Since I don't have a whole lot of time to blog today, a quick, surgical strike of games that I like this week:
Syracuse (+10.5) vs. Notre Dame
NC State (-15.5) vs. Louisville
SDSU (+12.5) vs. Fresno State
Penn State (-28) vs. Rutgers
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Live, From New York, it's Wednesday Morning!
Good Morning, everyone!! Hope we're all having a wonderful day out there in the wide wide world of sports. Before I get onto the games that I like for this week, we'll take a look at the picks that I made last week. I try to do my research and do the best that I can to pick winners, but sometimes it doesn't always work. Case in point, last week....
Last weeks College Football picks....
Let's get to the games. The first game that I chose was a mid-major team that I thought would play inspired football and try to be ranked in the top 25 for the first time ever. Oh, how wrong I was. I chose Georgia Southern (-7) vs. the University of Louisiana-Monroe (but I didn't know that LSU came to play at ULM and ULM went to Death Valley). Georgia Southern , who came in with a 7-1 record with a huge win over Appalachian State (when they were ranked 25th) and simply played an awful, awful football game, never having the lead and even missing a 26 yard field goal. A 26 yard field goal! unbelievable.
The highlights (or low-lights) of Georgia Southern's loss to ULM.
On a quick side note, I do like ULM's jerseys. I really like the fact that they have teeth on the shoulder accents with the military appreciation uniform so that it looks like a fighter jet.
Game number 2: I really liked the way Western Michigan played against Central Michigan last week, blowing them out and winning by 25 points against the Chippewas, beating them 35-10. So, I thought I'd roll the dice with the Broncs, and take them against the Ohio Bobcats on Wednesday night. So, I took Western Michigan (-1). Again, I was wrong. It went downhill quickly for the Broncos, falling behind 45-0 and having to play catch-up for the remainder of the game (but, if it's any solace, they did score the 14 of the last 28 points of the game and still got blown out, 59-14. Ugh. Bad start to the week.
Rolling right along with the losses this week, I then decided that Kansas played well enough against a sub-par TCU team that I would take the Jayhawks and the 14.5 points at home against an Iowa State team that has looked like Jekyl and Hyde. Again, I was wrong. The bad Kansas team came out (not the one who played well against TCU OR the one who scored 55 points against Rutgers), and the very, very good Iowa State team came to play in Lawrence, the one who beat up West Virginia at home a couple weeks ago. Iowa State jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, and didn't look back again, cruising easily to a 27-3 win, and dropping me to 0-3 for the week. Thanks, Cyclones!
And, the final humiliation of the week, I decided to take Penn State and the 10 points against Michigan. I think I had a lobotomy before this week. I never could possibly be this bad. But, I guess I was, or I would be in Vegas picking games and making millions. Penn State's bus broke down on the way there and they had to send the JV team to Ann Arbor. (just kidding). But they did play that badly, losing 45-10. Ugh again.
And, now, as one of my uncles would say, we get to the "dogshit on ice cream" section, the two games that I won! I took West Virginia (+1) in one of the greatest college football games in the last five years, and I took Iowa (+2.5), who covered by a half a point against Purdue. But, enough about last week. Let's move onto this week!
Games I like:
Maryland (+1.5) vs. Indiana
Michigan State (+3.5) vs. Ohio State
Middle Tennessee State (-13.5) vs. UTEP
Michigan (-40) vs. Rutgers
USF (+14) vs. Cincinnati
Last weeks College Football picks....
Let's get to the games. The first game that I chose was a mid-major team that I thought would play inspired football and try to be ranked in the top 25 for the first time ever. Oh, how wrong I was. I chose Georgia Southern (-7) vs. the University of Louisiana-Monroe (but I didn't know that LSU came to play at ULM and ULM went to Death Valley). Georgia Southern , who came in with a 7-1 record with a huge win over Appalachian State (when they were ranked 25th) and simply played an awful, awful football game, never having the lead and even missing a 26 yard field goal. A 26 yard field goal! unbelievable.
On a quick side note, I do like ULM's jerseys. I really like the fact that they have teeth on the shoulder accents with the military appreciation uniform so that it looks like a fighter jet.
Game number 2: I really liked the way Western Michigan played against Central Michigan last week, blowing them out and winning by 25 points against the Chippewas, beating them 35-10. So, I thought I'd roll the dice with the Broncs, and take them against the Ohio Bobcats on Wednesday night. So, I took Western Michigan (-1). Again, I was wrong. It went downhill quickly for the Broncos, falling behind 45-0 and having to play catch-up for the remainder of the game (but, if it's any solace, they did score the 14 of the last 28 points of the game and still got blown out, 59-14. Ugh. Bad start to the week.
Rolling right along with the losses this week, I then decided that Kansas played well enough against a sub-par TCU team that I would take the Jayhawks and the 14.5 points at home against an Iowa State team that has looked like Jekyl and Hyde. Again, I was wrong. The bad Kansas team came out (not the one who played well against TCU OR the one who scored 55 points against Rutgers), and the very, very good Iowa State team came to play in Lawrence, the one who beat up West Virginia at home a couple weeks ago. Iowa State jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, and didn't look back again, cruising easily to a 27-3 win, and dropping me to 0-3 for the week. Thanks, Cyclones!
And, now, as one of my uncles would say, we get to the "dogshit on ice cream" section, the two games that I won! I took West Virginia (+1) in one of the greatest college football games in the last five years, and I took Iowa (+2.5), who covered by a half a point against Purdue. But, enough about last week. Let's move onto this week!
Games I like:
Maryland (+1.5) vs. Indiana
Michigan State (+3.5) vs. Ohio State
Middle Tennessee State (-13.5) vs. UTEP
Michigan (-40) vs. Rutgers
USF (+14) vs. Cincinnati
Monday, October 29, 2018
Weekly World News Update
Good morning, everyone! I hope you're all having a wonderful start to the week. I hope this week is better than last week for me, which included a death in the family and some late nights. But, at least I had some football to fall back on, including some great college games and even some fantastic NFL games. Before I get to this weekend's recap, I would like to congratulate (This pains me...) the Boston Red Sox on their World Series championship. Okay, I haven't hurt myself enough, so onto the college football recap from the weekend.
