College football is finally back and fully underway this weekend, which means the College Five is back as well, bringing you (as always) the best games and what the outcome will be. Not only is this a guide through the many games that happen every weekend, there will also be a fair amount of upsets predicted here. Buckle up and get ready for the 2017 college football season.
5 - Colorado State vs. Colorado, Friday at 8 -
After trouncing Oregon State 58-27, the Rams head out to the road to take on the Colorado Buffaloes. The Buffaloes are hot of their 10 win season and an elite defense will be there to try and cool of the the Rams offense. Colorado ranked 24th in total defense with only 20.5 points allowed per game and 328 yards. This is a buzz saw of a group and while the offense will have a couple games of reset, the defense can carry the team through the opening weeks.
Colorado Wins 36-24
4 - Texas A&M vs. UCLA, Sunday at 7:30 -
Texas has had solid defense as a staple, most notably churning out pass rushers like Myles Garrett and Von Miller through the years. UCLA has a top level quarterback in Josh Rosen, but no running game and the Aggies showed last season they know how to throw the Bruins offense out of whack and constantly get to the quarterback. The offense for Texas A&M will not be nearly as explosive as because they are brining in a fresh crop of quarterback talent, but UCLA is not diverse enough on offense to take advantage.
Texas A&M Wins 26-21
3 - (22) West Virginia vs. (21) Virginia Tech, Sunday at 6:30 -
The Mountaineers had a lethal offense that put up points quickly, in the Big 12. The ACC defense of Virginia Tech, a team that nearly stunned the championship Clemson Tigers in the ACC title game, will be a formidable opponent. Freshman quarterback Josh Jackson will also be coming in for the Hokies, after almost beating out Jarod Evans last season, he will be the established signal caller that can run the offense for Virginia Tech. Their offense will be very underrated starting out the season, which makes this my first upset of year.
Virginia Tech Wins 35-27
2 - (11) Michigan vs. (17) Florida, Saturday at 3:30 -
One of the premier games of the weekend is the Wolverines taking on the Gators, for an early look at the state of Michigan after losing so much talent to the draft. The Gators will have Feleipe Franks starting at quarterback over Luke Del Rio and Malik Zaire, which could be the surprise of the first week of football, although it has been reported that all the quarterbacks could receive playing time. With the quarterback quandary for the Gators, this is fixing up to be a defensive battle of immense proportions. This game will be won on turnovers and scoring outside of the offense. This is the game the Gators played all season long, however, the X factor is Michigan’s running game powered by Chris Evans. He may be the fastest player in this game and will be the difference.
Michigan Wins 31-24
1 - (3) Florida State vs. (1) Alabama, Saturday at 8 -
The game of the weekend goes down between Florida State and Alabama. FSU is coming off of a great recruiting year and returns two key players quarterback Deondre Francois and defensive back extraordinaire Derwin James. But the Tide is coming and will be rolling in full force. After having seven defensive players taken in the first four rounds of last seasons draft, many will focus on how they fill the defensive holes, but the focus should be on the offense. Jalen Hurts is coming back after his freshman season, with a season of experience and a massive running back in Bo Scarbrough to lean on. This offense will dominate the game for Alabama. This team is going to be unstoppable again this season.
Bama Rolls 45-30
Comments
Rutgers starting strong against Dubs
In Jersey, very early of course, but a nice very early start for them against the pups.
By Brendan Ross on 09.01.17 5:14pm
Should see them pulling away later
They’ll hang for a half because it’s a road start just like Indiana against ohio St. More impressed with colorado’s offense as I expected to. Lindsay reminded me so much of lamichael james last year and I can totally see him and love #1 and #2 RB in the conf. Their defense is bend-but-don’t-break for the most part
By layman on 09.01.17 5:43pm
Sweetness.
Go Knights!
By Plan Man on 09.01.17 6:45pm
Can I call an upset for colorado against UW
First road pac-12 game and first real test for them. Would absolutely help our cause if we lose to SC early, have room for dropping an away game to Utah/WSU and still winning the north
By layman on 09.01.17 5:58pm
Btw I called for SC to get upset @Colorado in my preseason pac-12 prediction and go 8-4
By layman on 09.01.17 6:00pm
let's not get too hung up on uw's first half of play
lots of people did the same with stanford 2015 after northwestern and that didn’t do them too much good.
By hutre67 on 09.01.17 9:01pm
Interesting how different cal and utah's offense is
Beau baldwin is much more pro-style in utilizing his run game, tight ends and pocket passing whereas troy taylor his former OC is just all spread with dual-threat QB, screens and verticals. I feel baldwin has the higher ceiling but taylor has the higher floor just like any spread vs pro-style debate goes.
