Miss St. I think he can be the x-factor in avenging the 17-14 loss in 2022. Also, this game is being played on a practice field next to Lake Michigan, so take that info and do what you want with it.

8/29 (SAT 7:30) Notre Dame @ Texas A&M (total 46.5) UNDER, Fan Duel

Look I get it's a low total, but I like the under because of both defensive lines. Notre Dame is without its starting LT and in his place is starting a freshman. He will have to block either Nic Stouton or Shemar Turner, both elite DE's. Riley Leonard will run more than your average QB which helps run the clock. On the flipside of the ball, Notre Dame is getting back stud DT Howard Cross who was hampered in fall camp. He will be going up against an offense without their stud RB Ruben Owens who is out for the year as well.

8/27 (SAT 8:00) James Madison (-7.5) @ Charlotte, Fan Duel

This week Charlotte head coach Biff Pogi, what a name, said he is missing at least 8 starters heading into this weekend's match up with JMU, Now James Madison lost its head coach and some talented players to the portal. All those spots were filled by new HC Bob Chesney from Holy Cross with a lot of his players from Holy Cross and other schools including FBS and FCS. Pogi may be playing possum, but i think there is going to be a lot of players missing for Charlotte which help Chesney in his JMU debut.

8/20 (SUN 7:30) LSU @ USC (total 63.5) OVER, Fan Duel

Lincoln Riley team vs Brian Kelly team, hmmmmm sounds like a lot of offense and not much defense, Like both QB's, LSU Nussmeier and USC Miller Moss. both Defenses were atrocious last year, even if better these are 2 scary offenses. I'd take anything over 66.5.