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College Football Week 1 Preview: Clemson vs LSU, Upset Alerts & Best Bets · Game Day Collective

• Josh Mahler: Alright, week zero gave us a first taste of kind of what we got in chaos and college football, but now the real college football season begins because we have everybody joining in. Everybody's showing up late to the party, I guess. week one, it's gonna give us Lane Kiffin's LSU debut against Clemson in Death Valley, the real Death Valley. and also we're gonna get a ranked matchup, the only ranked matchup of the week, down in Nashville with between Ole Miss and Louisville, Notre Dame and Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. That's exciting. and then also we got a rivalry game up in the Northwest where the Apple Cup is on the line in opening weekend of college football. And then of course a Labor Day ACC showdown. We've got some ranked teams that might already be in trouble. We're gonna talk about it all here on the Game Day Collective College Football Show. Today I'm joined in by Blake Lane and Jeremy Russell, two of my partners in crime for quite some time in the podcasting realm. So I'm I'm happy to have you guys back on and talking some college football. I know before really hitting officially record and everything, we were talking about some of the downside of college football. But the reality is once we get the games back on and we get to really enjoy some of, you know, some of what the the stuff that we love, you know, rather than having to see all the the post-season or the guess the post-season, pre-season news and all that coming out, maybe we'll get back to just the the love of the game and everything. But we're gonna start off with our our upset alert, of course, putting our record on the line here at Game Day Collective. These guys will also get to put out their upset alerts, locks, pick'ems, and every selection every single way. So we're gonna get to it and let's just go ahead and roll into it first with our upset alerts. To be clear, these aren't necessarily teams that we think are going to be upset in week one. It's not that we think that they're going down, certainly, but it's just teams that we think that are on the danger seat of kind of dropping that game to an underdog opponent as a favorite. So of course we can we can also think that they're gonna go down, so we'll we'll find out. But I'll start us. Off here real quick because I just mentioned it. The only ranked game of the weekend is between Ole Miss and Louisville. And you know, I I look at this one and I think this one's a bit interesting. Right now, Ole Miss is the favorite, and they roll into this one. They're they're AP top top ten right now, ranked at number nine, and here coming in to week one, having to go against number 24 in the AP preseason poll and Louisville in a neutral site game. So I think that Ole Miss entering. Into this new era under Pete Golding. You know, you got Louisville who's coming off of a 9 4 season, something to build upon for sure. Louisville, they also have the former Ohio State quarterback. He was just a bench guy, didn't really do too much there, got a little bit of playing time, but they get him and Lincoln Kineholes. So kind of giving Jeff Brahm an experienced quarterback, not really necessarily experienced in the sense that he's been on the field or anything, but he's been around an Ohio State coaching staff. Who is able to really bring guys up? You think of guys like Joe Burrow who never really stepped on the field for Ohio State in a meaningful way and came out. I'm not comparing him there at all. but just looking at at the quarterback that he's got at the helm. I think that the neutral setting and everything. I'm not sure that Ole Miss drops this game, but I definitely think that they're on the upset alert. but Jeremy, let's kick it over to you real quick. Who do you got for your upset alert? Jeremy Russell: Yeah, mean, Josh, I'm not going to go into full detail here just because I know we're going to be talking about this game a little bit later here in the show. But I mean, talking about I'm to be talking about Clemson versus LSU being a really fun matchup like you look at last year when Clemson played LSU. mean, LSU beat Clemson 17 to 10 last year. So, you know, that's definitely going to be getting some fuel in the fire for those guys. But I mean, there's a lot of things that you got to look on both sides of the ball. But I mean. I don't know Josh, I'm kind of thinking that LSU might be on the chopping block, but you'll never know until you hear out later in the show. I mean, LSU and Clemson, that's definitely going to be a fun game to watch with them being ranked number 11. It's definitely going to be a pretty good shootout, especially what we saw last year. So you just got to stay tuned and see what we're going to bring. Josh Mahler: Yeah, so I I'm picking Lane Kiffin's old team, you're picking Lane Kiffin's new team. Blake, who do you got? Blake: fellas, I am gonna take the seven and a half point dogs for my upset. I'm gonna take the two-lane green wave. they're headed up to Duke this Saturday, and I know what Duke did at the end of last season. you know, we were talking about it before we got in here that they kind of spoiled some playoff hopes and and things like that. But I know they have Manny Diaz up there and he's a great defensive mind, but This is a rematch from last year and we all know what happened last year and Tulane in the magical season, but I still think there's plenty of talent left on this Tulane roster. And Duke I think they're both bringing in new signal callers and and you know, I think Tulane still has some great wide receivers over there. I think if they can force Duke into a turnover or two, I still like what Tulane has, so I think that is one just kinda off the radar. You know, I I didn't wanna really pick a a big game in week one, just one that's off the radar just to keep an eye on. this Tulane team is still pretty talented. some questions on the offensive line, but it's week one. I think everybody has some sort of questions. So keep an eye on the Tulane Green Wave. I'm not saying they're playoff again, or you know, even contenders this year. But I think they could go up the road to Durham, North Carolina, and maybe sneak one out, at least cover. Josh Mahler: Yeah, I I do think that's a pretty good pick too, just looking at it. You you threw that one out to me whenever we were prepping for it and everything, and I was like, man, that's that's like a sneaky good pick. One that's like you said, under the radar. I didn't see it, so good pick there. all right, before we roll into our lock of the week, I want to make sure to tell everybody hit that like button, hit that subscribe button. New channel here, new network, everything that we're doing here at Game Day Collective. And these two guys are gonna be joining along with the collective as well. So make sure to hit that subscribe button, hit that like button, comment down. below let us know who your upset alert for week one is it is kind of harder in week one too and even week zero is kind of hard to really kind of come away with one because you don't typically have a whole lot of like good matchups you don't have like the solid like you know Texas Ohio State in week two you don't have Oklahoma Michigan I think week two or three you don't have those matchups in week one typically so a lot of teams just kind of rolling and kind of trying to shake the the rust off and and get going. So anyways let's jump into our lock of the week. you know what? I'm gonna kind of mix it back up here. Jeremy, you start us off with your lock of the week. Just a a pick that we like, a bet that we like. It doesn't have to be anything in particular. Jeremy Russell: Yeah, for my lock of the week, I'm going to be using Josh's favorite hurt. I want to be smashing the over here. I'm looking at number two, Oregon versus Boise. Stay here. mean, like I said, with Oregon being ranked number two against Boise State at Austin Stadium in Eugene, mean, Blake, you've been to Eugene. That is one of the most electrifying stadiums that you have to