Feeling Lucky?/Colossal Let Down?

I have gone back to the PAC 10 for this weeks saturday scare. Stanford takes a visit to the not so friendly confines of Autzen Stadium. It is not that I do not like Oregon as I have picked them even though I am putting them on upset alert. They do need to be very careful, this will be a high scoring game, and they cannot let Stanford to start scoring and force turnovers. Andrew Luck leads the 6th most passing efficient offense in the country. As this quarterback's NFL stock rises, do not be surprised to see The Cardinal snag a big road win in Autzen.

USC hosts Washington this week. This is a trap game. I know the game is at USC, but Jake Locker is due for a big game, and what better place to have it than The Coliseum? USC looks like a team that does not want to win, and sure no post-season is most likely the reason why they look like this. Regardless, this is more Jake Locker's game then anyone else. It will be interesting to see if he can have success against a struggling USC team.-Josh Neighbors

Picks Week 5

We hope our field will become more clear this week.

Texas A&M vs Oklahoma State:     Connor/Andrew/Taylor/ranny.OK State        Vincent/Josh/Nash.TAMU

Ohio State vs Illinois             Connor/Vincent/Josh/Andrew/Nash/Taylor/ranny.Ohio State    .Illinois

Miami vs Clemson       Connor/Andrew/Nash/Taylor/ranny.Miami       Vincent/Josh.Clemson

Northwestern vs Minnesota      Vincent/Connor/Josh/Andrew/Nash/Taylor/ranny.NW

Florida State vs Virginia                   Andrew/ranny.UVA   Vincent/Connor/Taylor/Josh.FSU

Navy vs Air Force      Nash/Taylor/Connor/Andrew/Josh/Vincent/ranny.Air Force

Texas vs Oklahoma Texas      Nash/Taylor/Connor/Josh/Andrew/Vincent/ranny.Oklahoma

Wisconsin vs Michigan State      Vincent/Andrew/Josh/Taylor/ranny.Wisc     Connor/Nash.MSU

Tennessee vs LSU     Connor/Nash/Vincent/Josh/Andrew/Taylor/ranny.LSU

Michigan vs Indiana            Vincent/Josh/Nash/Taylor/Connor/ranny.Michigan 

Virginia Tech vs NC State    Nash/Connor/Josh/ranny.VT       Vincent/Andrew/Taylor.NC State

Washington State vs UCLA  Josh/Connor/Nash/Andrew/Vincent/Taylor/ranny.UCLA

East Carolina vs North Carolina  Vincent/Nash/Josh/Connor/Andrew/ranny.UNC

Taylor.ECU

Arizona State vs Oregon State       Vincent/Nash/Connor/Josh/Andrew/Taylor/ranny.Oreg St.

Georgia vs Colorado      Nash/Connor/Josh/Vincent/Taylor/ranny.Georgia     Andrew.Colo

Florida vs Alabama          Nash/Josh/Connor/Andrew/VincentTaylor/ranny.Alabama

Stanford vs Oregon     Josh/Nash/Connor/Vincent/ranny.Oregon       Andrew.Stanford

Penn State vs Iowa    Josh/Connor/Nash/Andrew/Vincent/Taylor/ranny.Iowa

Notre Dame vs Boston College       Nash/Taylor.Notre Dame      Vincent/Connor/Josh/Andrew/ranny.BC

Washington vs USC  Josh/Nash/Taylor/ranny.Washington      Vincent/Andrew/Connor.USC

Results Week 4

Connor Jones once again leads the field. 

Connor Jones: Last week(19-1) this week(15-5) overall(48-12)
Ranny Kennon:Last week(17-3) this week(15-5) overall(46-14)
Taylor Bostic:Last week(15-5) this week(12-8) overall(42-18)
Josh Neighbors:Last week(16-4) this week(14-6) overall(41-19)
Nash Wiley:Last week(12-8) this week(13-7) overall(39-21)
Andrew Reed:Last week(13-7) this week(13-7) overall(36-24)
Vincent Steenburgh(didn't pick): Last week(16-4) this week(10-10) overall(36-24)

All Week Team

Im going to spare you the talk and jump right into it.

Quarterback: Brandon Weeden. Oklahoma State: Weeden threw for 409 yards and 6 touchdowns saturday agains Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane have a week defense, but those numbers are too much to turn down.

Running back: Mark Ingram. Alabama: Once again the Heisman Trophy winner dominated a defense. This time it was Arkansas. 24 carries, 157 yards, and 2 touchdowns in a big time game I thought the Tide would lose.

Wide Receiver: Titus Young. Boise State: This Bronco ran wild saturday night. The whole country got a view of this guys spectacular skills. 5 receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown. Titus Young was killing it.

