The calendar says that it’s Friday and Friday around here means Football Friday, so let me get right to it. Last week’s Six-Pack only had one item in it, so here is the status from last week and the results year to date (YTD):
- Spreads & Totals: 1-0-0 YTD: 1-2-0
- Money Line Parlays: 0-0 YTD: 0-2 Loss = $200
My “Sleeper Team” for 2026 – – the Florida Gators – – had an easy time of it against Florida Atlantic; the Gators prevailed 66-21. We shall see how that sort of performance carries over into SEC competition.
The Linfield University Wildcats opened their 2026 season with a 41-15 victory over Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The Wildcats have this week off and will resume their pursuit of yet another winning season in football on Sept 19th when they travel to Orange CA to take on the Panthers of Chapman University. Chapman’s record this season is 0-1 having lost its opener to Hardin-Simmons 44-24. Go Wildcats!
One of the things that makes writing these rants even more fun is that readers get in the spirit of frivolity here. Last week, I said that I would be featuring players I ran across with unusual names; within about 3 hours of posting that I received two emails with contributions; so, this week I have two names to cite just for fun:
- Galamama Mulbah – RB – Merrimack
- Hollywood Smothers – RB – Texas
College Football Commentary:
I did not have Greg Schiano (Rutgers) on a hot seat in my College Football Pre-Season analysis, but after losing at home to UMass by 2 TDs as a 29-point favorite … The win for UMass broke a 16-game losing streak for the Minutemen; it was the longest losing streak in Division 1-A college football until last week.
LSU did not put on its roster last week two players who had tried to make NFL teams but were unsuccessful in that endeavor. There are still court proceedings in medias res on the matter, and the SEC has “threatened” to expel LSU from the SEC. Interestingly, we have not yet heard from lawyers representing the two players in this saga; so, I doubt that this is nearly over and done with.
As you watch college football games this season, you will see a proliferation of jersey patches on the front of uniforms just below the shoulder. The jersey patch for UTEP is sort of interesting; UTEP’s nickname is the Miners:
- The jersey patch is for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
- Why not the United Mine Workers?
Down in Division II football there was a game with some unusual happenings. Harding University beat Northwestern Oklahoma 76-0. The game was called off with about 14 minutes to play in the fourth quarter; one of the players had a severe medical emergency and the coaches agreed to end the game at that point. So, this game was really only three-quarters of a normal football game but check these stats from ”three-quarters of a football game”:
- Harding gained 747 yards on offense
- Harding averaged 12.8 yards per offensive play
- NW Oklahoma had ZERO first downs
- NW Oklahoma had minus-26 yards total offense.
I believe that is the outline of a good old-fashioned beat down …
Games Last Week:
There was a plethora of huge spread games last week; so, I will look for “surprising results” here.
Tarleton St. 20 Bowling Green 13: Tarleton St. was a 15-point underdog and is a Division 1- AA team pulling an upset over a Division 1- A team – – albeit one in the MAC.
Auburn 17 Baylor 16: This was one of the few games last week not set up to be a glorified scrimmage by the favored squad.
Oregon 34 Boise St. 27: Boise St. may have lost this game, but this should be a positive for them at the end of the season if they are indeed under consideration for the CFP: as the Group of 6 entry. Oregon was ranked #2 in the country at kickoff.
The Citadel 43 UNC-Charlotte 41 (2 OT): Another upset by a Division 1-AA school …
Tulsa 24 Oklahoma St. 10: This was supposed to be the start of a “new era” for Oklahoma St., but it looks a lot like a continuation of the old era. The Cowboys looked like winners on the stat sheet – – until you came across the 4 turnovers in the game. That is two years in a row where Tulsa has beaten Oklahoma St. and the last time that kind of losing streak against Tulsa for the Cowboys was back in 1952. Just for perspective, Dwight Eisenhower beat Adlai Stevenson for the first time in 1952.
Michigan 13 W. Michigan 12: You have read about and probably seen the final seconds of that game; I have nothing new to add here about why the officials put 1 second on the clock to give the Wolverines one last shot at a “Hail Mary” play which worked and changed this from a W. Michigan win to a W. Michigan loss. Both defenses were stout here. Michigan gained only 276 yards of offense – – including 47 yards on the final play. W. Michigan gained only 221 yards in the game. Just a thought from this game:
- If “football” needs replay to “get it right”, then “football” also needs “transparency into replay” to be confident they “got it right”.
LSU 51 Clemson 10: I said last week that Lane Kiffin would not take his foot off the gas once he got a lead. The score was 31-3 at halftime and LSU put another 13 on the board in the third quarter.
UCLA 45 Cal 24: This game was a 2-point spread at kickoff and the score was tied at 24 as the 4th quarter started. Then came the deluge …
Colorado 14 Georgia Tech 13: The Buffaloes scored the winning TD with 37 seconds left in the game.
