Curator & Coach - Week 1

College football is back and so is Curator & Coach. C&C is ABG’s look at this week’s games with commentary from ABG Curator Sam Burnham and ABG College Football Analyst Coach Drew Burnham.

Week 1 Upset Alert - Curator Sam Burnham
Louisiana @ Texas
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How many years have they been telling us that “Texas is back?” How many times has that prediction been wrong? So what we ha e at work in this matchup are two intangibles. In Austin, we have the Mac Brown Curse. The Longhorns ran off their highly successful coach and he’s at North Carolina (yes, the basketball school) wowing every critic he has ever had. Meanwhile Texas is literally pumping money out of the ground trying to get coaches, recruits, whatever, trying to get back where Brown took them. Steve Sarkisian comes in with the promise to reverse the Texas trend of mediocrity but he's definitely not the first. Even if he is ultimately successful, it will take time to put his systemi in place and get the players he needs to make it work.

In Lafayette, Billy Napier has built a proven winner. The Cajuns don't get the attention that they have recently earned because they are not "one of the big guys." But Napier's system is in place, he's working with his players, his machine is already running. The intangible in play here is that there are a lot of Ragin’ Cajun fans recovering from Hurricane Ida who could really use some good news right now. The cajuns are off to represent their friends and family who are suffering. Their 9 point underdogs pulling off a win in Austin is just what the doctor ordered. Emotion and love are major motivators. Look for special things to happen for the guys in red.

Week 1 Upset Alert - Coach Drew Burnham
Oregon vs Fresno State
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​Long time readers of this segment will remember in 2019 when crazy ole Coach said to keep an eye on Indiana because they had hired a special coach and they were going to be on the map soon. People told me I was crazy. People in the coaching business, people that are experts in the field, told me I was crazy. Fast forward to 2021 and Indiana is ranked in the preseason poll and fresh off a 2020 season that saw them go 6-1 in the regular season with their lone loss coming by a single score to National Runner-up Ohio State. “Coach, you’re picking Fresno and Oregon. What does Indiana have to do with this?” I’m glad you asked. Remember that special coach that Indiana had hired to direct their offense? His name is Kalen DeBoer and he’s in the Captain’s seat in the Valley now.
His 95% career win percentage took a hit in 2020 and he now finally has more career losses than National Title rings, but Coach DeBoer is gearing up to take the college football world by storm and this will be his grand coming out party. It’s nothing to do with Oregon, I’m on full “Fresno vs. the world” mode right now and I’m not counting them out of anything less than “We want BAMA”. In their opener against UCONN, QB Jake Haener went 20-26 for 331 yards and 3TD’s in 3 quarters. 11 Bulldog receivers touched the ball and 6 different players recorded a carry. The ability to spread the ball around that much makes an offense extremely difficult to contain, even when you have the superior athletes.
Also, bear in mind that Fresno has the benefit of having already played a game this fall. Oregon is walking into their season opener off a 3-2 regular season which somehow saw them still win the PAC12 championship before losing the Fiesta Bowl. Fresno hasn’t quite made enough noise yet to draw attention and I think Oregon might have out kicked their coverage in this preseason poll. I don’t think they have that much gas in their tank and I’ll ride with Fresno until they give me a reason not to. Keep and eye on this one.

Game to Watch - Curator Sam Burnham
Georgia vs Clemson

​It should be a crime for these two teams to not play each other every year. The two stadiums sit 76 miles apart. Clemson’s last loss in a season opener? Georgia. Georgia’s last loss in a season opener? Clemson.

Georgia has turned the reins over to J.T. Daniel. The talented QB had a strong showing after arriving in Athens and spending the first few weeks on the sidelines learning the system. This year he has inspired huge expectations from the Dawg faithful.

​Clemson it looking to reload after losing Trevor Lawrence to the NFL Draft. D.J. Uiagalelei started two games for Clemson last season and put up some impressive numbers. He’ll be up to the task

The proximity of the schools, a common history, and two teams with national championship aspirations make this one the game of the week. It’s early in the season to be so bold but this game might prove to be a de facto playoff game.

Game to Watch - Coach Drew Burnham
Penn State @ Wisconsin

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​Rarely do we get a game with true Playoff implications in week 1. Both of these teams will roll through the rest of the BIG however many with the Buckeyes waiting in the wings. Outside of a major upset (see Indiana), they both only really have to pass 2 challenges in their season. An Undefeated or 1 loss BIG 10 champ will almost undoubtedly make the playoff 4. Pass this test and only Ohio State stands between you and New Years Day. Penn State has been established under James Franklin and has done good things but can’t seem to get over the hump and has seemingly plateaued. Wisconsin is a program on the rise who has had a top 5 defense the last 3 seasons in a row. Defensive Coordinator Jim Leonhard turned down multiple NFL opportunities over the offseason and has publicly attributed that decision to his desire and belief that the Badgers are on the door step of a championship run. This one will be exciting, but give me the Badgers!

Curator’s Picks
Georgia over Clemson
Bama over Miami
Wisconsin over Penn State
Iowa over Indiana
​Louisiana over Texas

Coach’s Picks:
​Clemson over UGA
Bama over Miami
Wisconsin over Penn St
Indiana over Iowa
UL-Lafayette over Texas