The second week of the college football season doesn’t have a ton of top-level games, but it has good depth and a few sneaky potential upset games.
Well, that was a bit of a disappointing start to the year. After months of hype and excitement for the slate of games in the first week of the 2018 season, the games, especially the biggest ones, were almost all very dull. Top matchups like Miami vs. LSU and Florida State vs. Virginia Tech were both blowouts very quickly, and basically, every major upset bid came up short.
It’s a long season though, and as we travel through this year, I’m going to be keeping track of the hit rate on my picks for games to watch. If the game was close or at least somewhat interesting, that will count as a hit, if it was a blowout, that will count as a miss. Last week, I recommended watching 18 games, and of those 18, by my count, eight (44 percent) were relatively interesting.
With a bit of a weak (on paper) schedule this week, let’s hope to improve that hit rate and see if we can’t find some underrated upset bids or group of five battles. One bad week can’t stop us from binge-watching college football this weekend, and to do that, we need a definitive guide. Let’s jump right in!
Thursday
Kennesaw State at Tennessee Tech, 7:00 p.m. EST, ESPNU
It’s not a great week for Thursday and Friday games. There are only two games that I think are anything near worth talking about, and one of them (this one) will only be interesting to the most dedicated of college football fanatics. If you really need something to watch on Thursday night, Kennesaw State is very good, and nearly beat FBS team Georgia State last week. Tennessee Tech was awful last year, so this might not even be good as an FCS game, but if you’re watching this, you’ll probably watch literally anything.
One sentence sell: Kennesaw State quarterback Chandler Burks and receiver Justin Sumpter will probably put up big yardage against a bad defense.
Friday
TCU at SMU, 8:00 p.m. EST, ESPN2
Again, we’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel with the weekday games in the second week of the season, as we really haven’t hit the sweet spot of early week MACtion and late week conference play yet. However, if you really need something to watch on Friday night, this is at least a football game between two FBS teams, even if TCU is probably going to smack SMU.
One sentence sell: SMU looked awful against North Texas, so I’m not very confident in this prediction, but this one could be a bit pointsy (definition: shorthand for a shootout) if both offenses can get going early.
Noon slate
Mississippi State at Kansas State, 12:00 p.m. EST, ESPN
The noon slate this week actually isn’t too bad, but we only focus on two games in a timeframe here at the weekly binge-watch guide, so we’ll stick to that formula again, even if there are some games, like Duke at Northwestern and Georgia Tech at South Florida that are probably worth watching. Back to this game, this may actually be one of the best games of the whole day.
Nick Fitzgerald is back after a week suspension, and this is the first real test for Joe Moorhead at Mississippi State after blowing Stephen F. Austin out last week. Kansas State struggled greatly with an FCS team in their first game, and this will be a great test to see if they’re actually any good this year.
One sentence sell: Joe Moorhead’s offense is extremely fun, Nick Fitzgerald is extremely fun, and this is the first time they’ll be tested by a decent defense this year.
Arizona at Houston, 12:00 p.m. EST, ABC
Both teams got off to a bit of a sluggish start to the season, with Houston struggling against an awful Rice team, and Arizona falling to a BYU team that won just four games last year. This week will be a great test to see if Arizona can return to the run-heavy offense that worked for them last year, and with Ed Oliver on the opposing line, they may have to get creative.
One sentence sell: Two awesome dual-threat quarterbacks and Ed Oliver make this a pretty star-studded matchup and a pretty obvious upset choice.
Afternoon slate
UCLA at Oklahoma, 1:00 p.m. EST, FOX
UCLA may very well be awful this season, but this is still a relatively intriguing matchup, especially if none of the noon starts end up being very competitive. The Bruins aren’t really running Chip Kelly‘s offense yet, but young players like Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Kazmeir Allen will at least add some intrigue. On the other side of the ball, Oklahoma looked stellar last week on offense, and a repeat performance would at least be entertaining, even though UCLA doesn’t have the firepower to keep up.
One sentence sell: There’s a ton of speed all over the field for what should be at least one quarter of good competition in an awesome environment.
Georgia at South Carolina, 3:30 p.m. EST, CBS
I’m not entirely sure that South Carolina is actually good, but there was plenty of preseason hype around the Gamecocks, and we may learn more about how valid that hype was this week as they host Georgia. The Bulldogs will almost certainly win this game, but it’ll be a much better test for Jake Fromm and the Dawgs than Austin Peay was last week.