The first game I chose this week occurred on a Friday night in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Now, I was told by my family that lives outside of Boston that Chestnut Hill is the very wealthy section of Boston, and I was intrigued by this. So, I went to zillow.com and I figured out that they were telling the truth. A 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment of 700 square feet (which isn't that large of an apartment) is $320,000. Are you serious? I could buy an entire house with that kind of money in New York State. Oh, you want a house, you say? $800,000 and up. Good luck not being "house poor" with that mortgage payment. Ridiculous. But, as a friend of mine in college used to say, "The only thing they're not making more of is land." How right he was. Okay, enough sidetracking. Onto the college football. Boston College came into the game against Miami a three point underdog at home. I looked at that game and instantly said, "I like BC. A.J. Dillon is going to have a good game at home, plus it will be cold and Miami doesn't play well in the cold." Boy, was I right. Dillon toted the football 32 times for 149 yards (a 4.7 ypc) and a touchdown. AJ Dillon might be the best player that no one really knows about. He shredded a Miami defense that had been playing very well up until that game. BC was the first team to gain over 400 yards against the Hurricane defense this entire season, thanks in large part to AJ Dillon and Anthony Brown, the BC quarterback. Anthony Brown is a very serviceable player in his own right, passing for a touchdown and running for one more. Brown did a nice job of keeping the ball away from the Miami offense, and he spread the ball around to his receivers and backs. But, I think the game ball has to go to the BC defense, which harassed Malik Rosier and the Miami offense into two turnovers, three sacks, and pressure all night long. The BC defense scored a touchdown as well, on one of the most improbable interception returns you'll see in a long time.
Boston College ended up winning the game outright, 27-14. A good home victory for Steve Addazio and his coaching staff, which have the Eagles playing well (6-2). The Eagles next travel to Blacksburg in a key ACC crossover matchup with the Virginia Tech Hokies, who play very well at home. The Eagles have an extremely tough road to winning the Coastal division title, although it is not out of the realm of possibility, as Clemson comes to Chestnut Hill as well as Syracuse (which is nice to have two of your marquee games be at home). B.C. needs to go 3-1 down the stretch to have a chance at winning the Coastal division title, with one of those wins being Clemson (they need to beat Clemson to have a shot). Good win, Eagles!
Game #2 - Iowa (+6.5) vs. Penn State
Talk about a nail-biter. I was at a wake/funeral on Saturday, so I didn't get to watch much of this game as I would've liked, but family comes first, especially in a large Italian family like mine.
But, what I did see from this game was exciting. I saw Iowa jump out to a big 12-0 lead, thanks in large part to it's defense, which played well the entire game, except for a few lapses in coverage and NOT spying Trace McSorley with a linebacker when he came back into the game. Iowa forced Penn State into a safety 52 seconds into the game, which was surprising with how well Trace McSorley played in the game. Iowa added a field goal and a nifty touchdown catch by a defensive lineman, who just might be lining up at tight end for the Hawkeyes next week if he keeps making catches like this in the future.
https://www.foxsports.com/college-football/video/1354871875836
(sorry, the video isn't on youtube for some reason).
The Hawkeyes were up 12-0 on Penn State. I can rest easy, right? Not so, said Penn State. McSorely scores a touchdown in the waning seconds of the first quarter, and then the Nittany Lions not only endure another safety, they endure Trace McSorely getting sandwiched between two Iowa defenders and being knocked out of the game for a little bit.
In comes backup quarterback Tommy Stephens, who promptly leads the Nittany Lions down the field and scores the tying touchdown, plunging in from three yards out to tie the game at 14. The teams would trade field goals and go into the break tied at 17. So, the third quarter starts, and McSorely does his best Clark Kent impression, coming back into the game and suddenly acting like the old Trace McSorely (I didn't even know Kinnick Stadium had phone booths anymore).
He breaks off a 51 yard run, and the Nittany Lions jump back ahead, 24-17. Penn State adds a field goal, and then McSorely throws an interception to an Iowa defensive back who returns the INT for a touchdown and brings the Hawkeyes within three points. Penn State adds a late field goal and holds off Iowa with TWO late stands deep in Nittany Lion territory, and Penn State escapes with a late victory, 30-24, but since I got the points at 6.5, I escape with a win.
Woo-Hoo! Off to a good start! Let the good times roll!
Game #3 - Army (+1) vs. Eastern Michigan
I learned my lesson earlier this year. Don't bet against Army. Not only can they blow up your house from a bunker 30,000 miles away with the push of a button, they can also play some football, too.
The thing that could blow my house up from 30,000 feet
Army went on the road last week and traveled to Michigan (Ypsilanti) to play the Eastern Michigan Eagles. Not exactly a football powerhouse there, they've finished under .500 6 of the past 7 years. Eastern Michigan is playing better this year, however, with wins over Purdue (yes, that Purdue), Toledo and Ball State. They currently sit at 4-5, but Eastern is taking steps in the right direction. Army built a 16-0 lead in the game, and eventually had to fight off a pesky Eastern Michigan team that clawed back to within one score, but couldn't wrestle the ball away from Army, which controlled the time of possession with a 3:1 ratio (45:42 to 14:18) and racked up 415 total yards on offense. Army evened opened up the playbook and threw the ball 8! times, one half of last year's total of 16 passes that they threw in a season. Army (and I) get the win. Army wins 37-22.
3-0 so far! Like every Jet fan says, 16-0 baby! Super bowl bound! and then the reality sets in (for the Jets, not me)....
Game #4 - Washington State (+3) vs. Stanford
Last week, I talked about Ol' Crimson, the Washington State University flag that flies at every episode of ESPN's College Gameday. Well, I was watching College Gameday this week, and I didn't see it.......Oh, wait! It was there, but it was the white version of the flag. Good for the Cougars, who didn't let the win against Oregon force them into a let down against Bryce Love, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and the rest of the Stanford Cardinal. It was a little crazy, and there were a ton of points scored, but the Cougs ended up pulling out the win and avoiding the let-down after the huge win over Oregon. Gardner Minshew threw for 438 yards and 4 TD's and led the Cougars to the go-ahead touchdown with just over 4 minutes left in regulation, but then Stanford came back to score again and tie the game up at 38. The Cougars then had the ball for a minute and six seconds and drove the ball down the field to set up the game winning field goal. On a side note, the Stanford field goal kicker has one of college football's best names (Jet Toner) which sounds like an 80's action hero. Wazzou picks up the win, and so do I, with Wazzou winning 41-38.
4-0 so far! L-E-T-S G-O!
Oh, well, it was bound to happen. I knew it was too good to be true. I lost a game....but first, I'm still on a roll with my next pick, so I'll go 5-0 before I go 5-1.
Game #5 - Navy (+24.5) vs. Notre Dame
Notre Dame is always good at playing down to their competition. Like the New York Yankees when they play the Baltimore Orioles this season, Notre Dame has struggled to put away lesser competition, barely escaping with a win over Pitt and struggling against Vanderbilt before eventually winning. The Yankees were 12-7 against the Orioles this year. In contrast, the Red Sox were 16-3. Go figure that out. If the Yankees played the Orioles every game, they would be a .500 team, not the 100 win playoff team that they are. But, back to football. Notre Dame built a large lead in this game, but Navy didn't give up the ship.
