Oh those Notre Dame tears taste so sweet. You've got former Notre Dame players and even their coach still whining about that correct offensive pass interference call at the end of their game with Florida State which wiped out what very likely would have been a 34-31 Irish victory. Instead the Seminoles held on and won 31-27. They just can't admit defeat. It's amazing. Anyway, I went 24-10 with my picks this past weekend to run my record to 187-66. That gives me a .739 winning percentage on the season picking games. Not too bad. Gonna look to keep that up this week. As usual, I use the AP Poll rankings to make these picks.
#1 Mississippi State at Kentucky
Know the line from the Dumb and Dumber movie "You're saying there's a chance?" since that applies to this game. After defeating both Texas A&M and Auburn in convincing fashion, Mississippi State has had to deal with everyone blowing their horn saying how great they are. I'm not necessarily saying the hype is unwarranted, because it is warranted, but this just screams 'trap' to me, especially since the Bulldogs still have trips to Tuscaloosa and of course, Oxford for the Egg Bowl. That could keep this one a game for a bit. However, Dak Prescott and MSU should get going around the middle of the 2nd quarter and gradually begin to pull away early in the 2nd half. Mark Stoops will have Kentucky playing at a respectable level eventually, but his team doesn't have the 'D' to win this one.
My Call: Mississippi State 49, Kentucky 27
#3 Ole Miss at #24 LSU
A more dangerous task faces Mississippi State's in-state SEC rival, a night game in Baton Rouge. While this isn't exactly the best LSU team Les Miles has ever had, night games in Tiger Stadium are always a tough task. It also doesn't make it any easier that the Rebels host Auburn the week after this game. A rowdy crowd will have this Tiger team revved up early and they'll play well, but I just have to go with the defense and experience of Ole Miss to find a way in hostile territory.
My Call: Ole Miss 27, LSU 20
#4 Alabama at Tennessee
Times will eventually get better for the Vols under coach Butch Jones; and that will include more competitive games with rival Alabama. I keep preaching that every week I talk about the Vols. However, their youth and lack of depth doesn't serve them well at this point in time. At least not on the scoreboard; it will serve them well in gaining valuable learning experiences for the future. In the meantime, while Alabama won't win to the tune of 59-0 like they did against Texas A&M, they'll put up plenty of points on the board while shutting down that Tennessee offense.
My Call: Alabama 28, Tennessee 10
#6 Oregon at California
If you could go back in time and reread my analysis for the Oregon/Washington State game in which I predicted an Oregon blowout, you could take that and apply it to this game. However, my opinionated analysis didn't quite play out that way on the field. Although Oregon won, they got a real battle from Washington State in what was a 38-31 win, a far cry from the 59-28 score I was calling for. Will the same apply here or will we see that Duck blowout victory like I predicted earlier? I'm leaning more towards the latter. This Golden Bears team just can't stop anybody and unlike UCLA, I do think this Duck team will do a better job of taking care of the ball. That should lead to big points on the scoreboard for Oregon. While the Cal offense can score some points themselves, they just won't be able to put up enough to keep up.
My Call: Oregon 52, California 27
Michigan at #8 Michigan State
Although the histories between the two teams are largely tilted in Michigan's favor, this in-state rivalry has lately been mostly tilted in Michigan State's direction. The Spartans have won 5 of the last 6 meetings dating back to 2008; and unless the Wolverines have fired Brady Hoke and brought in one of their great teams from the 1990s to play in this game, I don't see MSU having much of an issue in making it 6 for the last 7. Although the last two games have been a vast improvement for Michigan, keep in mind that those games were against Rutgers and Penn State. Michigan State with Connor Cook leading the offense and a solid defense is a whole different animal, especially in East Lansing. Time for the Wolverines to crash back to Earth some.
My Call: Michigan State 31, Michigan 14
Texas Tech at #10 TCU
Great bounce back effort from the Horned Frogs after a gut wrenching loss in Waco against Baylor the week before. They put that behind them and completely dominated against Oklahoma State from start to finish; winning 42-9. Going up against a less than stellar Texas Tech team, I see no reason why that domination can't continue. The Red Raiders can't stop anybody, especially running the football, and TCU QB Trevone Boykin is one of the best dual threat QBs in the nation. He will use both his golden arm and his feet for another huge game and guide TCU to another blowout win.
My Call: TCU 51, Texas Tech 24
Texas at #11 Kansas State
Who would have thought that one day, a team would have to worry about avoiding a letdown playing Texas? That's the situation facing Kansas State after they came up with a huge 31-30 victory on the road against Oklahoma. Texas, meanwhile, won a wild 48-45 shootout on a Nick Rose field goal with three seconds remaining to get the Longhorns to 3-4 overall, 2-2 in Big 12 play. They have a shot to try and play a role in the race for the Big 12 title if they can knock off the Wildcats. Although Texas seems to bring their best games against the best teams they've faced (UCLA, Baylor, Oklahoma) at least on one side of the ball or the other, they just won't pull it off here, either. This time, it will be the Longhorns offense which lets them down. Their defense performs admirably, but they'll wear down in the second half from being on the field all game long, making a once close game lopsided.
