Hello forum,
There's been some damn good football played here lately, and I've enjoyed every minute of it. Have increased my unit size now that we are further along into the season. Gonna take a stab at seven more games this week. Here they are:
Fresno St. -13
Fresno's coming off of back-to-back losses to Pac 10 opponents Oregon and Washington. Both of those teams have been playing very good football and Fresno had a chance to win both of those games late until the fourth quarter. Colorado St. on the other hand, isn't a good team at all. Two weeks ago they were handled by Nevada in a game where I feel Nevada took their foot off of the gas. Fresno will not do so this week. Pat Hill has a reputation for running up the score (especially at home) vs. inferior opponents. As I stated two weeks ago, CSU's offense is one-dimensional and if Fresno can get up early, they will pin their ears back and rush the passer. QB Hanie was running for his life vs. Nevada and I expect more of the same from Fresno this week.
Navy +3
Navy's coming off of a tough loss vs. Tulsa in which they were in the ballgame until the very end. I give credit to Paul Smith for being able to hit a lot of short to medium range passes to move the chains last week. Navy's been pretty tough vs. the run, which is UConn's specialty. Watching UConn last week I'll have to say I wasn't that impressed. They have major QB issues this week, with D.J. Hernandez getting benched. I still feel RB Terry Caulley doesn't have the burst he once had. I do think that QB Brian Hampton is playing a lot better for Navy and I really like the way RB Ballard is running as well. Throw in playmaker Reggie Campbell and you've got yourself a pretty good offense. This actually should be a pretty good battle between two well-coached teams, but I'm taking the perenial bowl team in this one.
Florida -13
I remember watching last year's Florida vs. Alabama game and thinking "what the hell is Shula doing?". You do not run the score up vs. Urban Meyer, he will make you pay. I think this is the case this week. Watching last week's Alabama game vs. Arkansas. I can't count the number of 3rd and 12's that Alabama picked up last week. This will not be the case this week as Alabama goes into one of the toughest places to play in the nation and faces one of the nation's toughest defenses. Chris Leak is a player, he has RB Wynn to rely on as well as 4 legit receiving threats. Tim Tebow will come in for a series or two to change things up. I just don't think the Alabama line is making many holes for the running game. That will mean everything will rest on John Parker Wilson's shoulders. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with his decision-making last week, but this week is going to be a different story.
UNLV +4.5
UNLV is coming off of a bye week where they were embarrased at Hawaii. Don't let that loss fool you, this is an improved football team. I really like coach Mike Samford, he's a disciple of Urban Meyer and Pete Carroll. Nevada comes off of two big wins at home and now has to travel to it's in-state rival. Nevada never plays very well on the road, and UNLV was a pretty solid home team last year. UNLV's run defense should contain RB Hubbard, which will leave things up to Jeff Rowe, who's very capable. He has shown a propensity to turn the ball over, especially on the road. I think DB Eric Wright should be all over WR Caleb Spencer. I expect a hard-fought game either way.
Missouri -14
I don't know if anyone's noticed, but Missouri is pretty damn good. Not only do they have one of the more exciting offenses in the nation, but they are outstanding on the defensive side of the football as well. QB Chase Daniels is a true dual threat who can hand off to either Marcus Woods or Tony Temple. He's got a lot of receiving options (led by Franklin, he's a stud) and some great tight ends in Marcus Rucker and Chase Coffman. Yeah, I know that Colorado played Georgia tough last week. It's gonna be a tough turnaround emotionally for them this week and Missouri should be able to jump on them early. If Colorado gets more than a score behind, they are in trouble here.
Miami FL -16.5
All I know is that for the last two weeks, Miami's had to sit around and listen to how terrible of a football team they are. For the first time in a while they aren't ranked in the top 25 and they are pissed beyond belief. Houston comes off of an emotional win where they gave up an average of 9.1 yards per play. Expect Miami's offense to open up the playbook here. Two years ago these two teams played and Houston's trickeration caught Miami off guard. This will not be the case on Saturday as I think Miami brings it and sends a message to the rest of the country.
Indiana +10.5
Of all my picks, this one may get the most raised eye brows, but I think this is a good spot to play Indiana here. Coach Hoeppner came back on Sunday as did outstanding WR James Hardy (this guy's the best receiver in the nation you've never heard of). Blake Powers looked a lot better in the second half of last week's game and I really like RB/ WR Thigpen as well (had a kickoff return for a touchdown last week). If you look closer into the stats last week vs. UConn you will see that Indiana didn't give up a lot of yards in comparrison to how much UConn ran. Their defense was very good vs. the pass and held UConn to about 4 yards per carry. Wisconsin does have a good front seven, but I believe that their secondary can be exposed. Offensively, they will rely heavily on RB Hill and try to get in third and short for QB Stocco. Stocco's a good one, but he's lost over 95% of the production he had last year. The guy can't do it by himself. Should actually be a good game.