Notre Dame built up a 27 point lead in the game, and by halftime I was getting ill, so I decided to head to the bar and have a few drinks. After a couple beers, any college football game looks better, so I came back and decided to watch the game. Lo and behold, I found that Navy was climbing back into the game. They didn't win, but they did cover! The final score was Notre Dame 44, Navy 22.
Ok, time for my loss. It was bound to happen. Yes, it was.
Game #6 - NC State (-2) vs. Syracuse
Oh, I thought the Wolfpack would be angry and play like a team possessed. Oh, how wrong I was. The Wolfpack played uninspired football and their defense stunk, giving up 51! points to Syracuse. Syracuse, while they are much improved from last season, should not put up 51 points on anyone, let alone NC State, who was very close to contending in the ACC Coastal division. Not so much anymore, with two straight losses. The Wolfpack go down, 51-41.
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Live look-in at the NC State defensive huddle
Early games that I'm intrigued by this week:
West Virginia (+1) vs. Texas
Iowa (+2.5) vs. Purdue
Penn State (+10) vs. Michigan
Western Michigan (-1) vs. Ohio
Kansas (+14.5) vs. Iowa State
Georgia Southern (-7) vs. UL Monroe
The ball seemed to stay in the air forever....
Game #2 - Iowa (+6.5) vs. Penn State
Talk about a nail-biter. I was at a wake/funeral on Saturday, so I didn't get to watch much of this game as I would've liked, but family comes first, especially in a large Italian family like mine.
Family comes first.
https://www.foxsports.com/college-football/video/1354871875836
(sorry, the video isn't on youtube for some reason).
The Hawkeyes were up 12-0 on Penn State. I can rest easy, right? Not so, said Penn State. McSorely scores a touchdown in the waning seconds of the first quarter, and then the Nittany Lions not only endure another safety, they endure Trace McSorely getting sandwiched between two Iowa defenders and being knocked out of the game for a little bit.
In comes backup quarterback Tommy Stephens, who promptly leads the Nittany Lions down the field and scores the tying touchdown, plunging in from three yards out to tie the game at 14. The teams would trade field goals and go into the break tied at 17. So, the third quarter starts, and McSorely does his best Clark Kent impression, coming back into the game and suddenly acting like the old Trace McSorely (I didn't even know Kinnick Stadium had phone booths anymore).
He breaks off a 51 yard run, and the Nittany Lions jump back ahead, 24-17. Penn State adds a field goal, and then McSorely throws an interception to an Iowa defensive back who returns the INT for a touchdown and brings the Hawkeyes within three points. Penn State adds a late field goal and holds off Iowa with TWO late stands deep in Nittany Lion territory, and Penn State escapes with a late victory, 30-24, but since I got the points at 6.5, I escape with a win.
Woo-Hoo! Off to a good start! Let the good times roll!
Game #3 - Army (+1) vs. Eastern Michigan
I learned my lesson earlier this year. Don't bet against Army. Not only can they blow up your house from a bunker 30,000 miles away with the push of a button, they can also play some football, too.
Army went on the road last week and traveled to Michigan (Ypsilanti) to play the Eastern Michigan Eagles. Not exactly a football powerhouse there, they've finished under .500 6 of the past 7 years. Eastern Michigan is playing better this year, however, with wins over Purdue (yes, that Purdue), Toledo and Ball State. They currently sit at 4-5, but Eastern is taking steps in the right direction. Army built a 16-0 lead in the game, and eventually had to fight off a pesky Eastern Michigan team that clawed back to within one score, but couldn't wrestle the ball away from Army, which controlled the time of possession with a 3:1 ratio (45:42 to 14:18) and racked up 415 total yards on offense. Army evened opened up the playbook and threw the ball 8! times, one half of last year's total of 16 passes that they threw in a season. Army (and I) get the win. Army wins 37-22.
3-0 so far! Like every Jet fan says, 16-0 baby! Super bowl bound! and then the reality sets in (for the Jets, not me)....
Game #4 - Washington State (+3) vs. Stanford
Last week, I talked about Ol' Crimson, the Washington State University flag that flies at every episode of ESPN's College Gameday. Well, I was watching College Gameday this week, and I didn't see it.......Oh, wait! It was there, but it was the white version of the flag. Good for the Cougars, who didn't let the win against Oregon force them into a let down against Bryce Love, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and the rest of the Stanford Cardinal. It was a little crazy, and there were a ton of points scored, but the Cougs ended up pulling out the win and avoiding the let-down after the huge win over Oregon. Gardner Minshew threw for 438 yards and 4 TD's and led the Cougars to the go-ahead touchdown with just over 4 minutes left in regulation, but then Stanford came back to score again and tie the game up at 38. The Cougars then had the ball for a minute and six seconds and drove the ball down the field to set up the game winning field goal. On a side note, the Stanford field goal kicker has one of college football's best names (Jet Toner) which sounds like an 80's action hero. Wazzou picks up the win, and so do I, with Wazzou winning 41-38.
4-0 so far! L-E-T-S G-O!
Oh, well, it was bound to happen. I knew it was too good to be true. I lost a game....but first, I'm still on a roll with my next pick, so I'll go 5-0 before I go 5-1.
Game #5 - Navy (+24.5) vs. Notre Dame
Notre Dame is always good at playing down to their competition. Like the New York Yankees when they play the Baltimore Orioles this season, Notre Dame has struggled to put away lesser competition, barely escaping with a win over Pitt and struggling against Vanderbilt before eventually winning. The Yankees were 12-7 against the Orioles this year. In contrast, the Red Sox were 16-3. Go figure that out. If the Yankees played the Orioles every game, they would be a .500 team, not the 100 win playoff team that they are. But, back to football. Notre Dame built a large lead in this game, but Navy didn't give up the ship.
Notre Dame built up a 27 point lead in the game, and by halftime I was getting ill, so I decided to head to the bar and have a few drinks. After a couple beers, any college football game looks better, so I came back and decided to watch the game. Lo and behold, I found that Navy was climbing back into the game. They didn't win, but they did cover! The final score was Notre Dame 44, Navy 22.
Ok, time for my loss. It was bound to happen. Yes, it was.
Game #6 - NC State (-2) vs. Syracuse
Oh, I thought the Wolfpack would be angry and play like a team possessed. Oh, how wrong I was. The Wolfpack played uninspired football and their defense stunk, giving up 51! points to Syracuse. Syracuse, while they are much improved from last season, should not put up 51 points on anyone, let alone NC State, who was very close to contending in the ACC Coastal division. Not so much anymore, with two straight losses. The Wolfpack go down, 51-41.
