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54 days until 30 August 2012









Game for 7JUL2012:

Alabama Crimson Tide @ Michigan Wolverines



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Time: 8PM Saturday 1 September



Location: Cowboy's Stadium, Arlington Texas



Television: ABC



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Rankings (2011): Alabama (1), Michigan (12)



Record (2011): Alabama 12-1, Michigan 11-2



Vegas Line: Alabama -14



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Michigan Team Leaders



QB Dennard Robinson - 2173 Yards, 55% Completion, 22 TD's 15 INT's, 1176 Yards rushing, 16 TD's



RB Fitzgerald Toussaint - 1041 Yards, 9 TD's, 5.6 YPC



WR Jeremy Gallon - 453 Yards, 31 Receptions, 3 TD's, 14.6 YPC



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Alabama Team Leaders



QB AJ McCarron - 2634 Yards, 66.8% Completion, 16 TD's 5 INT's,



RB Eddie Lacy - 674 Yards, 7 TD's, 7.1 YPC



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Coaches



Alabama - Nick Saban, 146-54-1, 0.73, 7-6 Bowls, 3 National Championships, 2x Coach of the Year



Michigan - Brady Hoke, 58-52, 0.52, 2-1 Bowls



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History



Michigan v. Alabama: Three meetings UM leads 2-1



2000 Orange Bowl: Michigan 35 Alabama 34



1997 Outback Bowl: Alabama 17 Michigan 14



1988 Hall of Fame Bowl: Michigan 28 Alabama 24



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Alabama is 8-4 against the Big Ten (3W Streak)



Michigan is 13-5 against the SEC (1L Streak)



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Michigan is 17-7-1 in opening games last 25 years



Alabama is 22-3 in opening games last 25 years



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Nick Saban is 2-3 against Michigan as a HC



Brady Hoke has never faced Alabama as a HC



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Cowboys Classic



2009: BYU 14, Oklahoma 13



2010: TCU 30, Oregon State 21



2011: LSU 40, Oregon 27



2013: Notre Dame v. Arizona State



2014: Texas v. UCLA



 
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14 points seems like quite a bit. Not sure if I could pick against Saban with a month to prepare, though...

 
53 days until 30 August 2012



Game for 8JUL2012:



Boise State @ Michigan State





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Time: 8PM Friday, 31 August



Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing Michigan



Television: ESPN



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Rankings (2011): Boise State (8), Michigan State (11)



Record (2011): Boise State 12-1, Michigan State 11-3



Vegas Line: UNK



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Michigan State Team Leaders



RB Le'Veon Bell - 948 Yards, 13 TD's, 5.2 YPC



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Bosie State Team Leaders



RB DJ Harper - 557 Yards, 9 TD's, 4.8 YPC



WR Matt Miller - 679 Yards, 9 TD's, 11 YPC



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Coaches



Boise State - Chris Petersen, 73-6, 0.92, 4-2 Bowls, 4 Conference Titles



Michigan State - Mark Dantonio, 62-39, 0.61, 2-4 Bowls, 1 Conference Title



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History



Michigan State and Boise State have never played



Boise State v. Big Ten Opponents 0-1 (loss v. UW)



Michigan State has never played a MWC team, 7-3 against WAC opponents



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Boise State is 11-5 in opening games last 16 years



Michigan State 16-8-1 in opening games last 25 years



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Chris Petersen has never faced Michigan State as a HC



Mark Dantonio has never faced Boise State as a HC



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Boise State is 3-0 against BCS AQ opponents in openers last three years (v. Oregon, @ VT, @ UGA)



Michigan State is 1-3 in first games against BCS AQ teams of the season last 4 years (granted BSU is not AQ but all the same)



 
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We need msu to beat Boise, and as much as I hate Michigan, I'd like them to beat bama


Not too worried about MSU. both teams are breaking in new QBs so I'm going with who has homefield and I think MSU will probably have the better Dline.

Bama has too much talent for ann arbor. This would be more of a game 2 or 3 years down the line when Rich Rod's recruiting years are behind.

 
52 days until 30 August 2012



Game for 9JUL2012:



Emerald Island Classic



Notre Dame Fighting Irish v. United States Naval Academy Midshipmen




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Time: 9AM, Saturday, 1 September



Location: Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland



Television: CBS



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Rankings (2011): Notre Dame (NR), Navy (NR)

Record (2011): Notre Dame 8-5, Navy 5-7

Vegas Line: ND -13.5

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Notre Dame Leaders

QB Tommy Rees: 2871 Yards, 20 TD's, 14 Int's, 65.5% Completion

RB Cierre Wood: 1102 Yards, 9 TD's, 5.1 YPC

TE Tyler Eifert: 63 Rec, 804 Yards, 5 TD's, 12.7 YPC

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Navy Leaders

WR Brandon Turner: 14 Rec, 300 Yards, 3 TD's, 21.4 YPC

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Coaches

Notre Dame - Brian Kelly, 187-66-2, 0.73, 3-2 Bowls, 2 Conference Championships

Navy - Ken Niumatalolo, 32-21, 0.60, 1-3 Bowls

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History

Notre Dame leads series 71-12-1, (44-3 since 1965)

Navy is 3-2 v. ND last five years

Last Meeting in Ireland: 1996 Notre Dame 54, Navy 27

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Past Emerald Island Classics

1989 Pittsburgh 46, Rutgers 29

1988 Boston College 38, Army 24

 



 
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51 days until 30 August 2012



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Game for 10JUL2012:



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Clemson University Tigers v. Auburn University Tigers



