The first week of the season always has a bunch of easy picks and honesty compels your Fearless Friday Forecaster to admit that none of the tough picks went his way:

Picking Georgia over Oklahoma looked good after the first possession of the game. Then Oklahoma State woke up and the Georgia offense took a nap for the rest of the day.

The Florida State pick over Miami looked promising until the Seminoles dropped a touchdown pass in the end zone as time expired.

I really thought Wake Forest was going to beat Baylor 24-21. Instead it was the Bears, and QB Robert Griffin, who prevailed by the same score.

So that gives us a modest record of 7-3. And it will only get tougher from here on. So let’s press on with this week’s edition of the Fearless Friday Forecast:

1. South Carolina at Georgia: The latest internet rumor has Joe Cox selling barbeque sandwiches out on East Campus and Buck Belue coming out of the broadcast booth to start at quarterback against South Carolina. That’s …

Five burning questions as we head into the weekend:

1—What does Kevin Steele have cooked up for the Georgia Tech offense tonight? Steele is a veteran defensive coordinator who has seen just about everything. He spent the last two years at Alabama working with Nick Saban. He’s been the head coach at Baylor. He spent six years with Tom Osborne at Nebraska. He worked for Bobby Bowden at Florida State. The guy knows how to coach defense and can get very creative when the situation calls for it. Last week, for example, he went with a lot of six defensive back looks against Tony Franklin’s spread offense at Middle Tennessee. He didn’t play his base defense for one play, which made sure Tech’s offenses coaches had to reach back to Alabama to get some film on Steele’s scheme.  It will be interesting to see if Steele has anything special for Georgia Tech.  Defenses have to be very disciplined when they play Georgia Tech. “The thing about what they do is you have to follow your …

1. The ACC really needed that Florida State-Miami game: I’m not saying this was the worst opening the weekend the ACC has ever had. But it has to be in the top two.  There were losses to two Colonial Athletic Association (Division I-AA) teams-Richmond (beat Duke) and William & Mary (beat Virginia). Maryland got smoked at California (52-13). Wake Forest lost at home to Baylor (24-21). No. 7 Virginia Tech, the favorite to win the league, lost to No. 5 Alabama (34-24) in Atlanta. N.C. State, a dark horse pick to win the ACC Atlantic, could find no offense and lost to South Carolina, 7-3.  The only win over a Division I-A opponent was Clemson over Middle Tennessee State of the Sun Belt. The rest of the ACC wins came against Northeastern, The Citadel and Jacksonville State. It’s a good thing that Miami and Florida State played such a great game (38-34) Monday night. It salvaged the entire weekend for the ACC.

2. This is a big week for the Big Ten: The Big …

Steve Spurrier, the Head Ball Coach at South Carolina, said the other day that he was tired of winning low-scoring, close football games. He said he was going to “start coaching my butt off until we can throw the ball around.”

He continued: “We’ve all been coaching but we’re going to put in overtime. We were pretty sad the other night and it’s nobody’s fault but mine.”

He talked about how conservative his game plan was in last Thursday night’s 7-3 win at N.C. State. He ran the ball 42 times, threw it 22.  QB Stephen Garcia only attempted three long throws. All three were completed but one was called back due to a penalty.

Spurrier sounds he wants to be less conservative and take some more shots down the field when his Gamecocks come to Athens to play Georgia Saturday night.

HBC, I respect you a lot. You are a Hall of Fame player and not long after you retire you’ll be a Hall of Fame coach.

But I have known Steve Spurrier and watched him coach since he was Red Wilson’s …

Happy Labor Day to everybody! A lot happened on this first weekend of college football. So what did we learn?

1. Georgia must get better play at quarterback.  It would be foolish to lay Georgia’s 24-10 loss at Oklahoma State at the feet of senior quarterback Joe Cox. It was a team loss if there ever was one. The kid was sick and deserves the benefit of the doubt. But here is the reality of playing in the SEC. The defensive coordinators around the league are going to look at that video tape. They will see Georgia’s first possession and how the Bulldogs just blew Oklahoma State off the ball. Then they will see the adjustments Oklahoma State made to put the pressure on the quarterback. At most SEC schools, if the defensive coordinator does not want you to run the ball, it is going to be difficult to run the ball. Ellis Johnson of South Carolina is one of the best defensive coordinators in college football. And trust me when I tell you that South Carolina’s defense is better …