Early games that I'm intrigued by this week:
West Virginia (+1) vs. Texas
Iowa (+2.5) vs. Purdue
Penn State (+10) vs. Michigan
Western Michigan (-1) vs. Ohio
Kansas (+14.5) vs. Iowa State
Georgia Southern (-7) vs. UL Monroe
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Weekend Update
Hello, everyone, and welcome to this episode of weekend update! No, not the SNL news program that has been on for the longest time (is it me, or is Saturday Night Live not even funny anymore?). No wonder Ariana Grande broke up with Pete Davidson....she realized he wasn't funny to anyone...But seriously, Ariana, you have my number, please call.
Onto what you've been anxiously waiting for, the weekend results of my college predictions. As Warner Wolf would say, "Let's go to the videotape":
Game #1 - Cincy (+3) vs. Temple
I call this game "referee-gate", because I sat here and watched the entire game and realized that the referees took the game away from Cincy. Right before halftime, the game was tied 10-10, and Cincy was driving for a field goal to take into the half. The Cincy offense stalls, and the field goal kicker trots out onto the field and calmly hits a field goal to put the Bearcats up 13-10. Or so I thought. Wait a second.....the referees are congregating. No good can come from this. The referee gets on the microphone and says, "The ball was not marked ready for play. Retry the field goal." WHAAT! WHAT! The ball was not marked ready for play! You have one job. Put the ball down, and get the hell out of the way! Why would you put the ball down if it was NOT marked ready for play. In what universe do you live in, referee? So, after that five minute meltdown and commercial break, they come back and what do you think the Cincy kicker does? Misses the damn field goal! Of course. To top it off, he misses two more later on in the game and the Cincy defense disappears in the fourth quarter and overtime and Cincy ends up losing the game 23-17. See what happens, officials? You take the game out of the hands of the players (sometimes) and the game comes down to a judgement call or one single call. I understand that the referees have a hard job, and I wouldn't want to be one for a hot second, but if you're going to make that call, at least explain it or clarify it. Why would you put the ball down if it was not marked ready for play? I doubt the center stole the football from you, ran it back to the line of scrimmage and hiked the ball to the holder.
The Cincinnati center (Cincy was wearing all black jerseys this weekend - a premonition?) stealing the football before it was marked "ready for play" by the referee
Enough ranting about that game. I lost, deal with it. Onto the winners (and one more loser).
Game #2 - Iowa (-9) vs. Maryland
Yay, a winner. Winner, winner, front line winner. Pay the man. The Bizzaro Maryland team showed up this week. The Maryland team that lost to Temple showed up. Not the superhuman performance that the Terps put up against the #9 team in the country (Texas). Pop quiz: what's Texas's only loss this year so far? No, not Oklahoma. No, not Texas Tech. No, not Texas A&M. No, not Baylor (although all good guesses). MARYLAND!! MARYLAND! That just goes to show you that in football, any team can win on any given day. Any given Saturday or Sunday, baby. Maryland and its run-happy offense was stymied by the Hawkeyes, who held the Terps to just 115 yards of total offense and just 7 first downs. This is pretty impressive, given that the Iowa quarterback only threw for 86 yards in the entire game. The Maryland defense couldn't get off the field. They were on the field nearly every couple of minutes, and the Hawkeyes offensive line dominated the Terps weary defensive line in the shutout victory. Yay, I even up my record for the week!
Game #3 - Western Michigan (-4) vs. Central Michigan
I had a feeling about this game. No, I did not have a fever and the only prescription was more cowbell. I had a premonition. Western Michigan was going to come out and destroy Central Michigan without breaking a sweat. It's like Western Michigan was Ivan Drago and Central was Apollo Creed. Yes, Central hung in there for a while, but once LeVante Bellamy ran for a 29 yard touchdown run and Jon Wassink scored three TD's, Central was down for the count. They scored 10 points late in the game, but by that time, Western probably had the Scoobies in anyway.
Western Michigan v. Central Michigan (30 years ago)
The Western Michigan defense in the third and fourth quarter when Central scored their 10 points.
Game #4 - Washington State (-3) vs. Oregon
Just watch college gameday from last Saturday to get a vibe of what the atmosphere in Pullman, WA was like for this game. It looked like that party from "Married with Children" that was so large that the National Guard had to start "other parties" to get it to burn itself out. The fans at Wazzou were so amped up that the Cougars had to be amped up too. And, when you're amped up, many players play at or near their highest levels. I know when I played sports, I always wanted to be as pumped up as I possibly could because I thought I could do anything when I was pumped up. Go run through that wall? OK! Go climb that tree? OK! I think Mike Leach could've asked the Cougs to run to Oregon and back and there would be a caravan on the highway. I thought Washington State was due, and I think Oregon was looking back to last week's game where they beat Washington in come from behind fashion. Oregon slept on the Cougars, and now they're paying the price.
Ol' Crimson flies at every ESPN College Gameday. Don't believe me.....tune in and find out!
Game #5 - Minnesota (+4) at Nebraska
Umm....the less said about this game, the better. Good for Scott Frost, getting his first win at Nebraska. Bad for Minnesota, who had the game within 6 points (28-22) before disappearing and allowing the Cornhuskers to score 56 points and end up blowing them out.
Live look-in at the Nebraska-Minnesota game in the 2nd half.......
So, all in all, I finished 3-2 for the week. Not terrible, but not my best, either. I can't go 4-1 every week!
Early games that I like this week:
Iowa (+6.5) at Penn State
Boston College (+3.5) vs. Miami, but ONLY if A.J. Dillon plays
Army (+1) at Eastern Michigan
Washington State (+3) at Stanford
NC State (-2) at Syracuse - NC State is PISSED off that Clemson shut them out, and they'll take it out on Syracuse.
Navy (+24.5) vs. Notre Dame - Notre Dame ALWAYS plays to the level of its' competition.
Onto what you've been anxiously waiting for, the weekend results of my college predictions. As Warner Wolf would say, "Let's go to the videotape":
Game #1 - Cincy (+3) vs. Temple
I call this game "referee-gate", because I sat here and watched the entire game and realized that the referees took the game away from Cincy. Right before halftime, the game was tied 10-10, and Cincy was driving for a field goal to take into the half. The Cincy offense stalls, and the field goal kicker trots out onto the field and calmly hits a field goal to put the Bearcats up 13-10. Or so I thought. Wait a second.....the referees are congregating. No good can come from this. The referee gets on the microphone and says, "The ball was not marked ready for play. Retry the field goal." WHAAT! WHAT! The ball was not marked ready for play! You have one job. Put the ball down, and get the hell out of the way! Why would you put the ball down if it was NOT marked ready for play. In what universe do you live in, referee? So, after that five minute meltdown and commercial break, they come back and what do you think the Cincy kicker does? Misses the damn field goal! Of course. To top it off, he misses two more later on in the game and the Cincy defense disappears in the fourth quarter and overtime and Cincy ends up losing the game 23-17. See what happens, officials? You take the game out of the hands of the players (sometimes) and the game comes down to a judgement call or one single call. I understand that the referees have a hard job, and I wouldn't want to be one for a hot second, but if you're going to make that call, at least explain it or clarify it. Why would you put the ball down if it was not marked ready for play? I doubt the center stole the football from you, ran it back to the line of scrimmage and hiked the ball to the holder.