By layman on 09.02.17 12:44pm
Why do I feel that this year seems really topsy-turvy
USC is playing a real opponent and getting punched early. Washington got punched early, played a lot of backups and won ugly. Whereas we blew out rice and going in over-confident. It used to be USC with a lopsided idaho win entering that game week 2. I hope we are ready to rally because when we get punched for the 1st time next week, things will be a lot harder to regroup.
By layman on 09.02.17 3:12pm
USC looked ugly
Escaped against W. Michigan… but pulled away late.
I’m feeling good about next week.
By StanfordAA99 on 09.02.17 6:17pm
How much of it was the heat?
It goes both ways and certainly western michigan came to play. But if USC was really holding back the playbook, not letting darnold scramble and a tired defense in those conditions. They were certainly forced to show their hand late and turn to their freshman phenom RB carr. We will get the true gauge of our team next week.
Hoping for a dominant TWU performance and dominating the ToP
By layman on 09.02.17 6:35pm
Not sure it was the heat
Layman – not sure where you’re located… i live in So Cal, and yeah, its a little warmer than normal, but not unheard of in downtown LA
By StanfordAA99 on 09.02.17 7:33pm
I live in the bright cardinal town of Stanford, CA
It was scorching hot today (46 C) and I have some burn marks to prove them. Having experienced this a lot from my hometown, I can tell you it’s really hard if you aren’t physically conditioned for it. Again, I’ll reserve my judgements till next week but their ball carriers vs our DL+ILBs will be pivotal for sure.
By layman on 09.02.17 10:47pm
UCLA not looking good early against A&M
Their DL is getting blown up by TAMU’s OL, running game all over the place. Other side of the ball, UCLA’s OL doesn’t look very good so far in this game either on runs or on pass pro. Halfway through second quarter, only, of course, but not a good look so far.
By Brendan Ross on 09.03.17 5:34pm
Now at 44-38
Obviously a huge dropoff when A&M’s QB went down, but it’s still an impressive comeback from being way, way down - score was 44-10.
By Brendan Ross on 09.03.17 8:03pm
An impressive comeback by Rosen no question
Yes, the loss of A&M’s QB meant that their offense spent less clock time on the field, which tired out their defense, and played into UCLA’s hands, but that’s a part of the game. You still need to make plays, and some very impressive plays were made.
I don’t think this means UCLA is a great team, but it does provide a clue as to what you have to do against them — play smart on offense, control the ball, keep your defense fresh. You let your defense get tired by being out there too much (which was quite clearly the case in the 4th), he will simply assassinate you. He and his OL won’t do that against a fresh defense, but they will against a winded one. Lessons learned for the rest of the Pac.
By Brendan Ross on 09.03.17 8:25pm
Sheesh spoke too soon! Well college football happens I guess
Their QB wasn’t doing much in the first half but by god what happened to their run game in the second? That freshman jaelen philips seemed like a breath of fresh air and it seems they affected the OL rhythm. Frankly josh rosen is a great talent and I admit as much but its the cockiness in him that rubs me off so much. For his sake I hope he can stay upright and healthy
PS: UCLA was at the right end of #Mazzoned
By layman on 09.04.17 2:15am
Well
I think that their starting QB was doing just enough in terms of passing to support the running game. He was 6/13 for 62, which isn’t much, but his average was about 5 yards, and that combined with about 50% comp rate was just enough to get the backers back a bit and make it a semi-credible threat. The replacement was 3/17 for 27 and an average of under 2 yards, so no threat at all, and the backers could crash the box. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that UCLA’s comeback coincided with the loss of TAMU’s starting QB — after all, TAMU was actually extending its lead in the first half of the 3rd before the QB got hurt.
Philips played great in the last 25 minutes, I agree, and that was a factor, too. But if TAMU’s QB doesn’t get injured I doubt UCLA would have won this game.
By Brendan Ross on 09.04.17 5:28am
Heh atleast UCLA is consistent #FireMora
We should be able to run all day long against their Defensive line and will rosen even survive the season before our game? But the A&M offensive line and their corners have been impressive. Absolute roadgrading
By layman on 09.03.17 6:01pm
Hypothesis:
Mora is toast right after losing to us for the 10th straight time. Josh should pay more attention to school…
By Plan Man on 09.03.17 6:44pm
D'oh!
You sign off, get in the comfy chair and read a book, and THAT happens!
By Plan Man on 09.04.17 6:48am
As alternative timelines go, Josh only has himself to blame for his current position
If he had been mature enough to listen to coaching and showed some humility, he will be right now starting at Stanford (david will redshirt him for 2 yrs and turley will have him built like a prototype QB). He will have a great run game and some 5* blocking for him while utilizing 6’7" TEs who will be open.
If I were him, I’ll grad transfer to stanford just to play meaningful snaps but knowing josh the better option is going to Cal actually. Beau baldwin atleast has moxie.
By layman on 09.03.17 6:28pm