sincerely visit. I mean, you look at those guys, they finished 13 and two last year, eight and one of the big 10 like. And think about the little things like Dan Letting not having very many holes in his roster. mean, with adding two new coordinators with Drew, Drew Menringer on the offensive coordinator side, then Chris Hampton on the defensive coordinator side. I mean, you're definitely going to be bringing in some new things here for Oregon and just even overall. Like Oregon has been one of the nation's best teams since Dan Lening took over, reaching double digit wins on all four seasons under underlining each for the last five seasons. Like the Ducks. Overall 48 and eight overall records since 2022 is tied with the Ohio state had to say the just so your wife doesn't yell at me, Josh, for the second best in the nation. mean, Oregon has always been dominant. We've seen them do a year in and year out. I mean, to me, this is a no brainer. Just smash the over for Oregon sitting at 51.5 Oregon's no slosh for running up the score. And I don't think that this train is going to stop. So give me the over for Oregon. Josh Mahler: I like it. What do you got for your lock of the week, Blake? Blake: My lock of the week, I'm gonna keep it short, sweet. I watched Florida State last week against New Mexico State and I was not impressed, fellas. I I I think Ashton Daniels is a solid quarterback. Obviously you come from the Auburn Tigers and made his way down to Tallahassee. And and I do like the running back chroma, but that defense is abysmal, okay? Jeremy Russell: Mm-hmm. Blake: And I think with SMU Rhett Lashley, the offensive mind that he is, right? returning Kevin Jennings, a sneaky, you know, his name gets thrown around in the Heisman race a little bit, right? I don't know how many games SMU is gonna be able to win for him to stay in that Heisman race. Josh Mahler: Okay. Blake: But I think he's gonna put up the numbers, right? And watching that back end of Florida State last week and even the pass rush, I mean, New Mexico State really carved them up for four quarters. And you know, they just couldn't stop Florida State's run game. And I think I think Ashton Daniels threw for like two twelve or something like that. Chroma, I think he ran for one fifteen. so th Florida State has some weapons on offense. But man, I think SMU could possibly put up forty and I I I I mean, what is this, a three point spread? And and r Rhett Josh Mahler: Yeah. Yeah, I I think so. Three and a half. Blake: Lashley's talking about we should be ten point dogs, and I just don't agree with that, but I'm gonna take SMU, fellas. Josh Mahler: Yeah, I I think that SMU's kind of one of those those ACC dark horses to watch out for too. And so I yeah, I I don't know, this this game was kinda weird when I was looking at the spread. One thing that I'll say is going for Florida State is at least they had week zero to shake some things off and and kind of rink you know, iron out some wrinkles in their plan. But I honestly came up kind of like you yeah, I came away with a little bit more questions and a little bit more concern for Florida State than I did coming into this season, which is saying quite a bit. But for me my lock of the week, I'm going To Miami, the the f the reigning runner-up to the national champion from a season ago, they come in with a loaded roster. And whenever I was going through the game day collection, the the game day collective top 25, preseason top 25, and I was trying to rank Miami, I put them down. I forget exactly where I put them, I think they're out of the top five for me, if I remember right. And I went back and looked at it and I was like, I think I was kind of crazy for putting them that low because this is a team that comes back with probably a more studded. roster than they did a season ago. They've got one of the best trenches on both sides of the ball in the league. and you know they'll of course bringing in Darien Mensa. You've got Mark Fletcher back there in the backfield. You have Malachi Tony. I mean this is just a really tough team. And then also what's his name? The transfer from Duke Barkate? Is that his name? Yeah Cooper Barkate. so bringing him in as well. So he's got some chemistry with Darien Mensa already coming in over with him. I this is going to be a really dangerous team this This year it's it's hard for me not just to go all in on Miami because I'm trying to like pump the brakes like okay, they're good on paper, but don't let that fool you. There's gonna be something that we don't see because that happens to all the the preseason favorites. And but this is a really really solid team. I would say the best trenches in the in the game, which is gonna get you really far. I don't think Stanford stands a s stand a chance, and they're a twenty-five point favorite, and Miami's a twenty-five point favorite. So that doesn't make any sense to me. I'm smashing that all day. I think Miami can win this thing by third. I'm gonna say Miami 42, Stanford 14, something like that. I don't even know if they score two touchdowns. Blake: And Josh, one thing I do wanna say on on your pick is I think this is a great pick for for lock of the week because the strength of Stanford's offense runs right into the strength of what Miami does on defense, right? and their front seven is is really, really crucial. And f Stanford loves to run the football and they have a great running back, but you you gotta be able to push the ball down the field and I didn't see that last week. against Hawaii a whole lot. So what makes me think I'm gonna see it this week against Miami. the Miami has to go there, right? Josh Mahler: I th I can't remember for sure. This one might be at Miami. I d I d I guess I don't really care one way or the other, but Blake: Yeah. That that's the only thing I was gonna say is if they have to go to Stanford, there might be like a little jet lag for the cross country flight, you know. but other than that, man, I think you're right on the head with this one. Josh Mahler: Yeah, 'cause I didn't even mark that one down in my notes for sure. Yeah, it is at Stanford. So it sure, maybe. if if you really feel confident you can go the other way. But I think honestly forty eight and a half as the as the point total on this game too. That's another one that I feel like could go over just from Miami alone. I mean, I don't know, this is a game that I feel like the Vegas was e either extremely underestimating Miami and not looking at what they've got on paper, or I We're in for a ride and Vegas knows better than all of us. So I don't know. This is th it's it's one of those spreads that makes me nervous, like why are they so low? Why are they so low on Miami? Because yeah Stanford only covered the spread against Miami or against Hawaii because of that that late scoopin' score. So sorry to Jeremy Russell: Yeah. Josh Mahler: everyone who bet a Hawaii for the for the the cover there, but All right, let's go on to our game of the week. This is a really big one. I I think this is a really exciting one just because, you know, Blake and I were talking, I was like, which one should I should I mark as the game of the week? Because there's a ranked matchup here this weekend in Ole Miss, Louisville. There's also a few other games that I was looking at and I was like, I don't know, these are all kind of exciting. I think even Oregon Boise i is one I know Jeremy brought up a moment ago that is a fun game to look at. But this one just brings in so much drama. It brings in so much hype. You think about this, there might not be a another coach in America, across the nation right now, that's facing more criticism and more expectations in game one than Lane Kiffin is right now. you think of LSU, they only finished seven and six last season. Now they enter year one with a completely revamped offense. They come in at ranked at number eleven. Th there's enormous expectations in Baton Rouge. And now they're also facing a lawsuit against the SEC. I mean there's all kinds of drama and it's just there is no bigger villain in the game than Lane Kiffin right now. But right now I think that that w you look at Clemson replacing