Wide Receiver: Michael Floyd. Notre Dame: 8 receptions for 110 yards on a tough scoring day for the Irish. No touchdowns, but still impressive against a good team.

Defense. Oregon Ducks: Surprise, surprise. The most offensively explosive team in the country had a great day on the other side of the ball. The defense forced 7 turnovers against Arizona State. They made some Michigan fans very happy, as they forced ex Michigan QB transfer Steven Threet to throw 4 interceptions. Ducky D is lucking sharp.

Quick Hits

Boise handled Oregon State last night and will remain 3rd in the country. But do they deserve to play for a national championship? In my mind they do not. If you matched this team up against the 2 teams ahead of them, the argument could easily be made that those contests would not be close.

Once again Alabama demonstrated why they are the number 1 team in the country. They came back against a good Arkansas team, and forced Ryan Mallet to toss 3 picks. Here is where things will start to get interesting for the Tide as they get into the meat of there SEC schedule.

Auburn also prevailed when being down 2 scores. They came back against a very well coached South Carolina team. Cam Newton is starting to flourish and is really looking impressive.

LSU continues to struggle in the second half. A field goal in the 4th quarter were their only points of the second half in 20 14 win over West Virginia. Granted the defense is very speedy and athletic. They do their part, but the offense is doing theirs. Les Miles needs to figure out a way to get the offense going.

What happened to Texas? Not only losing to UCLA, but getting beat soundly. 34 12. UCLA got beat 35  0 at the hands of Stanford. Mack Brown and Will Muschamp have less then a week to turn this team around or else the Texas Longhorns are not going to have the Red River RIvalry they hoped for.-Josh Neighbors

Saturday Scare

Some big time schools are going on the road this week. That means there could be some trap games. I will give you my Saturday Scare

No.5 Oregon at Arizona State.

The new king of the Pac-10 has the go to Tempe this week. This is a big time trap game. Arizona State looked very solid last week against Wisconsin, especially on the defensive side of the ball. A kickoff that was 2 yards away from being a touchdown, for the Devils, was the difference. They are a very well-rounded, athletic team.

Oregon has the premier offense in the country. Darren Thomas at quarterback is becoming a better leading each game. We saw his impressive skills as The Ducks went into Tennessee and stumbled in the beginning. Nonetheless, Thomas help them get there footing, and they pounded on the Vols. Oregon needs to make sure they do not start looking ahead to their date next week with Stanford and focus on the task at hand. That can be a tall order for a team like this. That is why I am putting the quack attack on upset alert.-Josh Neighbors.

Picks Week 4

 For the first time we will feature a few NFL games on our slate. But sticking with the college theme. This is a massive weekend. We will all be treated with some great conference battles. So lets see how things go.

Miami vs Pittsburgh     Anderw/Connor/Josh/Taylor/Ranny/Nash.Miami          


Virginia Tech vs BC       Andrew/Connor/Josh/Taylor/.VT.        Nash/Ranny.BC.

Central Michigan vs Northwestern               Ranny/Connor/Andrew/Nash/Josh/Taylor.NW


Alabama vs Arkansas    Nash/Andrew/Connor/Ranny.Ala.          Josh/Taylor.Ark.

UCLA vs Texas       .UCLA.             Nash/Connor/Andrew/Josh/Taylor/Ranny.Texas.

Stanford vs ND  Nash/Ranny/Connor/Andrew/Josh.Stanford.      Taylor.ND.

 

Wake Forest vs Florida State      .Wake.       Nash/Ranny/Josh/Connor/Andrew/Taylor.FSU.

North Carolina vs Rutgers     Nash/Ranny/Connor/Andrew/Josh/Taylor.UNC.        .Rutgers.

Oklahoma vs Cincinnati       Nash/Ranny/Josh/Andrew/Connor/Taylor.Okla.        

Kentucky vs Florida     Ranny/Connor/Nash/Josh/Connor.Florida.

Georgia vs Mississippi State    Andrew/Connor/Taylor/Ranny/Josh.Georgia.      Josh.Miss St.


Fresno State vs Mississippi         Nash/Andrew.FSU.         Josh/Connor/Taylor/Ranny.Miss.      

South Carolina vs Auburn     Nash/Andrew/Taylor.USC.      Connor/Josh/Ranny.Auburn. 

Oregon State vs Boise State     Connor/Josh.OSU.      Nash/Andrew/Taylor/Ranny.BSU.


West Virginia vs LSU      Josh/Taylor.WVU.         Nash/Andrew/Connor/Ranny.LSU.


California vs Arizona           Nash/Josh/Andrew/Connor/Taylor/Ranny.Arizona.

Oregon vs Arizona State      Nash/Andrew/Ranny/Josh/Taylor .Oregon.

Atlanta vs New Orleans     Josh.Atl.     Nash/Ranny/Andrew/Connor. NO.

