There are some classics to open the season this weekend. ‘Bama goes for four out of  five this year as they open in the Georgia Dome in the Chick-fil-A Classic against Virginia Tech. A.J. McCarron is 26-2 as a starter for the Crimson Tide with two straight national championships under his belt. He has had and will have this year a Mac truck load of talent around him, but 30 TDs and three ints last year is some pretty elite stuff. You have got to give him his due. He’s been phenomenal. AU opens in a very interesting contest at home against Washington State. What will Nick Marshall do under center? Can he create big play capability and not make mistakes allowing his running backs to capitalize behind an offensive line that should be younger, pretty good this year. Will the AU defense be good enough to slow down the aerial assault that Mike Leach and his Cougar team will deploy?  Other key games include Ole Miss at Vandy tonight, Mississippi State vs Oklahoma State Saturday afternoon, LSU-TCU in Arlington Texas Saturday Night, and a gigantic tilt in Death Valley in Clemson as the Clemson Tigers host the Dawgs in what could be an offensive showcase. Here’s a look at this weeks’ contests:

Last year: 152-44 (78%)

 

No.1 Alabama vs. Virginia Tech

Where: Georgia Dome, Atlanta (Chick-fil-A Classic)

Time: 4:30 PM CT

Network: ESPN

Line: Alabama by 20

The Tide has two areas of concern: the offensive line is breaking in three new staters. Arie Kuondijo will start at left guard alongside All-American Cyrus, his brother, who will guard A.J. blind side at left tackle. Ryan Kelly will start at center and Austin Shepherd will start at right tackle alongside steady veteran Anthony Steen, who will man the right guard spot. The Va. Tech defense is pretty good, but the Alabama line will be good; how soon they will be is a key storyline. All five guys have great size; it’s just a matter of getting the chemistry right. A.J. and Kelly’s chemistry will be something to watch. A.J. was used to the elite play and leadership of Barrett Jones, so we’ll see how A.J. and Kelly  work together. Also Shepherd and Arie must replace NFL first round draft picks Chance Warmack and D.J. Fluker. The other thing to look for is who will be the second back behind Heisman candidate T.J. Yeldon. There is a stable full. Jalston Fowler is listed second on the depth chart, but I’m thinking that Derrick Henry is going to assume the second back role at some point; maybe not this game, but eventually. Then you have Altee Tenpenny and Dee Hart. There’s Alvin Kamara and Tyren Jones as well and Kenyon Drake, who looks like he’s really dropped down on the depth chart. It just shows how good this team is at running back. There are six backs who could start for about anybody in the country and Yeldon looks like a high first round pick in 2015 if he can stay healthy. Wide receiver is loaded led by Amari Cooper. Tight end will be Brian Vogler and O.j. Howard or Brandon Greene. O.J is a five-star freshman who came in as an early enrollee and is probably the elite tight end of the future. Defense is stacked on the line. Linebacker C.J. Mosley and safeties Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Vinnie Sunseri are the leaders, but you also have beasts like Jeoffrey Pagan, Adrian Hubbard, Brandon Ivory and Ed Stinson manning the front wall along with a dominating, talented second and even third string. Deion Belue and John Fulton will be the corners; both can really play. Expect good things out of the them. Va. Tech has the NFL potential quarterback Logan Thomas, as far  as physicality goes. Thomas is 6’6″, 254. But he’s prone to throw interceptions and Clinton-Dix, Sunseri, Belue and Fulton can get some picks off Thomas. The Hokie defense is solid, but their offensive line is banged up and is not great. I expect the Tide to dominate with their defense, running game and well-timed play action passes that will lead to big plays. Alabama gets through game one in good shape as A.J. and T.J. and even Amari shoot for their third (A.J.) and second national titles (T.J. and Amari) respectively, and make an early case for each one of their Heisman candidacies.

Bama 41, Va. Tech 14

 

Washington State @Auburn

Where: Jordan-Hare Stadium, Pat Dye Field, the Plains

Time: 6 PM CT

Network: ESPNU

Line: AU by 15 1/2

Nick Marshall takes over at signal caller in the Gus Malzahn debut. Marshall threw 18 touchdowns and 20 interceptions last year at Garden City Community College in Kansas. He ran for over 1,100 yards and led his team to a 7-5 record. I questioned this decision to start Marshall due to his accuracy issues. So it’ll be interesting to see how Marshall handles playing in front of 87,000 fans, who will be pulling for him, but will bring some added pressure. But AU can certainly run it behind stellar center Reese Dismukes and a talented albeit young offensive line. Tailbacks Tre Mason and Cameron Artis-Payne should have good nights against the Cougars’ defense. The AU secondary will be tested by the Cougar passing attack led by quarterback Connor Halliday who threw for 15 touchdowns but 13 interceptions in nine games as a starter last year on a team that finished 3-9. But the Cougars have some playmakers. They can cause the AU defense some problems. But like Auburn to grind it out on the ground and Marshall to make some plays with his feet and maybe a big play or two in the air. The Auburn receiving corps is not deep, but Quan Bray, Jaylen Denson and Sammy Coates are good players. I like a pretty close ball game due to the fact that Marshall is in his initial start. Going with the Tigers, but I like the Cougars to make it close.

