SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE--Week 2 Review and Week 3 Line Predictions

[RJ Esq]

101 north carolina
102 rutgers

103 kansas
104 south florida

105 navy
106 duke

107 rice
108 vanderbilt

109 auburn
110 mississippi state

111 ball state
112 akron

113 toledo
114 eastern michigan

115 nevada
116 missouri

117 smu
118 texas tech

119 new mexico state
120 nebraska

121 ucla
122 byu

123 oregon
124 purdue

125 arkansas
126 texas

127 georgia
128 south carolina

129 air force
130 houston u

131 hawaii
132 oregon state

133 wisconsin
134 fresno state

135 penn state
136 syracuse

137 michigan
138 notre dame

139 iowa state
140 iowa

141 georgia tech
142 virginia tech

143 north carolina state
144 clemson

145 western michigan
146 idaho

147 central michigan
148 ohio

149 california
150 maryland

151 washington state
152 baylor

153 stanford
154 tcu

155 temple
156 buffalo u

157 uab
158 tennessee u

159 east carolina
160 tulane

161 memphis
162 marshall

163 virginia
164 connecticut

165 oklahoma
166 washington u

167 ohio state
168 usc

169 arizona u
170 new mexico

171 bowling green
172 boise state

173 utah
174 utah state

175 san diego state
176 san jose state

177 unlv
178 arizona state

179 florida atlantic
180 michigan state

181 western kentucky
182 alabama

183 so mississippi
184 arkansas state

185 middle tenn st
186 kentucky

187 ul - lafayette
188 illinois

189 north texas
190 lsu

 

[RJ Esq]

Sorry this is getting up so late. Seems we're all hung-over from a bad day.

 

[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">5:56 AM (51 minutes ago)
Texas Tech Sunay Morning Notes - Started Out As A Lightning Strike Edition

from Double-T Nation by Seth C

Double-T Nation News:

​

via espn-i.starwave.com​

If one picture epitomizes Texas Tech's 35-19 win over Nevada, this just might be it. Yes, that's right, the Texas Tech defense knocking people off of the ball and backwards. Victor Hunter, you are a run stopping machine.
There's no doubt that the defense gave up some yards, but at the end of the day, it was the defense that created turnovers, made plays, and for me, was pretty inspiring.
One other thought before getting to the articles. As ugly as last night's game was, the spread was only 10. Texas Tech beat Nevada by 16, which is a pretty healthy margin and typically doesn't happen on the road. I feel like I've been making excuses for this team for two weeks straight now regarding their poor performance in certain aspects of the games, but the bottom line is that Texas Tech won, they beat the spread, handily, and the team goes home with a "W". That ain't bad.

Texas Tech Football:
There's only one article from the LAJ this morning regarding last night's win. I suppose I'm up too early after going to be at 11:30 p.m. There may be more later, but I'll post those tomorrow. In any event, this article is a recap of the game with some notes near the end that were of interest to me. Vasquez suited up, but didn't play a down against Nevada. If there's a reason why the Texas Tech line struggled, we need look no further. Also, Blake Collier suffered an injury and spent the second half in shorts. You also have similar recaps from Dwain Price of the FWST (Dwain always writes about Texas Tech, rain or shine, so show him a little support) and the DMN.
<center>

</center> We have a wealth of articles from Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin, who was in Reno, and hopefully came away a big winner. Up first Tim looks at Graham Harrell's slow start and improved second half. Here's Harrell:

"During the first half we were sloppy and just out of rhythm," Harrell said. "After halftime, we still weren't in a great rhythm, but we did start playing better. And we were able to come out with the win." Snip
"We just had a miscommunication earlier," Harrell said. "It just seemed like we were a little off all night. We missed some opportunities and it was frustrating. But we knew we could get it if we tried again."
​

Tim, Harrell and Leach also compare last night's game to the TCU game in Ft. Worth (I was at that game). Smaller, but incredibly quick defenders flying around the ball, putting pressure on Harrell, getting hit more times that he'd like to admit, but they point out that Harrell didn't cave:

"The first part of that game reminded me a little bit of that," Harrell said. "I was a little bit off. But we came out of it and they couldn't stop us much down the stretch in the fourth quarter. That was good to see."​

Up next, Leach says that he regrets the numerous gambles throughout the game. Here's the Captain:

"I thought I gambled stupid and it was just dumb," Leach said. "Being in Reno, I guess I got the bug. I was stuck in a hotel where you don't have any clocks and they were pumping oxygen in there. I thought it was my lucky day, we won the game."​

By the way, the lone/first commentor in Tim's story really believes that Leach is blaming this on the hotels and says that it's Leach's arrogance. Well, yeah, that's sort of the point, isn't it? Anyway, what's completely fascinating to me is Captain Leach's self-awareness immediately after the game, but seems to lack that same self-awareness during the game. I'm wondering if he just can't help himself, or is it that he has no faith in his special teams? LaCour shanked a punt badly in the 2nd quarter and that was the last time he saw the field. Same goes for Caronoa. Had a field goal blocked in the 2nd quarter and never saw the field. If you're asking me, that's the problem, he doesn't trust his punter or his kicker.
Last, but certainly not least, the Texas Tech defense gets a ton of credit for their play Saturday night. Here's Texas Tech sophomore linebacker Bront Bird, who finished the day with 14 tackles, on the crowd acknowledging the defense after the game:

"It was kind of cool to hear that," Tech linebacker Bront Bird said. "It was a team victory and our offense stepped up when we needed them to. But it was neat to hear our fans chanting for the defense. I've never heard that anywhere I've played."​

As Tim correctly points out, Captain Leach had a unique way of describing the transformation of this defense:

"They started out as a lightning strike, became a beetle and then became an ape," he said. "Now, I hope they don't evolve too far because they may lose their edge. "I thought they were pretty good [Saturday]. They need to play smarter, but if you subtract five big plays, it was a huge performance. It was one of the most dominant performances in the country this week."
​

I'm not sure that I would call 488 yards "dominant", but the defense was HUGE on third downs (3 of 16), had 4 sacks on mobile quarterback, and 8 tackles for a loss. Those types of statistics didn't happen last year.






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[RJ Esq]