NY Jets vs Miami    Nash/Ranny/Connor.Jets.      Andrew/Josh.Miami.


Green Bay vs Chicago      Nash/Andrew/Josh/Connor/Ranny.GB.

All Week Team

Week 3 had some very impressive individual performances. So a couple of these were some very tough decisions.

QB: Nick Foles/Arizona: This one came down to Ryan Mallet and Nick Foles. Foles went up against a better defense in Iowa. He completed 28 of 39 passes for 303 yards. He also threw 2 touchdowns in a massive win.

RB: Mark Ingram/Alabama: He is back. And he looked freakishly good. Granted it was Duke, but still very impressive. 9 carries for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns. It will be interesting to see how he does against the SEC defenses.

WR: Greg Childs/Arkansas: Here is one of Ryan Mallet's favorite targets. Childs had only 3 receptions, but they totaled for 83 yards. He also snagged the game winning TD in a big win on the road against Georgia.

WR: Dawayne Harris/ECU: Harris is a monster of an athlete. It really translates on the field, as he is Domanic Davis's go to guy. He had 10 receptions for 119 yards and a score against Virginia Tech. ECU came up short, but Harris looked impressive.

Defense: Nebraska: Cornhuskers gave Jake Locker fits. They held him to 4 out of 20 on pass attempts. They picked him off twice. I just love this defense, and it compliments Taylor Martinez very nicely-

The Threat Is Mutual

What makes a college coach smile? It is seeing a quarterback who can run and throw the football. These players are better known as the dual threat quarterback. When you hear this term you think of guys like; Denard Robinson, Tyrell Prior, Jacory Harris, Tyrod Taylor, and Josh Nesbitt. All of these guys are spectacular athletes and good quarterbacks, but there is one thing that comes to mind that applies for most of the guys on this list. Inconsistency throwing the football. Denard Robinson is a pure runner he has gotten more accurate, as we saw Saturday with his 500 plus total yards. Tyrell Prior may be the most inconsistent on the list whenever Ohio State has a big game the question is posed, Which Tyrell Prior are we going to see? The one that hits his mark, or the one that throws 2 or 3 Int’s. He did play very well against Miami. Which brings me to Jacory Harris. He is the exact same as Prior. He did not have a good game against Ohio State, throwing 4 Int’s in a loss. Next there is Tyrod Taylor. The Hokies quarterback can be great with his arm. But when he is not, things do turn ugly. He tends to under throw a lot of his balls, and he lobs up to many jump balls. He did keep the Hokies in the game against Boise State, but under threw his deep balls most of the time. Then there is a guy like Josh Nesbitt. He is a bigger, stronger runner then most dual threat QB’s. It helps that he is in a system that can sometimes only run 5 or 6 passing plays a whole game. His arm is decent and he does usually hit his mark.

All that criticism aside, if you look back to 2005, 3 of the last 5 teams to win the national title have had dual threat quarterbacks. Florida won in 08, and 06 with Tim Tebow. In 06 Chirs Leak was the starter, and he and Tebow shared time in that game. And Texas won in 05 with that memorable Rose Bowl victory with Vince Young as quarterback. The NFL type QB’s do not always win the national title. These running quarterbacks can also take teams very far.

There is a downside to players who have this tendency to run. They can sometimes be injury prone. This makes sense due to the fact they repeatedly hurl themselves at linebackers and other defensive players. If these guys hope to make it to the next level, they have to develop consistency with their arms. In the NFL if you run into one of those defenses and start getting hit by guys like Ray Lewis, you are going to have a very short and unsuccessful career in the league.-Josh Neighbors

My Picks Week 3

The other picks guys have been busy so I have given them a bye week. That being said, some picking will be done. The picking will be done by yours truly.

Iowa 20 Arizona 17

Iowa's defense will look to disrupt Nick Foles and the rest of this Arizona offense. Arizona struggled some scoring against Toledo in the first half in week 1. They did win by 40. But if they struggle Iowa will capitalize.

Wake Forest 42 Stanford 35

Call me crazy, but I like the Deacs chances in this one. The freshman quarterback for Wake, Tanner Price, looks really good. Andrew Luck will have success in this game, and it will come down to who can make the big stop.

Nevada 45 Cal 35

Another high-scoring game. Collin Capernick really impresses me. The explosive Wolf Pack will beat Cal.

Auburn 24 Clemson 20

Cam Newton has weapons at his disposal. He himself being a weapon as well. This Auburn offense will wear down the Clemson defense and score late to get the win.

Arkansas 21 Georgia 17

Ryan Mallet is a great quarterback, and georgia is a shadow of what they were 2 years ago. This will be a close game because it will be on the road for Arkansas. They will still get the job done though.

