OT: 16 (Sixteen!) games tonight

[FayetteDore]

Until this year, I had thought this Thursday night college football business was kind of a one-off thing, with one or two games at most.

There are 16 games tonight, with kickoffs ranging from 5 to 9:30 CT. Those 16 games include 10 teams from Power 5 conferences. And there are some pretty good games (ie Pitt v. W.Va., Penn State v. Purdue).

What's a fan to do?

[AuricGoldfinger]

The Big Ten getting into the business of having a meaningful Thursday night conference contest (I believe they kicked off with Ohio State at Minnesota last year) has been a surprising gamechanger for a league that used to play all its non-conference games before starting league play. The SEC has gone in the opposite direction, saving their big non-conference matchups for the weekend and (probably) having to beg programs to schedule a game for the SEC Thursday night opener. (Although there are two SEC non-conference games tonight, involving UT and Missouri.)

[coachinwaiting]

It's good to see the Backyard Brawl (Pitt vs. WVU) back again, and the PSU at Purdue game should be pretty interesting. Purdue could give the Nittany Lions a rough start to the season.

[VUinFL]

no NFL = more college football...including Sunday and Monday night

[charlestonalum]

Watched the first half of Wake and VMI. Wake had trouble in red zone and their RPO seems incredibly slow to develop. We have a good chance against them, but their QB can really make the short pass. Their defense gives a lot of cushion so if we have a short pass game we will be in business. We need to beat Elon first of course.

[cc11316]

Speaking of Wake ... I was watching that first half as well and while I know they had an 11-win season last year, I struggle to think who they would beat in the SEC. They seem on par with a Mizzou, not quite as good as S.Carolina or Tennessee. I may be wrong but that's my impression.

[AuricGoldfinger]

Don't forget that Sam Hartman, the experienced Wake QB who stirs the drink for the Deacs, is still out with a non-football medical issue.

[TnValleyDore]

Wake’s RPO is slow by design. A very athletic DL can break it down or speed it up.

[Go Vandy!]

...Purdue could give the Nittany Lions a rough start to the season.

...and yet, they decide to give PSU the W.

[coachinwaiting]

...Purdue could give the Nittany Lions a rough start to the season.

...and yet, they decide to give PSU the W.

Indeed they did. The OC (or whoever was calling plays) should be unemployed today. That was a terrible display of game management in the final 6 minutes. Purdue needed first downs and field position, but they ran the offense like they were down 9+ and needed to score twice. On their last 3rd and 6, instead of even looking for a first down play, they throw the ball 25 yards downfield. Their offense isn't very good at that, but if it was dictated by the game situation, fine. On top of it all, they continually picked on the strength of the PSU defense and continually got slapped down. Good coaching may be expensive, but poor coaching costs a lot more in the long run.