How To Football: Week 1 (Pt. II)

Lookout Mountain Shift

• North Carolina-App State: For reasons known only to them and God, North Carolina decided that it would be a good idea play App State in Boone before Labor Day. Why! Nobody forced you to do this! Go Neers!
• NC State-ECU: NC State is supposed to be “good” this year. We’ll see how we feel about that when they’re only up 17-7 on a bad ECU at half.
• Colorado State-Michigan: It’s football.
• Rutgers-Boston College: Boy this sure is football.

The Bo Night Returns Shift

• Oregon-Georgia: The obvious storyline here is that Bo Nix left Auburn only to transfer to Oregon and play Georgia anyway, but Dan Lanning was an assistant on Georgia’s team last year and faces the Dawgs in his first game as head coach. All of this for Georgia to slowly snuff the life out of the Ducks by the midpoint in the third quarter.
• Cincinnati-Arkansas: Cincinnati had a great year and everything, but they lost nearly their entire team to the draft and are a brand-new team this year. Less interested in if they can beat Arkansas and more in seeing if Cincy has transcended past the cycle model many G5s are tied to and are able to reload and give the Hogs a game.
• Arizona-San Diego State: God, this game is going to be bleak and I’m probably going to watch most of it.
• BYU-USF: Watching this more to see where BYU is.

Urban Meyer Classic Shift

• SLU-ULL: Just to make it clear, I’m going to watch this because I am partial to the Lions. You don’t have to, unless you’re not interested in the thought of ULL losing.
• Notre Dame-Ohio State: Nothing against Notre Dame, but man I just can’t buy into this game being close, hence SLU-ULL. The Buckeyes just have too many weapons.
• Utah-Florida: Florida fans seem convinced that they’re gonna lose this game, and it’s not that I don’t disagree but this game may actually be as close as it sounds it will be, which is rarely the case in these types of games. Like this could be a tight one.
• Memphis-Mississippi State: You are I are both thinking it. We want the same thing here.

Passcadia Shift

• Boise-Oregon State: I’m really high on Jonathan Smith, and I’m super interested in this game. I think the Beavers really have a solid shot here against Boise State, which is incredible to say out loud and mean it.
• Kent State-Washington: It’s football.

Orange Blossom Classic Shift

• Florida A&M-Jackson State: Not only should this be a pretty good game, but it has a cool backstory. After a 43-year hiatus, this HBCU game returns to Hard Rock Stadium down in Miami with the ultimate goal of raising scholarship funds for HBCUs across the country. Also, it should be a good game.

Bourbon Bowl Shift

• Florida State-LSU: Nobody knows what’s going to happen in this game! And that’s okay! If they say they do, then they’re lying. Just let go and let God y’all.
• FVSU-Tuskegee: Another really cool game between two SIAC rivals to compliment LSU here. The Red Tails Classic honors the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of Black aviators who fought during World War II. ESPN and the city of Montgomery partnered last year to host and air the game to recognize their legacy and highlight HBCUs, like the Orange Blossom Classic

Weird note here, there’s no game on Labor Day this year, when there has been in recent years (COVID notwithstanding). Instead, ESPN appears to be showing a snuff film for some reason. Just wanted to make note of that.