73 Point Underdogs!
This weekend is the official opening weekend for most college football teams. Time to strap on the pads at powerhouse universities and take on Football Conference Subdivision opponents.
36 of the 73 college football games this weekend in Division-1 are between schools in the top tier of college football and those in the FCS. There are some real yawners, that’s for sure. North Dakota visits Texas Tech. Northwestern hosts Towson. Jacksonville State visits Georgia Tech and Northern Colorado visits Kansas. West Virginia hosts Liberty.
But, all of the mismatches this weekend, perhaps none in the history of college football is as great of a
The Buccaneers in action last year at Miami in a 52-7 loss.
mismatch as the Buccaneers of Charleston Southern visiting The Swamp in Gainesville. Danny Sheridan of USA Today has posted the Gators as 73 point favorites. That’s 10 touchdowns and a field goal if you can’t count that high. It is believed to be the largest point spread since anybody calculated point spreads–even larger than those of the Detroit Lions last year.
Yes, FCS schools can sometimes compete against D-1 powers. Everybody remembers the Miracle in Michigan two years ago when the Mountaineers defeated the Wolverines 36-34. That’s the Appalachian State Mountaineers. It’s already happened this year. Villanova won the inaugural Mayor’s Cup in Philadelphia by downing Temple on a last play field goal.
But, Florida is not Temple. And, Charleston Southern is not Villanova either. The Buccaneers are 0-16 lifetime when playing up a division. The Buccaneers lost last year 52-7 at Miami and 66-10 at Hawaii the year before. Their stadium can hold 4000 fans, about how many attend a medium sized tailgate party in Gainesville. In addition to a healthy beating that they will take in The Swamp, Charleston Southern will also leave Gainesville $425,000 richer.
Georgia Southern returns 7 of its top 8 receivers from last year and all 3 of its top rushers from a 7-5 team that won its last four contests. Four members of its offensive line also return. Coach Jay Mills says his squad is excited for the opportunity given that over half of the players at the Christian school are from The Sunshine State.
“They grew up as Gator fans,” said Mills.
The defense is another story. Charleston Southern graduated 7 of its top 10 tacklers from last season, as if
Tim Tebow's girlfriend will probably even leave early on Saturday night.
Florida needed another advantage in addition to quarterback Tim Tebow.
Not the same on the other side of the ball. The Gators return all 11 starters from last year’s national championship team. In addition, the Gators return the ’07 Heisman Trophy winner and are ranked # 1 in the country. Florida has won its last 20 home openers. Some pundits claim this Florida team is the best college football team of all time.
So, as a fantasy college football head coach, how do you play these mismatches with FCS opponents? After all, you know Tim Tebow is probably not going to get more than a half worth of reps.
Our advice is that picking the Florida defense is a good pick this weekend (Yes, I know, “thank you Mr. Obvious. Where do I sign up to get your newsletter?”)
As for the offense, we see backup quarterback John Brantley as a better choice than Tebow.
John Brantley and Tim Tebow.
Brantley is going to get in early, possibly in the second quarter and it will be too early to call off the dogs (er the Gators) at that point. Coach Urban Meyer as been raving about Brantley and this will be his time to show what he can do in a real (almost) game. Meyer is not going to put in Brantley and have him hand off.
Good luck Charleston Southern. Here’s hoping you can keep the game closer than 73 points.
Editor’s Note — If your bookie is taking action on this game, take Charleston Southern + 73. Meyer is not going to run up a 74+ point win over a Christian school. Moreover, Florida has played three FCS opponents the past three years and have won 70-19 over The Citadel, 49-3 over Western Kentucky, and 62-0 over Western Carolina. None of those wins were any where near 74 point romps!