After a long and very hot summer, I can’t tell you how glad I am that the first college football season of the Saturday is finally here. So let’s get on with the first edition of the “Fearless Friday Forecast” for 2009:

1. Georgia at Oklahoma State: I have waffled back and forth on this game for a couple of months. Logically, Oklahoma State should win. The Cowboys have been getting ready for this meeting with Georgia for years. The stadium is all fixed up and Okie State has what may be their best offense since Barry Sanders ran wild. But I just get the feeling that Georgia will be able to run the ball and limit Oklahoma State’s possessions. I also believe Georgia won’t be intimidated by the crowd. This will be a big win for the Bulldogs as they come home to face 1-0 South Carolina: Georgia 24, Oklahoma State 20.

2. Jacksonville State at Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets are a lot better and under normal circumstances would put up a pretty big number. But Tech has to play …

Five burning questions as we head into the first weekend of college football for 2009:

1. Oklahoma State is going to be rowdy, but is it going to be any rowdier than Knoxville or Baton Rouge? A lot is being made of the fact that this is probably the biggest home opener ever for Oklahoma State. Thanks to Mr. Pickens’ generosity, they’ve spruced up their stadium and the folks in Stillwater are anticipating the best season in school history. That’s really cool.

Sounds like a regular-season game in the SEC to me. I don’t doubt that the crowd at Boone Pickens Stadium will be rowdy. But it will be 60,000. That’s capacity. And how could it be any rowdier than the 92,000-plus at LSU or the 107,000 who show up at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville when Georgia comes to town. Those folks certainly don’t wish the Bulldogs well.

If Georgia loses on Saturday it won’t be because of the crowd. One thing you do learn in the SEC is how to focus on the road. Because if you don’t learn how to …

Athens-For those of you in the Georgia Bulldog Nation who have been wondering about Larry Munson, I’m happy to report that your radio voice for almost 43 years is doing just fine.

How do I know this? Well, yesterday I went to visit him. And when he answered the door, Munson dispensed with the usual formalities. He just looked at me and said:

“Do you REALIZE that we’ve got to go to Oklahoma State on Saturday?”

“Have you SEEN their offense?”

“CERTAINLY, we’ve got more speed on defense than they do! We do have more speed, right?”

“Can we EVEN SCORE enough points to stay with those guys?”

Some things never change.

What has changed is for the first time since September of 1965, Vince Dooley’s second year as head coach, Georgia football is about to begin a college football season without Larry Munson as its radio voice.

And Munson is going to miss it. Big time.

“I talked to somebody the other day who told me that when they retired they missed every blade of grass at Sanford …

When Nick Saban signed his unprecedented eight-year, $32 million contract to be the head coach at Alabama, I told some friends that there would come a day when that deal would look like a bargain.

That day, as it turns out, is today.

Saban just signed a three-year contract extension which, if he stays for its entirety, will keep him in Tuscaloosa through the 2017 season. That’s nine more years.

The contract extension should have been longer. In fact, the school should have offered him a lifetime deal.

I’m serious.

Here’s why: When Alabama was struggling to a 6-7 (2-6 SEC) finish in Mike Shula’s final season (2006), some of my Crimson Tide friends were simply dumbfounded. They simply did not understand why a school with Alabama’s tradition and resources, which are considerable, should be in this position.

And they had a point. It is tough to compete for the SEC championship every season because the league is so good and, with the 85-scholarship limit, programs are going to …

The Detroit Free Press reported on its website Saturday night that Michigan’s football program has routinely and excessively violated NCAA rules which restrict the amount of practice and training time schools may require of its players.

The newspaper interviewed 10 current or former players and the parents of four other players. Five of the players, according to the report, gave almost identical stories of excessive practice and off-season workout time, which is supposed to be limited to eight hours a week in the off-season and 20 hours during the season.

If these reports turn out to be true, second-year coach Rich Rodriguez could be in trouble. First of all, the Wolverines went 3-9 in 2008, snapping a string of 40 consecutive non-losing seasons. It is a well-known fact in college football circles that Rodriguez ruffled a lot of feathers when he arrived at Michigan. He attempted to alter some facets of the Michigan football culture, which had essentially remained unchanged …