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Week 4 Discussion Thread

I was figuring that Syracuse would be favored, but "holy shit" was my first reaction at seeing the -10. From looking at HHM's post it seems like people were ready to pounce on the opening number for Cuse.

I been all over cuse from week 1 but yea, I dunno bout trusting them to cover dd’s? What wrong w uva offense tho? It don’t look nothing like last year w Armstrong running around lighting up the scoreboard? Even tho I’m skeptical bout laying it I could def see a path to them covering cause they gonna move the ball at will on uva I think. Purdue was able to go up and down the field throwing the ball on cuse, if this was last year uva I’d think they do the same and the points would be really attractive. I know they had to replace a lot off the oline, is that the main problem?
 
Uva been bad in the red zone also and cuse d has been fantastic at holding teams when they get into scoring range. I dunno, I’m def not interested in taking the points. Uva isnt completing even 50% their passes! Purdue proved you can absolutely throw on cuse but if uva not capable of doing that efficiently it gonna be a long night! Cuse is tough to run on and they can generate pressure, efficient passing games gonna be a problem for them all year. Uva just doesn’t look like that kinda team, I think if I had to play it I would lay the points w cuse.
 
Im probably a sucker but I still think way more highly of wvu than most ppl and certainly more than I do Vatech. I think close losses to pitt and believe it or not ku are still more impressive than anything Hokies have done. I dunno if Hokies d is any good or not? They havnt been asked to stop a offense worth a damn. Wvu will easily be the most explosive offense they have seen and Hokies offense will be the worst wvu defense has seen. Nothing says sucker like short road fav on thu night but I’m playing wvu.
 
I been all over cuse from week 1 but yea, I dunno bout trusting them to cover dd’s? What wrong w uva offense tho? It don’t look nothing like last year w Armstrong running around lighting up the scoreboard? Even tho I’m skeptical bout laying it I could def see a path to them covering cause they gonna move the ball at will on uva I think. Purdue was able to go up and down the field throwing the ball on cuse, if this was last year uva I’d think they do the same and the points would be really attractive. I know they had to replace a lot off the oline, is that the main problem?
O-line for sure, lack of depth at wr making few guys do all the work so they getting tired and dropping passes. Armstrong also off. New O also trying to be way more balanced but there‘s still no run game, last year‘s air raid scheme made way more sense
 
O-line for sure, lack of depth at wr making few guys do all the work so they getting tired and dropping passes. Armstrong also off. New O also trying to be way more balanced but there‘s still no run game, last year‘s air raid scheme made way more sense

it crazy Armstrong not completing 50% his passes! I didn’t realize they changed schemes, that prob wasn’t smart and it def hurts them here as if they played like last year I’d like their chances a lot better. Throw in how poor they been in red zone and how tough cuse gets when teams get into scoring range and this -10 seems less crazy than it might seem. Illini rb went for more than 7ypc on them, seems like a good game for tucker to get off but cuse so balanced now, their offense a freaking handful w Schrader being a much more effective passer.
 
First UNLV road chalk role since 2016, at San Jose -3, they lost. Have to go back to 2013 to find a UNLV road favorite that won (-2.5 at NM)

What the hell happened to Utah st last week? They wernt all that impressive vs ucon in the opener either. I been loving unlv this year but I’m not sure if this a sell high/buy low moment or not? It was a close game last year and think it fair to say unlv improved, at this point ya gotta say Utah st has fell back a bit. This a 10.5 point swing from last years game but it even more than that cause last year was at unlv! Utah st won 28-24 as -7.5 road favs. It really hard to believe there been that much swing in these 2 to justify this? Unlv from +7.5 at home to -3 at Utah st???
 
As much as I agree with y’all that clemson really hasn’t looked all that impressive, this line screams clemson or nothing imo

Im shocked ppl saying wrong team favored! Did wake learn to play d? Last I checked a not real great liberty scored a bunch on them and almost beat them! Shipley is gonna maul wake and it not like wake gonna score at will on clemson d! Clemson won this gm by 3tds last year!!
 
This another week where so far I find myself making a case for way more favs. Not exactly my typical style, worked pretty well last week but at least I had ku! I’m not super deep into the card yet but havnt really found a dog I love as of yet.
 
I dunno how the hell mizzou and auburn gonna get close to 51 points? Aub should be able to run this week, I dunno where else offense will come from? How mizzou scores 20 a mystery to me?
 