One sentence summary: Deebo Samuel might be the best receiver in America, and if anyone can hurt a pretty inexperienced Georgia defense, it’s him.
Colorado at Nebraska, 3:30 p.m. EST, ABC
A throwback matchup between two former Big 12 members, this will end up being the debut of Scott Frost at Nebraska after last week’s game was canceled due to weather concerns. After Colorado looked awesome last week against Colorado State, expectations have been raised slightly, and this could be a super fun game between two teams that still have a lot of work to do before they can really compete.
One sentence sell: The best sell I can give is that there are really only two games at 3:30 worth watching, and this is one of them.
Evening slate
Iowa State at Iowa, 5:00 p.m. EST, FOX
Just like Nebraska, Iowa State’s opener was canceled over inclement weather, so the new look Cyclone will kick off 2018 with a road trip to their biggest rivals in Iowa City. This is obviously a brutal way to start this season, but this should be an awesome matchup. Iowa’s defense looked dominant last week, and their offense is more talented than usual. If Iowa State can win, they may be a legitimate Big 12 contender, but if Iowa wins, they could be within striking distance of the top 25 already.
One sentence sell: This is abnormal for this rivalry, but both teams have pretty exciting quarterbacks in Nate Stanley and Kyle Kempt, and with two good defenses, it should be a fun battle to watch before the bigger games start.
Clemson at Texas A&M, 7:00 p.m. EST, ESPN
Even if I don’t think this game will be very close, it is the primetime ESPN game and the game that ESPN’s College Gameday will be in attendance for. Texas A&M has a ton of question marks on their roster, and after one week, I don’t think a single one has been answered. If they come out and look awesome, it’d be a great start to the Jimbo Fisher era, but I just don’t see it happening.
One sentence sell: Clemson doesn’t seem super confident in Kelly Bryant at quarterback, and Texas A&M’s defense is pretty good so this one might get a little out of hand.
Utah at Northern Illinois, 7:30 p.m. EST, ESPN News
I have no idea why Utah is going to Northern Illinois for this game, but I’ve got the feeling that they may not like the result. Northern Illinois got crushed by Iowa last week, and Utah destroyed Weber State, but this could still be a pretty intriguing matchup. NIU’s defense is awesome, and could cause some issues for an offense that I don’t trust at all.
One sentence sell: If Clemson starts blowing Texas A&M out early, this is a solid game to switch to until 8:00 p.m. games start.
Penn State at Pitt, 8:00 p.m. EST, ABC
This is another game that depends on one of the teams being better than we expect (Pitt), but after a disappointing showing last week, we’ve got plenty of questions about Penn State. Those questions, especially on defense, paired with the possibility of Pitt being good, and this being a night game at Pitt could make for a pretty interesting possible upset.
One sentence sell: It’s a rivalry game, and if it’s close, we could see some more late-game heroics from Trace McSorley.
Night-cap
USC at Stanford, 8:30 p.m. EST, FOX
On paper, this is the best game of the week, and I’ve got a feeling it’ll live up to the hype on the field as well. Stanford is secretly one of the toughest stadiums in all of college football to win in, and what seems like a pretty great USC defense will be faced with the Bryce Love test. Can they slow him down like San Diego State did (in a losing effort)? Can KJ Costello build on a good first game? Is JT Daniels ready for the spotlight?
One sentence sell: This is probably going to be the Pac-12 championship game (sorry, Washington), and both of these teams are super intriguing and fun through one week.
Cal at BYU, 10:15 p.m. EST, ESPN2/ESPNU
Cal and BYU are both coming off of big wins over power five opponents, and looking to continue that momentum and take a big step towards bowl eligibility. I don’t expect a lot of offense in this game, but it should be close pretty much all the way through, so it’ll be worth a watch, especially when USC vs. Stanford ends.
One sentence sell: BYU might be good, after a big down year, but we’ll get a much better idea of where they’re at under Kalani Sitake (and if his job is safe) in this game.
Michigan State at Arizona State, 10:45 p.m. EST, ESPN
Michigan State looked sluggish last week as they nearly lost to Utah State, and in the first game of the Herm Edwards era, Arizona State absolutely demolished UTSA. Those results make this a far more interesting game, as we look to see if Michigan State will be ready what seems to be a pretty solid team out in the desert.
One sentence sell: It’s pretty much the only worthwhile late night game (outside of BYU vs. Cal), and Herm Edwards is involved, so it could get very silly.