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. 

The ball seemed to stay in the air forever....

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.

Family comes first.

 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.

                                           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

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.

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 coach D.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).   

Yes, the visitor's locker room in Kinnick Stadium is painted pink.

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!

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!

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!

Thursday Thoughts

Creeping closer and closer to the weekend, ladies and gentlemen!!  Getting near my two favorite days of the week....Saturday (college football) and Sunday (NFL).  Although, now the NFL is on Thursday and Monday, the NCAA is on Tuesday and Thursday, maybe we should just make an nfl week.  But, seriously, folks, I am not a proponent of Thursday night NFL games, no matter how much money the NFL is making.  According to experts, playing in a regular NFL football game for four quarters is equivalent to being in a car accident.....and we all know how fast regular people recover from them!  I think it is ludicrous to make an NFL athlete recover faster and stronger and think they are going to perform at the highest level for the amusement of millions FOUR days earlier than usual.

A great article by Greg Bishop that details the process of recovering from an NFL game.....

https://www.si.com/nfl/2016/12/05/nfl-injuries-recovery-allen-robinson-justin-forsett-cameron-jordan-ryan-harris

But, enough about that....Let's get to college football!

The first game that I like is Georgia Tech -3 against Duke.  Georgia Tech, the team that runs an offense from the dark ages of football, is currently 3-3 and playing much better as of late.  Unfortunately for the Blue Devils of Duke, they're up next.  Georgia Tech is coming off a win against the Louisville Cardinals (although the way they played, they should've been called the pigeons)....

 
                  A look at the huddle of the Louisville Pigeons during last week's game


Georgia Tech absolutely dominated the game, scoring 66 points and rushing for 542 yards and 8 touchdowns, including 2 by quarterback TraQuan Marshall, who really seems to have found himself a home in Georgia Tech's offense.  Now, onto the passing side of the ball, where.........wait for it......Georgia Tech threw the ball TWICE.  Surprisingly, they completed it ONCE.  1/2 passing for 12 yards.  Let that sink in.  one for two passing for 12 YARDS!!  And they dominated and WON!  That's amazing.  I wonder what Paul Johnson would do if he had to throw the ball ten or fifteen times......AIR RAID!

                                      Georgia Tech's new offensive playbook - the Air Raid!


Well, now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let's look at the opponent of the Yellow Jackets, the Duke Blue Devils.  Duke has played well this season, only losing last week to a down Virginia Tech team who I honestly thought had very little chance to win the game.  Now, I know what you're thinking.......why are you picking against a team that just had their worst game of the season....Let me throw a couple of stats out at you.

1) Georgia Tech has forced 12 turnovers in 5 games, a 2.5 turnover per game average, while Duke has only forced 6.

2) Georgia Tech has possessed the ball for 195 minutes over 5 games, an average of 32 minutes per game.  In a game that takes 60 minutes of "running time", Georgia Tech has the ball over half the time.  Ball Control offense baby!

Turnovers and Ball Control Offense!!  That's what Georgia Tech does!!

                                         Crabcakes and Football!  That's what Maryland does!


I think the Yellow Jackets will control the ball, force a few Duke turnovers, and come out of the game victorious, 27-21.

As you can see, the Yellow Jackets are ready.....For the Blue Devils!

Live look in at the Georgia Tech football facilities....As you can clearly see, things are BUZZING with activity and anticipation.....(I know, I know, I'm terrible....)



Okay, time to move onto game number two of this week... We're going cross country from a Yellow Jacket hive to a zoo.  An Autzen zoo.

                                                              Which way do I go?

Now, I know what many of you are saying.  "No one wins in Autzen.  The Ducks are too good there."  "The Autzen crowd will be rocking, and the crowd will be too much to handle."  Well, as ESPN analyst Lee Corso would say....

