FSU Football Fan Rooting Guide, TV Listings: Week 2

It’s week 2 of the college football season, which means that the schedule this week is littered with sub-par matchups and FCS cupcakes taking their paychecks and their wallops from the big boys. Week 2 is always a bit of a letdown because you get all excited for the big week 1 matchups and the return of football. Then, you wake up on September 6 disappointed and questioning whether the season will live up to expectations. So, in essence, the entire country gets to feel what it’s like to have been a Florida State fan for the last three years.

This week’s matchups are listed below. All times are Eastern.

Friday, September 6

Wake Forest at Rice, 8pm, CBSSN: Wake. For the purposes of Florida State’s schedule, the Demon Deacons need to go win this game in Houston. Like “blitzing” three defensive linemen, a Rice upset does nothing good here for FSU.

Marshall at No. 24 Boise State, 9pm, ESPN2: Boise. I guess we’re in a situation now where it benefits FSU most for Boise State to become UCF and runs the table as the Group of Five king. That statement is a sad description of the current status of Florida State football.

Saturday, September 7

Cincinnati at No. 5 Ohio State, 12pm, ABC: Cincy. All the upsets.

Army at No. 7 Michigan, 12pm, FOX: Army. All the upsets.

No. 21 Syracuse at Maryland, 12pm, ESPN: Cuse. FSU plays Syracuse later in the season and it would behoove the ‘Noles to have Syracuse ranked and playing well. A Maryland upset does not benefit FSU.

Northern Illinois at No. 13 Utah, 1pm, PAC12: Northern Illinois. One of the early season early PAC12 games. Utah is one of the most eastward Pac 12 members, and they’re still playing at 11 a.m. Mountain Time. No reason not to root for an upset here.

South Florida at Georgia Tech, 2pm, ACCN: Georgia Tech. While FSU won’t play Coastal member Georgia Tech this year, it’s still beneficial for the ACC to root for the Yellow Jackets here. Coming off a 49-point home shutout, Charlie Strong could be on the hot seat, and Georgia Tech will be looking for revenge for last year’s defeat in Tampa.

No. 12 Texas A&M at No. 1 Clemson, 3:30pm, ABC: Clemson. For the love of everything holy, Clemson, don’t drop this one. The FSU fan base isn’t emotionally stable enough right now to witness this guy pull off an upset in Death Valley.

No. 25 Nebraska at Colorado, 3:30pm, FOX: Colorado. This used to be a conference rivalry. Now its rarely played. Enough with the Nebraska hype already. Ranked? Seriously?

Richmond at Boston College, 3:30pm, ACCNX: Boston College. A must-win for the fighting Addazios. Richmond is a strong FCS program. A Spider upset here hurts FSU’s schedule down the road.

Southern Miss at Mississippi State, 3:30pm, ESPNU: Southern Miss. Why not root for a C-USA upset over a SEC West team? The Bulldogs looked like hot garbage against UL-Whoever last week, maybe they’re due.

No. 18 Central Florida at Florida Atlantic, 7pm, CBSSN: Florida Atlantic. Definitely pulling for the fighting Lane Kiffins to pull off this upset. A rather intriguing matchup, this is also a good time to remind UCF fans that they are a directional school, just like FAU.

BYU at Tennessee, 7pm, ESPN: BYU. Tennessee actually did it, they lost to—checks notes—Georgia State in their home opener last week and paid the Panthers $950,000.00 to do it. I know we don’t have a ton of room to talk trash about past powerhouses crapping the bed, but I think it’s evident that Tennessee may have actually hit rock bottom. To wit, check out this actual quote from a Georgia State player to the media this week:

No. 6 LSU at No. 9 Texas, 7:30pm, ESPN: Texas. The marquee matchup of the weekend. I would prefer Texas to beat LSU only because Oklahoma needs someone to slow them up in the Big 12. We already know LSU is going to lose to Alabama for the 28th consecutive year.

Tulane at No. 10 Auburn, 7:30pm, ESPN2: Tulane. No reason not to root for this unlikely Green Wave upset. It’s got to be a roller-coaster of emotions being an Auburn fan. Talk about a love-hate relationship with Gus, these guys are wanting to fire him at every turn, only to have him pull an improbable win out of his hat. Imagine coming back to beat Oregon only to lose at home to Tulane. I think that embodies the Malzahn era quite accurately.

Nevada at No. 16 Oregon, 7:30pm, PAC12: Nevada. The Pac 12’s pre-season flag-bearer couldn’t hold on to a win over an Auburn team that started a true freshman at QB. Nevada beat Purdue on a last -second field goal. Crazier things have happened following a let-down like the one the Ducks experienced last week.

Miami at North Carolina, 8pm, ACCN: Miami. A Miami win in Chapel Hill benefits FSU the most, since FSU doesn’t play UNC this year. Sidebar, how come no one is making a bigger deal out of the fact that Manny Diaz is a Florida State graduate? I could never imagine FSU hiring a UM or a UF grad to be FSU’s head coach. Just throwing that out into the universe.

Cal at No. 14 Washington, 10:30pm, FS1: Cal. The Pac 12 has suffered enough. Just cancel the season if Washington blows this one against Cal.

No. 23 Stanford at USC, 10:30pm, ESPN: USC. Southern Cal is an absolute mess right now, meaning that in the alternate universe that is the Pac 12, they’re due for an upset over Stanford. This would benefit FSU most, since Stanford is near the back of the pack of the AP Top 25.