Some quick thoughts on Ohio State

from Conquest Chronicles by Paragon SC
I know a lot of people looked at tOSU's "win" against Ohio and thought that it wasn't really impressive. You gotta give Ohio credit for never giving up and always trying win. Boo Jackson came in and really uppped the tempo. If Ohio doesn't give up 5 turnovers this could have been a very different out come because tOSU's very conservative, plain Vanilla, lets not show anything to SC game plan almost cost them the game.
The most telling play of the game for me was when Boeckman took his eye off center to identify the blitz coming from his right only to have the ball sail over his head into the endzone for an Ohio TD. How many times do you think he will be doing that next week?
Of course Tressle kept a lot of his cards close to his vest but when things got tight he had to open up the play book, but only a little bit, I don't caare how much you are trying to protect you don't go into the 4th qtr behind. Boeckman was sacked 3 times and the tOSU defense let Ohio run for 145 yards while Ohio was only getting 39 yards on 21 carries last week against Wyoming, There were no blitz packages that I saw, the Ohio Lines did a pretty good job against tOSU's lines and tOSU's receivers had a hard time getting separation. The had to show a little more than they wanted at the end in order to win the game.
Regardless of how vanilla the game plan was with all the substitutions Tressle made, its hard to ignore that the Buckeyes only put up 117 yards of total offense. Except for Pryor this is pretty much the same offense from last year so I am not sure how playing the cards close the vest helps Tressle that much. The quality of play was substandard to other games they have played in the past...missed tackles, dropped balls, letting yur lines get pushed around says a little more to me than holding back.
As for Pryor, he will be a great weapon for them in the future but it's way too early to put the weight of the world on his shoulders to seal the win. When things were getting tight they put a more experienced Boeckman back in to get it done. Also, while Pryor will be exciting to watch in the coming seasons he's no Vince Young. He needs to bulk up and he hasn't yet showed us how fast he is so while he may be a new wrinkle for the tOSU offense he is not at the level of being a game changer just yet. He will be in the future though...guaranteed.
You know they missed Beanie yesterday and I supect that he will be on the field next Saturday. It's pretty clear that tOSU was looking ahead to USC, we have been down that road before ourselves so it's not just exclusive to them. An Ohio team coached by Frank Solich is better than a Youngstown State any day of the week but THAT much better.
I have no doubt that we will see a much better tOSU team next Saturday.

 

[RJ Esq]

The end of the UW-BYU game that resulted from an excessive celebration penalty by locker and a blocked XP:

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[Marlo]

Almost made a paging RJ thread this morning.

On Cup of Coffee # 2.

Great shit as always

 

[RJ Esq]

San Jose State Takes Some of the Shine off Nebraska

from Big Red Network
It was a game that most Husker fans knew, in their heart of rebuilding hearts, had to come sometime. Adversity, the going getting tough. Few, however, thought it would come this week.
Off a mostly impressive win against Western Michigan, Nebraska was supposed to use San Jose State—a team with some proven defensive players and a quarterback who was good on paper but making his first start—to build on that week one performance. Improved running game, fewer defensive lapses, more blitzes, bigger final margin of victory, that’s the way it was supposed to play out.
But in today’s college football few games seem to go according to plan. Until Niles Paul returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, a play that energized the team and eased angst statewide, the Spartans had quite simply outplayed Nebraska on their home turf.
How bad was it? If you were to look at the final statistics independent of the score you’d think you might be looking at a loss:
--Overall, Nebraska was outgained on the day, 353 yards to 315 but through the first three quarters it was even worse with SJSU holding nearly an 80 yard advantage over the Cornhuskers.
--For the first time in his career as a starter, Joe Ganz didn’t throw for more than 300 yards or a touchdown.
--The running game continued to confound with 99 total yards. While Roy Helu Jr. looked electric in spots, Marlon Lucky was largely absent despite the late touchdown, carrying the ball 7 times for 25 yards. Nebraska needs him to be a playmaker.
--Until the fourth quarter, where Nebraska enjoyed an average starting field position of the SJSU 43—as opposed to the average starts of the Nebraska 24, 15 and 15 through the first three quarters respectively—the deciding factor looked like the Spartans inability to kick the football. San Jose State left an entire touchdown on the field, missing an extra point and two field goals.
--Perhaps most galling, Nebraska committed 12 penalties totaling 103 yards including a second quarter stretch that saw three consecutive illegal procedure penalties.
And that’s just the paper trail. For anyone who watched the game there were red flags popping up all over the place—missed tackles, uninspiring offensive line play, opposing receivers catching the ball in space, the overall ineffectiveness of the offense. At one point during the second quarter I jotted in my notebook that this game felt and looked a lot like a game from last year and as painful as that is to write it was much worse to think it not even halfway through the second game of the season.
That said, it is still just the second game of the season. Despite all the doom and gloom Nebraska did win by the same 23-point margin that they did last week, Bo Pelini did move to 2-0, the defensive line did make some big plays and Niles Paul, even with just two catches, did arrive on the scene as a serious weapon.
They say that the moment you drive a new car off the lot its value decreases. You could say the same about preseason expectations. The Western Michigan game moved a lot of things from the theoretical to the tangible realm. With no games to go on, all you have are questions. With one game to go on you have some potential answers but nothing is final yet.
That remains the case, but if you could still sniff the new car smell after week one, week two might’ve been the first scratch in the paint. It’s nothing serious, nothing that can’t be fixed but damn if it doesn’t change the way you look at your new car every time you open the door.

 

[Marlo]

"the rules are the rules" thats what the BYU coach said.

 

[RJ Esq]

Almost made a paging RJ thread this morning.

On Cup of Coffee # 2.

Great shit as always

Sorry, dude.

We had this thread ready to go to move over here at midnight and it didn't happen. I was out drinking and I'm sure others were too.

Horses paged me in the 3rd of the SDSU game and let me know he was VERY drunk.

Yanks hit me up at 6 raging pissed and needing TT to cover to juice out.

Jump let me know by NOON that it might not be a good day for him. I think he turned out ok, but who knows.

Anyway, here we are.

 

[RJ Esq]

From Garf:

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</td><td class="cc c">10:46 PM (8 hours ago)
Line Predictions Week 3

from underdogsofwar.com by TheGarfather
Hopefully I didn’t miss any or screw these up too badly. Remember, no power ratings here, just observation and educated guessing.
North Carolina @ Rutgers -4.5
Kansas @ South Florida -6
Navy -3.5 @ Duke
Rice @ Vanderbilt -12
Auburn -9 @ Mississippi State
Ball State -3 @ Akron
Toledo @ EMU Pick Em
Nevada @ Missouri -22
SMU @ Texas Tech -25
NMSU @ Nebraska -28
UCLA @ BYU -10.5
Oregon -4 @ Purdue
Arkansas @ Texas -24
Georgia -8 @ South Carolina
Air Force -2.5 @ Houston
Hawaii @ Oregon State -11.5
Wisconsin -1 @ Fresno State
Penn State -24 @ Syracuse
Michigan @ Notre Dame -1.5
Iowa State @ Iowa -9
Georgia Tech @ Va Tech -3
NCSU @ Clemson -18
WMU -6 @ Idaho
CMU -7 @ Ohio
Cal -8 @ Maryland
WSU @ Baylor -6.5
Stanford @ TCU -14
Temple @ Buffalo -7
UAB @ Tennessee -27
ECU -17 @ Tulane
Memphis @ Marshall -3
Virginia @ Connecticut -14
Oklahoma -24.5 @ Washington
Ohio State @ USC -7
Arizona -10.5 @ New Mexico
Bowling Green @ Boise State -10
Utah -23.5 @ Utah St
SDSU @ SJSU -6.5
UNLV @ Arizona State -20
FAU @ Michigan State -17.5
WKU @ Bama -28.5
USM @ Arkansas State -5
MTSU @ Kentucky -17
ULL @ Illinois -27
North Texas @ LSU -32






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[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">10:46 PM (8 hours ago)
UF Beats Miami for the First Time in 23 Years (I Know, It Doesn't Even Sound Possible)

from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
Filed under: Florida, Miami, ACC, SEC

I kept hearing "23 years" this, "23 years" that, based on the length of time that it has been since the University of Florida Gators, keepers of The Tebow, formerly of the Old Ball Coach and recently of a National Championship, beat the University of Miami.