I guess Arkansas a dog, I can def get beyond them. Really not sure why they dogged? Aggies didn’t really look any better in beating Miami. The offense was all achane, pretty sure razorbacks d will have a answer for him.
 
There a bunch of teams off this week huh? Doesn’t seem like a very big slate of games.
 
I dunno how the hell mizzou and auburn gonna get close to 51 points? Aub should be able to run this week, I dunno where else offense will come from? How mizzou scores 20 a mystery to me?
No TJ Finley for Auburn.
 
Im probably a sucker but I still think way more highly of wvu than most ppl and certainly more than I do Vatech. I think close losses to pitt and believe it or not ku are still more impressive than anything Hokies have done. I dunno if Hokies d is any good or not? They havnt been asked to stop a offense worth a damn. Wvu will easily be the most explosive offense they have seen and Hokies offense will be the worst wvu defense has seen. Nothing says sucker like short road fav on thu night but I’m playing wvu.
i was heavy on boston college vs tech......and my reasoning was somewhat the same as west va....better offense better quarterback then what va tech has. what i came away though from that game besides losing money is brent prye - boston college didn't even have a first down until practically halftime. prye > hafley as a defensive coach. He threw the whole package out there at a senior qb for bc who can always generate some type of offense. I will say hokie d is better then west virginia. bc can't run but they can pass........i was mightily impressed. If brent prye at night , better defense, and a qb who doesn't throw 5 picks like he did against odu and offense slowly improves it could be tricky.
 
i tend to agree but wake just ran for like 20 yards on liberty whose been bad against the run and outgained by 100......who has wake beat ? clemson always matches up well against wake........i'm just trying to figure out if this is end of season clemson from last year which made massive improvements from the start of the year or the beginning of year clemson that was no good. Against tech last year they scored 14 points this year 41

I did not see the Liberty game. From what I have read and heard:

WF OL obviously has a bad game. Supposedly they also had bad week of practice. Perhaps the assumption was they could have their way with Liberty without much trouble. Liberty loaded to stop the run and WF didn't rise to overcome that. WF OL is better than it showed.

Hartman also had a poor game. Missed some easy throws and reads, uncharacteristic.

WF D vs run shouldn't be too worrisome. WF secondary and health/availability of players could be an issue.

Those aren't my opinions, I'm just summarized pretty much what I've learned.

Will WF play the same last week to this week? Was that truly who they are?

I have not been impressed with Clemson. Watched the GT game and of course the D was good and DJ improved in the second half. Did not watch Furman, looks like bad game. Did watch LaTech and thought LaTech as actually in the game 1H. Lots of turnovers by them blew it in the 3rd Q. If LaTech can be in a game vs Clemson off a poor game for the Tigers what does that say? Either they aren't as good as they're supposed to be, they're underachieving or they're not focused enough.

First time the game has been at WF since Lawrence left. Wasn't game last year close until WF turnovers ruined it. Turnovers could always ruin it again. I like the under too as 24-27 pts might be good enough to win it. WF would have to be really really good to get upper 20s but if bad Clemson O shows and WF O doesn't turn it over I can see the upset.
 
Some turnovers and special teams plays ?

That the only path to the over I think. Mizzou did finally put their big time recruit on punt return last week and believe he had more return yards in that game than they had total last year! Lol. Dunno what took them so long? Apparently it what the kid does best. 51 pretty high to get under beat just by special teams and turnovers tho! I do expect auburn will be able to run but I’d think that would help as tank not really a home run hitter like the kid from k-st. I honestly still don’t even know what mizzou offense wants to be? Other than bad!
 
i was heavy on boston college vs tech......and my reasoning was somewhat the same as west va....better offense better quarterback then what va tech has. what i came away though from that game besides losing money is brent prye - boston college didn't even have a first down until practically halftime. prye > hafley as a defensive coach. He threw the whole package out there at a senior qb for bc who can always generate some type of offense. I will say hokie d is better then west virginia. bc can't run but they can pass........i was mightily impressed. If brent prye at night , better defense, and a qb who doesn't throw 5 picks like he did against odu and offense slowly improves it could be tricky.

I think you should really temper Hokies d expectations based off BC, bc oline is awful, they havnt been good vs anyone. Wvu offense is worlds better than BC.

Far as I’m concerned wells for Vatech the same god awful turnover machine he was his entire career at Marshall, I think that will come shining thru when he faces a team his defense can’t shut down. I’m 100% confident wvu will score on hokies. Bc might be one the worst offenses in the entire power 5 right now! The oline terrible and if you take 1 guy away (flowers) they have nothing. Wvu is better across the board from qb to wr group to o-line. I’ll take my chances.
 
