re: In one sentence, what do you want to see in week 1?

A cloudy, unseasonably cool day.

A team that looks well-coached and mad at the world.

The OL fully control the LOS

I want to see a team that takes care of business in the first half, then hands it over to lots of subs midway through the 3rd quarter.
RTR

quote:

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ECU is not some crap team in a crap conference They actually have some dudes and two transfer QBs from Power 4 schools I belie if I heard correctly. I’m not saying Bama doesn’t win but this is not some UT Chattanooga team. I don’t think Bama covers a 28.5 pt spread.

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We'll see. They had a good year last year. Honestly a huge turnaround for them with new HC in first full year.

But, they lost a lot of production. 36 players left the program (25 transfer portal and 11 x graduation/NFL opportunities). Overall, they lost
42% of their total production (ranking 110th out of 138 FBS teams).

They lost 16 players from their 2-deep.
- QB1 and 2
- RB 1
- Top 2 WRs + 1 key backup
- TE1
- 2 x starters on OL
- 3 x DL starters
- 1 x starting LB
- 3 x starters in secondary

They did bring in 22 transfers, but they are looking at a QB battle with two transfers heading into fall camp. They got help at OL and RB and WR. And, 6 x secondary players, which basically retools the back half of the offense

Add in an 11 AM, hot Sept kickoff and the deck does look stacked against them at Tuscaloosa.

For as much as I hate the roster turbulence of CFB for P4. It really hurts G5 more. If a player or team have a good year, the HC may as well expect a transfer exodus, as his players look to move up and get paid.

ECU is sometimes a quality G5 opponent. Last year was their best since leaving CUSA almost 13 years ago (first 9+ win seaon since 2013). And, that team is completely gone save 6 players from their 2 deep.

I think they have more ? marks than Bama at nearly every position with less overall talent by a wide margin. If the game were the Nov cupcake game, I think I have a different opinion as they are well coached and would have nearly a season to adjust amd adapt to a new roster.

The spread is -28.5 points. I favor Bama to win and think it is a good bet to cover as the media has been negative toward Bama all off season and ECU had a good team last year. 28+ is always a hard cover, so I'd think most money will trend torward the Pirates from casual gamblers who Vegas depends on.

All that said, I agree. No team can be overlooked and anything can happen.

But, when asked "what do I want to see," I'd like to see exactly what I said. A dominant performance that sets a tone for the season.

My wallet would like to see Bama easily cover the -27.5 I’ve got hanging out there.

A WIN.

Who starts at qb.