Enough ranting about that game. I lost, deal with it. Onto the winners (and one more loser).
Game #2 - Iowa (-9) vs. Maryland
Yay, a winner. Winner, winner, front line winner. Pay the man. The Bizzaro Maryland team showed up this week. The Maryland team that lost to Temple showed up. Not the superhuman performance that the Terps put up against the #9 team in the country (Texas). Pop quiz: what's Texas's only loss this year so far? No, not Oklahoma. No, not Texas Tech. No, not Texas A&M. No, not Baylor (although all good guesses). MARYLAND!! MARYLAND! That just goes to show you that in football, any team can win on any given day. Any given Saturday or Sunday, baby. Maryland and its run-happy offense was stymied by the Hawkeyes, who held the Terps to just 115 yards of total offense and just 7 first downs. This is pretty impressive, given that the Iowa quarterback only threw for 86 yards in the entire game. The Maryland defense couldn't get off the field. They were on the field nearly every couple of minutes, and the Hawkeyes offensive line dominated the Terps weary defensive line in the shutout victory. Yay, I even up my record for the week!
Game #3 - Western Michigan (-4) vs. Central Michigan
I had a feeling about this game. No, I did not have a fever and the only prescription was more cowbell. I had a premonition. Western Michigan was going to come out and destroy Central Michigan without breaking a sweat. It's like Western Michigan was Ivan Drago and Central was Apollo Creed. Yes, Central hung in there for a while, but once LeVante Bellamy ran for a 29 yard touchdown run and Jon Wassink scored three TD's, Central was down for the count. They scored 10 points late in the game, but by that time, Western probably had the Scoobies in anyway.
Game #4 - Washington State (-3) vs. Oregon
Just watch college gameday from last Saturday to get a vibe of what the atmosphere in Pullman, WA was like for this game. It looked like that party from "Married with Children" that was so large that the National Guard had to start "other parties" to get it to burn itself out. The fans at Wazzou were so amped up that the Cougars had to be amped up too. And, when you're amped up, many players play at or near their highest levels. I know when I played sports, I always wanted to be as pumped up as I possibly could because I thought I could do anything when I was pumped up. Go run through that wall? OK! Go climb that tree? OK! I think Mike Leach could've asked the Cougs to run to Oregon and back and there would be a caravan on the highway. I thought Washington State was due, and I think Oregon was looking back to last week's game where they beat Washington in come from behind fashion. Oregon slept on the Cougars, and now they're paying the price.
Game #5 - Minnesota (+4) at Nebraska
Umm....the less said about this game, the better. Good for Scott Frost, getting his first win at Nebraska. Bad for Minnesota, who had the game within 6 points (28-22) before disappearing and allowing the Cornhuskers to score 56 points and end up blowing them out.
So, all in all, I finished 3-2 for the week. Not terrible, but not my best, either. I can't go 4-1 every week!
Early games that I like this week:
Iowa (+6.5) at Penn State
Boston College (+3.5) vs. Miami, but ONLY if A.J. Dillon plays
Army (+1) at Eastern Michigan
Washington State (+3) at Stanford
NC State (-2) at Syracuse - NC State is PISSED off that Clemson shut them out, and they'll take it out on Syracuse.
Navy (+24.5) vs. Notre Dame - Notre Dame ALWAYS plays to the level of its' competition.
Friday, October 19, 2018
Friday Findings
Good Afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Friday installment of Coin Flip? A beginner's take on college football wagering. I'm your host, Captain Insano, and today we'll be breaking down the five games that I like the best during this week in college football. Hopefully you're having a wonderful week! Sorry to those of you who listened to me last week, it wasn't a good week (I finished 1-3...ugh) I have been busy with work (no one said being a teacher would be easy), but I have some time today before my next class to write to you guys out there.
My legion of fans
OK, so without further fanfare or ado, let's get to the action and take a look at the games that I picked for this week. We'll have some fun with this and have a game show theme this week after last week's successful "Music Appreciation Blog".
Game #1 - "The Match Game"
Alright, ladies and gentlemen(Mr. Dawson, please stop kissing everyone....Mr. Nelson Riley, are you awake? Mr. Hackett, are you sober?) It's time for everyone's favorite game, The Match Game!
Contestant #1 is a coach of an undefeated team in the American Athletic Conference, Luke Fickell!(who looks surprisingly like Rob Riggle)
Separated at Birth? I'm waiting for the weekly news world headline to be published.
Good afternoon, Mr. Fickell, thanks for playing our game. This afternoon, we'll be playing a little differently than usual. I'll give you some words, and you fill in the blanks.
Sentence 1: Your team, Cincinnati, has ________ losses.
Sentence 2: Your opponent, the Temple Owls, have _________ losses.
Sentence 3: Your team is a ___________ point ___________ against the Owls on Saturday.
(Answers: Zero, Three, Three, Underdog)
I do not understand how a team who lost 3 games (3!) already can be favored over the undefeated bearcats. Let's take a deeper look into the schedule:
Temple: Villanova (L) - so they lost to an FCS school (albeit a good one), Buffalo (L), Maryland (W) - probably their best win, although that's not saying a whole lot from a Maryland team that looks like Superman one week and Bizzaro the next, Tulsa (W), Boston College (L) - B.C. did have A.J. Dillon that week, so if Temple played B.C. again without Dillon, who knows, ECU(W), Navy(W), for a record of 4-3 overall, and 3-0 in the AAC.
Cincinnati - UCLA (W) - Chip Kelly's wishing he stayed unemployed, Miami(OH) (W) - Miami of Ohio is terrible this year, so easy win there, Alabama A&M (W),Ohio (W), Tulane (W), UCONN(W) for a record of 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the AAC.
I understand that Cincy has not played an extremely tough schedule, but they haven't played cupcakes the entire year. Temple's schedule is probably stronger overall, but the AAC is so weak in the division it doesn't really matter. The fact that Temple LOST to an FCS school, even Villanova, makes Cincy look very attractive this week.