2012 Chick-fil-A College Kickoff




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Time: 7PM EST, 1 September



Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta Georgia



Television: ESPN



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Rankings (2011): Clemson (22), Auburn (NR)

Record (2011): Clemson 10-4, Auburn 8-5

Vegas Line: Not yet released

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Clemson Leaders

QB Tajh Boyd: 3828 Yards, 59.7% Completion, 33 TD's, 12 INT's

RB Andre Ellington: 1178 Yards, 5.3 YPC, 11 TD's

WR Sammy Watkins: 1219 Yards, 14.9 YPC, 12 TD's

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Auburn Leaders

QB Barrett Trotter: 1185 Yards, 55.1% Completion, 11TD's, 6 INT's

RB Ontero McCalebb: 641 Yards, 5.7 YPC, 5 TD's

WR Emory Blake: 613 Yards, 17 YPC, 5 TD's

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Coaches

Clemson, Dabo Swinney: 29-19, 0.60, 1-3 Bowls, 1 Conference Championship

Auburn, Gene Chizik: 35-29, 0.547, 3-0 Bowls, 1 National Championship

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History

Auburn leads series 33-12-2

Auburn is 14-1 last fifteen meetings with Clemson (first played 1902)

Teams have played twice in Atlanta (2007 & 1998) Auburn 2-0

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Clemson is 44-115 vs SEC opponents (18-23 since '82)

Auburn is 44-19-2 vs ACC opponents (15-5 since '82)

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Swinney and Chizik have faced each other twice (2011 & 2010) 1-1

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Interesting Note: Walter Merritt Riggs (Auburn alum and member of first AU football team) was the first football coach of Clemson College. Clemson, via Riggs, owes Auburn (either directly or indirectly depending on the story) for its mascot, colors and several traditions. Additionally the two teams share the "Tiger Rag" song.

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Past Chick-fil-a Kickoffs

2008: Alabama 34, Clemson 10

2009: Alabama 34, Virginia Tech 24

2010: LSU 30, UNC 24

2011: Boise 35, UGA 21

2012: Auburn v. Clemson & Tennessee v. NC State

2013: Alabama v. Virginia Tech

2014: Ole Miss v. Boise State & Alabama v. West Virginia


 
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I wonder if Denard Robinson can run against Bama's D. I hope our 3rd year interim DC Diaco pays close attention to how an expert prepares.

 
I wonder if Denard Robinson can run against Bama's D. I hope our 3rd year interim DC Diaco pays close attention to how an expert prepares.
Thoughts on the Navy game? I'm excited for it, more excited than I've been for an ND game in a while. Navy is a well coached team...I think it'll be a good one.

 
50 days until 30 August 2012






Game for 11JUL2012

Tennessee Volunteers v. NC State Wolfpack



2012 Chick-fil-A College Kickoff





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Time: 730 PM EST, Friday, 31 August



Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta Georgia



Television: ESPNU



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Rankings (2011): Tennessee (NR), NC State (NR)



Record (2011): Tennessee 5-7, NC State 8-5



Vegas Line: Not yet released



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Tennessee Leaders



QB Tyler Bray: 1983 Yards, 59.5% Completion, 17 TD's, 6 INT's



WR Da'Rick Rogers: 1040 Yards, 15.5 YPC, 9 TD's



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NC State Leaders



QB Mike Glennon: 3054 Yards, 62.5% Completion, 31 TD's, 12 INT's



RB James Washington: 897 Yards, 4 YPC, 7 TD's



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Coaches



Tennessee - Derek Dooley: 28-34, 0.451, 1-1 Bowls



NC State - Tom O'Brien: 108-75, 0.59, 8-2 Bowls, 1 Conference Title



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History



Series tied at 1-1 (last meeting 1939)



Tennessee is 66-27-4 against ACC opponents (1-4 last ten years)



NC State is 10-29-2 against SEC opponents (1-2 last ten years)



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NC State is undefeated in games in Atlanta (3-0)



Tennessee is 3-7 in games in Atlanta (0-3 v. ACC, 1-5 v. non SEC)



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Tennessee is 42-22-3 against teams from North Carolina



NC State is 7-6-1 against teams from Tennessee



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Tennessee is 20-4-1 in opening games the last 25 years



NC State is 19-6 in opening games the last 25 years



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Tennessee has had three losing conference campaigns in the past five years compared to two in the preceding twenty years



Derek Dooley's father, Vince Dooley, was 2-1 v. NC State as HC at UGA and 34-11-2 against ACC opponents.



Derek Dooley is 0-1 v. ACC as UT HC and 2-0 v. ACC as LT HC.



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Other Chick-fil-a Kickoffs



2008: Alabama 34, Clemson 10



2009: Alabama 34, Virginia Tech 24



2010: LSU 30, UNC 24



2011: Boise 35, UGA 21



2012: Auburn v. Clemson



2013: Alabama v. Virginia Tech



2014: Ole Miss v. Boise State & Alabama v. West Virginia



 
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I wonder if Denard Robinson can run against Bama's D. I hope our 3rd year interim DC Diaco pays close attention to how an expert prepares.
Thoughts on the Navy game? I'm excited for it, more excited than I've been for an ND game in a while. Navy is a well coached team...I think it'll be a good one.
A coupple years back I read of how brave it is for a team to schedule Navy in the opener. Something about the stress of preparing for the wishbone all summer and then transitioning back to regular football. We must be so brave :sarcasm

While I'm sure that our DC intern will remember what offense Navy runs, I wonder if the air travel and being seen in those shoes will wear on the team. Especially foro ur schedule where Navy is an 'easy' game.

 
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