Post by trnyerheadncough on Sept 10, 2014 14:01:45 GMT -5
you got him to drink from the bottle."
"Yeah, thank God, cause my nipples were killing me."
Well guys and gals, we're on to the third week, and although we've got some separation from front to back, nobody is truly out of this thing yet. One good week plants you right back into the thick of it. Also, with us being now at 20 players (as well as some sideways suggestions from those who shall remain nameless), and despite some hand gnashing and teeth wringing, I've decided to up the number of games to 12. Yes yes, I know that it will ultimately mean more work for me, and I recognize that it pains you all quite terribly....but we need some more intrigue and opportunity for them at the back to catch them at the front.
We will see how it goes this week and beyond. Who knows, if it makes for a better contest, I might let it top out at 15. But anything more than that, then I'm going to need a paid subscription...no... TWO paid subscriptions to this site.
I guess we'll do the Friday game because this week's slate is....well...to put it nicely....weak.
FRIDAY'S GAME:
Toledo +11 at Cincinnati. Most teams have played 2 games already, but it might shock you to realize that Cincinnati has YET to play a football game. Call it a screwup in schedule, whatever...blah blah blah. Gunner Kiel finally gets a chance to showcase his talents after jet setting around the nation playing or committing to different teams. Cincinnati has a decent group of skill, and Tuberville is, by and large, a decent coach. Toledo is 1-1 after never really getting close to beating Missouri last weekend, although they did gain 410 yards..but turnovers and penalties didn't help. I think Toledo is a solid club, but I like Cincy to come out of the gate, chomping at the bit to get their season underway on a good note. Bearcats.
SATURDAY'S GAMES:
UCF +9 1/2 at Missouri. UCF hasn't played since they came up a little short in Dublin against Penn State, although after changing quarterbacks after half time, the Golden Knights looked like the better squad. Missouri is 2-0, but hasn't looked all that impressive against either Toledo or South Dakota State. Mizzou's defense is giving up an average of just a shade under 400 a game, and I tend to think that UCF is better than either Toledo or SDSU. Still, the game is at home, and Missouri has shown that they can score, averaging over 40 in two games. I like UCF's skill to keep the game relatively close considering how shaky Missouri's defense looks....I'll take the Golden Knights and the points.
NC State -1 1/2 at South Florida. Pretty weak squads, to be honest, but it is an interesting matchup, and the line would tend to indicate two relatively equal below average teams. The mighty Wolfpack is 2-0 after eeking out a win in the final minute over Georgia Southern, and coming back in the fourth quarter to beat the powerhouse known as Old Dominion. South Florida is sitting at 1-1 after dropping a heartbreaker to Maryland, 24-17. Must've been a letdown game after coming back to beat Western Carolina, 36-31.
In this game, I'm just not sure of who sucks more. I would have assumed that NC State would be better with Brissett under center after transferring from Florida, and has stats have been good enough to be better than what has been shown. He's been 49-69 for 544 yards, 5 touchdowns and only 1 pick. That's pretty solid. USF has, by contrast, been awful throwing the ball, but been solid on defense. I think the Maryland score is a bit misleading. Turns out the Terps had a whopping 7 fumbles (4 lost), and threw 2 picks. Given the stats, it looks like USF might be half decent on defense....but I don't know. Bottom line, neither of these teams are worth a shit. I'll pull for the ACC. Wolfpack.
East Carolina +10 1/2 at Virginia Tech. Given last week's results for both of these teams, you had to figure it was going to be on the list. If folks don't know who East Carolina is at this point isn't paying much attention. The Pirates gave South Carolina all they wanted last weekend to run out of gas down the stretch and giving me one of my few points for the week last week. We all know what Virginia Tech did, going on the road and beating the Buckeyes in Columbus. This honestly screams letdown trap game for the Hokies, and I'm sure that Frank is trying to keep his team focused. The line is tantalizing, to be honest, and East Carolina traditionally plays the Hokies tough. Since 2007, East Carolina is only 1-5 against the Hokies, but only 1 of those games was a Hokie win by more than 13 points. Granted, that one was in Blacksburg where this one is....but I still like the feisty Pirates to keep it tight against the Hokies, who may be a little hungover from last Saturday.