Michael Warren is a very underrated running back, running for 675 yards (a 5.4 YPC) and 11 touchdowns in the six games, so the Temple rushing defense better be on it's best behavior. Desmond Ridder is a dual threat quarterback who has rushed for 398 yards (52 YPG) and 4 touchdowns, while throwing for 10 more. Ridder does a wonderful job of spreading the ball around and not zeroing in on one target, with no one bearcat receiver having over 300 yards receiving. Cole Smith is an accurate (although very limited) field goal kicker, and the Cincy defense is led by Cortez Broughton who nearly averages a sack a game and has 11 tackles for loss through six games, and James Wiggins, who leads the team in both tackles and interceptions.
Temple is led by Ryquell Armstrong, their feature back (677 yards through 7 games). Their offense seems to me to be very one-dimensional, and Armstrong has to get going if the Owls are going to have success. Anthony Russo and Frank Nutile have taken turns at quarterback, and while Russo has thrown for 1100 yards this season, combined the two of them have thrown 11 interceptions on the year. On defense, the Owls are led by Shawn Bradley (No, not the Brigham Young/Philadelphia 76er draft bust who was surprisingly good in the video game NBA Jam)
Shawn Bradley does NOT play defense, even for the Temple Owls.....
who leads the team in tackles and Rock Ya-Sin (Not Rock Raines, the baseball hall of famer), who leads the team in sacks with 4.5.
Rock Raines, sporting the SWEET Montreal Expos jerseys....
I think the Bearcats will come ready to play, and I think the bearcats claw up the Owls, 24-10.
Game #2 - "The $10,000 pyramid"
Welcome to the $10,000 pyramid, ladies and gentlemen! We have a couple of great contestants for you here tonight, Iowa football coach Kirk Ferenz and Maryland football coachD.J. Durk- oops, I mean, Matt Canada. Welcome, gentlemen. Mr. Canada, you may go first. What category would you like to select.... "Pillow fights", "Super Heroes", "Famous Turtles" and "Ugly Clothing". Mr. Canada selects "Super Heroes" as his category. Maryland is one of those teams who really doesn't know what their true identity is....They play like Superman against the 9th ranked team in the country (Texas), play like bizzaro against some sub-par competition (Temple), and convincingly win against teams they should (Bowling Green, Rutgers).
Maryland's season in a nutshell.
Maryland is a strange team that needs to find an identity in order to contend in the Big 10. Don't get me wrong, I think they've done a fantastic job bringing that team back from the brink of non-existence, but I don't think they'll find it against a Hawkeye team that has been playing MUCH better as of late and has one of the best defenses you'll see (especially against the run, where they are only one of four teams to have allowed FOUR or less rushing touchdowns thus far). The Hawkeyes are not one dimensional, either, as Nate Stanley (QB) has thrown for 15 touchdowns this season, good for second among quarterbacks in the Big Ten. I think Iowa has a good day through the air, and the defense puts the clamps on the Terps offense, and Testudo the Terrapin goes through a long day in Iowa City (and the visitor's locker room in Kinnick Stadium doesn't help, either).
I think the Hawkeyes win convincingly, 31-13.
Game #3: "Jeopardy"
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Alex Trebek and welcome to our show. Tonight, we have a special grouping of categories, and let's take a look at them right away.
The categories are: "I Wish I played in the Big 10", "I Wish I was a non-directional school", "Broncos do it better", "CMU=Trash" and to round it out, "A Petit Dejuner".
Woah....ladies and gentlemen, some poignant categories this week. I think we'll start with I Wish I Was a Non-Directional School for 1000, Alex. I think Western Michigan, even though they are a directional school, usually doesn't play like one. When you think of directional schools, like Eastern Illinois or Eastern Michigan, for the most part they aren't very good. The directional Michigan schools have long been the whipping boy for the two most prominent schools in Michigan, Michigan and Michigan State (unfortunately, Michigan Tech, we're not talking about NCAA hockey, so you're not included.) Western Michigan has kind of bucked the trend lately, with a big BCS bowl run and win a couple of years ago under coach P.J. Fleck and with WR Corey Davis, and they have continued to be good for the past few years. They are 5-2 this year, with a 3-0 conference record. They have a very balanced offense, with LaVante Bellamy running the ball very well for 676 yards and 4 touchdowns through the first seven games of the season. Jon Wassink has been throwing the ball all over the lot for the Broncos, completing 62% of his passes for 2000 yards and 16 touchdowns, along with three td's on the ground. I think WMU goes into Kelly Shorts Stadium and gets it done, albeit with a few brow-mopping moments, 27-21.
So, those are the three games that I'll give you an in-depth preview on. Hopefully you enjoyed "Game Show" week here......Lata!
OK, so without further fanfare or ado, let's get to the action and take a look at the games that I picked for this week. We'll have some fun with this and have a game show theme this week after last week's successful "Music Appreciation Blog".
Game #1 - "The Match Game"
Alright, ladies and gentlemen(Mr. Dawson, please stop kissing everyone....Mr. Nelson Riley, are you awake? Mr. Hackett, are you sober?) It's time for everyone's favorite game, The Match Game!
Contestant #1 is a coach of an undefeated team in the American Athletic Conference, Luke Fickell!(who looks surprisingly like Rob Riggle)
Good afternoon, Mr. Fickell, thanks for playing our game. This afternoon, we'll be playing a little differently than usual. I'll give you some words, and you fill in the blanks.
Sentence 1: Your team, Cincinnati, has ________ losses.
Sentence 2: Your opponent, the Temple Owls, have _________ losses.
Sentence 3: Your team is a ___________ point ___________ against the Owls on Saturday.
(Answers: Zero, Three, Three, Underdog)
I do not understand how a team who lost 3 games (3!) already can be favored over the undefeated bearcats. Let's take a deeper look into the schedule:
Temple: Villanova (L) - so they lost to an FCS school (albeit a good one), Buffalo (L), Maryland (W) - probably their best win, although that's not saying a whole lot from a Maryland team that looks like Superman one week and Bizzaro the next, Tulsa (W), Boston College (L) - B.C. did have A.J. Dillon that week, so if Temple played B.C. again without Dillon, who knows, ECU(W), Navy(W), for a record of 4-3 overall, and 3-0 in the AAC.
Cincinnati - UCLA (W) - Chip Kelly's wishing he stayed unemployed, Miami(OH) (W) - Miami of Ohio is terrible this year, so easy win there, Alabama A&M (W),Ohio (W), Tulane (W), UCONN(W) for a record of 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the AAC.
I understand that Cincy has not played an extremely tough schedule, but they haven't played cupcakes the entire year. Temple's schedule is probably stronger overall, but the AAC is so weak in the division it doesn't really matter. The fact that Temple LOST to an FCS school, even Villanova, makes Cincy look very attractive this week.
