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Sure Winners College Football Week 1
Miss the first five games of the college football season? Let us help catch you up: https://t.co/kiO1uXWOC3
— SI College Football (@si_ncaafb) August 28, 2017
Buffalo at Minnesota
When: Thursday, Aug. 31, 7 PM ET Where: TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis TV: Big Ten Network Stream: BTN2GO Radio: The Breeze 1230 AM (Buffalo) / 100.3 KFAN (Minnesota) Opening College Football Week 1 Lines: Minnesota -24.5Fleck’s Debut
It’s the Minnesota head coaching debut of P.J. Fleck, who led Western Michigan to the 2016 Mid-American Conference title and a Cotton Bowl berth against Wisconsin. Fleck had been a hot coaching-market name, coming up at places like Oregon and Purdue, and it looked like he would stay in Kalamazoo until the Minnesota job opened. In four seasons at Western Michigan, Fleck rebuilt the program. The Broncos were 4-8 in 2012, and went 1-11 in Fleck’s first season in 2013. Fleck righted the ship quickly, improving to 8-5 in 2014 and going 8-5 again in 2015 before breaking out with a 13-0 regular season in 2016. With the MAC conference title in tow, the Broncos played in the Cotton Bowl and lost to Wisconsin 24-16. Fleck replaces Tracy Claeys, who went 9-4 in his first season as a full-time head coach and 11-8 overall. Claeys’s dismissal was tied in part to his poor public handling of a sexual assault scandal in his program. Minnesota players considered skipping the Holiday Bowl this season because of the school’s treatment of the 10 players involved in the sexual assault investigation. Fleck says Blaise Andries, the top recruit in Minnesota in the 2017 recruiting class, won’t redshirt during his freshman season with the Gophers. The Gophers’ projected starting offensive tackles are junior Donnell Greene and senior Garrison Wright. Both have missed time during fall training camp with undisclosed injuries, putting Andries into the mix sooner than Fleck would prefer.College Football Week 1 Sleeper Picks
Bison Need Better On D
Buffalo took a step backwards last season, winning just two games after going 5-7 in head coach Lance Leipold’s 2015 debut. The Bulls ranked last in the MAC in points scored and 10th in points allowed per game, so there’s room for improvement on both sides of the ball. In the last three seasons since current Oakland Raiders star Khalil Mack left, the Buffalo football team has ranked 10th, 11th and ninth, respectively, in points allowed in the Mid-American Conference. The run defense was 12th, 11th and seventh in MAC games. Last year’s run defense ranked 124th out of 126 teams in the nation against the run. The run defense needs to keep UB in games. Last year UB allowed a school-record 253 yards a game on the ground. Tyree Jackson started nine games as a redshirt freshman in 2016 for Buffalo at QB. He finished with nine TD passes and nine interceptions. Jackson rushed for 459 yards and passed for 180 yards a game. The UB offense was 126th out of 128 teams in scoring last season. They didn’t score on any opening drive. Jackson will be counted on to play at a higher level in a critical transition year for Leipold.Tulsa at No. 10 Oklahoma State
When: Thursday, Aug. 31, 7:30 PM ET Where: Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater TV: Fox Sports 1 Stream: Fox Sports Go Radio: (Tulsa) / (Oklahoma State) Opening College Football Week 1 Lines: OSU -17.5Cowboys In Playoff?
I believe Oklahoma State will win the Big 12 title this season and reach the College Football Playoff – it’s surely the most talented team that Mike Gundy has had there, led by Heisman contending QB Mason Rudolph and star WR James Washington. Rudolph has been an Oklahoma State student for 44 months. He’s been the starting quarterback for 34. By the end of this year, he’ll have started more games than any quarterback Mike Gundy has ever coached. Just year, Rudolph was the only player in the country in 2016 who surpassed 4,000 passing yards while throwing less than five interceptions. He was also the only quarterback in the nation who averaged more than 34 pass attempts per game while throwing less than five interceptions. At one point, Rudolph threw 164 consecutive passes without an interception and he finished the season with a second streak of 123 consecutive passes without being picked.
His 4,091 passing yards ranked as the third-most in a season in school history, trailing only Brandon Weeden’s 2010 and 2011 campaigns. Rudolph also completed 284 passes and attempted 448, both of which rank second in school history. His 28 passing touchdowns also rank as the fourth-highest total by an OSU quarterback.
This marks the second consecutive year the Cowboys have opened their season at home, and the 60th time overall they have opened the season in Stillwater. OSU’s overall record in season opening games at home is 48-7- 4 and its overall record in season opening games is 69-41-5.
