Post by Walter on Sept 13, 2017 11:53:57 GMT -5
“A whole bottle of pills! My God, get an ambulance!”
“Wait a minute, will ya? We don't even know what kind!”
“What difference does it make? He took a whole bottle!”
“Well, maybe they were vitamins! He could be the healthiest one in the room!”
Week Three
All games played Sat. 9/16
We’re starting to see some separation of the pack... (the entire pack is separating from me).
1. NOTRE DAME -13.5 at BOSTON COLLEGE
The Catholic Bowl starts us off. BC got by Northern Ill by 3 in the first week and then got clobbered by Wake Forest by 24 at home the following week. The Irish beat up Temple and struggled against UGA at home. BC isn’t Georgia, but the Irish, coming off a 4-8 season haven’t shown me anything yet either. But "nothing" will be enough against BC.
Notre Dame.
2. CINCINATI +5.5 at MIAMI, OH
Cincinnati stayed with Michigan into the 3rd quarter, scoring on a 10 play drive coming out of the half. The Redhawks lost to Marshall to start the season and then beat up on a doormat 31-10. And for this, Cincinnati gets 5 points? Well, turns out Cincinnati only beat the same doormat 26-14 to open their season. Still, the experience of playing Michigan will help the Bearcats.
Cincinnati.
3. OKLAHOMA ST. -13.5 at PITTSBURGH
Pitt couldn’t hang with PennSt last week. This week, OKSt comes to town. So it would be fair to ask, “Who’s better, OKSt or PSU? The polls say PSU is better, but OKSt seems to have a more potent offense, scoring more than 100 points in its first two games. I don’t think Pitt will handle OKSt any better than it handled PSU and will need more points to get my pick.
Oklahoma State.
4. UCLA -3 at MEMPHIS
I was stunned that this game was only a 3 point spread. Memphis beat LaMonroe to start the season but their QB went 10/25 for just 97 yards. Stack the middle, win the game, right? Yeah, well, the Bruins aren’t a very good RunD team giving up an average of 331 yards/game on the ground, oh, and did I mention that Memphis ran for 319 yards in its opener? So it comes down to Josh Rosen against the Memphis ground game.
UCLA
5. NORTHERN ILLINOIS +14 at NEBRASKA
Nebraska goes home after thinking they almost came back and beat Oregon, coming up just short after spotting the Ducks 28 at the half. Now they get N.Ill, a team that couldn’t handle Boston College at home. Nebraska bounces back and dominates.
Nebraska
6. BAYLOR +14 at DUKE
I became a believer of the potency of Duke’s offense after last week. They hammered a Northwestern team I thought was going to be pretty good, controlling the ball for an astonishing 41 minutes out of 60. Meanwhile Baylor is a dumpster fire, a shell of itself, losing to Liberty (who?) and UT San Antonio. I think if you gave Baylor another touchdown, I’d still take Duke.
Duke
7. CLEMSON -3 at LOUISVILLE
In what was billed as a defensive matchup, Clemson relied on their D to hold off Auburn last week for the win, limiting the Tigers to just 117 total yards. But they weren’t exactly wearing out the endzones either, gaining just 284 yards themselves.
They come up against the returning Heisman Trophy winner in Lamar Jackson, and a potent offense in Louisville.
Last season, the game see-sawed between halves and there was over a 1000 yards of total offense for the game. This season, Clemson breaks in a new offense. Against Auburn, QB Kelly Bryant accounted for all but 40 yards of total offense, passing for 185 and running for 59. No other RB gained even 20. That’s a problem.
Louisville
8. WISCONSIN -17 at BYU.
Wisconsin has only given up 24 points in their first two games, and BYU’s offense has only averaged 11 points a game so far. Do we need to go any further?
Wisconsin.
9. TENNESSEE +5 at FLORIDA
I’ve heard that there is some sort of importance attached to this game, so I’ve included it. Tennessee beat GTech in the first week and then cruised past Indiana St last week. Meanwhile The Gators were in disarray against Michigan, and that was BEFORE the hurricane.
Neither team is an offensive juggernaut, but neither have shown they could shut down on defense either. Tennessee gets points, so
Tennessee
10. COLORADO STATE +28.5 at ALABAMA
I really didn’t want to put this game on the board, but that half point?....hmmm. Colorado State is a far better team than FresnoSt, who lost by 31. This isn’t much of a game, but an interesting bet. Notwithstanding that I despise BAMA these days, I gotta take the points.