West Virginia +3 1/2 at Maryland. This is a rivalry game, isn't it? West Virginia rebounded nicely after the good showing against Bama to squeak by Towson, 54-0. Clint Trickett looks like a stud, going 35/40 for 348 yards and 2 TDs. This comes after going 29/45 for 365 yards and 1 TD against Bama (and he had several drops by receivers in that game). If the kid was 5 inches taller and 40 pounds heavier, he'd be high on some scout lists because he's got a head for the game. The Marylanders are 2-0 after stomping James Madison and sneaking past USF in Tampa. It is just so early in the season that we really can't know too much about some of these teams, like Maryland. So, I gotta go with the team that I think looks better so far. I know Maryland has Diggs and Long, and CJ Brown, but I just think Trickett's play so far this year cannot be overlooked, even on the road. Mountaineers.
Louisville -6 1/2 at Virginia. I don't know about you guys, but for some unknown reason, I'm really really intrigued by this game. I watched Louisville run away from Miami on Labor Day, and I've watched Virginia play very tough on defense and giving UCLA all it wanted. Now Louisville is on the road in Charlottesville, at less than a touchdown favorite. Virginia beat Richmond 45-13 despite gaining nearly 100 less yards than the Spiders. The difference? Richmond turned the ball over an astounding 7 times (4 fumbles and 3 picks). Admittedly, Virginia might've let off the gas after getting up 31-6, considering 160 of Richmond's 422 yards came after Virginia took that lead.
I think Virginia (despite my poor mouthing them in my UCLA-UVA discussion) is a team that is headed in the right direction. They have some playmakers on defense, and that defense should keep them in most games this year.
Operative word though, being "most". I think Louisville is too good, and will win by at least a touchdown. Cardinals.
Georgia -5 1/2 at South Carolina. Really the only "big" game this weekend, far as I can tell, although it did lose some luster after South Carolina got blown off the field by TAMU. However, you have to think the old Ball Coach has something up his sleeve for the Bulldogs. Spurrier ALWAYS plays the Bulldogs tough, even when his Carolina teams were just decent, back to the days when he was head honcho of the Gators. South Carolina is on life support in the east, to be honest. They don't want to go 1-2 to start the year and 0-2 in the SEC, so the Bulldogs are going to get Carolina's best shot, especially home at Williams-Brice. With all that said, I don't know that I like the Cocks here. A troubling stat...USC, after 2 games, is giving up over 150 yards a game on the ground. Hell, ECU averaged 6.3 yards per rush. TAMU, 4.3. You see, Georgia has this runningback...maybe you've heard of him.... Bulldogs.
Arkansas +2 at Texas Tech. A game that I decided to sneak in after making the move from 10 games to 12, this one just looked a little too good to pass up. Arkansas lost a second half battle to Auburn, and blew out Podunk U. Texas Tech is 2-0 after winning a couple of squeakers over Central Arkansas and UTEP. Trying to look deeper into the stats with limited info, it looks to me that TT is very shaky on defense. Lemme put it this way...you've seen TT's two opponents. Them 2 combined for over 450 rushing yards in their games. Arkansas still has Alex Collins, Johnathan Williams, and Korliss Marshall, right? Razorbacks.
Minnesota +13 1/2 at TCU. It's been damn near 50 years since someone could (maybe...possibly) say after two games that Minnesota is the best lookin' team in the Big 10. I am not sure if that's a testament to Minnesota or an observation of the Big 10. Minnehaha is 2-0 with wins over Eastern Illinois (yawn) and Middle Tennessee State (snooze). TCU has a win over the dreaded Samford Bulldogs. It doesn't tell us much, except TCU showed good defense in that game, giving up a paltry 143 yards.
I personally think Minnesota is a great feel good story, and I'm always pulling like hell for Jerry Kill. But Minnesota hasn't won a decent OOC game on the road since at least 2009...and that's if you consider beating a 4-8 Syracuse team in the dome a decent win. The spread is tantalizing, but I'll stick with the Horny Toads here.
Tennessee +20 1/2 at Oklahoma. Considering the history of these two programs, the 3 touchdown spread looks seriously out of place. Is Tennessee that bad, or is Oklahoma just that good? I don't think Tennessee is THAT bad. They're 2-0 with a nice win over a Utah State team that was thought to really test the Vols. They followed up that win with a 34-19 victory over Arkansas State. Oklahoma, on the other hand, looks like it has all the pieces in place to make a serious run at the playoffs and beyond this year. Yeah, it is early, but they've beaten their two opening opponents by a combined score of 100-23. They've given up a combined total of 573 yards. Over 1/4 of that yardage total has come in the 4th quarter of the games after the scores were well out of reach, and I'm assuming Oklahoma was playing the water boys.