It's fairly shocking to believe that it's even humanly -- or Tebowly -- possible for two powerhouse teams located so close hadn't played each other since the 2004 post season, although that does mean that very few people involved in the action tonight actually had anything to do with either team the last time they played.

And it also gives a semi-logical explanation for why that streak has stayed intact as Miami has fallen from grace and Urban Meyer -- who wasn't around either -- has pushed Florida back into the upper echelon of college teams.

Not helping matters is the fact that Florida was a 21 point favorite (and with good reason, seemingly) but the halftime score -- nine to three (again, coaches, typing the score out = poor offensive performance) -- kind of held out a little hope for a close game.

Don't blame Tebow though; as Brent Musberger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews and anyone else with a microphone or a camera in their face pointed out, it was just the rest of the Gators looking slovenly in the first half and failing to meet the WonderKid's expectations.

So, it had to either have been the rest of the Florida team deciding to step up in the final 40, or Tebow simply elevating his game and dragging the rest of the scum north with him, because the Gators took control and never looked back. It was one of those weird never-look-backs too; they covered, and it was a blowout, but it wasn't even as close as the score indicated once Florida started rolling in the second half.

In reality though, it was just another reminder that the ACC is (still!) not good this year while the SEC will probably be decent. Unlike, say, this matchup, which was one of those headliner-in-name-only type of showdowns. It's still good to see the interstate rivalry get cranked back up, of course, but for now, it's a bit of a disappointment following last week's slate.





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[RJ Esq]

 

[RJ Esq]

This game was such a laugher and easy cover, I don't know who to credit: Cal or a very shitty WSU team.

Bjorks?

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</td><td class="cc c">10:21 PM (8 hours ago)
AP: Best leads Cal rout over Wash. State

from California Golden Bear Football News by Dave
Jahvid Best ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns Saturday and California blasted Washington State 66-3, spoiling coach Paul Wulff’s first game back in Pullman since he was a star player in the late 1980s. Best made his first career start and California (2-0, 1-0) produced 505 yards to help Cal hand Washington State the biggest loss in the history of the program that dates to 1894. Washington State (0-2, 0-1), picked for last in the Pac-10, looked inept for the second week in a row and suffered its worst loss since at least a 62-3 drubbing at UCLA in 1976. The Cougars lost 39-13 to Oklahoma State last week. Best rushed 14 times for an average of 14.3 yards per carry. The 5-foot-10, 193-pound speedster earned the start by rushing for what had been a career-high 111 yards last week against Michigan State. The Bears finished with 391 yards rushing, including runs of 80 and 86 yards by Best.
Wulff, hired in December, is the first WSU alum to lead the team since Phil Sarboe in 1949. Washington State opened the season with two losses for the first time since 1999. Washington State mustered only 167 yards of total offense, and barely preserved their string of scoring in 275 consecutive games, second longest streak in the nation after Michigan’s 300 straight. They have not been shut out since 1984.
This game was over early as Cal scored on its first three possessions and piled up 171 yards to take a 21-3 lead after one quarter. Best set the tone on the first play of the game, darting 80 yards up the middle for a 7-0 Cal lead. On WSU’s first possession, Gary Rogers was intercepted by Syd’Quan Thompson, who returned it 18 yards to WSU’s 12. Kevin Riley hit Sean Young for a 12-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 lead only 1:31 into the game. On Cal’s next possession, freshman Shane Vereen dashed up the middle for a 39-yard touchdown run and a 21-0 lead. WSU’s Chris Ivory returned the kickoff 68 yards to Cal’s 22, but the Cougars were pushed back and had to settle for Nico Grasu’s 43-yard field goal. Cal’s Zack Follett returned a blocked field-goal attempt 65 yards for a touchdown and Riley dashed 27 yards for a score to make it 34-3 in the first half. Thompson’s 90-yard interception return set up Best for a 5-yard TD off a direct snap that put Cal up 42-3 at the half. Kevin Lopina replaced Rogers at quarterback for WSU to open the second half, and marched the Cougars to California’s 13 before throwing an interception. On the second play, Best ran 86 yards for a touchdown and a 49-3 Cal lead.







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[RJ Esq]

Speaking of another easy cover and no rain helped too.

Oregon State Post Game Link Dump

from Black Shoe Diaries by BSD

<hr>
<table> <thead> <tr> <th>Final - 9.6.2008 </th><th>1</th><th>2</th><th>3</th><th>4</th><th>Total</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Oregon St. Beavers </td> <td>0</td> <td>7</td> <td>0</td> <td>7</td> <td>14</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Penn St. Nittany Lions </td> <td>14</td> <td>21</td> <td>10</td> <td>0</td> <td>45</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Complete Coverage >

<hr> Select Players Stats (not complete stats)


<hr> <table> <thead> <tr> <th>vs Oregon St. / 9.6.08</th><th colspan="5">Passing</th><th colspan="4">Rushing</th> </tr> </thead><thead> <tr> <th>
</th><th>Comp</th><th>Att</th><th>Pct</th><th>Yds</th><th>TD</th><th>Rush</th><th>Yds</th><th>Avg</th><th>TD</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Daryll Clark</td> <td>14</td> <td>23</td> <td>60.9</td> <td>215</td> <td>2</td> <td>5</td> <td>61</td> <td>12.2</td> <td>1</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
<hr>
<hr> <table> <thead> <tr> <th>vs Oregon St. / 9.6.08</th><th colspan="4">Rushing</th><th colspan="4">Receiving</th> </tr> </thead><thead> <tr> <th>
</th><th>Rush</th><th>Yards</th><th>Avg</th><th>TD</th><th>Rec</th><th>Yards</th><th>Avg</th><th>TD</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Evan Royster</td> <td>17</td> <td>141</td> <td>8.3</td> <td>3</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
<hr>
<hr> <table> <thead> <tr> <th>vs Oregon St. / 9.6.08</th><th colspan="4">Receiving</th> </tr> </thead><thead> <tr> <th>
</th><th>Rec</th><th>Yards</th><th>Avg</th><th>TD</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Mickey Shuler</td> <td>3</td> <td>48</td> <td>16.0</td> <td>1</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
<hr>
<hr> <table> <thead> <tr> <th>vs Oregon St. / 9.6.08</th><th colspan="4">Receiving</th> </tr> </thead><thead> <tr> <th>
</th><th>Rec</th><th>Yards</th><th>Avg</th><th>TD</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Jordan Norwood</td> <td>8</td> <td>116</td> <td>14.5</td> <td>1</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
<hr> General Links

Game Stats
Paterno and Player Quotes
Audio of Paterno Press Conference
Game Photos
Game Recaps

Penn Live - Offense Conjures Up Images of 1994
Penn Live - Lions Stomp Oregon State
Penn Live - Clark Seen Icing Right Forearm
Game Recap from Centre Daily Times
AP Recap
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
BWI - Hayes Injury Devastates Lions
The Daily Collegian
Big Win Raises Expectations at Penn State
Penn State Blogs

Altoona Mirror - Cory Gigers Liveblog of the Game
Zombie Nation Game Recap
There Is No Name On My Jersey says Royster for Heisman
Lions Eyes In Game Updates
Blog, Sweat, and Tears In Game Updates
Read Between The Lions In Game Updates
Adam Rittenberg (ESPN) - Penn State Makes a Statement
What the Beavers are Saying

ESPN's PAC-10 Blogger Ted Miller -I was wrong
Building the Dam
Oregonian - Post Game Notes
Oregonian - Beavers Need To Dig Out of a Hole

 

[RJ Esq]

I need to take a look at the box on this one. Bama looked up comfortably. If Tulane scared em, how bad is Clemson and the ACC?