both starting tackles. Then you look over at LSU having to add in an an entire you know, a bunch of pieces over on the defensive line and and seeing what they've got there on the defensive front. Blake, if you're Clemson I I I don't know, d the entire game, do you just try to survive the first quarter? Blake: Man, I think this is gonna be a tough one for Clemson. the only thing that I would really look at here is like you said, there's a lot of news in Baton Rouge right now and it's not good news. Like you're the villain. you could have went about this the right way and you kinda chose not to in the old fashioned Lane Kifin way, right? And That is my only concern in this game, is there is there too many headlines out there? Is is LSU just kinda going through the motion? Do they walk in here at home and think that they're just gonna run over, you know, Clemson and do they think that our roster is just that much more talented and but if you really look at it on paper, I think LSU covers this game. I think they handle Clemson. With Clemson you got a new starting quarterback and ain't it Christopher V Vizina? Jeremy Russell: Mm-hmm. Blake: yeah, that's what I I I thought so and and I don't he's he hasn't played like any meaningful snaps. so you're breaking that in. Your offensive line is not good. They weren't good last year and I think you lost most of like you mentioned. Both your tackles for sure. And where where are your playmakers at on the outside, right? Like Blake Baker is gonna have a field day with this Clemson offense, the D C at L S. U. and and Lane Kiffing retaining him was a big, big win. And Josh Mahler: Huge. Blake: but dude, this LSU offense, I'm I'm excited to see Sam Levitt with some playmakers around him. My only question is can LSU run the football this year? You have to be able to run the football. LSU has not been able to run the football for the past five years, it seems like, besides Jaden Daniels when he would take off in Scamper. But I I think LSU handles business. I'm not fully sold on the LSU national championship train, playoff train just yet. I gotta see more of it come to me and see it in motion. because I do think there are some distractions on going on down there, but I like LSU in this matchup. Josh Mahler: Yeah, yeah, I mean I was looking at at I I agree with you. I don't I'm not really big on LSU. I kinda kind of the same way on Ole Miss as well. And I mean I ended up kind of giving into the hype and putting them in the in the rankings. I ranked Ole Miss at ten and LSU at eleven in the game day collective rankings and I just I felt like all right everyone's telling me kind of that I have to and so I'm putting them up there but ultimately I don't I don't know. I feel like we're not giving enough you know, enough attention to the fact that I think continuity in college football really matters. I also think that when you lose the guy that that carried you all the way there and built up the program to get you to the playoffs, just because he left and you were able to make it through the playoffs just fine doesn't mean that he like his his work wasn't being fulfilled there in the playoffs. so I think like there at Ole Miss and LSU like both, I'm kind of looking at both of them. With LSU the continuity is the biggest thing. I do like Sam Levit, I agree with you. I'm kind of excited to see what he could do in this system, but coming off of like I how long has it been since he's really Played meaningful football. He had a little bit of injury issues here in the offseason. I do think that you know, with with what they've got on the offense, I mean you you've you've got a lot of pieces over there that I think LSU should be able to do just fine with. But for Clemson, I I I do look at Clemson and I think, you know, yeah, they do have a new quarterback having to having to roll out with. but you know, they've got a couple wide receivers and TJ Moore, Bryant Westcoe Jr. you know, they've got a good running back and Gideon Davidson. So, I mean, I think that. there's that there's some potential there on the offense. I don't know. I don't know what we're gonna get from Clemson. So that's my biggest question. Jeremy, I know you kind of picked LSU to be on upset alert. Give us your thoughts on this game. Jeremy Russell: Yeah, I mean there's a lot of definite mixed emotions for I have this game Blake the one thing I do want to throw out for Clemson just to throw this out there like It's one thing to talk about for Clemson just for their running game and we know how it is and just their line But I want to this out there Between their tent like their stars not out between starters and backups nine out of the ten linemen are red shirts like that's that's definitely something you do have to keep into a big effect just because If you want to try and give that quarterback some time here, you definitely need to do need to show that you aren't just a redshirt. That mean like you got to do whatever you can to try and give them some time here. But another thing that I also got to look at, like Clemson's defensive continuity on the front seven, like yeah, Clemson's retool parts of the roster and like they return core defensive playmakers like linebacker Sammy Brown. Like he's just struck the front and contest like the opponent early. But like also LSU debuts. Under new there so that we talk about lane kiffin taking over. mean early season transitions and implementing new playbooks It can lead to disjointing time or communication errors, which is like experience Clemson defensive can exploit But like overall like you got to do whatever you can for this entire this entire game You just can't try and figure it out the first drive. You got to do it through the entire core of the game like also even throw out of like Clemson's Clemson enters the game breaking in a heavy reworked offensive line, like replacing four starters and featuring minimal collective starting experience at key positions. Like LSU is also playing at home in Baton Rouge in front of just, just 102,000 screaming fans. mean, boasting in a dominant record in night games. mean, it's where dreams going to die. Like there's no putting it behind it. Like There's a lot of things that need to happen for both Clemson, mainly for Clemson, I want to say, just to be able to knock off a 11th ranked LSU, just because it's one thing to already go down to the bayou and play in easily the most difficult environment. But Clemson has got to put together a solid game. And if they can find ways to get those pieces of the puzzle going, I think that they can possibly shock. I'm not going to say shock the whole country. But I mean, it would definitely shock a lot of people and give Clemson a big time boost for this upcoming season. Josh Mahler: Yeah, and I don't think it's like Totally far-fetched to believe that Dave O Sweeney could get his guys up for this game and they pull off the upside either. You know, it's it's not like a a a game that is just like so out of reach for Clemson. but there is a lot that that just kind of leans towards LSU. I think a lot of the hype towards LSU, but like you were saying, Blake, I f I do feel like all the outside noise has to come bearing down. That's where I'm I'm nervous. I'm gonna make my pick as if that's not even there. just pretend like that outside noise isn't bothering. them. They're just closing it out because Lane Kiffin is good at blocking out the outside noise. How long was it last season? Like probably the last four or five weeks at least that there was all this talk about him going to Florida or L SU and he still had his players out there every week performing at the top of their game. so you know I I gotta believe that he's gonna be able to do similar here at LSU. Hopefully he can do the same thing. but all right let's let's go into some of the keys because I think that for both sides of the ball Both teams have to have some key things happening for to to be able to win this game. Blake, I'll start it off with you. What do you have for Clemson? what's what's one of the key things that they've got to do well to win this game? Blake: So Clemson they have to go in and they have to play an