I did not see the Liberty game. From what I have read and heard:

WF OL obviously has a bad game. Supposedly they also had bad week of practice. Perhaps the assumption was they could have their way with Liberty without much trouble. Liberty loaded to stop the run and WF didn't rise to overcome that. WF OL is better than it showed.

Hartman also had a poor game. Missed some easy throws and reads, uncharacteristic.

WF D vs run shouldn't be too worrisome. WF secondary and health/availability of players could be an issue.

Those aren't my opinions, I'm just summarized pretty much what I've learned.

Will WF play the same last week to this week? Was that truly who they are?

I have not been impressed with Clemson. Watched the GT game and of course the D was good and DJ improved in the second half. Did not watch Furman, looks like bad game. Did watch LaTech and thought LaTech as actually in the game 1H. Lots of turnovers by them blew it in the 3rd Q. If LaTech can be in a game vs Clemson off a poor game for the Tigers what does that say? Either they aren't as good as they're supposed to be, they're underachieving or they're not focused enough.

First time the game has been at WF since Lawrence left. Wasn't game last year close until WF turnovers ruined it. Turnovers could always ruin it again. I like the under too as 24-27 pts might be good enough to win it. WF would have to be really really good to get upper 20s but if bad Clemson O shows and WF O doesn't turn it over I can see the upset.

I feel like lot of ppl dismissing the turnovers by wake but they were at it again last week and not like clemson is lucky to get turnovers, their defensive front creates havoc which leads to turnovers. Not like wake was just handing them the ball, they were under pressure. My only real concern is I dunno if Venables being gone matters? Obviously the talent level on tigers d is still thru the roof, I dunno if they scheming and calling as good a defensive game plan tho?

Wake is so many ppl darlings this week, pretty much every podcast or thing I read has guys gushing over them, most the guys I respect here seem to love them. Maybe I’m nuts but I just don’t see it. I think tigers will control game with the run and the defense will continue putting pressure on wake that leads to more mistakes. Maybe I’m overrating clemson but I still view them as the only team besides Ohio st outside the sec who can play with Uga or bama. (Not sure if anyone can play w Uga right now but ya know what I mean).
 
Another total sucker line I’m gonna be on the sucker side is usc-6, I can’t help it, I been drinking the kool aid and so far it has tasted good! I don’t think there a better offense in the entire country, shit like a college all star team the way Riley came in and started handing out bags of cash! I don’t think anyone in the pac12 can stop them, the d is suspect but they do create turnovers, the other team offense is under so much pressure to try and keep up w these guys they make mistakes!

This will be the most challenging environment they have faced, normally I’d be all over the well coached beavers at home but I can’t help it. I think usc runs the table at least until Utah, we talk bout them when it happens, I do fear Utah will use their offense as a defense against usc. Maybe beavers can do that to a extent this week but can they play as perfect and mistake free they will need to be to control the game with their offense? Can they keep usc under wraps early on to avoid falling behind? I have doubts seeing how Heaner and fresno offense took beavers d apart. Not comparing that game to usc playing fesno as much as just saying if you give up almost 500 yards of offense to Fresno I don’t think you can stop usc offense!!
 
I think you should really temper Hokies d expectations based off BC, bc oline is awful, they havnt been good vs anyone. Wvu offense is worlds better than BC.

Far as I’m concerned wells for Vatech the same god awful turnover machine he was his entire career at Marshall, I think that will come shining thru when he faces a team his defense can’t shut down. I’m 100% confident wvu will score on hokies. Bc might be one the worst offenses in the entire power 5 right now! The oline terrible and if you take 1 guy away (flowers) they have nothing. Wvu is better across the board from qb to wr group to o-line. I’ll take my chances.
BC OL injuries have devastated their season
 
This will be the most challenging environment they have faced, normally I’d be all over the well coached beavers at home but I can’t help it.

Reser Stadium is something like 50% capacity due to stadium renovations. One whole side will be empty. People who were there for Boise said it was still loud. One of their other homefield advantages however will not be, the weather should be nice and not cold.
 
Oregon State has DBs who can hang.

The challenge every team is going to get in with USC is the danger of empty possessions. USC scored TDs something like 11 of 14 1H possessions. I'm repeating, I have not verified that, but we all know how hard USC is to stop. They can be beat, as any team can, but you have to get them off the field without them scoring points and that has proven very hard.