Washington is a very good football team who is hitting it's stride right now.  Outside of a supposedly "neutral" loss to Auburn, they've won 5 games in a row, and wait....they did have a chance to beat Auburn in a decidedly Auburn Texas Stadium.  They have good road wins against Utah (The Muss, the Utes student section is also supposedly very loud and raucous), and BYU, and they have beaten North Dakota (I know, we'll forget that one), UCLA (The Chip Kelly experiment is failing miserably), and a scrappy Arizona State team.  Now, I know that they don't have a real "signature" win on the season, and all the naysayers will state that "They don't blow teams out."  Okay, maybe they don't blow teams out.  BUT, they do find a way to win.  That's one of the hallmarks of a good sports team.  They find a way to finish the game and eventually win it.  Washington needs a statement win, and Jake Browning, Myles Gaskin (who probably will play on Saturday - they need him to be a difference maker) and Aaron Fuller get the job done on Saturday night in Autzen.  Think teams can't win at Autzen?  Just ask the Stanford Cardinal.  Stanford was down 20-7 in the 3rd quarter of their game at Oregon going into the 4th quarter, and then rallied to win the game in overtime.  Good teams are cool under pressure, and I think that Washington won't get rattled by the atmosphere in Autzen.  No word on what Puddles the duck has up it's large, comical sleeve however.  Additionally, I hope that Washington doesn't get distracted by the Oregon uniforms.  What are they going to wear this week?  Old TV Test Patterns?  MC Echer sketchings?  Only time, and Phil Knight, will tell.  I think Washington (-3) goes into Autzen and beats the Ducks, 35-28.

                                                 Hmmm.....Which one is most distracting?



And that's just the tip of the iceberg.  According to an article by the Oklahoma News, It would take 40 seasons, with bowl games, for Oregon to wear all of its uniform combinations.

40 seasons!  That's ridiculous.  Why do you need so many uniform combinations.  But, if my school had Phil Knight as a benefactor, I'd want that many uniform combinations, too, so I won't complain.

     
Oregon's latest addition to the uniform arsenal.........



And the alternate jersey:

   

Time to switch from one team with a uniform problem to another team that sits next to them at ugly jerseys anonymous.  Take a look at this graphic....waaaay too many combinations:

                                    The inside of the Mountaineer equipment room....

West Virginia (-6.5) and their cavalcade of uniforms travels to Ames (not the old discount stores)

to take on the Iowa State Cyclones in a Big 12 matchup.  The Mountaineers come in averaging a robust 41.4 points per game while giving up 18.6, and the Cyclones give up an average of 24.4 points per game while scoring only 23.6.  West Virginia is led by Heisman front-runner Will Grier (1,819 yards, 21 TD's, 6 INT) and the receiving tandem of David Sills and Marcus Simms (368 and 490 yards respectively).  West Virginia is currently undefeated, and has victories over Texas Tech (the WVU defense actually knocked out Texas Tech QB Alan Bowman in that game), a convincing win IN Manhattan against a feisty Kansas State team (Bill Snyder must've spiked the gatorade with geritol), and Kansas (I know, Kansas is awful).

Now, remember when I said that Georgia Tech throws the ball TWICE a game?  Yeah, West Virginia throws about twenty times as much.  Here are the passing stats from their first five games:

Week 1 - 34 attempts
Week 2 - ONLY 29 attempts
Week 3 - 36 attempts
Weeks 4 and 5 - 41 attempts each

It's a serious Air Raid in Morgantown, but lost in the shuffle there is the Mountaineer defense, giving up an average of 18.6 points a game, and that includes a game with Texas Tech, which I thought would be one of those 98-97 games where they throw the ball 200 times combined and no one plays any defense.  They gave up 14 points to Tennessee (not shocking at all, although Tennessee struggles to score more than a neutered dog), Kansas State scored 6, although in the past two weeks Kansas has scored 22 and Texas Tech has scored 34.  They've forced 8 turnovers on the year, which averages out to be a little more than one per game, but they're the exact opposite of Georgia Tech, which will hold onto the ball and play defense.  West Virginia likes to score as fast as possible, almost as if they're afraid it will explode if held too long (hot potato, anyone?)

                                      West Virginia and Georgia Tech's world premiere music video

Now, onto the Cyclones.  There have been so many tropical systems moving around/near the United States, I don't even like typing the word "cyclones", even though Cyclones are typically found in the Middle East, not the Mid-West.  Iowa State has played well in all of their games, not getting blown out and even beating an (similar team to West Virginia) Oklahoma State team, although I think West Virginia has much more firepower and a more balanced attack than Oklahoma State.  Additionally, West Virginia CAN play on the road, while Oklahoma State turns into Okla-NO-ma State away from Stillwater.  Iowa State doesn't score all that often, and they have turned it over 7 times on the year, while taking it away 7 times (an even turnover margin).  They played tough against Oklahoma and TCU, not being intimidated by the heavily favored ranked teams.  I think it's kind of like Cinderella.  She can go to the ball, and she can keep up appearances, but once that bell tolls, she's running out of the palace and back to her mundane life.  I think West Virginia breaks Cinderella's heart and wins by double digits, 42-21.  I'll lay the 6.5 points and take the Mountaineers.