A plus game. and they also have to do extra credit. All right. Jeremy Russell: You Blake: you y you can't turn the ball over in Death Valley. If you do, that's a recipe for disaster. Like Jeremy said, it's a hundred and two thousand. it's the cathedral of college football. it's calling Baton Rouge. it is the loudest place I've been in to watch a football game. And they're gonna be drunk. All right. I can go ahead and tell you they are going to be absolutely wild. And you have to be on your P's and Q's if you're the Clemson Tigers. You can have fall starts. You can't stay behind the chains. You can't have, you know, pick up five yards on first down and then have a fall start and and you find your yourself behind the chains right there. And once again at second and ten, right? you have to the Xena has to manage this game. You don't have to hit the big play. you just don't turn the ball over, give LSU short fields. Clemson has to establish the line of scrimmage, run the football, and make it dirty, man. Like, you know, I I'm talking about like Clemson's gotta get four yards, like like y you gotta make it muddy and grimy, in this game because this isn't the Clemson of, you know, eight to ten years ago, right? Like this is a different Dabo Sweeney in the NIL era and you don't have the Justin Rosses out there, you know, and You don't you don't have sunshine back there at quarterback, you know. he ain't too far away down there in Jacksonville, but Vicina, yeah, that's what I think it really boils down to is let your defense hold up for as long as they possibly can. Like let your defense keep you in this game. Don't make the brutal mistake. and and Maybe you sneak in and make it a close game in the fourth quarter. Maybe maybe this is a touchdown game in the in the fourth quarter. You know, if you could keep it to seven to ten points in the fourth, and you find yourself in that type of atmosphere in Baton Rouge, maybe something shakes out and Clemson can pull an upset. But that's my keys for Clemson. you just you g ha you have to rely on this defense and you you have to keep yourself ahead of the chains, man. You you've got you've gotta You can't give LSU short fields on sloppy turnovers and mistakes and things like that. Josh Mahler: Yeah. Yeah, to kind of bounce off that too, not not given LSU shortfield and everything. I I think the biggest thing for the offensive staff is just to make sure to set Vazina up for those manageable third downs. you you mentioned not having to go for anything big, not really trying to make a home run play every single play. That's kind of where I'm looking at this. I just take every every snap as getting yards. It doesn't matter how many. You can get you can get five yards every play and guess what? You'll end up in the end zone eventually. You can get three and a half yards every play. And you'll end up in the end zone eventually. So that's all you've got to do, and especially in this game. And like you said, keeping it close. I think if if Clemson can find a way to keep this on the under, I just looked it up. It's at 50 and a half right now. If you can keep it on the under, I like this game for Clemson, man. Like because you're making it kind of dirty, Jeremy Russell: you Josh Mahler: grimy, and you're making it Clemson type football. We know Clemson for having the defenses you know dating back a long time, and of course a lot of that was because of Brent Venables and he's not there anymore, but still Dad Well Sweeney still loves that defensive football and so So I think getting a grimy, just keeping everything manageable. You did hit on on turnovers too. you can't turn it over. Can't turn it over, especially in this game against an offense that I think will be really dangerous. But Jeremy, what do you got for Clemson? What do they gotta do to pull off the upset? Jeremy Russell: I mean for Clemson the biggest thing that they gotta do to upset LSU is show leadership. I mean the one thing you can't sincerely be doing is making arrogant mistakes, drawing flags and like you know LSU is gonna do everything outside of their fans. They're gonna do whatever they can to try and get in your head. Like you're on their turf that Clemson is gonna try and control the game but LSU is just so dominant that they will make it seem like We can do whatever we can Josh Mahler: Mm-hmm. Jeremy Russell: to try and draw you off guard and there's a really really good chance that I want to say a really good chance because we know they will draw them off guard I mean and also having a hundred and two thousand screaming fans Doing whatever they can it's gonna definitely play a big benefactor for this game Just because you try and do those silent counts. We're gonna try and do those sneak plays I mean, it's definitely gonna get a real big-time attribution for some of these guys that are not used to playing a whole bunch I mean this is No other better way to start it than just have 102,000 screaming fans to try and make a big disruption over the entire key of this game. And it could definitely make it or break it where it comes down to crunch time. Josh Mahler: Yeah, I'll start us off with LSU. I think the biggest thing for LSU, because I think all three of us have mentioned it, at least briefly, is that Clemson offensive line is young and inexperienced. They have some new pieces there. There's not a whole lot of continuity. I think the biggest thing for LSU, because they have the offense, we know that. I think looking over at the decent defensive side of the ball is just attack that young offensive line, attack it. And once you start to break that down, it's gonna be really hard to to run the ball. It's gonna be really hard to protect your quarterback. And when it's hard to protect your quarterback, it's hard to keep. him calm and keep him collective and and get him to to make big plays. So you know ultimately I think that's the biggest thing for me is just attack that that young offensive line. But Blake, what do you see for LSU? What do they got to do to win this game? Blake: I think their defense is I think their defense has to dominate, right? And we know Blake Baker, like I mentioned earlier, he's back. I think he's gonna get after Vizina. obviously we know you got DJ Pickett, you got Wit Weeks, you know, those are two names that pop off in the college football world, right? it can LSU get the pressure home, right? And we've mentioned the Clemson offensive line. we've mentioned you know, brand new starting quarterback, hasn't played a whole lot of meaningful snaps and and so that is my concern. for Clemson facing this LSU defense and look, I I don't I don't think Sam Levitt I don't think you have to do much. You have the pieces on offense to go get points. Like I don't need you to go out here and throw for three hundred and fifty yards. I just need you to play consistent football. Right, you're not at Arizona State anymore where you have to go out and you got a score on pretty much every possession, right? 