Pigskin Prophet: Barnyard Fight Edition |
The first big college football weekend of the season is in the books, and there were a lot of close games, a lot of wild finishes and a lot of talk about naming a chicken. There are some pretty good games on tap for this weekend as well, and you gotta hope that they are entertaining as what we saw last weekend.
Down here in Columbia, once the folks named their molting friend, they celebrated some disco lights in their stadium with a bowl of mayo and a new shower curtain for the fake chicken with the flaccid beak. There won’t be a light show this week because the home team has to go to Wal Mart land to play, but there is always hope that some of the tailgaters have stayed around and will sneak into the stadium for a light show of their own. But that doesn’t have anything to do with football, so we’ll stop there. Maybe. FRIDAY LOUISVILLE AT UCF Louisville traveled to Syracuse last week and got their domes knocked in by a team named after a fruit. The competition ramps up this week with another trip, this one to the Bounce House (that’s the actual name of the stadium, I kid you not) and the Fightin’ Malzahns. Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee won't have a lot of problems with a Cardinal defense that leaks like my Uncle Johnny. Louisville’s Malik Cunningham wasn’t terrible last week, but he wasn’t good either, and he will have a hard time with the UCF defensive front. BOUNCE HOUSE 34, LOUISVILLE 28 SATURDAY FURMAN AT CLEMSON The Purple Paladins will ride their noble steeds into Death Valley hoping to declaw Dabo Swinney’s striped crew. The Tigers started slow against Georgia Tech last Monday before finally getting things in gear midway through the third quarter, and there could be a hangover effect because this game is played on short rest. Meanwhile, the Paladins will have last played 10 days ago and should be well rested. It won’t matter – rain or no rain, rest or no rest, the Tigers need a good offensive showing to quiet some of the louder voices in the fanbase. It won’t be a million times better, but it will be better. CLEMSON 49, FURMAN 6 TENNESSEE AT PITT This promises to be one of the more entertaining games of the weekend. The Hillbillies take their houndogs out of the hills and into Pittsburgh, hoping to catch a group of Panthers napping. But those Panthers never nap because head coach Pat Narduzzi is never quiet. He’s like the uncle that everybody hates at family reunions, who always finds some way to feel offended about something, and he isn’t afraid to be vocal about it. Hendon Hooker and the Vols will find a lot of throwing lanes against the Pitt defense, but Pitt can score a lot of points as well. Narduzzi will whine and complain in pregame, during the game and postgame, and it will be close. Vegas picks the boys from Tennessee, but I like the homefield advantage of Pitt. NARDUZZIS 44, TENNESSEE 41 UNC AT GEORGIA ST. Who in heck is responsible for scheduling the games for North Carolina? They played at Appalachian St. last week and at Georgia St. this week. Maybe the football program and Mack Brown should just go ahead and admit defeat and apply for admission to the Sun Belt, especially if their defense doesn’t get better. Georgia St. played South Carolina tough last weekend despite not mounting much of a passing attack, and they’ll keep this one close for a while. But Drake Maye and UNC will be too much at the end. UNC 51, GEORGIA ST. 40 SOUTH CAROLINA AT ARKANSAS This is another one that promises to be entertaining as the Gamecocks take their garter snake into Wal Mart land for a good old barnyard fight with a bunch of pigs. These Razorbacks are mean and won’t take kindly to a bunch of roosters strutting into their yard trying to pick a fight. The Gamecocks didn’t get much of a running game going last week, and they’ll have issues again this week against the bristly tusks of the Wal Mart greeters. At the end of the day, it will be Spurs Up for the fowl from the Midlands. ARKANSAS 30, SPURS UP 23 ALABAMA AT TEXAS The great Nick Saban ventures into unknown territory, taking his Elephants out of Tuscaloosa to play an out of conference game on the road. To be fair, the AD at Alabama told him it was Texas St. to get Nick to agree to it, but now he’s stuck with having to listen to Matthew McConna-HEY jokes all week. Alright alright alright. The Longhorns want things to be different, and they want to be a great program. And this is, in many ways, a preview of their foray into the SEC in a few years. They have Quinn Ewers at quarterback, and momentum and the home crowd will make for some excitement early. But Texas is still building, while Alabama is built. Nick gets the win going away in the second half. ALABAMA 40, TEXAS 22 Released each week on Soundcloud, Apple Apple and Spotify Check out David Hood's new TigerNet podcast: Clemson Wears Down Georgia Tech, Turns Its Eyes to Furman
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