Minny (-7) over Cuse
All the love for Cuse around the country because Paulus goes from the hardwood to behind center. I am pretty sure the last time I looked that taking 4 years off is not the best thing for your football mentality. I know he is a good propect out of highschool but he did not get into the mix until late and I do not care how good he looks in practice he is still not IMO game ready. This is a true freshman expereince and with four years off added onto it. He is a smart kid, a tough kid but he is not the best option, hell he had the point guard position taken away from him as a senior... do you know how hard that is to do at Duke? Add into this the best option last year, the only option last year Brinkley is gone means this offense needs to find playmakers and QUICK. Doug Marrone gets a big oppertunity to come into this program a build from the ground up. However he had a BAD recuiting class and is using players that were not very good over the past two or three years. They return seven on defense which allowed 189 rushing and 225 through the air, so this is not impressive. All in all Cuse is going to be better but not good enough to show up week one and make a statement against a big ten team that was much improved last year and returns 9 offensive players and 8 defensive players. Minny is right where Tim Brewster wants them to be, they are big and experienced on the o-line, they return their best 4 rushers, and 6 of the top seven wr. This is not a look ahead with Air Force coming up so this is gonna be a focused Minny team and they are above the Orange in almost every position. Webber is a very decent QB and is now becoming a leader of the offense. Brewster is a big threat in the passing attack and with another year Webber and Brewster should make more plays. Defensively they lose a great D-lineman but return 9 seniors to the field. This is a defense that is IMO not the best but should be good enough in the Big ten and especially in this game. I think they will be all over Paulus and you can expect some misreads to occure and the gophers should turn them into turnovers considering all guys with Int's return. The ability to ball hawk, and get to the QB will pay off in this game and Minny on offense will have good field position and score points which will put a team with a lack of leadership behind the eight ball. Force Paulus to beat them and the 4 years off will catch up to him.
Nebraska (-22.5) over FAU
Smaller play
In lincoln the Bo Pelini experience should be a LOT better in year two. This team was 9-4 last season and they recuited very well. The Black shirts may be hard to earn but they will be all over FAU considering the best option for the owls in gone and Rusty Smith is all about tunnel vision. A lot of chalk makes this a smaller play but the amount of talent that is hidden in Nebraska put it on my card. I like the home field advantage and they return two top runners taking the pressure off the QB in his first action. Zac Lee is not a bad player in fact he was the scout team MVP so this guy can play and he will not be called upon to be the man in week one and will be able to mix it up enough to hammer a FAU defense with 3 returning starters. Schnellenberger always has a well coached team but talent should win outsince both coaches are pretty solid and the talent is far an above in Nebraska. It is all about Pass coverage for Nebraska, get pressure on smith and force him to throw early, often and under the gun. The huskers should be able to do that and slowly walk away with it at home.
Cheers
Irish
