Brian: Yes, I know Boston College football plays Maine this weekend; not Miami. But this question has come up a few times in the last few days and is an important one. The question is important as it's arguably the best barometer we have to determine just how good (or bad) this Boston College football team is. The Eagles' new-look offense lit up the box score last Saturday while the D got lit up by a bunch of newcomers on the Miami two-deep roster.
But just how good is Miami?
If you ask college football prognosticator Paul Myerberg, he doesn't seem to think highly of this year's 'Canes team:
If you break every game down into individual units, you're looking at six categories: passing offense, running offense, passing defense, running defense, the kicking game and the return game. Per Spaziani, the Eagles are batting .333 - good enough to lead the American League, perhaps, but not good to beat the worst Miami team in a generation.
The question is which game -- BC-Maine or Miami-Kansas State -- will tell more about how good the Eagles really are this year? At the end of the day today, what's the answer to the question of just how good this team is?
Jeff: Without question, the Miami-Kansas State game will tell us more about Boston College football than the BC-Maine game will. Miami goes on the road again this week and again plays a team that doesn't figure to win their conference but certainly has bowl aspirations. If Miami can start better than they did against BC, make fewer mistakes overall and that leads to an easy victory for them then we should feel better about our loss.
However, if Miami starts better and makes fewer mistakes but still loses to Kansas State, that might be an indication that the people with the more optimistic predictions for BC's season are very unlikely to see those predictions come true. I hate to be negative before only the second game of the season, but if Miami does turn out to be as bad as some people thought they would be, we could be in for a real long season.
Brian: I don't want to be too pessimistic, but I don't think BC fans will be pleased with the end result of the Miami-Kansas State game. On a scale from 1 to 2001 Miami Hurricanes, I think last week's opponent was in the 2-3 range. Personally, I agree with Myerberg and don't think much of this year's 'Canes squad. I hope to be proven wrong, obviously, but I felt that BC's defense was really poor last week with all the time in the world to prepare to face a young, inexperienced Miami team. We won't find out anything about BC this week from the Maine game, but I don't think we'll like what we find out about this year's Boston College football team based on the result of the game in Manhattan, Kansas later today.
Big Finish
Brian: Phil Steele picks BC WR Alex Amidon as one of his three fantasy college football players of the week at receiver. Will Amidon have a big day tomorrow?
Jeff: Absolutely. Miami knew the ball was going his way and only stopped it once with a pick 6.
Jeff: ATL pointed out that Spaz's seat got hotter by dropping a 14 point lead against Miami. Do you think the outcome of last week's game had nearly as much of an effect on Spaz's hot seat as GDF's announced retirement?
Brian: GDF's retirement had a bigger impact on Spaz's hot seat, but losing as the Eagles did last Saturday didn't help.
Brian: HD only thinks BC wins by ... 11? Huh? Your thoughts?
Jeff: Seeing the Eagles offense last week I don't know how you don't expect more points from them today.
Jeff: The ACC fared well last week especially compared to some past season's opening weekends. With 10 out of 11 games as non-conference games this week, how will the league do?
Brian: I've only got the ACC at 7-3 in non-conference play this week, with losses by Maryland, Miami and Duke. Maybe Virginia too.
Brian: Running back Rolandan Finch is ready to roll tomorrow. Who will end up being tomorrow's leading rusher for BC?
Jeff: Andre Williams.
Jeff: What game are you watching tomorrow to learn the most about a future opponent? Northwestern-Vanderbilt? N.C. State-Connecticut? North Carolina-Wake Forest?
Brian: Gotta go with the next game -- Northwestern-Vanderbilt. I want to see if the 'Cats play any defense or if the combined score next week will eclipse the century mark.
Brian: Last one. Prediction time. Who ya got (duh)? What's the final score?
Jeff: BC wins 45-13.
Pick 5
Brian (3-2):
North Carolina Tar Heels (-10.5) at Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Purdue Boilermakers at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-14)
Penn St. Nittany Lions (+10) at Virginia Cavaliers
Iowa St. Cyclones at Iowa Hawkeyes (-4)
Wisconsin Badgers (-7) at Oregon St. Beavers
Jeff (2-3):
Penn St. Nittany Lions at Virginia Cavaliers (-10)
Maryland Terrapins at Temple Owls (-10)
East Carolina Pirates (+21) at South Carolina Gamecocks
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Alabama Crimson Tide (-38)
Florida Gators (-1) at Texas A&M Aggies
ATL (0-1):