Alabama is 2-0 because of Javier Arenas. You, sir, are my hero.

from Roll 'Bama Roll by Todd

Alabama is 2-0 because of Javier Arenas. You, sir, are my hero.

 

[RJ Esq]

Haha. Like Brent didn't know the line.

Dear Brent Musberger

from The Corporate Headquarters of the San Antonio Gunslingers by LD
Florida did not kick a meaningless field goal to impress recruits, or voters.

Florida did not throw to the end zone or run plays with time left on the play clock on their final drive to win "the beauty contest."

Florida did not continue to "showcase their offense," with all starters in, when Miami had already not used their final time out, and when Florida could have kneeled out the clock.

No, Brent, you naive drunk.

The line was between 21 and 22, depending on the source. Florida was up 20. It was a gambling move alone. Please the big donors.

I'm sure there's a network taboo with mentioning gambling. But it does a disservice to viewers. Urban Meyer pressed his O to please his gambling fans. Don't mention it though. Might not match the narrative of Saint Tim and Pope Urban.

 

[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">7:21 PM (11 hours ago)
Thoughts about an unimpressive win

from Men of the Scarlet and Gray by sportsMonkey

Over the next week, pundits will either over- or under-analyze today’s victory over the Ohio Bobcats. Here’s the fair and balanced (seriously) point of view of today’s 800th victory.
The defense was fine. I say again, fine. Whatever you do, don’t listen to the superficial ramblings of sports reporters that say the line wasn’t getting pressure. The problem was they were getting too much pressure against a very mobile QB in Boo Jackson. On every single snap, the front four was in the backfield almost immediately.
However, nobody had the answer for Boo’s feet, and he kept at least three drives alive by long third-down scrambles (where he had no receivers open and had to scramble for his own life.)
Shades of Illinois? Absolutely. But Mark Sanchez isn’t a mobile slasher like Boo Jackson or Juice Williams. Moral: Nothing has changed from last year (or 2006) - the Buckeyes continue to struggle with mobile QBs. Still, even while the Bucks struggled, they held Ohio to only one scoring drive.
Now, the offense. Here is where OSU fans should be nervous. Boeckman stuuuunnnkk for most of the game. When he did complete a pass, it was usually off-target to some extent. I was sitting on the 30 yard line, and for whatever reason, we happened to be lined up right along the line of scrimmage quite frequently. Boeckman was throwing passes to stationary receivers that were three yards off target. Throwing into double-and triple-coverage when two or three checkoff receivers were open. Pathetic.
Initially, the fumble into the end zone appeared to be center Cordle’s fault. However, replays show that Todd called the snap, and took his eyes off the ball. Boeckman was simply not into this game. The few decent passes he threw, it was the receivers that were daydreaming.
OSU’s passing game now has a reputation for inconsistency. When the QB is hot, the WRs are not, and vice versa. On occasion, the passing game has clicked (e.g., Penn State last year). But the further away we get from that great game, the more it seems like it was the aberrant example.
Finally, the coaching. The playcalling was puzzling and unimaginative. They get a decent drive together by using the pony and pistol, then switch to the I formation with a skinny tailback and the drive stalls? Again, from our vantage point, it was clear that the TE was open frequently. The first time they get the TE into the mix, it’s a 30 yard gain. Do it again? Nope. Back to the very predictable, slow-to-develop, low-percentage plays. Then, the puzzling decision to go for a PAT when down by two points. Uh, coach, do any of you even watch the game?
All in all, what does this mean for USC? Hard to say. Defensively, OSU matches up well against USC. No doubt the Trojans will have more success than the Bucks’ previous opponents, but I have full confidence that the OSU defense will perform well enough to put the team in position to win.
The offense, however, had better start clicking, or it’s going to be ugly next week. It starts with Boeckman. He’s played his worst in big games so far (with the exception of the previously-mentioned PSU). His accuracy, decision-making, and consistency have been called into question. What will he do? Without a stud QB, OSU is merely a good team. With a solid, consistent, veteran leader on the field, they have the potential to be an elite team. Which will it be?






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[RJ Esq]

Shooting Pointe Blank: San Jose State

from Corn Nation by Blankman
Well that was…interesting. While Nebraska looked more confused than a bi-sexual Lou Holtz in the first half against San Jose State, the second half (okay, I’ll be honest - fourth quarter) was far more promising. I went back and had a look at my gripes from last week to see if they had been addressed. We had left off with Doc Oz’s thoughts that from game one to game two, you’re going to see the biggest improvements.

Not Good #1: The Running Game – 99 yards on 30 attempts? Yikes that’s harsh.

Not Good #2: Pass Defense - In a way I’m happy that Nebraska had the game that they did because it’s a severe wake up call to what they’re going to see out of the Missouri Tigers. On the other hand there were still far too many players not picking up their assignments properly and even getting straight up beat (I’m looking at you, Asante). Suh and Potter were the highlights. Everything else was concerning.

Improvement #1: Conditioning - With four quarters of mostly starters playing in this game, there was good rotation, effort seemed consistent and spirited throughout. There didn’t seem to be the sense that people were dragging and I commend the staff responsible for that.

Improvement #2: The Young Not Quite so Restless - A lot of the newbies got to see time and played well. Helu Jr. and Paul made their presence felt. I was very happy to see guys like Pat Witt and Marcus Mendoza get time even if it was brief. I feel fairly confident in saying that should the game have been more of a 55-7 affair, they would have seen a good five to six minutes at least.

In the end, some good, some bad, but there’s a problem: Some new very bad has cropped up.

Penalties: 12 penalties for 103 yards. That’s right, Nebraska gave up a football field’s worth of free yards and three of those penalties came right in a row when two wide receivers and a tight end of all positions decided to flinch.

Arm Tackling: When a player slips through your arms, it’s contagious like sneezing or booing Lee Corso. A lack of confidence spreads to teammates and even to the coaches regarding your ability when it is seen multiple times and does not bode well for anyone in your uniform. Far too many times there were people going for legs and jersey instead of body. I know well enough that Bo does preach himself a good fundamental and that tackling drills will more than likely be a frequency this week.

Play Timing: Okay, so we’re running playaction to the weak side, wait, what, you sure? Hey why's the play clock say "five"? This sort of ties into the penalty aspect as…again, seriously, three receiver/tight end penalties in a row? Confusion seemed to rear its ugly head today and, hey, we’re all human. We’re going to make mistakes. If Nebraska cannot learn their snap counts and to keep their mitts away from the facemask, they will pay for it and soon.

In the end, Nebraska learned that they have a long way to go to put together a solid season and maybe it’s for the best. It gives them all of the incentive to treat New Mexico State as Missouri (don’t feed me the “one game at a time” BS on this one). I liked how the staff addressed an attempt at establishing the run. It shows that they are actively looking to correct problem areas and for that they get a gold star, but as quickly as that Is affixed to their foreheads lack of fundamentals pop up.