                                                 Iowa State's new team transportation

Recharged, Refreshed and Energized!

Hello, out there in blogging land!  I've returned, like Douglas MacArthur, to my blog after a loooong weekend of travelling, trains, and fun.  Friday, I went to a very exciting high school football game (my team won 40-34) but I didn't get home until almost midnight.  Then, I had to get up early (6:30) in the morning to travel to NYC for the New York City Comicon.  All I can say is, if you ever have a chance to get to comic-con in NYC, do it.  It's like nothing I've ever seen before.  There are so many people in the Javits Center that it's like navigating a crowded highway in a car.  To top it all off, most people are wearing costumes, so it's like you're on the way to a Halloween party.  I didn't dress up, and I was perfectly happy not wearing a costume.  On Sunday, I had to take relatives that were visiting for the weekend to Woodbury Commons, a local outlet mall located 20 minutes from my house.  After that, we got together as a family and enjoyed a cookout.  Today was my relax, do nothing and recharge day.  That's exactly what I did.  But, I know why you're here....and it's not to listen to me go over my weekend plans.  So, without further ado, let's get to the weekend's action!

Game #1 - Illinois (-5) vs. Rutgers - I told you.  I told you that Rutgers was bad.  So, needless to say, the Fighting Illini went into Rutgers and handled them pretty easily.  Not too much in the way of passing from A.J. Bush, but he did run the ball pretty well (118 yds. and 2 TD's) so he can be a dual threat quarterback.  Reggie Corbin led the Illini on the ground with 137 yards and another touchdown, and Ricky Smalling caught a touchdown pass in the 38-17 win for the Illini.  Also, the Illini played good defense (for once) on the year, picking off Arthur Sitkowski 3 times.  I can't say too much more about Rutgers....I'm getting tired of using the same words.  Rutgers might not win a game this season.  They're already 23 point underdogs to Maryland, a team that looks like it might come together and win a few more games here and become bowl eligible, a great achievement for a team that was soooo far in darkness.

The "Blackout" crowd on the campus of Rutgers University.  Should be called more of a "silver-out" as there look to be more stands than people.

Final Score - Illinois 38, Rutgers 17
My Record through this game - 5-1


Game #2 - Kentucky (+6.5) vs. Texas A&M -  This was a good defensive struggle that had ZERO offense.  I mean, c'mon Kentucky.....your offense, which was averaging almost 30 points a game, scores 7?!  7!  They had to rely on a late defensive touchdown from their defense to force the game into overtime, and that's when things got really nuts.  The first series in overtime, Kentucky gets the ball and moves it backwards.  Yes, they moved the ball backwards (penalties and lost yardage).  So, on comes the field goal kicker for Kentucky (Myles Butler), who (I thought) was more than capable of making a 43 yard field goal.  Or, so I thought.

So, on to the second series in overtime, where Texas A&M is trying their darndest to score.  Run, 10 yards.  Pass, 5 yards.  They have the ball 1st and 10 at the Kentucky 14 (or somewhere around there) and they throw a screen pass to the running back.  Kentucky's defense forgets how to tackle, or took lessons from Deion Sanders on how to tackle and allows the back in the end zone.

  I'm just glad they didn't kick the extra point.  Phew!  I escape with this one.


Final Score - Texas A&M 20, Kentucky 14
My Record through this game - 6-1

Game #3 - NC State (-5) vs. Boston College

I knew this was too good to last.  I knew the winning streak couldn't continue.  BUT, at least I didn't lose this week (yet).  I wrote about how A.J. Dillon was a game time decision and Boston College's fate would hang in his shoes.  Well, I was right.  Dillon didn't play, and the Eagles' leading rusher only ran for 90 yards.  But, the Wolfpack did everything they could to lose this game.  Turn the ball over four times?  Check.  Have two kicks blocked?  Check.  Have to convert a third and long in the fourth quarter to keep the ball and keep the clock running?  Check.  Boston College scored 20 straight points in the fourth quarter to make the game interesting, and then attempted an onside kick.  The wolfpack recovered, and then it was kneeldown mode.  The wolfpack hang on and move to 5-0 this season in the ACC, a much better and rejuvenated conference than most people think.

