RambleOn
The Law of Winning
Started a separate thread here because I didn't want to clog my thread for next week.
My Play:
UCF +3 @ Southern Miss (4 units) (may add more), leaning to UNDER 1st H
George O'Leary's press conference statements:
"Just to recap last week's game. I thought it was a game, probably the first game this season, where we played a complete game as far as offense and defense complementing each other and the kicking game. That was my speech to the players after the game. I thought we played on all cylinders on offense, defense, and the kicking game. It was a good win against a good football team.
"As far as this week is concerned, I think it is a very pivotal game in conference with Southern Miss against a very solid football team. I am sure that they will have their quarterback [Jeremy Young] back, who has missed the last three games. Sunday night, a national TV game, so again we will have our work cut out for us. It should be a line of scrimmage game up front and both teams have big play potential as far as with their running backs. I think the game will be a game that hopefully gets into the fourth quarter and I think the team that can eliminate the big plays will come out the winner."
I have a very good intuitive feel that UCF wins this game SU tonight. I usually have a pretty good feel for this conference, and I can easily say that S.Miss should not be contending for the conference title this year. They have been injured all year and not playing the way that they should. On the other hand, UCF came out of nowhere and has been performing extremely well this season. If you look back at their season thus far, they have won all the games they were expected to win. Their only three losses are at Texas (only by 3 here as 17 pt dogs), at East Carolina (conference leader, and turnovers made this game look lopsided when it wasn't), and at South Florida (who we all know is for real this year).
From reading the press conference notes above, UCF finally put a full game together and is coming into this contest with a full head of steam. This is their first ever Sunday night game, and playing under the lights on ESPN. They know this game is important. O'Leary said: "Again, I think it is a pivotal game in conference. Is it the end of the season? No, but I think it is a pivotal game as far as the division is concerned."
As far as Southern Miss goes, like I said above, they just haven't been playing to potential. I actually bet them on the road at East Carolina, and they came away with a good cover there. However, they have had crushing losses away at Tennessee (obviously a solid team) and Boise St (tough place to play). At home against Rice, they lost SU as 21 pt favorites, but were without the help of their starting QB, who will be back probably against UCF, although not 100% hopefully.
S. Miss also has some other nagging injuries. Tight end Shawn Nelson and defensive end Matthew Chatelain were held out of practice Friday because both were dealing with what coach Jeff Bower called a virus. They may play, but we all know missing days of practice is crucial. Also, S.Miss is without #87 Chris Johnson, who has 32 catches for 405 yards this year and 4 TD's, but broke his arm against Marshall and will miss several weeks at least.
Situationally this is great, and UCF is coming off a trouncing of offensive powerhouse Tulsa, and S.Miss is coming off a three game stint in which their opponents had a combined 1 win on the year. S.Miss hasn't seen a team like this in a while and will be unprepared. On the other hand, UCF is primed and ready. I know MistaFlava mentions this angle a ton, but tonight it is for real: playing on a Sunday night on ESPN will give the Knights an extra boost, as Southern Miss is used to playing on Sunday Nights.
Take UCF to the bank, they win this game. :shake:
This is a game that is going to be a L.O.S. game, where both teams are going to try and establish the run early. I'm looking for a low scoring first half, and am considering the 1st H under.
<TABLE class=data cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2><TBODY><TR><TD class=datahl2b width="33%"></TD><TD class=datacell width="34%"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=datahl2b width="33%"></TD><TD class=datacell width="34%"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=datahl2b width="33%"></TD><TD class=datacell width="34%"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=datahl2b width="33%"></TD><TD class=datacell width="34%"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- STORY AD BEGINS HERE -->
My Play:
UCF +3 @ Southern Miss (4 units) (may add more), leaning to UNDER 1st H
George O'Leary's press conference statements:
"Just to recap last week's game. I thought it was a game, probably the first game this season, where we played a complete game as far as offense and defense complementing each other and the kicking game. That was my speech to the players after the game. I thought we played on all cylinders on offense, defense, and the kicking game. It was a good win against a good football team.
"As far as this week is concerned, I think it is a very pivotal game in conference with Southern Miss against a very solid football team. I am sure that they will have their quarterback [Jeremy Young] back, who has missed the last three games. Sunday night, a national TV game, so again we will have our work cut out for us. It should be a line of scrimmage game up front and both teams have big play potential as far as with their running backs. I think the game will be a game that hopefully gets into the fourth quarter and I think the team that can eliminate the big plays will come out the winner."
I have a very good intuitive feel that UCF wins this game SU tonight. I usually have a pretty good feel for this conference, and I can easily say that S.Miss should not be contending for the conference title this year. They have been injured all year and not playing the way that they should. On the other hand, UCF came out of nowhere and has been performing extremely well this season. If you look back at their season thus far, they have won all the games they were expected to win. Their only three losses are at Texas (only by 3 here as 17 pt dogs), at East Carolina (conference leader, and turnovers made this game look lopsided when it wasn't), and at South Florida (who we all know is for real this year).
From reading the press conference notes above, UCF finally put a full game together and is coming into this contest with a full head of steam. This is their first ever Sunday night game, and playing under the lights on ESPN. They know this game is important. O'Leary said: "Again, I think it is a pivotal game in conference. Is it the end of the season? No, but I think it is a pivotal game as far as the division is concerned."
As far as Southern Miss goes, like I said above, they just haven't been playing to potential. I actually bet them on the road at East Carolina, and they came away with a good cover there. However, they have had crushing losses away at Tennessee (obviously a solid team) and Boise St (tough place to play). At home against Rice, they lost SU as 21 pt favorites, but were without the help of their starting QB, who will be back probably against UCF, although not 100% hopefully.
S. Miss also has some other nagging injuries. Tight end Shawn Nelson and defensive end Matthew Chatelain were held out of practice Friday because both were dealing with what coach Jeff Bower called a virus. They may play, but we all know missing days of practice is crucial. Also, S.Miss is without #87 Chris Johnson, who has 32 catches for 405 yards this year and 4 TD's, but broke his arm against Marshall and will miss several weeks at least.
Situationally this is great, and UCF is coming off a trouncing of offensive powerhouse Tulsa, and S.Miss is coming off a three game stint in which their opponents had a combined 1 win on the year. S.Miss hasn't seen a team like this in a while and will be unprepared. On the other hand, UCF is primed and ready. I know MistaFlava mentions this angle a ton, but tonight it is for real: playing on a Sunday night on ESPN will give the Knights an extra boost, as Southern Miss is used to playing on Sunday Nights.
Take UCF to the bank, they win this game. :shake:
This is a game that is going to be a L.O.S. game, where both teams are going to try and establish the run early. I'm looking for a low scoring first half, and am considering the 1st H under.
<TABLE class=data cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2><TBODY><TR><TD class=datahl2b width="33%"></TD><TD class=datacell width="34%"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=datahl2b width="33%"></TD><TD class=datacell width="34%"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=datahl2b width="33%"></TD><TD class=datacell width="34%"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=datahl2b width="33%"></TD><TD class=datacell width="34%"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- STORY AD BEGINS HERE -->