The younger guys are coming along nicely but Asante continues to find himself out of position. The constant 5-7 yard hook route was constantly there for SJSU today in front of #4. Culbert’s presence was a welcome addition. Also, will someone please bench Mike Huff? Jon said it before me, but I echo it. I don’t care how well he grades out. Put D.J. Jones in there and let’s see how poorly the line does after he gets comfortable. Huff’s been at Nebraska how many years now and he can’t seem to grasp simple concepts? The mind boggles.

Regardless, Nebraska is in fact 2-0 and along with Big 10ers Ohio State and Michigan had some trouble today but came out on top. That said I think OSU gets creamed next week by the eventual National Champions in USC. Nothing personal Buckeyes, but I think USC is just that damn good and a good waist above everyone instead of head and shoulders. As for the Big Red? Still a work in progress in my eyes. That Suh guy's pretty good, though.

Next Up: New Mexico State (0-0 Nicholls State game postponed)
Poll After two games, what do you the viewers at home think?

• What we saw is nothing that can't be fixed easily
• A few mistakes troubled me, but it's still only game two
• All I ask is a 10-foot pole and a 10-foot seat near the panic button
• Oh crap Virginia Tech...then Missouri?!
• We're screwed.

 

[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">Sep 6, 2008 (13 hours ago)
Break up the Pirates, matey. Yar.

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton

East Carolina's 2-0 over a pair of top 20 teams, this one by a mile. That's the same number of games it won against anybody the season before Skip Holtz took over. There's just something in that DNA, I guess.






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[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">Sep 6, 2008 (14 hours ago)
Pirates Have Tunnel Vision for Success

from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
Filed under: East Carolina, West Virginia, Big East, Conference USA

Number eight West Virginia came into their game against East Carolina today with their sites on going to a national championship game. But the Pirates had other ideas. From the first possession of the game for East Carolina, it was obvious that they were going to be able to move the ball on the Mountaineer defense. The first drive went for 80 yards and they chewed up over six minutes on the clock. From there, it was all East Carolina. The Mountaineers were able to break a couple big plays, but for the most part the Pirate defense tackled well all day long. They forced the Mountaineers into third and long situations and kept everything in front of them.

On the flip side of that coin, East Carolina was able to break tackles consistently and convert third downs. They held on to the ball and kept Pat White and Co. from getting in anything resembling a rhythm. Final score, East Carolina 24-3.

This marks the third straight ranked team that East Carolina has defeated going back to the bowl game last year against Boise St. Expect the Pirates to slide way up in the polls and West Virginia way down. Nothing is a guarantee, but the rest of the schedule looks much easier and much more BCS busting friendly for the Pirates. And I probably gotta write a song about this...






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[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">Sep 6, 2008 (14 hours ago)
That Was Quick: Bill Stewart Drives West Virginia Into the Ground

from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
Filed under: East Carolina, West Virginia

I love you, West Virginia player. I love you so much. Isn't this nice? What do you mean we're down three touchdowns?

Well, West Virginia just punted from midfield with seven minutes left in a game they're down three touchdowns, so it's time to write the requisite "boy, I bet Ed Pastilong wishes he didn't wake up on January third with a wicked hangover, the faint memory of something profane at three in the morning, and a contract signed by Bill Stewart" post.

So, yeah, I bet Ed Pastilong wishes he didn't wake up on January third with a wicked hangover, the faint memory of something profane at three in the morning, and a contract signed by Bill Stewart. We heard all fall about how Bill Stewart was a terrifically nice man who didn't yell at his players and boy wasn't that nice and new offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen would UNLEASH THE UNBELIEVABLE PASSING ABILITY OF PAT WHITE.

These are the fruits of magnificent freedom: 214 yards and three points against Eastern Carolina. Even Michigan managed more. As you might imagine, West Virginia message boards have turned into Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and will feature heavily in This Week In Schadefreude.

And hey, how about East Carolina? If they run the table do they get a shot at the national title? They've got Virginia on their "tour of teams with Virginia in their name who want no piece of this," and if they take 'em out that's three BCS teams, two of whom should/might win their conference.





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[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">Sep 6, 2008 (14 hours ago)
Postgame React and Game Summary: Penn State 45, Oregon State 14

from Building The Dam by Jake
The Beavers traveled to Beaver Stadium (one hour bus ride from Corvallis to Eugene, five hour flight, three hour time change, two hour bus ride) for the first time ever with high hopes of pulling an upset. After a disappointing loss last Thursday to Stanford, the prospect of actually beating Penn State would have required a much improved performance from the players this week.
Long story short, the Beavers didn't show any impressive improvement. Penn State is a much better team than Stanford, but the Beavers made their share of mistakes.
Oregon State can now add this game to the list of costly road losses that includes LSU, Cincinnati, Louisville, and now Penn State. The good news is that the Beavers will now return home to play Hawaii before the first bye week. OSU was the only BCS division team to play their first two games of the season on the road this year, and how did that work out for us? 0-2, baby. At least we're richer for it.
Penn State won the coin toss and elected to receive, and handed the Beavers a freebie when kicker Kevin Kelly dumped the opening kickoff out of bounds. Despite completing three (short) passes, the Beavers managed to go three and out on the opening drive. Johnny Hekker booted a 19 yard punt out of bounds at that point, handing the Lions the ball at their 33.

​

Johnny Hekker is averaging 26.6 yards per punt this season​

via www.iframedyou.com​

On their opening drive, Penn State marched the ball down the field, scoring on an eight play drive that culminated in a Evan Royster 15 yard touchdown run.​

The Beavers and Lions would practically duplicate their first drives on their second drives, with Oregon State going three and out (29 yard punt this time), then Penn State scoring in seven plays. The touchdown came through the air from Daryll Clark to Mickey Shuler. 14-0 Lions.​

Oregon State's third drive started with a first down(!) in the form of a pass from Lyle Moevao to John Reese. From there, Lyle completed a pass to James, Jacquizz was stuffed at the line, Lyle threw an incompletion, and Hekker added a 33 yard punt.​

The Beavers got a defensive stop on PSU's next drive, which really, was more like an offensive stop. After the Beavers regained possession of the football, they again went three and out. Then, Hekker peed his pants when he saw a host of Penn State special team gurus in his face. Result: 9 yard loss, 1st and 10 for Penn State on the OSU 28. Evan Royster scored two plays later on a 28 yard run.​

The Beavers found the end zone on their next drive, when Jacquizz rumbled into the endzone from 11 yards out.

​

Mr. Touchdown (via Carolyn Kaster, the AP)​

Penn State emerged from the game with 2 additional touchdowns and a field goal. Jacquizz added another touchdown early in the forth quarter, but by that time, with the score 45-14, there was little hope.
Penn State racked up over 450 yards on the game, with about half coming in the air and half on the ground. Penn State's "Spread HD" offense has potential, but, it's safe to say that the Beaver D tackled like girls today:

​

via images.townnews.com​

Lyle's passing stats again were decent-- 25/41, 251 yards, 2 INT's. Jacquizz rushed for 99 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns, but where was Ryan McCants, again? He certainly isn't living up to his hype.​

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[RJ Esq]

<table class="card"><tbody class="card-tbody"><tr><td class="cc c">Cue The Crying Child

from Orange::44 by Brian Harrison

Can't even beat Akron. Nice.​

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[RJ Esq]

This is funny because me and a buddy were talking about this exact thing at the bar. My thoughts and name, next post.