Colorado State
11. LSU -7 at MISSISSIPPI STATE
LSU looks to be just like LSU always is. Solid D, good running game and then there’s that thing with their passing game. This year is no exception, but at least they seem to have found a guy with some accuracy. MissSt’s RunD is suspect, yielding 239 total yards if we discount the 87 yard loss on 2nd and goal by LaTech. Orgeron won’t mess around with the forward pass. LSU hammers it on the ground until MSU cries “No Mas!”
LSU.
12. KANSAS STATE -4 at VANDERBILT
As usual, Kansas St. beats up a line of creampuffs and then tells us how great they are because they are unbeaten. This year is no exception, running up a combined 110-26 in their first two games against Central Ark. and Charlotte. Vandy hasn’t played anyone of this caliber yet either, but are also 2-0 and playing at home. In the end, I think KState’s O covers.
Kansas State.
13. TEXAS +16.5 at USC
The first game between the two teams since the legendary 2005 National Championship game.
USC comes off an impressive drubbing of Stanford, while Texas shakes off a bad opening home game and loss to Maryland by beating up on SanJoseSt at home, 56-0. Now they head out on the road to meet the Trojans in the Coliseum. USC impressed me with their ability to run the ball against Stanford, and that is, coincidentally, something that Maryland is good at as well.
USC
14. MISSISSIPPI -3.5 at CALIFORNIA
Mississippi travels west to play Cal, something that we all thought was against SEC regulations. They come off two wins against So. Alabama and UT Martin, but gave up a combined 50 points in the process. Cal went east, played an early game and still beat NC at their house. They also gave up 431 yards passing to Weber St. and trailed at the half 20-17. Oh, and did I mention that OleMiss averages 460 yards a game in the air? Still, Cal has the better win so far and an SEC team winning on the west coast is like an eclipse. Rare.
Cal.
15. STANFORD -9.5 at SAN DIEGO ST.
Ordinarily, this game wouldn’t even be on the list, but Stanford is playing AT SDSt, which is rare, and they come off a demoralizing loss to USC last week. Meanwhile, SDSt. is 2-0 and comes off a win over another Pac12 team last week, AZSt. Trap game for Stanford? That’s what I think.
San Diego St.
“Wait a minute, will ya? We don't even know what kind!”
“What difference does it make? He took a whole bottle!”
“Well, maybe they were vitamins! He could be the healthiest one in the room!”
Week Three
All games played Sat. 9/16
We’re starting to see some separation of the pack... (the entire pack is separating from me).
1. NOTRE DAME -13.5 at BOSTON COLLEGE
The Catholic Bowl starts us off. BC got by Northern Ill by 3 in the first week and then got clobbered by Wake Forest by 24 at home the following week. The Irish beat up Temple and struggled against UGA at home. BC isn’t Georgia, but the Irish, coming off a 4-8 season haven’t shown me anything yet either. But "nothing" will be enough against BC.
Notre Dame.
2. CINCINATI +5.5 at MIAMI, OH
Cincinnati stayed with Michigan into the 3rd quarter, scoring on a 10 play drive coming out of the half. The Redhawks lost to Marshall to start the season and then beat up on a doormat 31-10. And for this, Cincinnati gets 5 points? Well, turns out Cincinnati only beat the same doormat 26-14 to open their season. Still, the experience of playing Michigan will help the Bearcats.
Cincinnati.
3. OKLAHOMA ST. -13.5 at PITTSBURGH
Pitt couldn’t hang with PennSt last week. This week, OKSt comes to town. So it would be fair to ask, “Who’s better, OKSt or PSU? The polls say PSU is better, but OKSt seems to have a more potent offense, scoring more than 100 points in its first two games. I don’t think Pitt will handle OKSt any better than it handled PSU and will need more points to get my pick.
Oklahoma State.
4. UCLA -3 at MEMPHIS
I was stunned that this game was only a 3 point spread. Memphis beat LaMonroe to start the season but their QB went 10/25 for just 97 yards. Stack the middle, win the game, right? Yeah, well, the Bruins aren’t a very good RunD team giving up an average of 331 yards/game on the ground, oh, and did I mention that Memphis ran for 319 yards in its opener? So it comes down to Josh Rosen against the Memphis ground game.