Best of luck to all of you this week.
pags11
There's been some damn good football played here lately, and I've enjoyed every minute of it. Have increased my unit size now that we are further along into the season. Gonna take a stab at seven more games this week. Here they are:
Fresno St. -13
Fresno's coming off of back-to-back losses to Pac 10 opponents Oregon and Washington. Both of those teams have been playing very good football and Fresno had a chance to win both of those games late until the fourth quarter. Colorado St. on the other hand, isn't a good team at all. Two weeks ago they were handled by Nevada in a game where I feel Nevada took their foot off of the gas. Fresno will not do so this week. Pat Hill has a reputation for running up the score (especially at home) vs. inferior opponents. As I stated two weeks ago, CSU's offense is one-dimensional and if Fresno can get up early, they will pin their ears back and rush the passer. QB Hanie was running for his life vs. Nevada and I expect more of the same from Fresno this week.
Navy +3
Navy's coming off of a tough loss vs. Tulsa in which they were in the ballgame until the very end. I give credit to Paul Smith for being able to hit a lot of short to medium range passes to move the chains last week. Navy's been pretty tough vs. the run, which is UConn's specialty. Watching UConn last week I'll have to say I wasn't that impressed. They have major QB issues this week, with D.J. Hernandez getting benched. I still feel RB Terry Caulley doesn't have the burst he once had. I do think that QB Brian Hampton is playing a lot better for Navy and I really like the way RB Ballard is running as well. Throw in playmaker Reggie Campbell and you've got yourself a pretty good offense. This actually should be a pretty good battle between two well-coached teams, but I'm taking the perenial bowl team in this one.
Florida -13
I remember watching last year's Florida vs. Alabama game and thinking "what the hell is Shula doing?". You do not run the score up vs. Urban Meyer, he will make you pay. I think this is the case this week. Watching last week's Alabama game vs. Arkansas. I can't count the number of 3rd and 12's that Alabama picked up last week. This will not be the case this week as Alabama goes into one of the toughest places to play in the nation and faces one of the nation's toughest defenses. Chris Leak is a player, he has RB Wynn to rely on as well as 4 legit receiving threats. Tim Tebow will come in for a series or two to change things up. I just don't think the Alabama line is making many holes for the running game. That will mean everything will rest on John Parker Wilson's shoulders. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with his decision-making last week, but this week is going to be a different story.
UNLV +4.5
UNLV is coming off of a bye week where they were embarrased at Hawaii. Don't let that loss fool you, this is an improved football team. I really like coach Mike Samford, he's a disciple of Urban Meyer and Pete Carroll. Nevada comes off of two big wins at home and now has to travel to it's in-state rival. Nevada never plays very well on the road, and UNLV was a pretty solid home team last year. UNLV's run defense should contain RB Hubbard, which will leave things up to Jeff Rowe, who's very capable. He has shown a propensity to turn the ball over, especially on the road. I think DB Eric Wright should be all over WR Caleb Spencer. I expect a hard-fought game either way.
Missouri -14
I don't know if anyone's noticed, but Missouri is pretty damn good. Not only do they have one of the more exciting offenses in the nation, but they are outstanding on the defensive side of the football as well. QB Chase Daniels is a true dual threat who can hand off to either Marcus Woods or Tony Temple. He's got a lot of receiving options (led by Franklin, he's a stud) and some great tight ends in Marcus Rucker and Chase Coffman. Yeah, I know that Colorado played Georgia tough last week. It's gonna be a tough turnaround emotionally for them this week and Missouri should be able to jump on them early. If Colorado gets more than a score behind, they are in trouble here.
Miami FL -16.5
All I know is that for the last two weeks, Miami's had to sit around and listen to how terrible of a football team they are. For the first time in a while they aren't ranked in the top 25 and they are pissed beyond belief. Houston comes off of an emotional win where they gave up an average of 9.1 yards per play. Expect Miami's offense to open up the playbook here. Two years ago these two teams played and Houston's trickeration caught Miami off guard. This will not be the case on Saturday as I think Miami brings it and sends a message to the rest of the country.
Indiana +10.5
Of all my picks, this one may get the most raised eye brows, but I think this is a good spot to play Indiana here. Coach Hoeppner came back on Sunday as did outstanding WR James Hardy (this guy's the best receiver in the nation you've never heard of). Blake Powers looked a lot better in the second half of last week's game and I really like RB/ WR Thigpen as well (had a kickoff return for a touchdown last week). If you look closer into the stats last week vs. UConn you will see that Indiana didn't give up a lot of yards in comparrison to how much UConn ran. Their defense was very good vs. the pass and held UConn to about 4 yards per carry. Wisconsin does have a good front seven, but I believe that their secondary can be exposed. Offensively, they will rely heavily on RB Hill and try to get in third and short for QB Stocco. Stocco's a good one, but he's lost over 95% of the production he had last year. The guy can't do it by himself. Should actually be a good game.
Best of luck to all of you this week.
pags11
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