GAMEDAY POLL QUESTION: THE CLAUSEN ‘DO NEEDS NAMING

from Every Day Should Be Saturday by Orson Swindle
It’s time to replace the poll with a question more relevant than the issue of how beautiful Rick Neuheisel is. (We all know that nothing, repeat nothing is more beautiful than His Coachness, and if the win over Tennessee didn’t convince you of this fact, nothing will.)
The relevant mystery of the day is the proper nomenclature for Jimmy Clausen’s new hairdo, a wonder of engineering on par with the Burj Dubai. It is oily, yet dry looking; long, but kind of short; not quite country, but not quite rock ‘n roll; slightly unkempt, but too constructed to be an accident.

The available appropriate domain names we suggest for the successor to the Emu-hawk are:
A. Wake Up the Breck-oes!
B. The Pollyanna
C. Stewardess!
D. Little Throw Peep
E. The Ara Parseghian Waterfall
Submit your answers in the poll on the right. At the pace we’ve been changing them out, you only have the next four months to get your vote in, people.

 

[RJ Esq]

Clausen's hair this year is Thunderlips (Hulk Hogan) from Rocky III:

 

[Dmoney416]

North Carolina @ Rutgers -6
Kansas @ South Florida -6.5 (Might get USF value here after yesterday)
Navy -3 @ Duke
Rice @ Vanderbilt 10.5
Auburn -9 @ Mississippi State
Ball State -4 @ Akron
Toledo @ EMU -3
Nevada @ Missouri -21
SMU @ Texas Tech -26
NMSU @ Nebraska -26.5
UCLA @ BYU -11
Oregon -2 @ Purdue
Arkansas @ Texas -22.5
Georgia -8 @ South Carolina
Air Force @ Houston -3
Hawaii @ Oregon State -10
Wisconsin @ Fresno State -1.5
Penn State -25.5 @ Syracuse
Michigan @ Notre Dame -3.5
Iowa State @ Iowa -12
Georgia Tech @ Va Tech -4
NCSU @ Clemson -18
WMU -7 @ Idaho
CMU -3 @ Ohio
Cal -9 @ Maryland
WSU @ Baylor -5
Stanford @ TCU -11.5
Temple @ Buffalo -4.5
UAB @ Tennessee -27
ECU -15.5 @ Tulane
Memphis @ Marshall -3
Virginia @ Connecticut -12
Oklahoma -24.5 @ Washington
Ohio State @ USC -7
Arizona -7.5 @ New Mexico
Bowling Green @ Boise State -11
Utah -25 @ Utah St
SDSU @ SJSU -5
UNLV @ Arizona State -21.5
FAU @ Michigan State -18
WKU @ Bama -28.5
USM @ Arkansas State -3
MTSU @ Kentucky -12
ULL @ Illinois -28
North Texas @ LSU -34

 

[carolinablue]

Here is a list of favs/dogs that I will be closely watching the opens on. If a team isn't on the list below, I probably won't be on that game barring a crazy opening line. Note that for some matchups, I have both sides listed, which means I could be on either pending line variation at open (ie I like Buffalo if -2.5 or better, but if the line is Temple +8.5 or better then, I will take the Owls, because either line represents a 3+ variation).

Favs
Iowa
Buffalo
Mizzou
Ball State
Cal
Clemson
Oregon
Texas
BYU
Georgia
PSU
Tex Tech
Oklahoma
LSU
USC
Zona


Dogs
UNC
Temple
Iowa State
Arkie State
South Carolina
Rice
BGSU
North Texas
Fresno

 

[carolinablue]

North Carolina @ Rutgers -6
Kansas @ South Florida -6.5 (Might get USF value here after yesterday)
Navy -3 @ Duke
Rice @ Vanderbilt 10.5
Auburn -9 @ Mississippi State
Ball State -4 @ Akron
Toledo @ EMU -3
Nevada @ Missouri -21
SMU @ Texas Tech -26
NMSU @ Nebraska -26.5
UCLA @ BYU -11
Oregon -2 @ Purdue
Arkansas @ Texas -22.5
Georgia -8 @ South Carolina
Air Force @ Houston -3
Hawaii @ Oregon State -10
Wisconsin @ Fresno State -1.5
Penn State -25.5 @ Syracuse
Michigan @ Notre Dame -3.5
Iowa State @ Iowa -12
Georgia Tech @ Va Tech -4
NCSU @ Clemson -18
WMU -7 @ Idaho
CMU -3 @ Ohio
Cal -9 @ Maryland
WSU @ Baylor -5
Stanford @ TCU -11.5
Temple @ Buffalo -4.5
UAB @ Tennessee -27
ECU -15.5 @ Tulane
Memphis @ Marshall -3
Virginia @ Connecticut -12
Oklahoma -24.5 @ Washington
Ohio State @ USC -7
Arizona -7.5 @ New Mexico
Bowling Green @ Boise State -11
Utah -25 @ Utah St
SDSU @ SJSU -5
UNLV @ Arizona State -21.5
FAU @ Michigan State -18
WKU @ Bama -28.5
USM @ Arkansas State -3
MTSU @ Kentucky -12
ULL @ Illinois -28
North Texas @ LSU -34

To give perspective, based on your lines DMoney, I would probably have the following card....

UNC +6
Rice +10.5
Oregon -2
Cal -9
USC -7
BGSU +11
SMiss +3

 

[Dmoney416]

To give perspective, based on your lines DMoney, I would probably have the following card....

UNC +6
Rice +10.5
Oregon -2
Cal -9
USC -7
BGSU +11
SMiss +3

Thanks CB.

Here is the reasoning for those lines:

UNC +6: I rate Fresno slightly better, and that game ended up in the 4.5 area. And while Fresno won, I give Rutgers a couple of extra points coming off a bye at home for Thursday night primetime game.

Rice +10.5: Vandy's solid seconday against Rice's passing game. Just seems like a poor match-up for Rice in this one all-around.

Oregon -2: Tough line to make given each team's games thus far. For the sake of my Purdue Under 7 Wins, I hope you are right.

Cal -9: Shrug. I would probably be on Cal too. Cross-country trip is the primary reason.

USC -7: This just seemed like a good spot for it. I couldn't justify it being under a TD, but couldn't justify it being over a TD.

BG +11: I guess we'll find out who the real BG team is this week.

USM +3: I would also lean your way here, but couldn't justify USM being a favorite after Arky St.'s first two contests.

 

[RJ Esq]

Perfect ATS Winners (2-0)
Oklahoma St
Texas
ECU
Rice
Tulsa
USM
Buffalo
Ohio
Temple
TCU
Arizona
Cal
Oregon
Vanderbilt


Perfect ATS Losers (0-2)
North Texas
Washington St
Oregon St
New Mexico
WMU
UTEP
UAB
Memphis
Pitt
Syracuse

 

[Dmoney416]

Also, I'm sure most know this, but Dustin Grutza broke his ankle in the 4th quarter yesterday. Out at least 3-4 weeks. :hang:

 

[M.W.]

