Cover 4: USF, American Heritage Primed For Season-Opening Road Trips
Cover 4: USF, American Heritage Primed For Season-Opening Road Trips
Take a look at these six college and high school football preview for Week 1, including South Florida's road trip to San Jose State and Oregon State's opener at Colorado State.
Welcome to the first installment of our weekly feature called Cover 4 -- so named because puns are fun and you know it.
The concept is simple: Each week, we'll do our best to give you four winners against the spread. Needless to say, the exercise is meant for entertainment purposes only because sports gambling is (mostly) still illegal for some reason.
Without further ado, let's get to it.
South Florida quarterback Quinton Flowers and the Bulls offense are going to put up points -- even with a few season-opening kinks to work out -- and nothing points in the direction of similar success for San Jose State. The Spartans were weak on offense a year ago, and they'll be breaking in a brand-new starter under center, JUCO transfer Michael Carillo. That doesn't exactly scream promise, particularly when Charlie Strong is manning the opposing sideline.
Let's roll the dice Down Under. Stanford was a slow starter a season ago, and David Shaw must replace a pair of first-round NFL Draft picks in do-it-all running back Christian McCaffrey and elite defensive lineman Solomon Thomas. Offensive fireworks of any sort would be surprising. This one just feels more like a 24-7, run-heavy type of win by Stanford.
For starters, Colorado State is just better than Oregon State. CSU senior quarterback Nick Stevens is arguably the best signal-caller in the Mountain West, and he has a plethora of options for delivery method. Should the Rams opt for ground shipment, they can do so with any of their top three runners from 2016. When Stevens attacks through the air, Michael Gallup and Bisi Johnson will be on the receiving end. In addition, CSU is opening a fancy new stadium before a sellout crowd, and 3.5 points sure feels like easy livin'.
Traveling 5,000 miles to play a football game isn't exactly optimal, but the Rainbow Warriors departed for the East Coast on Tuesday, so jet lag shouldn't be an issue come Saturday. The visitors also benefit from a 6 PM ET kickoff, which won't challenge the players' biological clocks. Once the game clock starts running, I'm in on Diocemy Saint Juste and Dru Brown -- even if they are five time zones away from home.
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The concept is simple: Each week, we'll do our best to give you four winners against the spread. Needless to say, the exercise is meant for entertainment purposes only because sports gambling is (mostly) still illegal for some reason.
Without further ado, let's get to it.
South Florida (-20.5) over SAN JOSE STATE
Saturday, Aug. 26 | 7:30 PM ET | San Jose, CASouth Florida quarterback Quinton Flowers and the Bulls offense are going to put up points -- even with a few season-opening kinks to work out -- and nothing points in the direction of similar success for San Jose State. The Spartans were weak on offense a year ago, and they'll be breaking in a brand-new starter under center, JUCO transfer Michael Carillo. That doesn't exactly scream promise, particularly when Charlie Strong is manning the opposing sideline.
Rice (+31) over Stanford
Saturday, Aug. 26 | 10 PM ET | Sydney, AustraliaLet's roll the dice Down Under. Stanford was a slow starter a season ago, and David Shaw must replace a pair of first-round NFL Draft picks in do-it-all running back Christian McCaffrey and elite defensive lineman Solomon Thomas. Offensive fireworks of any sort would be surprising. This one just feels more like a 24-7, run-heavy type of win by Stanford.
COLORADO STATE (-3.5) over Oregon State
Saturday, Aug. 26 | 2:30 PM ET | Fort Collins, COFor starters, Colorado State is just better than Oregon State. CSU senior quarterback Nick Stevens is arguably the best signal-caller in the Mountain West, and he has a plethora of options for delivery method. Should the Rams opt for ground shipment, they can do so with any of their top three runners from 2016. When Stevens attacks through the air, Michael Gallup and Bisi Johnson will be on the receiving end. In addition, CSU is opening a fancy new stadium before a sellout crowd, and 3.5 points sure feels like easy livin'.
Hawaii (+2) over UMASS
Saturday, Aug. 26 | 6 PM ET | Hadley, MATraveling 5,000 miles to play a football game isn't exactly optimal, but the Rainbow Warriors departed for the East Coast on Tuesday, so jet lag shouldn't be an issue come Saturday. The visitors also benefit from a 6 PM ET kickoff, which won't challenge the players' biological clocks. Once the game clock starts running, I'm in on Diocemy Saint Juste and Dru Brown -- even if they are five time zones away from home.
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