Still....3 touchdowns?? Do I take the chance and pick the SEC dog? Nah...sorry. Oklahoma, in BOTH games, has raced out to huge leads (in one game, it was 31-0 at half, the other, 31-3 at half), and I don't think that was a fluke. Now they're home, and even though they are expected to win, I think the Norman crowd is excited to whip an SEC team. I feel a touch nervous, but I'll take the Sooners and expect them to win going away.
UCLA -7 1/2 at Texas. A tale of two underperformers. UCLA is making Tim Brando look like an idiot after struggling to beat Virginia and Memphis. Admittedly, they are still unbeaten, but they don't look smooth anywhere on the field. I do think Virginia is a little better than advertised, but Memphis is still Memphis. I mean, Memphis. 469 yards. Tied the ball game with a pick 6 in the 4th quarter. Then you have Texas who REALLY looked bad in getting blown off the field by BYU. It wasn't just that Texas lost. BYU is a legit ballclub this season...but moreso in how they lost. 250 yards on the ground. Losing by 30+ at home isn't going to make the natives happy, although I will admit that Charlie Strong is going to be able to pull this club together with how he doesn't put up with any bullshit. Keep in mind that the BYU game was only 6-0 at half time.
OldGrayLady was a wily minx when she mentioned that Tyrone Swoopes was no David Ash. Ash is still out, so Texas is going to struggle to score. UCLA isn't the behemoth (so far) that the experts predicted, but they're good enough to win by more than a touchdown. Bruins.
Southern California -17 at Boston College. It came down to this game, or Penn State v. Rutgers, but I figured with the coast to coast flair, let's do this one. USC showed major cajones by outlasting Stanford, who made a number of blunders to let the Trojans hang around and ultimately hold on to win. Boston College lost to Pitt last weekend, but I get the feeling that Pitt is a pretty good ball club.
Yes, this is a game that USC should win. Hence the reason they're favored by 17 on the road. Tyler Murphy did not have a good game against Pitt...going 10/28 with 2 picks. I think USC is probably better than Pitt. Man...17 is a lot, but I think I'll take the Trojans, who, after beating Stanford, might have found some new mojo going into the meat of their season...
Good luck all.
"Yeah, thank God, cause my nipples were killing me."
Well guys and gals, we're on to the third week, and although we've got some separation from front to back, nobody is truly out of this thing yet. One good week plants you right back into the thick of it. Also, with us being now at 20 players (as well as some sideways suggestions from those who shall remain nameless), and despite some hand gnashing and teeth wringing, I've decided to up the number of games to 12. Yes yes, I know that it will ultimately mean more work for me, and I recognize that it pains you all quite terribly....but we need some more intrigue and opportunity for them at the back to catch them at the front.
We will see how it goes this week and beyond. Who knows, if it makes for a better contest, I might let it top out at 15. But anything more than that, then I'm going to need a paid subscription...no... TWO paid subscriptions to this site.
I guess we'll do the Friday game because this week's slate is....well...to put it nicely....weak.
FRIDAY'S GAME:
Toledo +11 at Cincinnati. Most teams have played 2 games already, but it might shock you to realize that Cincinnati has YET to play a football game. Call it a screwup in schedule, whatever...blah blah blah. Gunner Kiel finally gets a chance to showcase his talents after jet setting around the nation playing or committing to different teams. Cincinnati has a decent group of skill, and Tuberville is, by and large, a decent coach. Toledo is 1-1 after never really getting close to beating Missouri last weekend, although they did gain 410 yards..but turnovers and penalties didn't help. I think Toledo is a solid club, but I like Cincy to come out of the gate, chomping at the bit to get their season underway on a good note. Bearcats.
SATURDAY'S GAMES:
UCF +9 1/2 at Missouri. UCF hasn't played since they came up a little short in Dublin against Penn State, although after changing quarterbacks after half time, the Golden Knights looked like the better squad. Missouri is 2-0, but hasn't looked all that impressive against either Toledo or South Dakota State. Mizzou's defense is giving up an average of just a shade under 400 a game, and I tend to think that UCF is better than either Toledo or SDSU. Still, the game is at home, and Missouri has shown that they can score, averaging over 40 in two games. I like UCF's skill to keep the game relatively close considering how shaky Missouri's defense looks....I'll take the Golden Knights and the points.