Matador's number followed by mine:

North Carolina @ Rutgers -4.5/4
Kansas @ South Florida -6/p
Navy -3.5/p @ Duke
Rice @ Vanderbilt -12/20
Auburn -9/9 @ Mississippi State
Ball State -3/3 @ Akron
Toledo @ EMU Pick Em/p
Nevada @ Missouri -22/25.5
SMU @ Texas Tech -25/28.5
NMSU @ Nebraska -28/28
UCLA @ BYU -10.5/5.5
Oregon -4/16 @ Purdue
Arkansas @ Texas -24/21
Georgia -8/5 @ South Carolina
Air Force -2.5/2 @ Houston
Hawaii @ Oregon State -11.5/8
Wisconsin -1/3 @ Fresno State
Penn State -24/23 @ Syracuse
Michigan @ Notre Dame -1.5/+7.5
Iowa State @ Iowa -9/10
Georgia Tech @ Va Tech -3/5
NCSU @ Clemson -18/21
WMU -6/4.5 @ Idaho
CMU -7/p @ Ohio
Cal -8/11 @ Maryland
WSU @ Baylor -6.5/p
Stanford @ TCU -14/10
Temple @ Buffalo -7/6
UAB @ Tennessee -27/30
ECU -17/14 @ Tulane
Memphis @ Marshall -3/7
Virginia @ Connecticut -14/13
Oklahoma -24.5/18 @ Washington
Ohio State @ USC -7/10.5
Arizona -10.5/7 @ New Mexico
Bowling Green @ Boise State -10/22
Utah -23.5/19.5 @ Utah St
SDSU @ SJSU -6.5/4
UNLV @ Arizona State -20/25
FAU @ Michigan State -17.5/15
WKU @ Bama -28.5/26.5
USM @ Arkansas State -5/+1
MTSU @ Kentucky -17/18.5
ULL @ Illinois -27/22.5
North Texas @ LSU -32/49.5

 

[M.W.]

I really can't believe people want to make Notre Dame a favorite this week. Other points of disagreement with Matador & Dmoney: Oregon, Vandy, Boise, and LSU.

 

[RJ Esq]

Around The Big 12: Week 2

from Double-T Nation by Seth C

Baylor easily handled he hated Northwestern State Demons (Texas Tech beat the Demons 75-7 last year) and freshman quarterback Robert Griffin was efficient (completing 15 of 19 for 294) and good (3 TD's passing and 1 rushing). The Baylor defense gave up 190 yards, but only 1 score (boxscore). Up Next: Washington State

Colorado beat Eastern Washington, and I'm going to say this all season, EWU is a good football team and could probably beat more than a handful of BCS teams. EWU was ahead until the 4h quarter where Colorado scored 17 points and perhaps EWU just ran out of gas. Colorado managed only 90 yards rushing on 33 attempts. The Colorado defense gave up 350 yards to the Eagles, and I'll say it again, Eastern Washington is a good football team (boxscore). Up Next: Idle

Iowa State handled Kent State fairly easily, jumping out to a 21-7 lead in the first quarter. Kent State outgained Iowa State, but lost the game because they coughed up the ball 4 times. Austen Arnaud appears to be the guy asserting himself at quarterback for ISU and finished 12 of 15 for 166 yards and a TD (boxscore). Up Next: Iowa

Kansas was only up 13-0 at the half, but pulled away from Louisiana Tech in the 2nd quarter. Todd Reesing was racked up a ton of yards, passing for 412 on 32 of 38 and 3 touchdowns. I think the thing that most folks are concerned about is the Kansas running game, which only averaged 3.3 yards a carry (33 carries 126 yards). The Kansas secondary was good, holding La. Tech to 119 yards on 33 passing attempts (boxscore). Up Next: South Florida

Kansas State demolished Montana State, behind 177 yards rushing from the ground from 8 different players. Josh Freeman had 288 yards passing and 2 touchdowns, while the Wildcat defense gave up only 83 yards rushing and 108 yards passing (boxscore). Up Next: Idle

Missouri took care of business early against SE Missouri State. The Tigers were up 42-0 at halftime and the Red Hawks could never get on track. Chase Daniel was 16 of 17 for 245 and 3 touchdowns, and rushed for 256 yards as a team. Not really much of a contest as the Mizzou defense gave up 83 yards rushing. Missouri only had 8 third downs all game (boxscore). Up Next: Nevada

Nebraska outlast San Jose State, but it was close early (14 -10 heading into halftime). But a win, is a win, is a win. Perhaps the most bothersome state of the game is only 99 yards on 30 carries for the Cornhuskers, while the Husker defense yielded 137 yards for the game. It's going to take some time for Pelini (boxscore). Up Next: New Mexico State

Oklahoma turned it on late, but Cincinnati put up a pretty good fight. Statistically, Bradford looked good (29 of 38 for 395 and 5 TD's) but he didn't look as sharp as he has in the past (also had 2 picks). The OU pass defense looked a little vulnerable, but the rushing defense was glorious (boxscore). Up Next: Washington

Oklahoma State and Mike Gundy have got this offense humming along. Zach Robinson threw for 300 yards, Kendall Hunter rushed for 210 yards, and Dez Bryant caught 236 yards. This game was close early, but OSU really poured it on in the 2nd half. The OSU defense gave up 483 yards for the day (boxscore). Up Next: Missouri State

Texas toppled UTEP relatively easily, although it was somewhat close in the 1st quarter. Colt McCoy was efficient for the 2nd week in a row (20 for 29 and 282 yards and 4 TD's). I'm still a little concerned about the UT rushing game, managing only 122 yards on 31 carries, but perhaps the biggest concern was the 412 yards given up by the Longhorn defense (boxscore). Up Next: Arkansas

Texas A&M got a win. Stephen McGee was injured early, but Jerrod Johnson performed well (10 of 19 for 124 yards, 3 TD's). Still concerned about only 92 yards on the ground for the Aggies as well as giving up 216 yards on the defensive side of the ball (boxscore). Up Next: Idle

 

[RJ Esq]

I really can't believe people want to make Notre Dame a favorite this week. Other points of disagreement with Matador & Dmoney: Oregon, Vandy, Boise, and LSU.

Somebody has to be the favorite. It's either Michigan or ND, neither deserves it. I'd probably make ND a slight fav for no other reason than they are at home.

 

[E.T.G.]

Random thoughts:


If ND had their same schedule as last yr, they go 3-9 again. They have NO PASS RUSH what so ever, terrible offense, brining Tenuta in on defense doesn't look like it did shit, they should of lost that game and fat ass Weis should of been fired directly after it.

The refs in the Wash game are a bunch of pieces of shit, let the kid show some emotion and don't make a PAT a field goal and decide the fuken game.

Big East is no longer a BCS conference and they should lose their automatic bid

Oklahoma looks good, Penn St is looking good,

Auburn QB Chris Todd is not the answer for that offense imo, his numbers are misleading against a bad defense. He has a weak arm and just does not look good out there.

Urban Meyer is a dirtbag, throwing with 1 minute left, spread covering piece of shit.

Good job ECU, Skip- thats how you develop a program in its 4th year, B2B upsets over ranked teams. Take notes South Carolina

Feel a little lucky to get a TT cover, Nevada played a lot better than I expected, Penalties continue to pile up for TT. Nevada had 8 more first downs, Harrell was under 50% w/ 1td-2int. Nevada showed a lot of balance on offense as well.

