Week 2 Staff Picks

As thrilling as last week was, Week 2 of the college football looks like a dog, matchup-wise. But, there’s the Hokie-Smokey Classic in Bristol and an old Southwest Conference tilt between Arkansas and TCU that has the picks panel divided. And, y’know, it’s college football, we’re all addicted, and so we’re going to watch the games regardless. Here’s how we see the action going, and how Miami will do against FAU.......

How we see FAU-Miami:

Ricky Paolilo: Miami running backs Mark Walton and Joe Yearby combined to rush for 188 yards and four touchdowns against FAU a year ago (they also totaled 117 yards receiving and one touchdown in the passing game). This Saturday, with Gus Edwards back in the mix, three running backs are licking their chops and ready to run roughshod over the Owls. I think we’ll see the Hurricanes offense run with more tempo against Florida Atlantic than they did in last weekend’s opener against FAMU, and that’ll keep the offense lighting up the scoreboard. On defense, injuries and lack of depth are concerns. However, I believe Miami still has players above FAU’s talent level across the board. The defensive line, despite a few absences and players fighting through injury, will continue to be disruptive. I like the Canes to show some dominance over Florida Atlantic, winning 49-10.

Cam Underwood: Miami is looking to continue their strong start, fresh off a 70-3 dismantling of FAMU. While FAU will be a tougher game that the opener was, I have no doubt that Miami will distance themselves from FAU over the course of Saturday's game. With Brad Kaaya having more of an impact on the stat sheet this week than he had last, I think Miami's offense, and recharged defense, is just too much for the Owls to handle. Give me Miami 45, FAU 17.

Craig Smith: Jason Driskel can make plays with his arm and legs, maybe giving the Canes’ young linebacking trio a little bit of trouble early on. And then the Miami offense steamrolls an outclassed FAU defense, as the Canes beat a Driskel for the third time in the last 4 years. Canes 47, FAU 16.

Blain Bradley: The Hurricanes play an FAU team that managed to beat Southern Illinois by eight points. SIU opened up an aerial assault, throwing for 367 yards against the Owls. This could easily be a 300-plus yard game for Brad Kaaya. The owls will have to face a trio of Miami running backs that will cause all kinds of headaches. I can't see the Owls scoring more than 10 points.

Michael Grunewald: Miami rolled up 550 or so yards of offense against a terrible 1AA team for 70 points last week. FAU last week gave up roughly the same amount of yards to the same level of opponent. Due to this being a "rivalry" game for the side of FAU i think the Owls come out all jacked up on Mountain Dew and execute early. However, their talent level and faults will bleed through as the game continues. Miami wins 56 - 17.

Daniel Tummeley: After a successful outing against FAMU last week, the ‘Canes will look to have a similar performance against the Owls. I expect the Miami coaches to dive a little deeper into their playbooks, and reveal some new wrinkles. The Owls will prove to be a tougher opponent than FAMU, but Miami will win this game with ease.