WEEK 1 IS HERE, The All Coasts Conference & Make Your Picks Nowwwww!

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1) Shorthanded Utah, the Big Ten is the Big Ten, Mitch Griffis and Brady Cook for Heisman, and what you missed from last night…

• The first Thursday of the young season got off to a bit of a rocky start on the news that Utah quarterback Cam Rising would be unable to start due to his healing ACL injury. Instead, Bryson Barnes took the reins and delivered an extremely Utah performance, going an efficient 12/18 for 159 yards, including a long 70-yard touchdown pass to Money Parks on the first play of the game. Utah’s 24-11 victory looked incredibly familiar for anyone that has followed the Utes over the last decade. It ain’t always pretty, but underestimate Kyle Whittingham at your own risk. Meanwhile, Florida left a lot to be desired. Though Graham Mertz initially looked comfortable in the Gator offense, it wasn’t long before Utah exposed some of the weaknesses in his game. Florida finished just 1-13 on third downs with just 13 yards rushing, and had serious trouble finishing drives. The Gators were also penalized for having two players on the field at the same time wearing No. 3. On a related note, new Arizona State quarterback —and one-time Florida commit — Jaden Rashada looked really good in a close win over Southern Utah. In hindsight, the Gators maybe kinda shoulda worked out his NIL deal.
  

• Minnesota beat Nebraska by a 13-10 score in a game that shook out almost exactly the way we expected. Neither team cracked 300 yards of offense. The Gopher’s transition to more of a passing-oriented offense amounted to a lot of short, uninspiring throws and a 4.5 yard average for quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis. Meanwhile, Nebraska’s latest close loss involved putting transfer quarterback Jeff Sims through the ringer with 19 passing attempts and 19 rushing attempts. The best of Sims can be really good, but if Matt Rhule plans to build the whole plane out of his abilities, it could be a long season in Lincoln. Not to be outdone, NC State might build its entire 2023 project out of Brennan Armstrong. The Wolfpack won 24-14 over UConn in a showing that was mostly unimpressive.
  

• Wake Forest beat Elon 37-17 in the start of the Mitch Griffis era at quarterback. Griffis threw 3 TD passes and made Deacs fans forget all about Sam Hartman. Meanwhile, Missouri quarterback Brady Cook didn’t throw his first incompletion until the second quarter as the Tigers rolled South Dakota 35-10. Kirby Moore’s new and improved offense featured a lot more Luther Burden III, and that’s definitely a good thing.
  

2) The ACC is adding Cal, Stanford and SMU in 2024? OK, cool.

Friday news dumps are quickly becoming a trend in college football, so it should come as no surprise that the ACC dropped another realignment turd on our laps on the eve of the first full Saturday of the 2023 college football season.

In a move that’s been rumored for a couple weeks, the ACC officially invited Cal, Stanford and SMU — three Atlantic Coast powerhouses! — to the conference in time for the 2024 college football season. As part of the deal, Cal and Stanford will only take a 30-percent share of TV revenue, while SMU will play for free!

This is a survival move by the ACC, which is fearful that Florida State (and perhaps others) will cobble together the funds to pay an exorbitant exit fee and bolt for greener pastures. The added numbers provide some insulation against the conference imploding like the Pac-12. Meanwhile, Cal and Stanford were just looking for a place that would pay them to play football. SMU, meanwhile, just wanted to be a Power 5 team.

The Dumb Money Era™ continues!

3) Prepare for four more nights of football (and a live stream)!

We did 73 minutes of previews for the week ahead, breaking down the biggest games of the week and explaining our picks for each. I won’t list every game out, but I’ll just tell you that our new “Big Dogs” segment featured LSU vs. Florida State, North Carolina vs. South Carolina and Boise State vs. Washington. (Yes, we used a snarling Saint Bernard to intro the bit.) Listening to the show is the best way to get caught up to speed on everything you need to know in time for the weekend.

🚨Also, just a reminder that we’ll be going live at midnight ET on Saturday over on YouTube to get you up to date on all the latest Week 1 action. Subscribe to the channel and click the notification bell so you don’t miss anything. Now, all Dan and I have to worry about is staying awake!

🚨Oh, and finally… you can always give us a call on the new Reverb Line at 855-VERBAL3 (855-837-2253) and react to the games in real-time. Just leave us a message and we’ll play our favorites on the air.

✍️ Others Receiving Votes

Here’s a question from the Verballerhood with an answer from Dan Rubenstein, my beloved co-host:

This question is for Dan. So since we now have more Notre Dame fans here than any other fandom, does that mean that Discord is now officially boomer technology?

Is that true? Notre Dame is now the most represented fanbase on our Discord? I get it, Ty’s an excellent representative of the best of Notre Dame fans (informed, passionate, optimistic, dripping with charisma), so it’s understandable that other fans would want to listen and then feel especially compelled to support his efforts, knowing he’s going to be thorough about the Irish, while echoing their own emotions all year long.

On the main point, The Olds will always find popular tech platforms, for better or worse. College football is already a pretty old sport, at least with regard to average fan age, so it only makes sense that older fans discover new ways to be a part of a fan community.

This also got me thinking about my own technological future, both re: my own usage and my kids (4 and 2) using phones and gadgets and social media etc. My dream is to be less and less digitally connected as I age gracefully. I want to be the older guy with a bunch of books who’s always tinkering on some sort of project. In my case, it’s probably food-related, possibly in a cabin somewhere peaceful with my family, who are likely embarrassed by how out of touch I’ve become.

Really, I’ve been old for my age for quite some time (I like sleeping, tennis, tea, and Jeopardy!), so I anticipate my transition to yelling at clouds will be quite seamless. I already don’t even attempt to learn about new pieces of technology, probably to my detriment professionally, and I LOVE IT.

I know my kids will eventually have phones or whatever replaces phones, and I know I’m not gonna be the type of parent who forbids their kids from using something that becomes (relatively) normal for kids their age to use, but know this: no matter who they are and who they become, with or without a phone in their hands, I’ll do my best to turn them into fellow old people, even if they’re like 10 and 12 years old. I don’t know exactly what this means, but both currently request to hear Queen and Fleetwood Mac and AC/DC and The Eagles in the car, so we’re heading in the right direction.

And if not Discord, what’s better to bring me and Notre Dame fans together like honoring and respecting something that probably peaked 45 years ago?

-Dan

P.S. You can take an unofficial visit to our Verballer Discord by clicking here, but shhhhhhh…..

Four Useful Links:

• Spencer Hall’s annual opener is a must-read for college football fans

• Friend of the pod Matt Fortuna started up his own newsletter and did a great job investigating some of the issues with SMU joining the ACC

• I’m a fan of anyone using “all steak, no sizzle” as a mantra

• Our friend Connor puts a lot of energy into examining which games you should watch on which screens in which game windows

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