LIBERTY REPORT: Week 1 picks

With a load of Thursday games on the schedule, this week's picks come a couple of days early.

Each week, I'll make predictions on Big South games and games from the News & Advance FCS Top 25.

BIG SOUTH

Thursday's games

Charleston Southern at Miami: Miami is in disarray, yes. The Hurricanes suspended seven players for the opener against the Bucs, including starting quarterback Robert Marve. Does that give CSU a glimmer of hope? In a word, no. Miami is still Miami, even if it is down a bit from its glory days. The Hurricanes have better athletes and better depth, and suspensions have a way of galvanizing a team. CSU was a bad defensive team last year and lacks the sort of running game that will allow it to hang around. Throw in a first-year quarterback (Tribble Reese) who has been in CSU's system for all of a month, and all signs point to a blowout. Miami 48, CSU 10

Gardner-Webb at Tennessee Tech: Not a lot of history to go on here. Since 2005, Tennessee Tech has only played one non-conference home game against a Division I team, losing 31-7 to Chattanooga in 2006. Gardner-Webb beat the Golden Eagles 30-26 when the teams met in Boiling Springs in 2006. Former UAB coach Watson Brown went 4-7 in his first year in Cookeville as his team struggled to hold onto the football. The Eagles were minus-18 in turnover margin. TTU was a bad defensive team a year ago and lost its last three road games. Gardner-Webb has enough back on offense to sneak out with a win. Gardner-Webb 38, Tennessee Tech 30

Saturday's games
Coastal Carolina at Penn State: Three more Chanticleers were arrested this week, including all-Big South tight end Scott Fambrough. Not the sort of distractions a team wants heading into its first game against an FBS squad. And a good one at that. This will be over by the middle of the first quarter. Penn State 63, Coastal Carolina 6

Colgate at Stony Brook: First of two Big South roadies for Colgate, which plays at Coastal Carolina next week. The Raiders tend to always be sneaky good. Tailback Jordan Scott (1,875 yards, 20 TDs in 2007) could give the Seawolves fits. Colgate 20, Stony Brook 17

Presbyterian at No. 14 Wofford: Tough opener for the Blue Hose, who weren't very good defensively last season. Presbyterian allowed 206 yards per game on the ground last year. Wofford averaged 310 yards per game on the ground in 2007. Wofford 51, Presbyterian 30

North Greenville at No. 22 Liberty: The Crusaders don't have the size up front or the skill on defense to keep up. The Flames haven't lit teams up in their home opener the last two years, though. Liberty 35, North Greenville 10

FCS TOP 25

Thursday's games

Austin Peay at No. 2 North Dakota State: Bison's run game overwhelms Govs. NDSU 44, Austin Peay 10

No. 17 Eastern Illinois at Central Michigan: Defending MAC champ Chippewas will probably look at the film of the North Dakota State game last year in prep for this one, considering NDSU routed CMU 44-14. Eastern isn't nearly as good at NDSU and it won't sneak up on the Chips. Central Michigan 38, Eastern Illinois 10

No. 18 Eastern Kentucky at Cincinnati: EKU's last trip to Nippert Stadium wasn't pretty. Cincy won 31-0. The Colonels will at least score this time. Cincinnati 27, Eastern Kentucky 10

No. 20 South Dakota State at Iowa State: The Cyclones lost at home last season to FCS power Northern Iowa. The Jackrabbits aren't quite at that level, and again, they'll have no chance to sneak up on Iowa State. Iowa State 31, South Dakota State 21

No. 25 Jacksonville State at Georgia Tech: This seems to be the sexy FCS over FBS pick, but I just don't see it happening. GT has won five games in the 2000s against FCS teams, and all rather handily. Georgia Tech 35, Jacksonville State 14

Saturday's games

No. 1 Appalachian State at LSU: An ESPN audience will get to see this one unfold, and though the Mountaineers won't repeat their stunning defeat of Michigan from 2007, this game should be entertaining until the end. LSU 31, Appalachian State 20

No. 3 Richmond at No. 12 Elon: Mike London's Spider debut comes against an Elon offense that sizzled in 2006. The Spiders return eight starters on defense, but stopping the Scott Riddle-to-Terrell Hudgins pass game won't be easy. Elon 38, Richmond 34

No. 4 James Madison at Duke: JMU historically hasn't played well in FBS roadies, though Duke is a much lesser opponent than the Dukes are used to seeing (UNC, VT). Still, David Cutcliffe will want to get his era off to a good start in Durham, and JMU has much bigger concerns in September with games against App State and UMass coming up. Duke 30, JMU 14

No. 5 Eastern Washington at Texas Tech: Could be a real fun game to watch, but Eastern doesn't have the defense to stop the potent Red Raiders. Texas Tech 64, Eastern Washington 30

Albany at No. 6 Massachusetts: Albany has steadily built a nice program in the Northeast Conference, but UMass will be too tough to handle. UMass 37, Albany 21

No. 7 Northern Iowa at BYU: The Cougars will likely need to finish unbeaten to crack the BCS. BYU 40, Northern Iowa 20

No. 9 Cal Poly at San Diego State: Ding! Ding! Ding! Here's the upset! Cal Poly 21, San Diego State 17

No. 10 Delaware at Maryland: Blue Hens have too much rebuilding to do on offense to win here. Maryland 31, Delaware 10

No. 11 McNeese State at North Carolina: McNeese did beat FBS La.-Lafayette last season. UNC's a bit better than the Cajuns. UNC 37, McNeese State 13

No. 13 Youngstown State at Ohio State: Won't be close. Ohio State is scary good. Ohio State 45, Youngstown State 7

No. 21 Villanova at West Virginia: Mountaineers usually hammer FCS foes at home. WVU 47, Villanova 13

No. 24 South Carolina State at Central Florida: First FCS game for the Knights since they beat Florida Atlantic at home in 2003. UCF 38, South Carolina State 3

EDIT: To the Central Florida fan, you are correct. I read the 2003 results wrong. Thanks.