Michael Warren is a very underrated running back, running for 675 yards (a 5.4 YPC) and 11 touchdowns in the six games, so the Temple rushing defense better be on it's best behavior. Desmond Ridder is a dual threat quarterback who has rushed for 398 yards (52 YPG) and 4 touchdowns, while throwing for 10 more. Ridder does a wonderful job of spreading the ball around and not zeroing in on one target, with no one bearcat receiver having over 300 yards receiving. Cole Smith is an accurate (although very limited) field goal kicker, and the Cincy defense is led by Cortez Broughton who nearly averages a sack a game and has 11 tackles for loss through six games, and James Wiggins, who leads the team in both tackles and interceptions.
Temple is led by Ryquell Armstrong, their feature back (677 yards through 7 games). Their offense seems to me to be very one-dimensional, and Armstrong has to get going if the Owls are going to have success. Anthony Russo and Frank Nutile have taken turns at quarterback, and while Russo has thrown for 1100 yards this season, combined the two of them have thrown 11 interceptions on the year. On defense, the Owls are led by Shawn Bradley (No, not the Brigham Young/Philadelphia 76er draft bust who was surprisingly good in the video game NBA Jam)
who leads the team in tackles and Rock Ya-Sin (Not Rock Raines, the baseball hall of famer), who leads the team in sacks with 4.5.
I think the Bearcats will come ready to play, and I think the bearcats claw up the Owls, 24-10.
Game #2 - "The $10,000 pyramid"
Welcome to the $10,000 pyramid, ladies and gentlemen! We have a couple of great contestants for you here tonight, Iowa football coach Kirk Ferenz and Maryland football coach
Maryland is a strange team that needs to find an identity in order to contend in the Big 10. Don't get me wrong, I think they've done a fantastic job bringing that team back from the brink of non-existence, but I don't think they'll find it against a Hawkeye team that has been playing MUCH better as of late and has one of the best defenses you'll see (especially against the run, where they are only one of four teams to have allowed FOUR or less rushing touchdowns thus far). The Hawkeyes are not one dimensional, either, as Nate Stanley (QB) has thrown for 15 touchdowns this season, good for second among quarterbacks in the Big Ten. I think Iowa has a good day through the air, and the defense puts the clamps on the Terps offense, and Testudo the Terrapin goes through a long day in Iowa City (and the visitor's locker room in Kinnick Stadium doesn't help, either).
Yes, the visitor's locker room in Kinnick Stadium is painted pink.
Game #3: "Jeopardy"
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Alex Trebek and welcome to our show. Tonight, we have a special grouping of categories, and let's take a look at them right away.
The categories are: "I Wish I played in the Big 10", "I Wish I was a non-directional school", "Broncos do it better", "CMU=Trash" and to round it out, "A Petit Dejuner".
Woah....ladies and gentlemen, some poignant categories this week. I think we'll start with I Wish I Was a Non-Directional School for 1000, Alex. I think Western Michigan, even though they are a directional school, usually doesn't play like one. When you think of directional schools, like Eastern Illinois or Eastern Michigan, for the most part they aren't very good. The directional Michigan schools have long been the whipping boy for the two most prominent schools in Michigan, Michigan and Michigan State (unfortunately, Michigan Tech, we're not talking about NCAA hockey, so you're not included.) Western Michigan has kind of bucked the trend lately, with a big BCS bowl run and win a couple of years ago under coach P.J. Fleck and with WR Corey Davis, and they have continued to be good for the past few years. They are 5-2 this year, with a 3-0 conference record. They have a very balanced offense, with LaVante Bellamy running the ball very well for 676 yards and 4 touchdowns through the first seven games of the season. Jon Wassink has been throwing the ball all over the lot for the Broncos, completing 62% of his passes for 2000 yards and 16 touchdowns, along with three td's on the ground. I think WMU goes into Kelly Shorts Stadium and gets it done, albeit with a few brow-mopping moments, 27-21.
So, those are the three games that I'll give you an in-depth preview on. Hopefully you enjoyed "Game Show" week here......Lata!
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Thursday Thoughts from the Throne
Good afternoon, all! I'll skip the chit-chat, for now, and get to the games that I like this week.
Game #1 - Cincinnati (+3) at Temple
Game #2 - Iowa (-9) vs. Maryland
Game #3 - Western Michigan (-4) at Central Michigan
Game #4 - Washington State (-3) vs. Oregon
Game #5 - Minnesota (+4) at Nebraska
Back with more tomorrow, including in-depth analysis of these games, along with some special guests and some lovely take home prizes!
Game #1 - Cincinnati (+3) at Temple
Game #2 - Iowa (-9) vs. Maryland
Game #3 - Western Michigan (-4) at Central Michigan
Game #4 - Washington State (-3) vs. Oregon
Game #5 - Minnesota (+4) at Nebraska
Back with more tomorrow, including in-depth analysis of these games, along with some special guests and some lovely take home prizes!
Monday, October 15, 2018
Monday:Or; the first day of the rest of my life
Good morning once again out there in blogger land, and yes, the weekend is over and it's time to get back to work. Bleh. I know, I know. I only picked three games last week. But, this was the week you shouldn't have listened to me. Speaking of listening, I was listening to music last night when I had a fantastic idea; how about a musical recollection of the games I picked? That sounds fun to me, so let's get started!
My weekend in college football.....
The first game that I liked was Georgia Tech (-3) vs. Duke. I sat down and watched this game, and I truly believe that Georgia Tech had a shot at winning the game, if it wasn't for the third quarter. That being said, the first song up on our hit list today is "Oops, I did it again!" by Britney Spears (and the Georgia Tech kick-off team. Sitting there watching the game, and the third quarter starts. Georgia Tech gets the ball to start the third quarter, and what happens - they fumble the kick and Duke recovers and quickly scores to take a 14-7 lead. The ensuing kickoff, guess what happens? You guessed it! The returner fumbles again!
"Oops, I did it again....I fumbled the ball, and cost us the game. Oh, Paulie, Paulie, please don't bench me, I need the reps, I'm tryna go pro..."
All in all, I think Georgia Tech fumbled three kickoffs in the entire game, which allowed Duke to capitalize on the short fields and score (Daniel Jones threw three touchdown passes in the third quarter) and handily defeat the Yellow Jackets 28-14. Well, at least the kickoff returner has a new career path....handling turnovers at the bakery!
Oops, I did it again! or Oops, I fumbled the ball!
The second game that I stated that I liked was West Virginia (-6) going up against Iowa State. Now, if you watched some of the game, I hope you were paying attention, because West Virginia had an interesting helmet bumper in the back.
Yes, it does say Country Roads....