'cause I felt like last year when he was healthy, which wasn't a lot, but in that Mississippi State game, like I felt like it was on his shoulders. Their defense really wasn't, you know, showing up he had to go make a play and all this stuff, like you're you're at a place where your defense is gonna show up, so I think that may take some pressure off of him and you just go play free football. and play consistent football and that's what I look for in LSU. Josh Mahler: Yeah, Jeremy, what does L S you gotta do? Jeremy Russell: I mean, LSU is the biggest thing that they got to do is control their loss of offensive and defensive line front. mean, going on the defensive side, I know Blake, you talked about obviously Blake Baker coming back. I mean, he's about to dial heavy pressure. Like there's, there's no sense of hiding it. He's definitely going to be bringing all the pressure that he can, especially against a young Clemson line. Like what strong front seven overwhelms Clemson, like with being experienced, like we've all seen Clemson, especially like you, I believe it was the other side of Blake. Like we've seen these last. four or five years to where it's just gonna, they're gonna run down your throat and you need to do whatever you can to try and block. there's so much things that can dial up to this, but I mean, the biggest thing overall is LSU's defensive front, being able to come against these young guys that are trying to prove a point to where they're trying to obviously stay in that starting spot and stuff, keep having to flip back and forth between them and their backups. Like it's definitely gonna be fun, obviously with K Club Nick. I mean, in a difficult third down scenarios and limit the Clemson offense. I mean, overall, I'm just mainly looking at LSU's defensive front against Clemson, but it's definitely going to be an interesting one. Josh Mahler: Yeah, all right, let's go ahead and give our score predictions for this. I'll start us off. I think this is gonna be a lot closer than I think a lot of people are predicting. I do think that the continuity matters for LSU and you've got some new pieces there. I do think that they retain enough. I don't think that LSU is going down here in week one. but I I know it's gonna be one that I I believe in Dabo Sweeney to kind of get his guys up for week one and go up there and make this kind of a dogfight. So I'm gonna pick LSU to win this one and a close one. Death Valley is gonna d definitely help them out. Being down in Baton Rouge is gonna help them out. So I'm gonna pick LSU twenty-seven, Clemson twenty-three. Blake, who do you got? Blake: Okay, Josh, I like that. I I as like I said, if Clemson can keep this thing within ten or, you know, something reasonable, right? Going into the fourth quarter, they got a shot. You gotta give yourself a shot, week one, hostile environment, right? I think this could be like a twenty to ten game going into the fourth. I think LSU might score. and put it away at like 27 to 10, maybe a 2717. I I think a lot of people out there are expecting Clemson to get dog walked. And I just don't know how many times we've actually seen that happen during the Dabo era at Clemson. So I think he will have his team ready to play. I just don't think they're strong enough to stay with LSU in Baton Rouge in that environment. Josh Mahler: Jeremy, this was your upset alert. Are you going to make this an upset pick? Who do you got winning this game? Jeremy Russell: Definitely am gonna be making an upset alert here. I got Clemson upsetting LSU I think LSU is gonna start off strong like we like we're kind of expecting here But I think Clemson is gonna be definitely bouncing back I think those young guys are gonna be trying to really prove themselves a point here And I think this game is definitely what they're gonna make I'm getting this a really really close here game and like I mentioned earlier Clemson definitely going to be playing with some redemption after losing them to 17 to 10 last year I'm giving this one a field goal game. I'm going 24-21 Clemson. I think there's some magic going on at the end of the fourth quarter. I could seriously see this being a field goal game, but we'll only have to wait and see. Josh Mahler: Yeah. I think it's gonna be a close one too, and I think it's gonna kind of be that late surge from Clemson to try to make the comeback. I just don't think they're gonna be able to quite do it. But I like it. And and you know what? There's not many coaches that I cheer for and and poll for as much as Dabo Sweeney because Jeremy Russell: Mm-hmm. Josh Mahler: he's just that old school guy, you know, like he he doesn't like the transfer portal as much, you know, and he he he struggles with that and he struggles with the NIL and all this. But you know, I I I like him. I like the old school you know mentality from him. So I cheer for him, and of course everybody's gotta cheer against the villain. Of the NCAA here too. So Lane Kiffin. Jeremy Russell: That's right. Josh Mahler: Let's see how they end up turning out. Tigers vs. Tigers in the real Death Valley. That's the biggest game of the weekend, but it's not all over when the sun goes down. What we like to do here is pick up an after dark game, the Game Day Collective After Dark game. And this one was really easy for me to pick because this one totally felt like Pac 12 after dark. It was one Jeremy Russell: Mm-hmm. Josh Mahler: that just feels like, yeah, okay, conference. Conferences have all changed, college football's changed, but this one still feels the same. We got UCLA at Cal. It's on Saturday night at 10:30 Eastern time. So I mean this game doesn't start until 9 30 Eastern or 9 30 Central time for us. And so I mean it's it's crazy. This is the epitome of what the Pac-12 After Dark felt like. It's two former Pac-12 teams. I absolutely love it. Getting to play super late. It feels like nature is completely healing itself with a game like Like this being played. You know, tonight, as we're recording right now, too. Like tonight, there's the Colorado Georgia Tech game going on really late. Again, that that kind of feel. I know Georgia Tech wasn't a Pac-12 team, but still that that kind of late night feel to these kinds of games, it feels right. But right now I'm looking at this one. You got two new head coaches and Bob Chesney for UCLA and Tash LePoy for Cal. You got two very intriguing quarterbacks and Nico Imaliaba. the former five star, former star over at at Tennessee. And then of course you got Jaron Kiwi. You got it, Blake? Blake: J no, just call him JKS. Jeremy Russell: There you go. Josh Mahler: JKS. All let's go with it. I like it. but anyway, anyways, I think that this is really interesting, really fun. I even spelled his name out. I should have put like spaces because I was practicing it and I was like, I'm gonna I'm gonna nail this once we record it. And everybody's gonna be like, damn, Josh knows how to say people's names that are really hard to say, but that's not the case. anyways, Blake, which new coach do you trust most in this matchup here? UCLA at Cal. Blake: Man, I'm gonna have to go Lou Poy. with his with his experience as a D C, you know, he come from Eugene and and Dan Lanning and I'm gonna take the defensive minded guy. you know, that that's got the the track record of what he's done in his career. I know this is his first crack at being a head coach and and but I like what Cal's offense has, especially at the quarterback position, right? so look Nico's great, I think they improved at the end of last year. They got better as the year went on and and they pulled the the big upset against Penn State and kind of sent that program into a spiral. but look, like you said, the Pac twelve feeling is back with this game. I don't know how it's gonna go. This could be one of those fifty two to forty nine games like Pac twelve after dark, could be bananas, like Don't get up and go to the fridge to get a Coke and a little Debbie because when you come back there could be two two touchdowns that have been scored. All right, just like that. Bang bang. That's how fast the Pac twelve used to roll. And I think that could have the flavor, Saturday n w is it Saturday night or they play Saturday? Maybe. Okay, that might they might, yeah. Josh Mahler: I think Saturday night. That's what I had written down. Yeah, I had written down Saturday, but I could be wrong. It's it's throwing me off with games Thursday through Monday. So yeah, it's it's throwing me off. Blake: Yeah. Yeah. That's why I like, when do they play? but yeah, i I mean, this could be a battle of going back and forth, but look, I like what Cal did last year and I'm gonna roll with the Bears. I think they're at home, which the way their fans show up, that's not really saying much. But gimme Cal, man. Josh Mahler: Yeah. Jeremy, who do you got which which which exciting quarterback are you rolling with? Jeremy Russell: I'm honestly looking forward towards Nico Lama Leva, obviously coming from former Tennessee transfer returns as a starter. mean, following a 25 season with almost just under 2000 yards, was like 1950 something like that with 13 touchdowns. Like, don't get me wrong. It's definitely fun to see on both sides of the ball, but also to go back a little bit. Like another thing I do want to mention is like you got all these massive transfer portal