Wolf Pack is Back!

Final Score - NC State 28, Boston College 23 (A push!)
My Record through this game - 6-1-1

And, now, we've reached the bad portion of the show, ladies and gentlemen.......the two losses of the week!

Loooser, Loooser, Loooser!

Game #4 - Mizzou (+1) vs. South Carolina

I thought Drew Lock and the Mizzou offense would come to play and beat an underachieving South Carolina team.  They did everything but win the game.  Lock didn't throw any touchdown passes, but Missouri outgained South Carolina 490-377 and outrushed them 286-128.  You have 286 rushing yards and you DON'T WIN!!!  What universe is this??  There were many external factors that played into this game as well....for example, an hour and 16 minute lightning delay, followed by Mizzou kicking a field goal to go ahead 35-34, then a first time starting quarterback (Michael Scarnecchia) leads the Gamecocks on a 53 yard drive which led to a game winning field goal.  I understand that it was wet and dreary, but the Mizzou defense needs to do a better job of actively playing defense and not just going into the "shell" prevent like so many teams do.  Unfortunately, I lost this one.

Final Score - South Carolina 37, Mizzou 35
My Record through this game - 6-2-1

Game #5 - Rice (-1) vs. UTSA

I should've listened to my own advice.  All week, I was thinking about the roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote clip that I put on here on Thursday.  All I could think was, "What if you replaced the coyote with an owl and that was actually how the game turned out....Well, it was.  Rice couldn't do anything, UTSA ran away with the win, and Rice is now worse off for losing that game.

                 Replace Wile E. Coyote with an owl and you have the game between Rice and UTSA....

Final Score - UTSA 20, Rice 3
My Record through this game - 6-3-1

Games I like this week (at first glance):

Georgia Tech -3 vs. Duke
Texas A&M -2 at South Carolina
West Virginia -6 at Iowa State
Indiana +5 vs. Iowa

Be Back later with more details......

Thursday's Tidbits of Information

Hello, everyone!  Hope you had a great Wednesday and are now gearing up for a fantastic weekend of college football (and high school and NFL) action.  I'll be busy most of the weekend due to the fact that I'm going to a high school football game on Friday, N.Y. Comic Con on Saturday, and NFL football is on all Sunday, so I'll probably be absent most of the weekend.

My costume for comic-con (yeah, right.....)

But, I know that I need to do my "civic duty" and pick 5 games that I like and give them to you.  So, onward and upward!

Game #1 - I've been harping on this game since the opening line came out, and I still like it enough to do something about it.  So, with the first 50 of my units, I'll place the opening bet of the weekend on Illinois (-5) at Rutgers.  I've been down to Piscataway, New Jersey, before.  The worst thing that the Fighting Illini have to worry about is being caught in the food truck lines before the game.  Those can be worse than the actual game.  I've definitely seen more tackling in the lines there than on the football field.

The Rutgers "Grease Trucks".  Get a Fat sandwich while you're there.  It'll help you stomach the college football.


Game #2 -  I like Kentucky (+6.5) on the road against Texas A&M.  The law firm of Snell, Allen and company travel to College Station and I think they "win the case" against the Aggies.  One of Texas A&M's leading receivers, Jhamon Ausbon is out for the rest of the season with a foot injury, and the replacement, while Jimbo Fisher has to say he's doing a "nice job", can't replace the production that Ausbon brings to the table.  That being said, Kellen Mond is the best quarterback that Kentucky's defense has faced this entire year, and Kyle Field is a big home field advantage for A&M.  I think that Terry Wilson and Benny Snell do their thing, and the Josh Allen-led 'Cats defense does enough to keep Kentucky around for the entire game, either winning OR a tight, close loss.  I can't see a blowout here, as both of these teams like to score too much.

Kyle Field has a great atmosphere, but I think Kentucky can handle it.

