Hello board,
Here are my plays for the week:
Nebraska -19.5
Sam Keller makes his debut as the starting QB for Nebraska this week. Those of you that don't remember him from ASU, be prepared to watch some fireworks. In the first half of the 2005 season, I thought Keller was as impressive of a QB as there was in the nation. He has the arm to make all of the throws and has a lot of pocket presence to lead his team. Nebraska returns most of their receiving corps, led by the often troubled Maurice Purify. They are loaded at the RB position and their offensive line should be able to wear Nevada down in this one, especially with Nevada's best defensive player, Ezra Butler, being out. On the defensive side of the ball, Nevada will attack Nevada QB Graziano, who will be making his first ever division one start. Nebraska should contain the Nevada running game in this one as well. It will be interesting to see how Nevada does with their third string center starting the game, which is an important position in the "pistol" offense. Should be a descent game the first half with Nebraska pulling away in the second half.
Wake Forest +6.5
I just don't understand all the talk I hear about how Wake Forest had success last year with smoke and mirrors. I watched at least nine of their games last year, and what I see from them is a very disciplined, well coached football team. Jim Grobe has done as good of a job as any coach in the country building his program. I think what was most impressive about their run last year was how they dealt with injuries. This is a deeper team than most people think. Everyone is talking about Matt Ryan in this one, and don't get me wrong, he's a fine quarterback. However, I feel QB Riley Skinner is a perfect fit in the Wake Forest offense and is as equally impressive as Ryan is. The difference being, though, that he has more weapons to work with. Defensively, Wake is as good of a tackling team out there in the country. What they lack in athleticsm, they make up for in smartness and technique. I think the other important thing to note is the fact that Jim O'Brien won't be on the sidelines for B.C. this week. He is also one of the better coaches in the country, but is now at N.C. State. I see a hard fought battle in this one that is anyone's game.
Texas -37.5
You won't see me laying this kind of chalk anytime in the near future, but I had to bite on this one. Mack Brown has made a habit of drilling his week one opponents. Brown, much like Les Miles at LSU, is very much a bully vs. inferior opponents. He will take every opportunity to put it on Arkansas St. here. Arkansas St. is an alright Sun Belt team (I mean besides Troy, there's not much difference between the 2nd and 7th place teams in the Sun Belt), but it could get very ugly on Saturday. QB Colt McCoy has had all summer to work on his game and I anticipate him coming out gunning this week. Look for Texas to keep their foot on the gas in this one well into the fourth quarter.
Troy +26
Those of you that have gotten to watch Troy play can appreciate how hard this team plays each week. They are a team that since their inception into Division One has played tough opponents on the road year after year. There's no change this year as their non-conference schedule is again loaded. This is a good spot for them though, catching them in their first game vs. a one dimensional SEC opponent who has to replace a lot on defense. It's important to note that Arkansas will be without leading receiver Marcus Monk. Troy has a lot of team speed and should be able to keep up with Arkansas in this one. They return 8 starters from a defense that defended the run pretty well last year. On offense they return 3key skill position guys, QB Haugobook, RB Catthouse and WR Banks. It's been well documented that Troy played very well at FSU last year, and also well for three quarters vs. Georgia Tech the next week. I look for Troy to give Arkansas a real battle here.
Cal -5.5
This is a good spot for the Cal team as they get Tennessee to travel out west in week one. Cal comes into the game loaded on both sides of the ball. They are led by RB Justin Forsett, who is one of the top RB's in the Pac 10. Their receiving corps are led by electrifying playmaker Deshawn Jackson. Robert Jordan and Lavelle Hawkins round out the trio. Cal also has an excellent TE in Craig Stevens. Tennessee comes into the game banged up. One of their top two RB's, Lamarcus Coker, won't be available due to him missing fall camp to a suspension. Their starting QB, Erik Ainge, will attempt to play with a broken pinky finger, which could make things difficult for the Tennesee offense. This is more of a situational play for me more than anything else, as I think Cal is out to make a statement that they are a national title contender. I'm expecting a great effort from the Bears here.
Houston +15.5
Houston has quietly become a pretty impressive program over the last four years. Art Briles has built himself a physical team with also a lot of team speed. They come into this game off two straight bowl appearances vs. an Oregon team that finished last season reeling. RB Anthony Aldridge is extremely underrated and other than Matt Jones a couple of years ago, is the only player I've ever seen average ten yards per carry (on a significant number of carries). Much has been made about Oregon's home field advantage in this one. However, I think if you really look at Oregon's home field record the last three years, you will see that they have had some chinks in their armor. Over two TD's is a lot of points in my opinion in this one in a game that I could see very close to the end.
Georgia -7
Georgia played as well as any team in the country the last third of the season and is an extremely physical team on both sides of the ball. Again, I think this is a tough trip for Oklahoma St. here. Going down to Athens in the summer heat is no easy task, especially for a team like OSU that has so many problems on the defensive side of the ball. Another key factor in this one is that Mike Bobo will now be calling the plays for Georgia (as he did in the bowl game). He appears to be a more innovative playcaller than Richt was previously, which should help open up their offense. OSU has weapons on offense, no doubt, but Bowman and Reid can't play defense too. I see Georgia wearing them down in the second half and pulling away.
