College football week 1: 5 bold predictions sure to come true
There’s no use in holding back to start the 2018 college football season — let’s get wild with a handful of bold predictions for week 1 of the year.
Bless our souls, college football has finally arrived back in our lives. The 2018 season has officially already gotten underway with a small slate of games last week, in addition to more small slates on Thursday and Friday of Week 1. Of course, everyone is really waiting for the real kickoff to the season, which comes on the first Saturday slate of games for the year.
When it comes to the first week of college football action, the excitement is always at a high level. Part of that is, of course, just the simple fact that the sport is back in our lives and we’re getting to spend Saturdays watching these schools and players compete. The other part, however, comes from the fact that, despite preseason rankings and all of the previewing that’s been done, nothing is certain until these teams take the field.
College football is a sport where things can change in an instant as it pertains to upsets, injuries and so on. That’s never more true than in the first week of the season. Hype trains get immediately derailed, bad personnel decisions come to light right away and many more things of the like continue to happen throughout the country. It’s madness, but it’s beautiful.
With that in mind, let’s come into the 2018 college football season firing, making some bold calls of our own. Here are five bold predictions for Week 1 that will certainly come to fruition — and if they don’t, you didn’t hear them from me.
5. Drew Lock throws for 400+ yards, 5 touchdowns — in the first half
Though the Missouri Tigers enter the 2018 season unranked, they do so with one of the most highly touted quarterback prospects in the country for the 2019 NFL Draft, Drew Lock, leading an explosive offense. Last season, Lock lit opposing defenses on fire as he threw for 3,964 yards, 43 touchdowns and just 13 interceptions. Despite playing in a spread offense, he clearly has all the tools as a quarterback in terms of arm strength and mechanics to be a great NFL player.
Having said that, he has to keep putting up those numbers and show what he’s made of this season to continue to be mentioned as a potential first-round pick in the 2019 draft. Subsequently, there’s every reason to believe that we’re both going to see him motivated and continue seeing him air it out at every chance that he can get. Against UT Martin in the Tigers’ season-opener, there will be plenty of opportunities for him to do just that.
In truth, the talent that Missouri possesses in comparison to their Week 1 opponents likely means that they are going to decimate them on Saturday afternoon. In turn, that likely means that Lock will not be playing four quarters of football to start the year. However, I don’t believe that means he won’t put up gaudy numbers. I see him coming out of the gate firing on all cylinders and lighting up UT Martin to the tune of over 400 yards and at least five touchdown passes in the first half alone.