After going 5-0 the previous week, I'm going to press my luck and see if my prognostication skills are indeed slightly above average. So here are my fav five and why:
Oregon St. +2 - Last week, I hated on Oregon St. big time. Having watched them play against Cincinnati at home, I have to give them some credit where credit is due. Canfield threw for almost 250 yards with one flukey INT. They have major depth and versatility with the Rodgers brothers in the backfield. Honestly, without the INT that led to a Cincinnati score, Oregon St. might've covered the line (though I'm glad they didn't). This week, they face Arizona, which looked like dogshit against Iowa. Iowa just ran them ragged. Two very obvious Arizona weaknesses are their QB and running game; there's no true identity at the QB spot, it goes back and forth between Foles and Scott. The running game is spread out between like five backs. At the very least, Oregon St. sticks with Canfield and Rodgers as their primary trusted weapons; no need to find an identity.
California -7 - I might just buy this down to 6.5. Cal can score. Oregon isn't that bad, but they won't have their way on offense like they did last week against Utah. Cal limited Minnesota's running game to 56 yards (not including the QB), and in the prior week, Minnesota was over 100 yards rushing (reducing output by about 50%). I don't think Oregon's James is going to explode for 152 yards like he did last week against a Cal defense. Add this to the fact that Oregon St. managed to only convert 3/14 3rd downs versus Cal's 7-15.
North Carolina +2.5 - Better quarterbacking rules the day here. North Carolina's QB went 19/25 while on the side, Georgia Tech's Nesbitt went 6/15. Not including the QB, Georgia Tech has what Arizona suffers from and that is no identity at the running back position. They have 7 running backs at their disposal and none seem that good at all. It's not that good when your QB has to shoulder 1/3 of your running total (against Miami). Granted, Miami is a legit team, but that's what we're talking about with North Carolina. Critics have issues with UNC's running game, but again, with Georgia Tech, it shouldn't be a problem.
Colorado St. +14.5 - Are you kidding me? Alright, having seen that Colorado St. dismantled Nevada that badly (far exceeding my expectations), I have to ride with them again this week because BYU's QB isn't that good. Lots of hype was placed on BYU last week, and not only did they lose this last week, they far performed well below expectations. With these two teams coming from such polar opposite directions, Colorado St. is a treat with over a two touch down buffer. I wouldn't be surprised if Colorado wins, but if they win convincingly, I'll ride them again into the next week.
Miami -2 - Okay, I'm on the Jacory Harris bandwagon. Dude is ice cold in demeanor without a detection of pretense. On the field, he is serious business and he's shown it enough times that I'm all in with this guy. He went 20/25 last week for three touchdowns. He's also got two solid running backs at his disposal. I'm sorry, no Tyrod Taylor miracles this week. Miami's defense won't be so reckless like Nebraska. Miami wins and Jacory Harris won't even smile about it.
The last things I want to impart are that I so want to fade South Carolina and I'd love to bet on Cincinnati this week, but I think the lines are very close to what it should be. In Cincinnati's case, they're playing a "4th down and Go" Fresno St. team, so you never know with such loose cannon coaching.
Oregon St. +2 - Last week, I hated on Oregon St. big time. Having watched them play against Cincinnati at home, I have to give them some credit where credit is due. Canfield threw for almost 250 yards with one flukey INT. They have major depth and versatility with the Rodgers brothers in the backfield. Honestly, without the INT that led to a Cincinnati score, Oregon St. might've covered the line (though I'm glad they didn't). This week, they face Arizona, which looked like dogshit against Iowa. Iowa just ran them ragged. Two very obvious Arizona weaknesses are their QB and running game; there's no true identity at the QB spot, it goes back and forth between Foles and Scott. The running game is spread out between like five backs. At the very least, Oregon St. sticks with Canfield and Rodgers as their primary trusted weapons; no need to find an identity.
California -7 - I might just buy this down to 6.5. Cal can score. Oregon isn't that bad, but they won't have their way on offense like they did last week against Utah. Cal limited Minnesota's running game to 56 yards (not including the QB), and in the prior week, Minnesota was over 100 yards rushing (reducing output by about 50%). I don't think Oregon's James is going to explode for 152 yards like he did last week against a Cal defense. Add this to the fact that Oregon St. managed to only convert 3/14 3rd downs versus Cal's 7-15.
North Carolina +2.5 - Better quarterbacking rules the day here. North Carolina's QB went 19/25 while on the side, Georgia Tech's Nesbitt went 6/15. Not including the QB, Georgia Tech has what Arizona suffers from and that is no identity at the running back position. They have 7 running backs at their disposal and none seem that good at all. It's not that good when your QB has to shoulder 1/3 of your running total (against Miami). Granted, Miami is a legit team, but that's what we're talking about with North Carolina. Critics have issues with UNC's running game, but again, with Georgia Tech, it shouldn't be a problem.
Colorado St. +14.5 - Are you kidding me? Alright, having seen that Colorado St. dismantled Nevada that badly (far exceeding my expectations), I have to ride with them again this week because BYU's QB isn't that good. Lots of hype was placed on BYU last week, and not only did they lose this last week, they far performed well below expectations. With these two teams coming from such polar opposite directions, Colorado St. is a treat with over a two touch down buffer. I wouldn't be surprised if Colorado wins, but if they win convincingly, I'll ride them again into the next week.
Miami -2 - Okay, I'm on the Jacory Harris bandwagon. Dude is ice cold in demeanor without a detection of pretense. On the field, he is serious business and he's shown it enough times that I'm all in with this guy. He went 20/25 last week for three touchdowns. He's also got two solid running backs at his disposal. I'm sorry, no Tyrod Taylor miracles this week. Miami's defense won't be so reckless like Nebraska. Miami wins and Jacory Harris won't even smile about it.
The last things I want to impart are that I so want to fade South Carolina and I'd love to bet on Cincinnati this week, but I think the lines are very close to what it should be. In Cincinnati's case, they're playing a "4th down and Go" Fresno St. team, so you never know with such loose cannon coaching.