Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA. Rematch of the ‘09 opener also in Atlanta when #5 Bama knocked off #7 VT 34-24. Bama has won 11 straight ssn openers incl vs BCS foes #8 Michigan (41-14, LY) and #9 Clemson (34-10, ‘08). Bama is nearly a 3 td favorite here and will have the crowd edge. They may hold a little back with a huge game vs Texas A&M next (2 wks) as that was their only loss LY. Two of the best D’s in the country will be on the field and while Bama clearly has the advantage on offense look for the VT DL to give the Bama OL some fits early keeping this game close until the 2H.

First Meeting. OSU has won 34 str home openers by 23 ppg w/the L/loss vs PSU (‘78). Buffalo did stand toe to toe with Georgia in the opener LY in the 1H before losing 45-23. This Buffalo team is bowl caliber with 16 ret st’rs and will try to run on an Ohio St DL that lost all 4 st’rs. Keep in mind, LY’s opener was Meyer’s 1st game at “The Shoe” and they were coming off a losing season. They now are playing with the pressure of being the #2 team in the country but should still win easily here.

WCUClemson’s last shutout loss came when these two last met in‘03 and UGA has now won 5 in a row. This one figures to be a shootout with UGA and Clem both having Top 15 offenses and there are 4 Heisman contenders playing in UGA’s QB Murray/RB Gurley and Clem QB Boyd/WR Watkins. The Tigers do have the more veteran defense with 6 ret st’rs vs 3 for UGA. The situation also favors the home team as Georgia has an even larger game on deck vs South Carolina while Clemson has an FCS team and a bye the next 2 weeks. The SEC has owned the ACC in reg ssn matchups and look for the same here.