My Pick: Kentucky (+6.5)

Okay, time to lay some more points, as new information has come to light regarding A.J. Dillon, Boston College's star running back.  According to Phil Steele, author of Phil Steele's guide to College Football, A.J. Dillon is a "game-time" decision for the Eagles' much anticipated matchup with the N.C. State Wolfpack.  I hate to say this, but if Dillon doesn't play, the Eagles have virtually no offense, with him rushing for over 600 yards through 5 games this season.  Even if Dillon does play, there's obviously something wrong with him to warrant this designation.  Dillon is currently 3rd in the country in rushing yards with 652 yards and 6 touchdowns on the season.  I think if he doesn't play, the Wolfpack will be able to key on the B.C. passing offense, which has been effective, throwing for 12 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.  The loss of Dillon is too much for them to overcome, I think.  B.C. can't stand around with the Wolfpack, and North Carolina State wins, 21-14.

My Pick: NC State (-5)


Now, I'll pick an underdog......albeit a very slight one.  Drew Lock and the Mizzou offense have put up points this season, and that has helped the Tigers to a 3-1 record.  They lost to Georgia (their only SEC loss so far), but they shook the Georgia defense for a while before they adjusted and were able to pull away to win convincingly.  I think Mizzou can capitalize on a South Carolina team that seems to be underachieving this season. 

My pick: Missouri (+1)


Oh, Boy...This last one might scare some people.  I don't know how, but I think a team with 1 win can beat a team with 2.  I like the Rice Owls (Yes, the Rice Owls) to beat the UTSA Roadrunners in an all-avian battle with no sight of Wile E. Coyote.

Live look in at UTSA v. Rice

My Pick: Rice (-1)

That's it for this week.........hopefully it's a good one for you and I!!!

Wednesday Words of Wisdom

Welcome to Wednesday, ladles and jellyspoons!  Hope you're having a happy hump day out there in the world.  I thought I'd start off this blog with some words of wisdom from the college football archives.

True words from one of the coaching greats of the sport.  Now, onto what you've all been patiently waiting for....let me peer into my crystal ball and see if any games are becoming clearer......

I believe the answer is "Dancing with the Stars, your mother-in-law doing yoga, and Rutgers football."  What was the question, you ask?  Name three things that are unbearable to watch.

I see something.....deep in the crystal ball.....

I still like the Fighting Illini, even though this game could be more like a dumpster fire than an actual football game.

                    -Live look-in at HighPoint.com stadium for the game between Rutgers and Illinois.


The Fighting Illini have two wins on the season, only one of which is an FBS team (Kent State).  Their other win came against Western Illinois, who have a cool nickname (the leathernecks), but are a division I-AA football team (or FCS for those of you keeping score at home) and that really doesn't help instill confidence in the Illini.

But, lets go to the tale of the tape for this game:

Rutgers gives up 36 points per game while scoring 16.  Illinois gives up 31 points per game while scoring 27.  They both give up more yards than their offenses will get, and both of them are underachieving for the year.  But, I think that Reggie Corbin and Ricky Smalling have a good trip to Piscataway, and the Illini come out of HighPoint.com stadium a winner.

My pick:
Illinois (-4.5)


Other games I like at first glance: Auburn (-3.5), Kentucky (+6), Arizona (+2.5 - I'm still on the Khalil Tate bandwagon, although the wheels are falling off fast), Hawaii (-3)

Tuesday Thoughts

The New NCAA Redshirt Rule - My thoughts.....

I think the New NCAA redshirt rule for football sets a dangerous precedent in all of college sports.  I think you're going to see many college athletes play three games and then decide, "You know what, this team stinks.  I'm going to go to another school to see if it's better there."

Then, when they go to the next school, they'll say the same thing.  Now I know the eligibility doesn't reset, and I know that some student-athletes will keep track of how much eligibility they have left at their current school, but I can see some student-athletes transferring from place to place until they find a team that they think can win it all and then latch onto the "bandwagon" and reap the rewards.  I think four games is way too many for the NCAA to allow the athletes to play, as well.  Four games is a third of a season.  Can I eat a third of a pizza and return it to my local pizza place because "it didn't have enough pepperoni on it"? 

No, I can't.  Can I eat three bowls of Lucky Charms cereal and then return it to the supermarket because "it didn't have enough marshmallows" in it? 