NC State -1 1/2 at South Florida. Pretty weak squads, to be honest, but it is an interesting matchup, and the line would tend to indicate two relatively equal below average teams. The mighty Wolfpack is 2-0 after eeking out a win in the final minute over Georgia Southern, and coming back in the fourth quarter to beat the powerhouse known as Old Dominion. South Florida is sitting at 1-1 after dropping a heartbreaker to Maryland, 24-17. Must've been a letdown game after coming back to beat Western Carolina, 36-31.
In this game, I'm just not sure of who sucks more. I would have assumed that NC State would be better with Brissett under center after transferring from Florida, and has stats have been good enough to be better than what has been shown. He's been 49-69 for 544 yards, 5 touchdowns and only 1 pick. That's pretty solid. USF has, by contrast, been awful throwing the ball, but been solid on defense. I think the Maryland score is a bit misleading. Turns out the Terps had a whopping 7 fumbles (4 lost), and threw 2 picks. Given the stats, it looks like USF might be half decent on defense....but I don't know. Bottom line, neither of these teams are worth a shit. I'll pull for the ACC. Wolfpack.
East Carolina +10 1/2 at Virginia Tech. Given last week's results for both of these teams, you had to figure it was going to be on the list. If folks don't know who East Carolina is at this point isn't paying much attention. The Pirates gave South Carolina all they wanted last weekend to run out of gas down the stretch and giving me one of my few points for the week last week. We all know what Virginia Tech did, going on the road and beating the Buckeyes in Columbus. This honestly screams letdown trap game for the Hokies, and I'm sure that Frank is trying to keep his team focused. The line is tantalizing, to be honest, and East Carolina traditionally plays the Hokies tough. Since 2007, East Carolina is only 1-5 against the Hokies, but only 1 of those games was a Hokie win by more than 13 points. Granted, that one was in Blacksburg where this one is....but I still like the feisty Pirates to keep it tight against the Hokies, who may be a little hungover from last Saturday.
West Virginia +3 1/2 at Maryland. This is a rivalry game, isn't it? West Virginia rebounded nicely after the good showing against Bama to squeak by Towson, 54-0. Clint Trickett looks like a stud, going 35/40 for 348 yards and 2 TDs. This comes after going 29/45 for 365 yards and 1 TD against Bama (and he had several drops by receivers in that game). If the kid was 5 inches taller and 40 pounds heavier, he'd be high on some scout lists because he's got a head for the game. The Marylanders are 2-0 after stomping James Madison and sneaking past USF in Tampa. It is just so early in the season that we really can't know too much about some of these teams, like Maryland. So, I gotta go with the team that I think looks better so far. I know Maryland has Diggs and Long, and CJ Brown, but I just think Trickett's play so far this year cannot be overlooked, even on the road. Mountaineers.
Louisville -6 1/2 at Virginia. I don't know about you guys, but for some unknown reason, I'm really really intrigued by this game. I watched Louisville run away from Miami on Labor Day, and I've watched Virginia play very tough on defense and giving UCLA all it wanted. Now Louisville is on the road in Charlottesville, at less than a touchdown favorite. Virginia beat Richmond 45-13 despite gaining nearly 100 less yards than the Spiders. The difference? Richmond turned the ball over an astounding 7 times (4 fumbles and 3 picks). Admittedly, Virginia might've let off the gas after getting up 31-6, considering 160 of Richmond's 422 yards came after Virginia took that lead.
I think Virginia (despite my poor mouthing them in my UCLA-UVA discussion) is a team that is headed in the right direction. They have some playmakers on defense, and that defense should keep them in most games this year.
Operative word though, being "most". I think Louisville is too good, and will win by at least a touchdown. Cardinals.
Georgia -5 1/2 at South Carolina. Really the only "big" game this weekend, far as I can tell, although it did lose some luster after South Carolina got blown off the field by TAMU. However, you have to think the old Ball Coach has something up his sleeve for the Bulldogs. Spurrier ALWAYS plays the Bulldogs tough, even when his Carolina teams were just decent, back to the days when he was head honcho of the Gators. South Carolina is on life support in the east, to be honest. They don't want to go 1-2 to start the year and 0-2 in the SEC, so the Bulldogs are going to get Carolina's best shot, especially home at Williams-Brice. With all that said, I don't know that I like the Cocks here. A troubling stat...USC, after 2 games, is giving up over 150 yards a game on the ground. Hell, ECU averaged 6.3 yards per rush. TAMU, 4.3. You see, Georgia has this runningback...maybe you've heard of him.... Bulldogs.