turnovers like between both UCLA and Cal adding over 30 transfers each during the off season. With the Bruins bringing in 43 new faces and the Golden Bears adding 32 to completely reconstruct their rosters. Like you're honestly set up for anything that could happen. Like Blake said, the last thing you want to do is go get a Coke and a little Debbie. mean, you could have six touchdowns for all that you know and you feel like you were gone for only 30 seconds. But it's definitely really, really fun to see. I'm really looking forward to seeing Nico and seeing what he can do. Obviously, like I said, coming from former Tennessee transfer. I mean, he knows how to sling the rock. He knows how to play under pressure. It's definitely going to be a really, really fun atmosphere in my opinion. Josh Mahler: What's your score prediction? Jeremy Russell: My score prediction, honestly following it up, I'm going, I'm 42 to 28. I'm going, I'm going with it being Josh Mahler: man. Jeremy Russell: a gun battle. Josh Mahler: Yeah, nice. I mean I I I originally Blake: Okay. Josh Mahler: wrote down twenty eight twenty-four and Blake kinda talked me in like, yeah, duh. I it's been so long since Pac twelve after dark. I'm going thirty-eight thirty-four. So I think it's gonna be a close game. Blake: Okay. Josh Mahler: I think it's tough, but higher scoring. Blake: I I was gonna go forty one thirty eight cow. Josh Mahler: 4130. I love it. I mean, I I hope so, man. I because it's hard. I mean, that's the reason why we need those Pac-12 games to be so late because they're going to be high scoring and everything. And it's like, man, I got to go to sleep. I'm tired. man, all this excitement. And it keeps you awake. So, you know, I'm I'm looking forward to it. I'm excited. I think this is, like I said, it feels like nature's healing itself here with games like this. Alright, we're gonna go on to the game day collective pick'em board. This is just kind of be rapid fire. you can give a little bit of an explanation. explanation. Don't need to spend too too too much time on it, especially here in week one. I feel like a lot of these kind of feel a little bit more just kinda given. it was hard to really find like really solid games here in week one with some of the weaker w matchups, but we do have some fun ones. Blake will start off with your Auburn Tigers. Baylor at Auburn. I mean I think you look at this game, I mean, I I like the the more that I've seen from Goalish and everything that's going on at Auburn, I'm starting to like Auburn a little bit more, but I feel like I do this every time they get that new coach in the door. And sometimes they do start off on the right foot and you start to like and you start to like the direction they're going. I'm still picking Baylor or or sorry, still picking Auburn to beat Baylor in this one. I think that Auburn gets off to the right foot. You think of these two teams both having a five win season last year, I believe. So I think the Auburn gets off the right foot. I'm going to pick Auburn in kind of a higher scoring game. I'm going to pick 34-23. Blake: Love that, Josh. I just want to see Byron Brown go out and and be successful, throw the football around. You know, last year we ran it down Baylor's throat, and it kind of gave us some false hope that we were we were back, we had found our quarterback, and it just didn't work out. I don't think Hugh Freeze did a great job last year with Jackson Arnold. but I just want I don't want I want to see the Josh Mahler: You don't think you don't think he did a great job? I just thought that that was funny. funny yeah, he didn't do he didn't do he did yeah, he didn't even do the job. He just neglected everything. Yeah. He was on the golf course. Blake: Yeah, he didn't do a job at all. Yeah. He didn't do a job at all. Yeah. He he didn't do a job, period. Yeah, he didn't do a job at all. Yeah. He he didn't. He played golf. Yeah, he played golf all the time. Jeremy Russell: He... No. He didn't even show up. Exactly. Blake: but I I just wanna see a fluid offense, right? I I believe in our defense with DJ Durkin. I think that that will win us some games, right? Just like it did last year. it and it it had us in some games that we should have won, I felt like, right? I think we lost man one score game after one sc one score game. but I like Auburn in this game. I am a little interested to see how the whole South Florida to Auburn thing works and you know, that'll tell us as the season goes on. But gimme Auburn gimme Auburn thirty four gimme Auburn thirty four to seventeen. Josh Mahler: I like it. Jeremy, what's your pick for Auburn? I guess Baylor at Auburn. I will say it the other way around. Jeremy Russell: I'm just gonna make this... it's a neutral sight game. Blake: W We play in Atlanta. It's neutral site. Yeah, it's neutral site. Yeah, we Josh Mahler: yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's right. It is a it Blake: play it in Atlanta. Yeah. Josh Mahler: is neutral site. It's the Chick-fil-A game, right? Or AfLAC maybe this year? Whatever the whatever the kickoff game is. Yeah, I forgot about that. Blake: Yeah, I think so. I I just know they they paid the NIL money and we got to move it to Atlanta 'cause we took a a a payment, so Josh Mahler: Yeah, yeah, that I mean we could talk about neutral site games and you know, especially opening day another day, but who do you got in this one? Neutral s neutral games, I mean that does maybe change my my perspective a little bit, but I'd I I still like Auburn to win this one. Jeremy Russell: Yeah, I mean, it definitely kind of made me rethink a little bit, being neutral site game. But I mean, still, we've all talked about Auburn. I'm just going to make this real short and sweet. Ward AM Eagle. I'm just going to go with Auburn here. Just make it easy. mean, I think, don't get me wrong, Baylor is not a team to definitely slouch on. They can definitely surprise a lot of people. But I think when it comes to Auburn and their seniority and how much that they got a lot on their team. Give me Auburn 3821, I'm going with Auburn here. Josh Mahler: All right, I like it. let's move down to Boise State at Oregon. I think Oregon coming in as the number two team in the nation. they got Dante Moore who returns after throwing for nearly seventy two percent of his passes. I mean, it's at Odson Stadium. I I do think that Boise is good enough to kinda be one of those teams that you don't want to completely overlook. And I know that they scared Oregon, what was it, last year or the year before, kinda scared them a little bit, but they don't have Ashton Genty anymore. They don't have you know, this is this is a different team. I think that this Oregon team is very dangerous. I think they're gonna be one of the the most highly anticipated teams to watch here early on in the season. I'm looking forward to that Ohio State Oregon game whenever they go to Columbus. I think that's gonna be huge later on this year. Give me Oregon. I'm gonna pick Oregon big. I think Oregon's gonna take this one 41-20. Jeremy, what do you got? Jeremy Russell: I mean, I talked about this earlier, but Oregon being number two there, they have, if they lose this game, then Oregon is probably going to, the state's going to burn down. But I mean, it's definitely going to be one of those moments to where Oregon is going to be definitely coming out heavy and they're going to show that they're here to meet business. real, my realistic score, give me Oregon 42 to 21, but in hindsight, in the words of Pat McAfee, give me Oregon by a million. Josh Mahler: Blake, what is what's your pick? Blake: Done. Ducks by infinity. Josh Mahler: Ha ha Blake: I just don't think this is the same Boise program. I could be totally wrong. Haven't really looked at a whole lot. I just think this is with everything that Oregon brings back on the offensive side of the ball, I don't see Boise slowing them down. It's in Austin. have fun, dude. The the ducks are locked in, especially after the way they got embarrassed last year. they're about they're about to handle business against Boise. Gimme give me the Ducks I'll take Oregon man. I I think they're