Good luck to all.
pags11
Here are my plays for the week:
Nebraska -19.5
Sam Keller makes his debut as the starting QB for Nebraska this week. Those of you that don't remember him from ASU, be prepared to watch some fireworks. In the first half of the 2005 season, I thought Keller was as impressive of a QB as there was in the nation. He has the arm to make all of the throws and has a lot of pocket presence to lead his team. Nebraska returns most of their receiving corps, led by the often troubled Maurice Purify. They are loaded at the RB position and their offensive line should be able to wear Nevada down in this one, especially with Nevada's best defensive player, Ezra Butler, being out. On the defensive side of the ball, Nevada will attack Nevada QB Graziano, who will be making his first ever division one start. Nebraska should contain the Nevada running game in this one as well. It will be interesting to see how Nevada does with their third string center starting the game, which is an important position in the "pistol" offense. Should be a descent game the first half with Nebraska pulling away in the second half.
Wake Forest +6.5
I just don't understand all the talk I hear about how Wake Forest had success last year with smoke and mirrors. I watched at least nine of their games last year, and what I see from them is a very disciplined, well coached football team. Jim Grobe has done as good of a job as any coach in the country building his program. I think what was most impressive about their run last year was how they dealt with injuries. This is a deeper team than most people think. Everyone is talking about Matt Ryan in this one, and don't get me wrong, he's a fine quarterback. However, I feel QB Riley Skinner is a perfect fit in the Wake Forest offense and is as equally impressive as Ryan is. The difference being, though, that he has more weapons to work with. Defensively, Wake is as good of a tackling team out there in the country. What they lack in athleticsm, they make up for in smartness and technique. I think the other important thing to note is the fact that Jim O'Brien won't be on the sidelines for B.C. this week. He is also one of the better coaches in the country, but is now at N.C. State. I see a hard fought battle in this one that is anyone's game.
Texas -37.5
You won't see me laying this kind of chalk anytime in the near future, but I had to bite on this one. Mack Brown has made a habit of drilling his week one opponents. Brown, much like Les Miles at LSU, is very much a bully vs. inferior opponents. He will take every opportunity to put it on Arkansas St. here. Arkansas St. is an alright Sun Belt team (I mean besides Troy, there's not much difference between the 2nd and 7th place teams in the Sun Belt), but it could get very ugly on Saturday. QB Colt McCoy has had all summer to work on his game and I anticipate him coming out gunning this week. Look for Texas to keep their foot on the gas in this one well into the fourth quarter.
Troy +26
Those of you that have gotten to watch Troy play can appreciate how hard this team plays each week. They are a team that since their inception into Division One has played tough opponents on the road year after year. There's no change this year as their non-conference schedule is again loaded. This is a good spot for them though, catching them in their first game vs. a one dimensional SEC opponent who has to replace a lot on defense. It's important to note that Arkansas will be without leading receiver Marcus Monk. Troy has a lot of team speed and should be able to keep up with Arkansas in this one. They return 8 starters from a defense that defended the run pretty well last year. On offense they return 3key skill position guys, QB Haugobook, RB Catthouse and WR Banks. It's been well documented that Troy played very well at FSU last year, and also well for three quarters vs. Georgia Tech the next week. I look for Troy to give Arkansas a real battle here.
Cal -5.5
This is a good spot for the Cal team as they get Tennessee to travel out west in week one. Cal comes into the game loaded on both sides of the ball. They are led by RB Justin Forsett, who is one of the top RB's in the Pac 10. Their receiving corps are led by electrifying playmaker Deshawn Jackson. Robert Jordan and Lavelle Hawkins round out the trio. Cal also has an excellent TE in Craig Stevens. Tennessee comes into the game banged up. One of their top two RB's, Lamarcus Coker, won't be available due to him missing fall camp to a suspension. Their starting QB, Erik Ainge, will attempt to play with a broken pinky finger, which could make things difficult for the Tennesee offense. This is more of a situational play for me more than anything else, as I think Cal is out to make a statement that they are a national title contender. I'm expecting a great effort from the Bears here.
Houston +15.5
Houston has quietly become a pretty impressive program over the last four years. Art Briles has built himself a physical team with also a lot of team speed. They come into this game off two straight bowl appearances vs. an Oregon team that finished last season reeling. RB Anthony Aldridge is extremely underrated and other than Matt Jones a couple of years ago, is the only player I've ever seen average ten yards per carry (on a significant number of carries). Much has been made about Oregon's home field advantage in this one. However, I think if you really look at Oregon's home field record the last three years, you will see that they have had some chinks in their armor. Over two TD's is a lot of points in my opinion in this one in a game that I could see very close to the end.
Georgia -7
Georgia played as well as any team in the country the last third of the season and is an extremely physical team on both sides of the ball. Again, I think this is a tough trip for Oklahoma St. here. Going down to Athens in the summer heat is no easy task, especially for a team like OSU that has so many problems on the defensive side of the ball. Another key factor in this one is that Mike Bobo will now be calling the plays for Georgia (as he did in the bowl game). He appears to be a more innovative playcaller than Richt was previously, which should help open up their offense. OSU has weapons on offense, no doubt, but Bowman and Reid can't play defense too. I see Georgia wearing them down in the second half and pulling away.
Good luck to all.
pags11