UCLA
5. NORTHERN ILLINOIS +14 at NEBRASKA
Nebraska goes home after thinking they almost came back and beat Oregon, coming up just short after spotting the Ducks 28 at the half. Now they get N.Ill, a team that couldn’t handle Boston College at home. Nebraska bounces back and dominates.
Nebraska
6. BAYLOR +14 at DUKE
I became a believer of the potency of Duke’s offense after last week. They hammered a Northwestern team I thought was going to be pretty good, controlling the ball for an astonishing 41 minutes out of 60. Meanwhile Baylor is a dumpster fire, a shell of itself, losing to Liberty (who?) and UT San Antonio. I think if you gave Baylor another touchdown, I’d still take Duke.
Duke
7. CLEMSON -3 at LOUISVILLE
In what was billed as a defensive matchup, Clemson relied on their D to hold off Auburn last week for the win, limiting the Tigers to just 117 total yards. But they weren’t exactly wearing out the endzones either, gaining just 284 yards themselves.
They come up against the returning Heisman Trophy winner in Lamar Jackson, and a potent offense in Louisville.
Last season, the game see-sawed between halves and there was over a 1000 yards of total offense for the game. This season, Clemson breaks in a new offense. Against Auburn, QB Kelly Bryant accounted for all but 40 yards of total offense, passing for 185 and running for 59. No other RB gained even 20. That’s a problem.
Louisville
8. WISCONSIN -17 at BYU.
Wisconsin has only given up 24 points in their first two games, and BYU’s offense has only averaged 11 points a game so far. Do we need to go any further?
Wisconsin.
9. TENNESSEE +5 at FLORIDA
I’ve heard that there is some sort of importance attached to this game, so I’ve included it. Tennessee beat GTech in the first week and then cruised past Indiana St last week. Meanwhile The Gators were in disarray against Michigan, and that was BEFORE the hurricane.
Neither team is an offensive juggernaut, but neither have shown they could shut down on defense either. Tennessee gets points, so
Tennessee
10. COLORADO STATE +28.5 at ALABAMA
I really didn’t want to put this game on the board, but that half point?....hmmm. Colorado State is a far better team than FresnoSt, who lost by 31. This isn’t much of a game, but an interesting bet. Notwithstanding that I despise BAMA these days, I gotta take the points.
Colorado State
11. LSU -7 at MISSISSIPPI STATE
LSU looks to be just like LSU always is. Solid D, good running game and then there’s that thing with their passing game. This year is no exception, but at least they seem to have found a guy with some accuracy. MissSt’s RunD is suspect, yielding 239 total yards if we discount the 87 yard loss on 2nd and goal by LaTech. Orgeron won’t mess around with the forward pass. LSU hammers it on the ground until MSU cries “No Mas!”
LSU.
12. KANSAS STATE -4 at VANDERBILT
As usual, Kansas St. beats up a line of creampuffs and then tells us how great they are because they are unbeaten. This year is no exception, running up a combined 110-26 in their first two games against Central Ark. and Charlotte. Vandy hasn’t played anyone of this caliber yet either, but are also 2-0 and playing at home. In the end, I think KState’s O covers.
Kansas State.
13. TEXAS +16.5 at USC
The first game between the two teams since the legendary 2005 National Championship game.
USC comes off an impressive drubbing of Stanford, while Texas shakes off a bad opening home game and loss to Maryland by beating up on SanJoseSt at home, 56-0. Now they head out on the road to meet the Trojans in the Coliseum. USC impressed me with their ability to run the ball against Stanford, and that is, coincidentally, something that Maryland is good at as well.
USC
14. MISSISSIPPI -3.5 at CALIFORNIA
Mississippi travels west to play Cal, something that we all thought was against SEC regulations. They come off two wins against So. Alabama and UT Martin, but gave up a combined 50 points in the process. Cal went east, played an early game and still beat NC at their house. They also gave up 431 yards passing to Weber St. and trailed at the half 20-17. Oh, and did I mention that OleMiss averages 460 yards a game in the air? Still, Cal has the better win so far and an SEC team winning on the west coast is like an eclipse. Rare.
Cal.
15. STANFORD -9.5 at SAN DIEGO ST.
Ordinarily, this game wouldn’t even be on the list, but Stanford is playing AT SDSt, which is rare, and they come off a demoralizing loss to USC last week. Meanwhile, SDSt. is 2-0 and comes off a win over another Pac12 team last week, AZSt. Trap game for Stanford? That’s what I think.
San Diego St.