My Call: Kansas State 34, Texas 13
#13 Ohio State at Penn State
Good news for the Nittany Lions is they'll have a hostile home crowd backing them up which should result in their best effort of the season. The bad news is they're facing an Ohio State team that is far better than them in just about every way possible. That Penn State offensive line won't be able to keep QB Christian Hackenberg upright while the Buckeye offense will carve up that Beaver Stadium field. The score won't be as bad as the 63-14 final from a year ago, but it'll be pretty bad.
My Call: Ohio State 41, Penn State 17
#14 Arizona State at Washington
Okay, Sun Devils. I have to give you guys props for proving me wrong and beating Stanford. Not only beating them, but dominating them in a 26-10 victory. They had that game circled after getting embarrassed at home by the Cardinal in the Pac 12 Championship game last season and took out a year's worth of frustrations. Now they'll head to Seattle to take on a Washington team that will look to take out some of their own frustrations after getting hammered 45-20 by Oregon in Eugene. The Huskies will show better in this game at home for sure, but I'm gonna take ASU. I'm a believer in the Sun Devil offense and believe their defense can be just good enough against an inconsistent Washington offense. Not a huge believer, but enough of one to make this prediction...
My Call: Arizona State 31, Washington 23
#15 Arizona at Washington State
Cool to see both Arizona schools on the road in Washington. The Wildcats will be in Pullman looking to avenge last year's home loss to Wazzu; which came after a blowout win over Oregon at home. Not sure which was more surprising, that blowout win over the Ducks or the loss to the Cougars which followed. Anyway, Arizona has had a couple of weeks to get over a 28-26 loss at home to USC. The Wildcats were actually trailing in that one by 15 points and things appeared dim, but they got within two, recovered an onside kick and got into field goal range. However, a missed field goal spelled doom. With that extra week to recover and revenge on the mend, I'll go with Arizona. Although I wouldn't be too surprised to see Washington State play them fairly close.
My Call: Arizona 41, Washington State 31
Rutgers at #16 Nebraska
Game plan for the Huskers should be simple enough in this game; hand the ball off to star running back Ameer Abdullah. When that doesn't work, try throwing him a pass. And if all else fails, just hand it off to him again. It should be another 20+ carry day and another 150+ yard game for him. Meanwhile, the Nebraska defense will frustrate Rutgers QB Gary Nova to no end, forcing him into three interceptions in a blowout victory. Husker coach Bo Pelini may or may not be on the "hot seat", but I know Nebraska fans are tired of 4 loss seasons and I'm sure he is also.
My Call: Nebraska 42, Rutgers 16
Connecticut at #18 East Carolina
Awful UConn team going on the road to take on Shane Carden and East Carolina? I'm not even sure why they're bothering to play this one. I get it, anything can happen in any given game, but the potential for that to happen will go by the wayside in the first 10 or so minutes. At least basketball season is on the way for UConn fans, where their program is the defending national champions on both the men's and women's sides. The ladies are the two-time defending champs, actually.
My Call: East Carolina 41, Connecticut 10
#20 USC at #19 Utah
I was personally hoping College Gameday would go to Salt Lake City to see this one between a USC team that has two solid road victories over Arizona and Stanford and this Utah team that has very quietly risen to 19th in both polls. They went to Baton Rouge for Ole Miss/LSU; not that I'm surprised. Anyway, I think you've got two very evenly matched clubs here with the game at Utah. I'm gonna take the Utes at home by one point. My opinion is USC will have the lead late, but Utah will run it down their throats and win it in the last minute of play.
My Call: Utah 24, USC 23
Syracuse at #21 Clemson
Ho hum... another game where Clemson will be able to use their stingy defense to take command right from the start. The Syracuse defense needs to come up with a few turnovers and the Orange need to win the special teams battle in a major way to have a shot. It doesn't happen.
My Call: Clemson 34, Syracuse 10
#22 West Virginia at Oklahoma State
Got two teams going at it here coming off of opposite spectrum type of games. West Virginia used a strong fourth quarter to defeat then 4th ranked Baylor by a score of 41-27 while Oklahoma State just got run out of the building by TCU in Fort Worth. Other than the fact that I see the Mountaineers having a letdown and the Pokes showing some pride, there's no reason for the madness of this pick. Cowboys in a mini upset, take down West Virginia in a shootout.
My Call: Oklahoma State 38, West Virginia 35
Florida Atlantic at #23 Marshall
More ho hum... Rakeem Cato and the Thundering Herd get to beat up on another hapless opponent. Cato runs his streak to 40 straight games with one touchdown or more.
My Call: Marshall 48, Florida Atlantic 14
#25 UCLA at Colorado
Even though it wasn't a work of art, UCLA escaped Berkeley with a 36-34 win over Cal and got a win they desperately needed in order to avoid a three game losing skid. Now they get to take on a Colorado squad that just got hammered by USC. They fell behind 28-0 before they knew what hit em. My guess is the Buffs should show better in this one if for no other reason than they can't do any worse than they did against Southern Cal, but will see another loss. Colorado's defense is just awful and Brett Hundley should capitalize on that all day long.
My Call: UCLA 44, Colorado 34
No comments:
Post a Comment