Washington 24 Washington St. 10: The Apple Cup game played in September just feels wrong.
Ole Miss 41 Louisville 38: The teams combined for 957 yards of offense in the game. Ole Miss won on a 48-yard field goal as time expired.
SMU 27 Florida St. 24: Perhaps this is not just a loss for FSU but maybe an omen? The Seminoles are 1-1 this year with the victory coming over New Mexico St. Here is the upcoming schedule:
- At Alabama – – Bama is ranked #12 in the nation this morning
- Vs. Central Arkansas – – A loss at home in this game would be apocalyptic
- Vs. UVa – – The Cavaliers are ranked #25 in the nation this morning
- At Louisville – – the Cardinals are ranked #24 in the nation this morning
- At Miami – – The Hurricanes are ranked #7 in the nation this morning
Games This Week:
(Fri Nite) Rutgers at BC – 3 (54): Rutgers lost outright at home to UMass last week and BD is only a 3-point favorite at home. That does not speak well for BC football in 2026.
Oregon – 23 at Oklahoma St (55): Based on last week’s debacle for the Cowboys, this is a surprisingly low spread in my mind.
Oklahoma – 4.5 at Michigan (44): After the way Michigan won last week, lots of fans who would be “neutral observers” for this game will be pulling for the Sooners this week. I think this is going to be a defensive game so give me the UNDER; put it in the Six-Pack
Penn St. – 24 at Temple (50): Technically this is a home game for Temple, but I suspect there will be more Penn St. fans in attendance in Philly.
Cal at Syracuse – 4 (57): there has been a lot of line movement in this game. The spread opened with Cal as a 1-point favorite and the Total Line was only 53.5.
Memphis at Boise St. – 8 (56.5): Both teams have their eye on an invitation to the CFP in December. I thought about naming this the college game of the week for a while. Both teams have quality defenses, so I don’t know where that 57th point is coming from. Give me the UNDER in this game; put that in the Six-Pack.
Middle Tennessee St. at Marshall – 12.5 (57): Another game with a big line movement. This spread opened with Marshal as 17-point favorites.
Ohio St at Texas – 2 (50): Ohio St. opened as 2-point favorites here. Texas has lost to Ohio st. twice in the last two seasons; they will be motivated here. Nevertheless, I like Ohio St plus the points in this game; put that in the Six-Pack. Obviously, this is the College Game of the Week.
Howard at Indiana – 56.5 (65): If you love underdogs, that is a huge helping of points …
Sacred Heart at UMass – 23.5 (53.5): That is not a typo; UMass is favored by more than 3 TDs against a team not named Comatose State.
NFL Commentary:
In “breaking news” on Thursday this week that sounds like you have heard it before, Tua Tagovailoa suffered back pain and was listed as “Limited” by the Falcons. Michael Penix Jr. is also unable to play so what is left for the Falcons if indeed Tua is indeed “Limited”?
- Cooper Rush would be the starter
- Backup QB would be Jack Strand.
You are forgiven if you don’t know Jack Strand from Jack and the Beanstalk. He was an undrafted rookie free agent in 2026 out of Minnesota State-Moorhead, a Division II school. His college stats are impressive; I’ll leave it at that.
Netflix carried last night’s Rams/Niners game from Australia. [Aside: I have no explanation as to why the stadium decided to sing “Sweet Caroline” at one point in the game.] The Netflix announcers for the game were Noah Eagle and Luke Kuechly, and I thought they did a great job. Presumably, they will do the rest of the games that will be carried by Netflix throughout this season. For reference, here are those remaining Netflix games:
- Nov. 25: Packers at Rams
- Dec. 25: Packers at Bears
- Dec. 25: Bills at Broncos
- Jan. 9: TBD – This is a Week 18 game; no TV schedule is available yet.
In the two games already played this week, the Seahawks’ defense led the team to a win over the Pats despite Sam Darnold limping to the locker room after only 1 series in the game. The Pats seemed to have the game in hand until Drake Maye threw 3 INTs in the 4th quarter. The Pats also lost WR AJ Brown to an ankle injury in the first half of the game.
The Niners’ defense dominated the Rams last night in Melbourne, Australia and Brock Purdy threw 3 TDs in a surprisingly easy win for the Niners. The Niners outgained the Rams by 89 yards including 174 yards rushing. Christian McCaffrey looked more explosive in this game than he did most of last season; perhaps he found the Fountain of Youth?
Deebo Samuel caught 7 passes, ran the ball once and returned kickoffs for the Niners in the game. Somehow, the Commanders could not find room for him on their roster…
Games this Week:
Browns at Jags – 9 (40): Is this Deshaun Watson 2.0 or Deshaun Watson 5.0? Does that matter?