Arkansas is really fuken bad

Wake/Miss was a battle of 2 evenly matched teams and very fun game to watch.

Cuse, give up on the season, UVA is in a world of trouble, Maryland too.

 

[carolinablue]

Home Team Listed First (Projected Lines)

Rutgers -4.5 vs UNC
USF +1.5 vs Kansas
Duke PK vs Navy
Vandy -8.5 vs Rice
Auburn -14.5 vs Miss State
Akron +3 vs Ball State
EMU PK vs Toledo
Mizzou -23.5 vs Nevada
Tex Tech -28.5 vs SMU
Nebraska -22 vs NMSU
BYU -8.5 vs UCLA
Purdue +8.5 vs Oregon
Texas -24.5 vs Arkansas
S. Car +8.5 vs Georgia
Houston -1 vs AFA
Ore State -8.5 vs Hawaii
Fresno +4.5 vs Wisky
Cuse +28 vs PSU
ND -1.5 vs Mich
Iowa -10.5 vs ISU
VT -3.5 vs GT
Clemson -16.5 vs NCSU
Idaho +6 vs WMU
Ohio -3.5 vs CMU
Maryland +17.5 vs Cal
Baylor -1 vs WSU
TCU -10.5 vs Stanford
Buffalo -6.5 vs Temple
Tenn -24.5 vs UAB
ECU -15.5 vs Tulane
Marsh -3 vs Memphis
UConn -10.5 vs UVA
Wash +26 vs Okla
USC -7.5 vs Ohio St
NM +14.5 vs Zona
Boise -9.5 vs BGSU
USU +22 vs Utah
SJSU -3 vs SDSU
ASU -21.5 vs UNLV
MSU -15.5 vs FAU
Alabama -28.5 vs WKU
Arkie St +3 vs USM
Kentucky -8.5 vs MTSU
Illinois -18.5 vs ULL
LSU -35.5 vs NT

 

[carolinablue]

Based on my projected lines, my initial leans would probably be...

UNC +4.5
Rice +8.5
Ball State -3
Oregon -8.5
FAU +15.5


Borderline leans would be...
EMU
Texas Tech
BYU
USC
Houston
Oregon State
Baylor
Ohio
SJSU
SMiss


Sure I am missing others, but those are the ones that would cause me to take a long look.

Note that my line projections aren't what I think the lines should be, but moreso what I think the lines will be. Big difference, needless to say, but just wanted to clarify in case anyone was wondering.

 

[J Galt]

101 north carolina
102 rutgers -5.5

103 kansas
104 south florida -4

105 navy
106 duke -6

107 rice
108 vanderbilt -9.5

109 auburn -7.5
110 mississippi state

111 ball state
112 akron -3.5

113 toledo
114 eastern michigan -4

115 nevada
116 missouri -22.5

117 smu
118 texas tech -24.5

119 new mexico state
120 nebraska -21

121 ucla
122 byu -8.5

123 oregon -3
124 purdue

125 arkansas
126 texas -12.5

127 georgia -3.5
128 south carolina

129 air force
130 houston u -4.5

131 hawaii
132 oregon state -7

133 wisconsin -3
134 fresno state

135 penn state -8
136 syracuse

137 michigan
138 notre dame -5.5

139 iowa state
140 iowa -14

141 georgia tech
142 virginia tech -5

143 north carolina state
144 clemson -16

145 western michigan -4.5
146 idaho

147 central michigan -3
148 ohio

149 california -4.5
150 maryland

151 washington state
152 baylor -3

153 stanford
154 tcu -7

155 temple
156 buffalo u -4.5

157 uab
158 tennessee u -20

159 east carolina -7.5
160 tulane

161 memphis
162 marshall -4.5

163 virginia
164 connecticut -3.5

165 oklahoma -14
166 washington u

167 ohio state
168 usc -8.5

169 arizona u -8.5
170 new mexico

171 bowling green
172 boise state -9

173 utah -13.5
174 utah state

175 san diego state
176 san jose state -7

177 unlv
178 arizona state -28

179 florida atlantic
180 michigan state -23

181 western kentucky
182 alabama -25

183 so mississippi -3.5
184 arkansas state

185 middle tenn st
186 kentucky -18

187 ul - lafayette
188 illinois -24

189 north texas
190 lsu -37

 

[J Galt]

The TT article guy really has rose-colored glasses on, eh? He's worse than SHSUHorn. Harrell was awful last night and if Nevada could make a FG and not get fucked over by the refs, they might have even won that game last night. They gave up close to 500 yards!

 

[E.T.G.]

Why has everyone except CB made the Cal-Maryland line so small?


I don't think it comes out under 2 TD's?

 

[J Galt]

I really can't believe people want to make Notre Dame a favorite this week. Other points of disagreement with Matador & Dmoney: Oregon, Vandy, Boise, and LSU.

Woudl you be happy betting UMich as a road fave? I mean, ND looked bad and all yesterday, but still. Rich Rod needs 7-8 games before he gets shit together with this young bunch.

ND should be FG+ faves in this game just by virtue of it being a home game.

 

[TroyStacks]

Ok here is what I am looking to hit. I'll be home later tonight so I will likely miss the early lines but even so heres what I like so far...

LSU-35
ULL+35 or Ill-28 (tough line to predict, I'd say we see 33.5)
Bama-35
Temple+7
Rutgers-6
Texas-21
PSU-24
UM+ anything
GT+7
Cal-13 (west coast travels has to account for something I think)
Stanford+14
ECU-20.5
Memphis+4
UVA+14
Boise-14
Utah-23
ASU-21
FAU+14 or MSU-10 (probably lean the +14 in terms of what we see0
Clemson-20
UAB+28.5
Wisky-2.5
ISU+14 (intertsate rival game I'll blind)
TT-27
MIzzu-28
Hou-2


Lines are based on my opinions so take it for what its worth.

 

[Helmut]

I really can't believe people want to make Notre Dame a favorite this week. Other points of disagreement with Matador & Dmoney: Oregon, Vandy, Boise, and LSU.

The real question is not who is favored it is whether the total will be below 30.

 

[RambleOn]

Memphis, Cal, LSU, Michigan, Wisky all look good so far....

 

[M.W.]

The real question is not who is favored it is whether the total will be below 30.

That is a good question. Another low total will be UVA/UConn. How low can they go?
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[J Galt]

That is a good question. Another low total will be UVA/UConn. How low can they go?
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I wouldn't take the Under there. Both of those offenses have talent.

 

[J Galt]

Speaking of UVA, you are not going to be able to get them at +14 this weekend. This'll be closer to a TD.

 

[M.W.]

Why has everyone except CB made the Cal-Maryland line so small?

I don't think it comes out under 2 TD's?

My pulled-it-out-of-my ass number was 17, but at the end of last year this game would have been close to a pick, so I adjusted downward 5 or 6 points. The oddsmakers tend to be more conservative than a lot of bettors when it comes to adjusting power ratings. That's why the line was a puny 13.5 at WSU last week.

 

[M.W.]

I watched the Richmond game, and I didn't see that offensive talent, although I'm sure London's familiarity with the UVA offense was part of the problem. This looks like a 21-10 or 24-10 game to me. However, I'd appreciate it if you told me what I'm overlooking. UConn's run defense is not as good as the pass D, so maybe UVA will be able to run the ball.