Arkansas +2 at Texas Tech. A game that I decided to sneak in after making the move from 10 games to 12, this one just looked a little too good to pass up. Arkansas lost a second half battle to Auburn, and blew out Podunk U. Texas Tech is 2-0 after winning a couple of squeakers over Central Arkansas and UTEP. Trying to look deeper into the stats with limited info, it looks to me that TT is very shaky on defense. Lemme put it this way...you've seen TT's two opponents. Them 2 combined for over 450 rushing yards in their games. Arkansas still has Alex Collins, Johnathan Williams, and Korliss Marshall, right? Razorbacks.
Minnesota +13 1/2 at TCU. It's been damn near 50 years since someone could (maybe...possibly) say after two games that Minnesota is the best lookin' team in the Big 10. I am not sure if that's a testament to Minnesota or an observation of the Big 10. Minnehaha is 2-0 with wins over Eastern Illinois (yawn) and Middle Tennessee State (snooze). TCU has a win over the dreaded Samford Bulldogs. It doesn't tell us much, except TCU showed good defense in that game, giving up a paltry 143 yards.
I personally think Minnesota is a great feel good story, and I'm always pulling like hell for Jerry Kill. But Minnesota hasn't won a decent OOC game on the road since at least 2009...and that's if you consider beating a 4-8 Syracuse team in the dome a decent win. The spread is tantalizing, but I'll stick with the Horny Toads here.
Tennessee +20 1/2 at Oklahoma. Considering the history of these two programs, the 3 touchdown spread looks seriously out of place. Is Tennessee that bad, or is Oklahoma just that good? I don't think Tennessee is THAT bad. They're 2-0 with a nice win over a Utah State team that was thought to really test the Vols. They followed up that win with a 34-19 victory over Arkansas State. Oklahoma, on the other hand, looks like it has all the pieces in place to make a serious run at the playoffs and beyond this year. Yeah, it is early, but they've beaten their two opening opponents by a combined score of 100-23. They've given up a combined total of 573 yards. Over 1/4 of that yardage total has come in the 4th quarter of the games after the scores were well out of reach, and I'm assuming Oklahoma was playing the water boys.
Still....3 touchdowns?? Do I take the chance and pick the SEC dog? Nah...sorry. Oklahoma, in BOTH games, has raced out to huge leads (in one game, it was 31-0 at half, the other, 31-3 at half), and I don't think that was a fluke. Now they're home, and even though they are expected to win, I think the Norman crowd is excited to whip an SEC team. I feel a touch nervous, but I'll take the Sooners and expect them to win going away.
UCLA -7 1/2 at Texas. A tale of two underperformers. UCLA is making Tim Brando look like an idiot after struggling to beat Virginia and Memphis. Admittedly, they are still unbeaten, but they don't look smooth anywhere on the field. I do think Virginia is a little better than advertised, but Memphis is still Memphis. I mean, Memphis. 469 yards. Tied the ball game with a pick 6 in the 4th quarter. Then you have Texas who REALLY looked bad in getting blown off the field by BYU. It wasn't just that Texas lost. BYU is a legit ballclub this season...but moreso in how they lost. 250 yards on the ground. Losing by 30+ at home isn't going to make the natives happy, although I will admit that Charlie Strong is going to be able to pull this club together with how he doesn't put up with any bullshit. Keep in mind that the BYU game was only 6-0 at half time.
OldGrayLady was a wily minx when she mentioned that Tyrone Swoopes was no David Ash. Ash is still out, so Texas is going to struggle to score. UCLA isn't the behemoth (so far) that the experts predicted, but they're good enough to win by more than a touchdown. Bruins.
Southern California -17 at Boston College. It came down to this game, or Penn State v. Rutgers, but I figured with the coast to coast flair, let's do this one. USC showed major cajones by outlasting Stanford, who made a number of blunders to let the Trojans hang around and ultimately hold on to win. Boston College lost to Pitt last weekend, but I get the feeling that Pitt is a pretty good ball club.
Yes, this is a game that USC should win. Hence the reason they're favored by 17 on the road. Tyler Murphy did not have a good game against Pitt...going 10/28 with 2 picks. I think USC is probably better than Pitt. Man...17 is a lot, but I think I'll take the Trojans, who, after beating Stanford, might have found some new mojo going into the meat of their season...
Good luck all.
- Georgia 
- Horned Frogs !