gonna put up a lot of points. Give me the ducks forty five to twenty. Josh Mahler: See, organ got embarrassed the last two years though, so you can't just keep on using that. You know, they got Blake: Th that that is true. That is true. I do think two years ago they got rooked though, with having to play Ohio State in the second round. Like I mean Josh Mahler: Yeah, yeah, that was ridiculous. Jeremy Russell: Yeah. Blake: and I know some people are like, well you eventually were gonna have to play I get that, but I mean you were the number one team, like you would beat in the regular season and then you just gotta turn right back around and play in the Josh Mahler: Yeah. Blake: second round. Like that just didn't make a whole lot of sense. But It happened and and last year against Indiana, I don't know what that was, dude. Like that I mean, Indiana was on a mission, that's all I can say. Josh Mahler: That I mean, the the the coolest story in college football. I mean I just I mean I don't know. There's not there's not a greater one in my opinion. anyways, let's go on to Oklahoma State at Tulsa. Blake, I'll let you lead us off with this one. What's your pick, Oklahoma State at Tulsa? Really? Blake: Dude, take Tulsa. I I don't d d I don't I don't know any d a whole lot about Tulsa. but I'll tell you this, I do not believe in Oklahoma State at all. I don't believe in that program any longer. I I think I think Gundy and I I know he's not there anymore. but I think he turned it into a clown show. Josh Mahler: Yeah. Blake: the the longer he stayed there, I felt like they should have cut ties with him way long ago. Josh Mahler: Well and then wasn't it Blake: And they Josh Mahler: like a mutual split too? Like it wasn't like we're not fi we're not firing him, we're Jeremy Russell: mutual. Josh Mahler: just gonna Blake: Yeah. It it just turned into a just I mean, awful, right? And I just don't think that they're just gonna come in and turn this thing around and and you know, in a short amount of time and I still think they got a ways Josh Mahler: I mean this is Blake: to go. Josh Mahler: This is a totally different Oklahoma State team too. I mean, it's it's gonna be really Blake: It is. Josh Mahler: hard to be able to bounce bounce back from anything. I I the more I looked into Eric Morris and what he's doing there though, I like him. And of course him bringing Drew Mestemaker over with him, I think that was a huge move. He he's like one of the biggest under the radar players just because he played at North Texas. So I like what they they bring in. I I do think that, you know, seeing them as like a I th I think at one point I saw them as like a fifteen point fifty. Favorite in this game. I don't know. I do think that this is going to be more of like a pick'em between the two, but I'm going to pick Oklahoma State to win this game. I think they're going to finally start to turn things around. I talked about Oklahoma State earlier on, thinking that I think Eric Morris finally brings some seriousness and like a serious college football feel to this program that, like you, you were mentioning with Mike Gundy, just did not have for a while under Oklahoma State. So yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna pick Oklahoma to beat. It's Tulsa too. I don't know too much about Tulsa. There, but I know that it's just Tulsa. So I'm gonna say 3824. Yeah, go for it. I see you smirking over there. Blake: Can I say something real quick, guys? so y'all do Jeremy Russell: Go for it. Blake: y'all remember in the off season when Akron like, Hey, we're gonna let a fan call the first drive? My Josh Mahler: Yeah. Blake: brother my brother just tex he just texted me and said Akron's first drive went five plays for eighteen yards, just not good play calling from the fan. yeah. Josh Mahler: my goodness. And everybody was cheering for that guy too. my Jeremy Russell: my gosh. Josh Mahler: goodness. That's that's funny. I'm I'm sad. I'm sad Jeremy Russell: That's crazy. Josh Mahler: we missed it too. I'm gonna have to rewind, go back to it. Jeremy Russell: Me too. Josh Mahler: Jeremy, what's your pick here? Oklahoma State at Tulsa, all the way up the road to Tulsa. Jeremy Russell: I mean, honestly, whenever I talk about Oklahoma, whether it be Oklahoma State, Tulsa, OU, the only one I really care mainly about is Boomer Sooner. But in reality, Josh Mahler: The only real football team in the state. I mean, the only real baseball team in the state too. National champs, baby. Jeremy Russell: I was gonna say you can't forget those national champions, but if I had to pick between Oklahoma State and Tulsa, I'm still sticking with Tulsa. mean, I think this is gonna be a little bit closer. Give me 21-14. I mean, you look at last year, Tulsa beat OK State 19 to 12. I mean, like Josh Mahler: Yeah. Jeremy Russell: there's definitely some blood in the water after last year, but I think that Tulsa is just gonna ride it out and get 21-14. Josh Mahler: I'm thinking this is going to be high scoring. I think it's going to be like a sloppy high-scoring game. And it's like I Jeremy Russell: Really? Josh Mahler: picked 38-24, but I feel like it's going to be really sloppy high score. You know, like it's going to be like old Oklahoma type of feeling games, like when Lincoln Riley was just, you know, saying, hey, let's try to win every game by offense. but I don't know, it's it's gonna be interesting. I'm I am interested to see. I hope Oklahoma State can bring their program back to something because they're talking about trying to make that that rivalry, that bedlam. something again but anyways we already covered Clemson LSU so I won't do anything more than that I'm not gonna spend much more time there. I put that in our pick'em but we'll we'll mark that down as one of the games that we picked. and then we got Washington State at Washington. The Apple Cup this is kind of interesting to have a rivalry game week one. Right now I think Washington is a twenty three and a half point favorite. So this is crazy. I I think bring him back Enough pieces there at Washington to make everything really feel good. I like Washington pretty pretty well in this one. I'm gonna pick them big. I'm gonna pick Washington thirty eight seventeen. Blake, what's your pick? Blake: Yeah, I'll take Washington in this one. the only thing that kinda st sticks out to me is are there still problems with the quarterback trying to leave and then coming back? Or I can't remember off the top of Josh Mahler: Yeah, w I f I was drawing a blink on his name. What was it? is it Demon Williams or Jeremy Russell: I want to say it's Demon Williams. Blake: my head. Ma okay. But it's something like that. Damond or s yeah. Yeah. Josh Mahler: D or D Demond, d something like that. Yeah, I can't r I can't remember his name now. It's yeah, like I I I wondered Jeremy Russell: something. Josh Mahler: about that when he chose to stay. Like I this is so weird to me. Like, no, you we're d Blake: Yeah. Josh Mahler: which it I I like the fact that Washington did that. They they set some ground rules and said, No, you're sticking around. Blake: Yeah, they s yeah. Josh Mahler: That's what we need, Jeremy Russell: Mm-hmm. Josh Mahler: man. But Blake: Yeah, you signed a you signed a deal, so you're gonna stick it out, right? that's Josh Mahler: Yeah. Yeah. Blake: the way it should be. And I I feel like, you know, he wanted to leave, so how does your teammates take that? Do do they you know, do you really wanna be there? I know it's off season stuff, but I don't think they have a problem in this game, but I do wanna watch how it progresses throughout the season, because college football is in a weird place right now with all the moving around and people going to different schools and playing for seven different schools and things like that. So the Apple Cup has awesome juice since we lost that Pac twelve you know, rivalry, but i they still try to keep it around. Washington State kind of in a bad spot here. Gimme Washington I'll say gimme Washington thirty seven to seventeen. Josh Mahler: I like it. Jeremy, what's your pick? And by the way, it was Damond Williams. Damond Williams Jr. I I was