Bucs at Bengals – 3.5 (50.5): The Bengals spent money and draft picks on defenders in the last offseason; that is uncharacteristic for the franchise. Let’s see how it pays off starting here …
Ravens – 3 at Colts (47.5): I assume that Daniel Jones has recovered from his surgery sufficiently to play the way he did last season. I also assume that Lamar Jackson is motivated to bounce back from his not-up-to-snuff season in 2025. So, I see lots of points here and I’ll take the game to go OVER; put it in the Six-Pack
Falcons at Steelers – 4.5 (41.5): The spread here opened at 2 points before news of a possible back injury to Tua Tagovailoa (see above). Even if Tua can play, I think this is too much of a stretch for the Falcons to keep up. Give me the Steelers to win and cover; put it in the Six-Pack.
If you are a trend player, here is a stat for you:
- The Falcons have NEVER won a game in Pittsburgh
Bills – 1 at Texans (45): This is my runner-up for Game of the Week; both teams expect to win their division and the game pits an excellent defense against an excellent QB. I don’t know if this game will be picked up by any of my local stations, but if it is, I will be tuning in.
Bears – 3 at Panthers (47): This will be another interesting game to watch. The Panthers have a good defense, and the Bears have a good offense. Obversely, the Panthers have an anemic offense, and the Bears have a porous defense. Flip a coin …
Jets at Titans – 1.5 (38.5): Obviously, this is the Dog-Breath Game of the Week. Unless it ends in a tie, one of these two teams will at the very least share the Division lead on Monday morning. Seriously…
Saints at Lions – 7 (50): This is an interesting game; the Saints finished strongly in 2025, and it appeared as if Tyler Shough and coach Kellen Moore had performed a Vulcan mind-meld. (Hat Tip to Mr. Spock)
Cards at Chargers – 9.5 (47): Jim Harbaugh’s teams tend to start fast and that is not good news for the Cards who appear to be outmanned here.
Dolphins at Raiders – 3 (40.5): On paper, the Raiders are significantly improved for 2026. Kirk Cousins is an upgrade at QB and Tyler Linderbaum should improve the OL all by himself. Raider fans should keep an eye on Nakobe Dean; if he can avoid injuries that have bugged him so far in his career, he will upgrade that defense too. I think the Raiders are the better team and will show it clearly here; I’ll take the Raiders to win and cover; put it in the Six-Pack.
Commanders at Eagles – 5 (44): Both teams have lots of questions to answer in 2026 and this game might be the opening attempt to provide answers to a couple of those questions.
- What will the Eagles’ passing game be like without AJ Brown?
- The Commanders’ defense was pitifully slow in 2025; has that been rectified?
Packers at Vikes – 1 (46): The opening spread had the Packers as 1-point favorites here. The Packers will be without the services of RB Josh Jacobs and LB Micah Parsons for this game and the Packers’ OL is good but not great. The Vikes will be blitzing and aggressive on defense all game long; I like the Vikes to win and cover here; put it in the Six-Pack.
(Sun Nite) Cowboys – 3 at Giants (48.5): There are two important reasons to watch this game:
- The Cowboys will be strong on offense. They have added a few people to the defense, but those folks will have to demonstrate that they have taken a terrible defense from last year to a level that would make Lake Woebegone proud – – just a little above normal.
- The Giants will be a different team playing a different – – more disciplined – – style of football under John Harbaugh. I think the Giants are a team on the rise – – but how much have they risen by now?
(Mon Nite) Broncos at Chiefs – 2.5 (43.5): Patrick Mahomes will start at QB for the Chiefs after knee surgery and not playing in the Exhibition Season. The Broncos’ defense is likely to harass him for most of the game, and it will be interesting to see how his mobility has been affected by his injury/surgery/rehab. Given the two games already played this week, this game is probably the Game of the Week.
So, let me summarize the Six-Pack for the week:
- Oklahoma/Michigan UNDER 44
- Ohio St. +2 against Texas
- Memphis/Boise St. UNDER 56.5
- Vikes – 1 over Packers
- Steelers – 4.5 over Falcons
- Ravens/Colts OVER 47.5
And just for fun, here are two Money Line Parlays:
- Broncos @ +130
- Chargers @ minus-480 $100 wager to win $178
And …
- Raiders @ minus-165
- Steelers @ minus-225 $100 wager to win $132
Finally, I hope to get this season off to a good start with this Six-Pack and two Money Line Parlays; so, here is a positive thought by businessman Gil Penchina:
“Momentum begets momentum, and the best way to start is to start.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………
I am watching Bears v. Panthers game with considerable interest. The locals are very unhappy with Bryce Young, and Kenny Pickett is even less popular. QB #3 is UDFA Haynes King, If this game gets out of hand, or if the Panthers’ offense falters, I wonder if King gets a shot?