That being said, we have reached our second song of the week here on the sing-along version of our program. The second song, you guessed it, is "Country Roads" by John Denver, although the lyrics are a little different. I'd like to call the West Virginia defense up to sing the first verse....
"Far From Heaven, Iowa State, David Montgomery makes us look like swingin' gates.....The game is long there, we're always on the field, Someone help us, we're about to yield"
And now, Will Grier with the chorus:
"Country Roads, catch some passes, you have a better chance than our wide receivers, West Virginia, gets embarrassed, I forget who my team is."
West Virginia didn't even bother to show up in that game. The high-powered offense, averaging 36.8 points per game, scored 7. The other touchdown was scored by the West Virginia defense. The offense scored 7! 7! one more time for luck, 7!. West Virginia got embarrassed by Iowa State (specifically David Montgomery who had one of his best games ever, 29 carries for 189 yards and a touchdown) and Brock Purdy, who looked more like Brock Osweiler in his Dolphins debut, throwing for 254 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Brock Purdy.....possibly related to......
Brock Osweiler???
Country Roads.....
And now, for the third segment in our musical afternoon, we come to Autzen stadium and the battle between the Oregon Ducks and the Washington Huskies, two teams battling it out for supremacy in the PAC-12 North. Oregon already blew a large lead in their overtime loss to Stanford, so I thought the Huskies would take care of the Ducks very easily. Boy, was I wrong. Not only did the Ducks win in overtime, but a late Jake Browning touchdown pass to Ty Jones in order to force the first overtime, but then the Ducks defense forces a field goal and then goes down and scores the game winning touchdown on a C.J. Verdell run that put Washington away for good. Ugh. Well, ducks like the rain, so I guess our next song on our top five list would be "I'm only happy when it rains" by the 90's grunge rock band Garbage. Or, the Oregon version "I'm only happy at Autzen" which goes a little like this:
"I'm only happy in Autzen,
I'm only happy when we play at home,
We're so much better in front of our fans,
I'm only happy in Autzen"
And then the Huskies come in with the chorus:
"Put some points up on us,
Put some points up on us, please
Put some points up on us,
Score a touchdown in overtime!"
Ducks seem to like the rain (and sometimes play like garbage)
Other hits on this countdown include "Loser", by the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, "What the Hell Happened to Me?" by the Indiana Hoosiers, "Survivor" by the Texas A&M Aggies, and everyone's favorite hit, "Georgia got run over by a Bengal (tiger)". It hurts me to write that last one, being a Georgia fan, but when you go on the road twice in the last two years and try to have a statement win against an SEC West foe and then get blown out twice like they did, I question the SEC east a little bit. Well, I think that just about wraps it up here for me. I'll talk to you again tomorrow when the crystal ball becomes a little clearer. Something big is going on tonight, wish me luck!
The first game that I liked was Georgia Tech (-3) vs. Duke. I sat down and watched this game, and I truly believe that Georgia Tech had a shot at winning the game, if it wasn't for the third quarter. That being said, the first song up on our hit list today is "Oops, I did it again!" by Britney Spears (and the Georgia Tech kick-off team. Sitting there watching the game, and the third quarter starts. Georgia Tech gets the ball to start the third quarter, and what happens - they fumble the kick and Duke recovers and quickly scores to take a 14-7 lead. The ensuing kickoff, guess what happens? You guessed it! The returner fumbles again!
"Oops, I did it again....I fumbled the ball, and cost us the game. Oh, Paulie, Paulie, please don't bench me, I need the reps, I'm tryna go pro..."
All in all, I think Georgia Tech fumbled three kickoffs in the entire game, which allowed Duke to capitalize on the short fields and score (Daniel Jones threw three touchdown passes in the third quarter) and handily defeat the Yellow Jackets 28-14. Well, at least the kickoff returner has a new career path....handling turnovers at the bakery!
The second game that I stated that I liked was West Virginia (-6) going up against Iowa State. Now, if you watched some of the game, I hope you were paying attention, because West Virginia had an interesting helmet bumper in the back.
That being said, we have reached our second song of the week here on the sing-along version of our program. The second song, you guessed it, is "Country Roads" by John Denver, although the lyrics are a little different. I'd like to call the West Virginia defense up to sing the first verse....
"Far From Heaven, Iowa State, David Montgomery makes us look like swingin' gates.....The game is long there, we're always on the field, Someone help us, we're about to yield"
And now, Will Grier with the chorus:
"Country Roads, catch some passes, you have a better chance than our wide receivers, West Virginia, gets embarrassed, I forget who my team is."
West Virginia didn't even bother to show up in that game. The high-powered offense, averaging 36.8 points per game, scored 7. The other touchdown was scored by the West Virginia defense. The offense scored 7! 7! one more time for luck, 7!. West Virginia got embarrassed by Iowa State (specifically David Montgomery who had one of his best games ever, 29 carries for 189 yards and a touchdown) and Brock Purdy, who looked more like Brock Osweiler in his Dolphins debut, throwing for 254 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Country Roads.....
And now, for the third segment in our musical afternoon, we come to Autzen stadium and the battle between the Oregon Ducks and the Washington Huskies, two teams battling it out for supremacy in the PAC-12 North. Oregon already blew a large lead in their overtime loss to Stanford, so I thought the Huskies would take care of the Ducks very easily. Boy, was I wrong. Not only did the Ducks win in overtime, but a late Jake Browning touchdown pass to Ty Jones in order to force the first overtime, but then the Ducks defense forces a field goal and then goes down and scores the game winning touchdown on a C.J. Verdell run that put Washington away for good. Ugh. Well, ducks like the rain, so I guess our next song on our top five list would be "I'm only happy when it rains" by the 90's grunge rock band Garbage. Or, the Oregon version "I'm only happy at Autzen" which goes a little like this:
"I'm only happy in Autzen,
I'm only happy when we play at home,
We're so much better in front of our fans,
I'm only happy in Autzen"
And then the Huskies come in with the chorus:
"Put some points up on us,
Put some points up on us, please
Put some points up on us,
Score a touchdown in overtime!"
Other hits on this countdown include "Loser", by the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, "What the Hell Happened to Me?" by the Indiana Hoosiers, "Survivor" by the Texas A&M Aggies, and everyone's favorite hit, "Georgia got run over by a Bengal (tiger)". It hurts me to write that last one, being a Georgia fan, but when you go on the road twice in the last two years and try to have a statement win against an SEC West foe and then get blown out twice like they did, I question the SEC east a little bit. Well, I think that just about wraps it up here for me. I'll talk to you again tomorrow when the crystal ball becomes a little clearer. Something big is going on tonight, wish me luck!
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Good morning once again out there in blogger land, and yes, the weekend is over and it's time to get back to work. Bleh. I know, I kno...