like I c I Jeremy Russell: Okay. Josh Mahler: can't remember his name for sure, but Jeremy, what's your pick? Jeremy Russell: I mean, it's obviously about Washington here. mean, who's the real thing that I'm going to find out which Apple is going to fall farther off the tree for either of these teams? I mean, you look at both sides of the both sides of the teams here, like each of them obviously have their strengths, their weaknesses. And the biggest thing that I am really glad to see is them drawing the line, the sand is saying this is what you're going to do. So suck it up and deal with it here. Like, but still at the end of the day, give me Washington over Washington state. got 3514. Josh Mahler: Like it. Alright. Going up to Lambeau Field. This is going to be an exciting one, a fun one to watch. the color rush jerseys and everything. I think it's going to be fun. I think Notre Dame, I I I've I really like Marcus Freeman. I really like what he's doing there. Notre Dame is one of the teams I do not like in college football, but he makes me like him. So I love I love what what he's doing up there, what Marcus Freeman's doing up there in North Bend as I like to call it. just because it's in the north doesn't make any sense that it's called the South Bend. But bringing CJ Carr in. I think he's a legitimate Heisman candidate this year, getting some experience under his belt. They don't have to lean on the run anymore because they've they can trust him a lot more this year. I'm picking Notre Dame really big in this game. I think there's a reason why they're a twenty a a twenty and a half point favorite. I'm gonna pick Notre Dame thirty-one thirteen in this one. Blake, what's your pick? Blake: the best uniform in college football is the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Golden Domers. I know some people disagree, but I just absolutely love their uniforms. It's at Lambo. CJ Carr is gonna be slinging it around. Luke Fickle's over there on the sideline. He don't know what he's doing there. see ya, bozo. Get out of town. Josh Mahler: Yeah. Jeremy Russell: You Blake: Notre Dame beats them to death, brother. G man, gimme Notre Dame like 35 to 10, dude. Josh Mahler: Jeremy, what's your pick? Jeremy Russell: I mean, Josh, you and I got the opportunity to go see touchdown Jesus over in, or as you call it, North AKA South Bend. I mean, it definitely was an unreal sight to see, but obviously being over at Lambeau, lot of people can think, there's not touchdown Jesus. What are we going to do? But still Notre Dame is just going to walk in with their luck of the Irish and they were going to honestly dominate this game in my opinion. Give me, give me 42 to 14. I can honestly see this game going. Josh Mahler: Yeah. the game that I picked as my upset alert, I do think that Ole Miss is on upset alert because they are the favored team in this game. I think you look at this. I think Louisville scares me a little bit if I'm Ole Miss coming into this game. It's gonna be played in Nashville. Again, another neutral site game. we can talk about that another day, but I'm still gonna pick Ole Miss to win this one. I think they're gonna squeeze out of it. I think this is gonna be kind of like a really close 31-27. I'm gonna pick I feel like I'm picking just over like a three and a half point spread on all these close games. But I'm gonna pick Ole Miss to squeeze out of this one in week one over Louisville in Nashville, thirty-one twenty seven. Blake, what's your pick? Blake: As long as six suits up, Trinidad Chambliss, gimme the ribs, man. That don't get me wrong. I would love to see the Louisville Cardinals go in and sneak one out. but as long as Keewan Lacey and Trinidad are in that backfield for Ole Miss, I just think they got too much firepower. I am interested to watch this Ole Miss defense. I I d I don't know if it's gonna be as good as it was last year, you know. I mean They weren't great last year, but they were definitely better than what Ole Miss has been. excited to see that. I know I know Louisville's gonna try to come in and they're gonna try to score on Ole Miss and they're gonna try to make this a shootout probably. And I'm excited to watch it. I think this is gonna be a a heck of a game. Gimme Ole Miss I'm gonna get weird here. Gimme Ole Miss 33 to 31. That's just that's just what I'm feeling. I'm gonna get weird. Josh Mahler: Okay, yeah, real real close game. Yeah. Yeah, it's a I like it. Jeremy, do you think that Lane Kiffin's departure matters too much for Ole Miss to win this game or you think they come out on top? Jeremy Russell: I still think that they do come out on top. can you can do whatever you whatever the case may be. Like it's still going to be a dominant game on both sides of the ball here. But still, when you talk about Chambliss, I mean, we saw what he did last year. He was just an absolute dynamite of a firepower. Like if that happens, then it's it's going to be game over for the game even honestly starts. But still give me Ole Miss over Louisville. I'm going with a close one here. I got twenty four twenty one. Josh Mahler: it. all right, going on to the last one. I know that this was Blake's upset pick and he already kinda went there. Or no, this wasn't your upset. Right? Is that what it was? Blake: SMU in Florida State? Yeah, yeah, SMU is my lot. Yeah, SMU is my lot. Josh Mahler: Yeah. It was one of the two, right? Yeah. So so you know, I know I know you already kinda went down this run, but I I know that SMU's favored. I know that I should not trust FSU, but when I was going through this one I I originally had penciled in SMU to win this game and I thought about it I kinda wonder if getting to work out some of the the the kinks in w and week zero helps Florida State get over. I mean I I don't trust Florida State at all and I do not trust this pick at all. I think this is gonna be a wrong pick. I'm gonna pick Florida State to win 30 to 27 close game only because I wonder if being able to go back and watch your actual game film and be like guys we sucked what is going on here here and here and get it fixed if that matters more than coming in fresh. off the off the preseason and rolling right into and and I believe this is at Florida State too so I don't know if that helps him at all. I don't know if the Florida State fans are finally gonna show up this year. I'm gonna make a mistake and and pick Florida State in this game. Jeremy who do you got? Jeremy Russell: I I was kind of contemplating back and forth between this game with SMU and Florida State, overall, like, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna go out of this. I'm gonna give it a walk off here. And the thing is, I'm not regretting this pick, but anything's possible, especially in week one of college football. Give me Florida State over SMU. I think it could be, I'm going with 24-21 again. I think that there could be some magic that can happen here. Josh Mahler: I like it. Alright, this is gonna be a fun slate of week one. If if nothing else, whoever your team is, they're playing this weekend. It's a long weekend. You get to enjoy it. You get to enjoy from as we're recording and the day before this release is you get to enjoy from Thursday all the way through Monday with college football on all day. Just sit on the couch, drink a cold one, chill out, just enjoy it. College football's back. but that'll do it for this edition of the Game Day Collective College Football Show. We appreciate everybody so much. Much for tuning in. Make sure to subscribe on YouTube, follow on the podcast, leave us a five five-star review wherever you're listening, and follow Game Day Collective on X, Instagram, Facebook, all that fun stuff. And visit gamedaycollective.media for more college football coverage throughout the week and so much more. We've got a lot added over there. You can see live scores, rankings. That's the Game Day Collective rankings, AP rankings, all that, stats, everything over there. So go check it out. and remember the conversation doesn't end when the show does. Welcome into the collective. I'm Josh Mahler, joined with Jeremy Russell and Blake Lane. We'll catch you on the next one.