Beyond the headlines: Notes to guide you through Kickoff Week

— -- For more than a decade, every weekday during the college football season I have written 3-Point Stance, three short notes to entertain, make you think or maybe even both. This season, as Kickoff Week begins Thursday night, we move to seven notes, twice a week. The mathematically inclined will note that means one fewer note per week. You are getting slightly less for the same price. Which, by the way, is nothing. And have you taken a look at your half-gallon of ice cream lately? It's not a half-gallon.

But I digress. Let's get on with the season: It is here, by god. It is here.

Tide will overwhelm the Trojans on the line

It's always dangerous to assess this year's team by how it did last year. But when I look at No. 20 USC's chances against No. 1 Alabama on Saturday (ABC, 8 p.m. ET), I think of how Stanford dominated the line of scrimmage last season, held the ball for 35:42 and rushed for 262 yards against the Trojans in the Pac-12 championship game last December. The Trojans have a young defensive front. The Tide have three returning starters on the offensive line, including Cam Robinson, who might be the best left tackle in the country, not to mention a veteran defensive front.

Fun fact from the Group of 5

San Diego State, which won its last 10 games a year ago, has the second-longest active winning streak in the FBS behind Alabama's 12-game streak. In the first six years of this decade, Northern Illinois' four home losses are tied for the fewest in the FBS, with Alabama, Boise State, Clemson, Florida State, LSU and Stanford. And really, the Huskies lost only two at home. The other two "home" games were at Soldier Field. If you need to prove your Power 5 knowledge, mention that Florida State has won 21 straight home games dating to 2012.

Tar Heels forced to backtrack after fumbling with appointment of Beckman

North Carolina chancellor Carol L. Folt, on the short tenure of Tim Beckman as a Tar Heels volunteer coach: "Moving forward I don't expect this situation to recur." I don't know Folt, but I know that a lot of university presidents are academics who couldn't find the football stadium with a campus map. Folt is a scientist who came to Chapel Hill after spending 30 years on the Dartmouth faculty. Between the ongoing NCAA investigation and the tone-deaf hiring of Beckman by head coach Larry Fedora, Folt has gotten a crash course on the dark side of the football team being the university's front porch.

Babers' spread will thrive in Carrier Dome

Texas offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert spent three seasons (2012-14) on the staff of Dino Babers at Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green. Babers plucked Gilbert out of Temple (Texas) High to help install Baylor's spread offense. Now Babers is at Syracuse, and Gilbert believes he will turn around the Orange because the Baylor spread is made for the Carrier Dome. "To be able to play probably half or more than half their games in a controlled climate? Especially up there? It will be huge to run this offense in that kind of conditions," Gilbert said.

K-State will try and catch McCaffrey if it can

Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder, asked about the task of slowing down Stanford back Christian McCaffrey, last year's Heisman runner-up, gave a tutorial on defensive preparation. "Being able to identify where he is and why he's there becomes important," Snyder said. "He can line up in a lot of different positions, and [we must] not get baited out of position because of where his linemen are. They have to understand what he can, but also equally important, what he can't do from certain positions." Of course, everyone is waiting to find out what McCaffrey can't do.

'Beamer ball' alive and well at Virginia Tech

 Virginia Tech will award its special teams player of the week with the honor of wearing the No. 25 jersey, the retired number worn by former Hokies head coach Frank Beamer, in the next game. Another cool special teams honor: Because Duke quarterback and team co-captain Thomas Sirk has re-injured his Achilles tendon, he will be replaced at the coin toss in each game by a special teams captain of the week. Four-year long snapper Thomas Hennessy gets the honor when the Blue Devils open Saturday against North Carolina Central.

Looking for signs of life from the Buffaloes

Yes, Colorado has won two Pac-12 games in head coach Mike MacIntyre's three seasons. But here are some things to think about as the Buffs try to snap their streak of consecutive seasons with a losing record at 10. Four of Colorado's five losses to Pac-12 South teams last year came by seven points or fewer. Eighteen starters return. Senior quarterback Sefo Liufau has started 29 games, thrown for nearly 7,400 yards and 49 touchdowns. It might be too much to ask against a schedule with road trips to Michigan, Oregon, USC and Stanford in the first eight games. But the Buffs just might show some life.