Auburn 34, Washington State 27

Tonight:

North Carolina @ No.6 South Carolina

Where: Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC

Time: 5 PM CT

Network: ESPN

Line: SC 12 1/2

Like Ball Coach to have his best offense he’s had at South Carolina. North Carolina is improving and will be a good program soon under Larry Fedora, but the Gamecocks have solid quarterback play with Connor Shaw as the runner and playmaker, and Dylan Thompson as the passer. Mike Davis will be a heckuva running back this year and there is a talented wide receiver and tight end group. Of course, you’ve got the game- changer on the other side of the ball in Jadeveon Clowney. It’s a defense much like Georiga’s and LSU’s which will develop with some young players, but the key for the Gamecocks and the edge they have over those other two teams is their potential Heisman Trophy winner in Clowney. Clowney will be dominant. Teams will key on him, so he may not put up the massive numbers he put up last year, but his impact will be felt throughout the game when North Carolina is on offense and against offenses in the future this season. I like SC and Alabama in the SEC Championship game. Love this offense. Love Clowney. Who doesn’t?

Ball Coach 34, UNC 21

 

Ole Miss @ Vanderbilt

Where: Dudley Field, Nashville, Tennessee

Time: 8:15 PM CT

Network: ESPN

Line: Rebels by 3 1/2 

The Rebs are the favorite and they have 19 of 22 starters returning, but I like this Vanderbilt team. Austyn Carta-Samuels takes over at quarterback this year and he’s a confident leader with a cannon and a good running ability. Ole Miss qb Bo Wallace had a pretty good year last year and he’s got some good targets to throw to led by wide out Donte Moncrief. Jeff Scott returns at running back. They’ve got a good offense. But I really like this Vandy defense. Think they can be pretty good. Two guys to watch for in the VU secondary are cornerback Andre Hal and safety Kenny Ladler. Their d line is talented this year and  the VU o line is pretty loaded up as well; unusual for Vanderbilt. But it’s a new era for Vanderbilt football. Vandy will be missing wide receiver Chris Boyd, which is a loss. Boyd has been suspended from the team for his involvement in the coverup of the sexual assault this summer. But potential All-American Jordan Matthews will be out wide and VU needs another receiver or two to step up. Jonathan Krause could be that guy. They’ll have to run the ball well They lost Zac Stacy to graduation and the NFL. They’ll use three guys. Ole Miss will start the top player in the country coming out of high school last year, defensive end Robert Nkemdiche, so it’ll be interesting to see how he performs. He’s 6’5″, 294, so he has the college physicality for sure. His brother, Denzel, an outside  linebacker, is an exceptional player. I’m expecting a stellar game. Vandy has beaten Ole Miss five out of the last six times they’ve played since 2007. I think they do it again.

Vandy 28, Ole Miss 27

 

Mississippi State vs. No.13 Oklahoma State

Where: Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas (Buy Advocare Texas Kickoff)

Time: 2:30 PM

Network: ABC or ESPN2

Line: Ok. State by 12 1/2

State has a good team with a lot of size on both line and this’ll be a good game. The Cowboys have a lot of speed though, and as much as I want to pick State, I can’t do it. I like Tyler Russell, but he’s not consistent enough yet. Maybe that’ll come this season. Expect a good game though.

Addendum:I’ve looked at some State film in the past couple of days and really like what I’m seeing. Really like their offense Going with the upset.There are going to be a lot of points scored in this one.

 State 42, Ok.State 41

No.12 LSU vs. No.20 TCU

Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas (Cowboys Kickoff Classic)

Time: 8 PM CT

Network: ESPN

Line: LSU by 4 1/2

Like this matchup here. Pretty marquee game. Will Zach Mettenberger be the quarterback LSU expected him to be when he came in two years ago? Their running game is still excellent with Kenny Hilliard, Alfred Blue and Jeremy Hill, who is back on the team after beating somebody up earlier this summer. This was after a sexual assault case a year and a half ago. Les left it up to the team and amazingly they voted him back on. Right. Guess they want to win. The receivers are good led by Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry. Defense lost a ton of players, but it’s probably reloaded pretty well. But this is a good team they’re playing. Casey Pachall is back on the team at quarterback after coming back from personal problems of his own that were drug related. He’s a good quarterback. And Gary Patterson always has a good defense and returns nine of 11 starters. Should be a very tightly contested, hard fought game. I like the Bengal Tigers to prevail, but not by much.

LSU 24, TCU 21

 

No.5 Georgia @ No.8 Clemson

Where: Clemson Stadium (Death Valley), Clemson, South Carolina

Time: 8 PM CT

Network: ABC

Line: Dawgs by 1 1/2

A lot of people are liking Clemson here and there is a lot to like about this Clemson team. Tajh Boyd threw for almost 4,,000 yards last year and 36 TDs. Sammy Watkins is superb at wide receiver. They did lose running back Andre Ellington to graduation, so they’ll have a new tailback Rod McDowell. Clemson has a lot of weapons on offense, but this Georgia team is also loaded on offense. Aaron Murray and Todd Gurley start their Heisman campaigns this season. Murray threw for almost 4,00o yards and 36 TDs as well last year and Gurley ran for 1,385 yards and 17 TDs. The o line is back in tact, Malcolm Mitchell is a playmaker on the perimeter and Chris Conley and Michael Bennett give the Dawgs more options on the outside. Both are excellent receivers. Aaron Lynch is terrific at tight end and his backup Jay Rome is a playmaker too. The defenses will be highly tested in this game. Both are unproven, but athletic. It’ll be a classic. Like Murray, Gurley and the Dawgs to survive Clemson barely and move on to an epic clash with the Gamecocks in Athens next week.

Dawgs 34, Clemson 31

 

Other games:

Florida 42, Toledo 10

A&M (Manziel-less for a half) 48, Rice 21

UT (Knoxville) 42, Austin Peay 7

Kentucky 35, Western Ky. 28

Arkansas 31, Louisiana Lafayette 30

Missouri 45, Murray State 20

Troy 38, UAB 28

Boise State 34, Washington 30

Northwestern 38, Cal 35

Florida State 31, Pitt 10