I guess I could, but then I'd be the crazy person in the supermarket.  I think this is ridiculous.  Four games?  I could see two, but four is crazy.  By the fourth or fifth game, athletes can tell which way their season is headed, and some will definitely decide to move along and go where the grass is greener.

Monday Musings

Hello out there in the blogosphere, I know that I said I'll be back on Wednesday, but I saw some things on the opening day lines that jumped out at me.  As Michael Buffer says, "Let's Get Ready to Rumble!"

I really like Georgia Tech (-3.5) vs. Louisville.  Gone are the days of Teddy Bridgewater and Lamar Jackson, and the people in Papa John's Stadium are ready to throw up their pizza.  Louisville has 2 wins on the season...one against the Sycamores of Indiana State (no, Larry Bird didn't show up and rain threes on the Cardinals defense)

 and a Western Kentucky team that they struggled with for four quarters.  The other three losses?  They got blown out by Alabama, got throttled by Virginia, and they lost to Florida State.  They lost to Florida State, a team that could barely beat Samford.  Louisville is a far cry from what they used to be, and Georgia Tech does a fantastic job of controlling the ball and running the clock when they're ahead.  The triple option offense isn't very sexy, but it gets the job done.  As my friend says, "If I was a service academy (besides Air Force) I would ask Paul Johnson how much money it would take to get him to come and coach at my program, because all he does is have success at Georgia Tech running the triple option."

Again, I'll give some points here and state that Illinois probably covers against Rutgers (ILL - 2.5).  Illinois, while it hasn't played wonderfully throughout the season, did impress me enough against Penn State (albeit through three quarters) to place my faith in the Fighting Illini.  Rutgers doesn't know what to do with themselves.  They think they're a football school that belongs in the Big Ten.  They don't belong in the Patriot League, let alone the Big Ten.  Don't believe me?  Here are Rutgers 2018 results so far:
Week 1 - Beat Texas State 35-7 (zzz....zzzz....wake me up later....)
Week 2 - Lost to Ohio State 52-3 (Yeah, you belong in the Big Ten all right.....The ESPN bottom 10!)
Week 3 - Lost to Kansas 55-14 (KANSAS!  They got blown out by KANSAS!  I could see if they were playing basketball, but NO!  Football!  That's a disgrace.)
Week 4 - Lost to Indiana 24-17 (OK, a better showing here, but still.....a loss)

They have a grand total of 8 touchdowns on the year.  8!  5 players singlehandedly have more touchdowns then they do, including John Ursua (13), Devin Singletary (12), and Travis Etienne (9).  They are tied with 5 players with 8, including Benny Snell Jr. and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside.  I doubt they'll be a favorite at any time this season, which includes trips to Madison and Spartan Stadium, along with games against Michigan and Penn State at home.  Oh, Rutgers.  It seemed like only yesterday that Ray Rice was chewing up yardage and Gary Nova was throwing TD passes left and right.  Now, it looks like Rutgers may have trouble beating Bergen Catholic.

A Headline from the Washington Post on September 15th.
Only Rutgers could make Kansas look this good. (P.S. Kansas is still bad.)

Look at this line and tell me what's wrong:

Kentucky (+6.5) at Texas A&M

Don't see it?  I do.  Kentucky is still disrespected by the college football universe.  Don't look now guys, but Kentucky is legit and is for real.  Read my earlier post about Benny Snell Jr. if you don't believe me.  Jimbo Fisher, while he will eventually turn Texas A&M around, doesn't have them pointing in the direction that he really wants them to go in.  If you don't believe me, just ask Tyrel Dodson:

I think that 6 points is way too many to give a very good Kentucky team that can run the ball and play defense.  I think that Kentucky will cover, but may win the game outright.  I think it's time that people started believing in Kentucky (I know, as I say that, they go out and play a crap-tacular game and lose badly and everyone thinks I'm an idiot.)

Thoughts and Prayers go out to the Abercrombie family as well as the entire Tennessee State football team.  If you didn't hear about it, Tennessee State linebacker Christion Abercrombie was rushed to the hospital and had to have emergency head surgery after he collapsed on the sideline.  I wish Christion, the Abercrombie family, and the entire Tennessee State football family my best thoughts and prayers, and to Christion, get well soon!