Nasty’s Thursday Night Recap: Boise State at UCF was an absolute thriller! Boise State looked unstoppable in the first half and it looked like there was a chance they were going to open the flood gates in Orlando. UCF came out in the second half and had some major adjustments on defense. I was tremendously impressed with the grit Gus Malzahn’s guys showed in the second half to rally back from 14 at halftime. Ohio State has some serious firepower on that offense. I know a lot of people expected more of a blowout from the Buckeyes against Minnesota, but I give them some leeway with it being the season opener on the road in Minneapolis in the rain. Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson and wide receiver Chris Olave both scored two touchdowns and showcased their NFL level speed. Arizona State took care of business against Southern Utah as expected. The Sun Devil defense was not as strong as people hoped to see. ASU was able to force 4 turnovers to get off the field, but they were giving up to many yards to a Southern Utah team before the game was a blowout. Defense is always the main problem for ASU, so we will see how the defense looks, especially the secondary, when they play a better opponent.
Chilly’s Thursday Night Recap: My game of the night was a quite depressing if you are a USF fan. Now on the other hand NC State looked like they are going to be a force in the ACC this season. The Wildpack had two backs over 100 yards last night as USF had ZERO answers for the rushing attack. USF is not a good team by any stretch this year, but it was still an impressive win by NC State. Utah looked fantastic up front stopping the run last night against Weber State, but had a tough time stopping the pass. The Utes gave up over 200 passing yards to Weber State. While the offense was dominating they did not really break this one open until the third quarter. Utah had a tough time getting off the field defensively in the first half which kept Weber State around longer than they would have liked. Utah is gonna have to tighten some things up on the defensive end moving towards conference play.
Nasty’s Friday Night Outlook: Kansas opening up their season at home tonight against South Dakota is a good chance for them to prove that they are now a team above FCS caliber teams. The Jayhawks have a new coach in Lance Leipold this season after a disastrous two seasons from Les Miles. Not a lot of people have faith in the Jayhawks for this upcoming season, but I would like to see them prove they are clearly out of the FCS talent level they have been playing at the last few seasons. My game of the night has to be Michigan State at Northwestern. Big 10 conference play in week 1 is hard to not get excited about and getting to see last years Big 10 runner up open the season at home in conference play does it for me. Many project Michigan State to have another underwhelming season, so we will see how they look as they travel to Evanston week 1.
Chilly’s Friday Night Outlook: Here comes the ACC bias in me, but I am excited for Duke at Charlotte. Duke travelling to Charlotte’s home field intrigues me because I think Charlotte can pull this upset. Duke was one of the most sacked teams in the entire country last year and do not expect any differently this year. The Blue Devils lack the skill and depth upfront as a unit to protect the QB and, honestly, to establish a run game either. Charlotte did not have a great season last year during COVID, but they did go 7-6 the previous year and made their first ever bowl appearance at the Bahamas Bowl. This game could be one where Duke is fighting for their life heading into the 4th quarter. My game of the night has to be North Carolina at Virginia Tech. We have Sam Howell, the Heisman hopeful, and the number 10 team in the country going on the road for an in-conference battle, how can this not be anyone’s game of the week. I can’t believe Nasty picked any game over this! North Carolina should ultimately handle business, but the atmosphere in Blacksburg is different than almost anywhere in the country. A win for Howell at Virginia Tech will be a nice start for his Heisman campaign.
All the picks we do will be for the games that include a ranked team, a power 5 team, or a popular team.
#10 North Carolina @ Virginia Tech – 6PM – ESPN
- Nasty: UNC
- Chilly: UNC
Duke @ Charlotte – 7PM – CBSSN
- Nasty: Duke
- Chilly: Charlotte
Old Dominion @ Wake Forest – 7PM – ACCN
- Nasty: Wake Forest
- Chilly: Wake Forest
South Dakota @ Kansas – 8PM – BIG12N/ESPN+
- Nasty: South Dakota
- Chilly: Kansas
Michigan State @ Northwestern – 9PM – ESPN
- Nasty: Northwestern
- Chilly: Michigan State
Northern Colorado @ Colorado – 9PM – PAC12N
- Nasty: Colorado
- Chilly: Colorado
Overall Records
- Nasty: 11-1
- Chilly: 9-3
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