Oregon St will try and play slow and keep away, which is fine, as long as they make the most of their possessions. If USC scores 3 TDs on 4 1H possessions and Oregon State has 2 FGs, a TD and a punt/turnover then it's like 21-13 halftime. You just can't let USC get out front to a lead, but nobody has been able to stop it. I would love for Oregon State to stop it, but it's hard.
 
I think you should really temper Hokies d expectations based off BC, bc oline is awful, they havnt been good vs anyone. Wvu offense is worlds better than BC.

Far as I’m concerned wells for Vatech the same god awful turnover machine he was his entire career at Marshall, I think that will come shining thru when he faces a team his defense can’t shut down. I’m 100% confident wvu will score on hokies. Bc might be one the worst offenses in the entire power 5 right now! The oline terrible and if you take 1 guy away (flowers) they have nothing. Wvu is better across the board from qb to wr group to o-line. I’ll take my chances.

crazy thing about bc is they couldn't run the ball last year either, in fact oc cignetti left to go to pitt and thought was bc would be net positive due to disbanding the run game and letting jurkovic throw more which cignetti didn't .......it's kind of the same bc team except they throw more.....they sucked a@@ agianst the run and running the ball last year too.......they led rutgers the whole game.......i still see some value in this game at 17 considering this is like a pickem last year but then i just keep thinking how much i hate teams that are weak on the lines and the fact they struggled with a maine team that new mexico beat like 50-0
 
Another total sucker line I’m gonna be on the sucker side is usc-6, I can’t help it, I been drinking the kool aid and so far it has tasted good! I don’t think there a better offense in the entire country, shit like a college all star team the way Riley came in and started handing out bags of cash! I don’t think anyone in the pac12 can stop them, the d is suspect but they do create turnovers, the other team offense is under so much pressure to try and keep up w these guys they make mistakes!

This will be the most challenging environment they have faced, normally I’d be all over the well coached beavers at home but I can’t help it. I think usc runs the table at least until Utah, we talk bout them when it happens, I do fear Utah will use their offense as a defense against usc. Maybe beavers can do that to a extent this week but can they play as perfect and mistake free they will need to be to control the game with their offense? Can they keep usc under wraps early on to avoid falling behind? I have doubts seeing how Heaner and fresno offense took beavers d apart. Not comparing that game to usc playing fesno as much as just saying if you give up almost 500 yards of offense to Fresno I don’t think you can stop usc offense!!
this is probably the worst matchup for usc in the pac 12 defensively. oregon state's strength is their run game - fresno isn't known for it, and rice is rice.......i'm still scared to take the beavs but if there is a game for them to get got i think this weak is it.
 
crazy thing about bc is they couldn't run the ball last year either, in fact oc cignetti left to go to pitt and thought was bc would be net positive due to disbanding the run game and letting jurkovic throw more which cignetti didn't .......it's kind of the same bc team except they throw more.....they sucked a@@ agianst the run and running the ball last year too.......they led rutgers the whole game.......i still see some value in this game at 17 considering this is like a pickem last year but then i just keep thinking how much i hate teams that are weak on the lines and the fact they struggled with a maine team that new mexico beat like 50-0


I could see a path to bc covering, think it comes from the defense tho. Especially if Travis don’t play, it was hilarious the crap ville let his replacement succeed with, pretty much offense for dummies, if safety in box throw slant, if not hand off, and that beat ville cause they horribly coached. If that kid plays again id guess bc makes life tough for him.
 
Oof...Herm's own guys wanted him out and were helping assist in the process.


Damn, lol. he has seemingly thrown bunch of ppl under the bus during his time there, guess shouldn’t be surprising others were beating him to it this time!
 
Pete Thamel
Sources: Purdue quarterback Aidan O'Connell is a gametime decision against FAU on Saturday with an unspecified injury. O'Connell is fifth nationally in passing yards.
 
USC continues to lead the country in turnover margin. +10 (10 takes, no gives).

One of my favorite stats. We'll see if it holds this weekend.
 
USC continues to lead the country in turnover margin. +10 (10 takes, no gives).

One of my favorite stats. We'll see if it holds this weekend.

I know we should expect that to regress but some teams just have one those years and while usc d leaves a lot to be desired I think the pressure their offense puts on the opposing teams to score is leading to a lot of these. Like we saw trees continue to throw ints in the red zone, think a case can be made they were forcing things cause they knew fgs wouldn’t do them any good. If I recall correctly fresno had similar red zone mistakes last week.
 
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