-Josh Neighbors

All Week Team

All Week Team

This is the first addition of something I hope I can do every week. It is called the All Week Team. The best players at skill positions of the week get recognition. So here we go week 2 All Week Team.

Quarterback: Denard Robinson/ Michigan: Denard Robinson had over 500 all purpose yards in a big game against Notre Dame.

Runningback: Bryce Beall/ Houston: Case Keenum went down and Beall took over and rushed for 195 yards and 3 TD’s against UTEP.

Wide Receiver: Ryan Broyles/ Oklahoma: Broyles was excellent against this talented FSU defense. He had 12 receptions for 124 yards, and he had 1 TD catch.

Wide Receiver: Devier Posey/ Ohio State: Posey was an a big part of the offense this week. 4 receptions for 105 yards. He did not have any touchdowns. That being said he did help ohio State beat miami

Defense: Nebraska secondary: 2 interceptions against Idaho may not seem like much, but its what we should all come to expect from Nebraska in the coming weeks.

Results Week 2

After a shaky first week our pickers really got there bearings. Connor Jones dominated this week going 19-1. One of our new guys shows he is ready to get right into the mix. Now heres a look at how the rest of the picks guys are doing.

Connor Jones: This week(19-1) overall(33-7)

Ranny Kennon: This week(17-3) overall(31-7)

Taylor Bostic: This week(15-5) overall(30-10)

Josh Neighbors: This week(16-4) overall(27-13)

Nash Wiley: This week( 12-8) overall(26-14)

Vincent Steenburgh: This week(16-4) overall(26-14)

Andrew Reed: This week(13-7) overall(23-17)

Pick Your Poison

There are some really great running backs in college football currently. Some include Mark Ingram, Ryan Williams, John Clay, DeMarco Murray and Dion Lewis.... speed,size,weight,strength,and quickness all vary between these backs. Running backs like Mark Ingram or John Clay from Alabama and Wisconsin, are more power backs. The way they think is that they want to run over you rather than around you. They are usally larger than most backs and carry alot of weight. They prefer to stay running between the tackles. Notice that both the teams they are on are both pro style rushing teams, because they dont have the speed to cut it outside they run it inside to set up the pass which means a lot of carries for Clay and Ingram. Power runners can take hits and will stay in games, but usally they are the one delivering the deadly blows. Having the defense take those blows will eventually wear them down and make them tired giving linemen an easy job to make holes. Even though Mark Ingram does not have he real size of a power back he still is one of the most powerful runners in the leauge, if not the most. Clay has the size, and the weight but isnt very fast which hurts him when he is in open space. As you saw from last year speed kills, from running backs like C.J. Spiller out of Clemson, and Noel Divine from West Virginia. With Spiller gone speed went from a machicne gun to a pistol, at least at tail back. Still three backs are left with outstanding speed, Demarco Murray ( Oklahoma) Noel Divine, and Jeff Demps ( Florida ). Speed players would like to run around you and past you rather than going right at you. They are small and very light such as Demps whom is 5 foot 8 inches and only 180 pounds. They like to bounce it outside and use their quick feet to turn the corner. All three of these backs are on spread offenses because they need to see the open space and run right through it. All three of them are also good pass cathers and great special team players. They won't get you the best yards per carry average, but will have a chance at taking it to the house everytime they touch the ball. My personal favorite are the balanced runners like Dion Lewis and Ryan Williams. They can do either one, and coaches love them.If i had to pick the best it would be them.

-Vincent Steenburgh

Picks Week 2

There are a few great games this week. Our picks guys are already talking smack. We will see if anyone can pull away this week.

Auburn vs Mississippi State: Vincent/Josh/Andrew/Taylor/Connor/Ranny/Nash. Auburn

UTEP vs Houston: Vincent/Ranny/Andrew/Connor/Taylor/Josh. Houston Nash. Utep

Georgia Tech vs Kansas Vincent/Ranny/Andrew/Nash/Taylor/Connor/Josh. GT

Georgia vs South Carolina Vincent/Andrew/Ranny/Taylor. UGA Nash/Connor/Josh. USC

Duke vs Wake Forest Vincent/Ranny/Nash/Taylor/Connor/Andrew/Josh. Wake Forest

South Florida vs Florida Vincent/Ranny/Nash/Taylor/Connor/Josh. Florida

Iowa State vs Iowa Vincent/Ranny/Nash/Taylor/Connor/Josh/Andrew. Iowa

Florida State vs Oklahoma Nash/Andrew/Taylor/Josh. FSU Vincent/Connor/Ranny. Okla

Colorado vs California Nash/Josh. Colorado Vincent/Andrew/Connor/Ranny/Nash. Cal

Michigan vs Notre Dame /Taylor/Nash/Josh/Connor. Michigan Vincent/Andrew/Ranny ND

Miami vs Ohio State Vincent/Andrew/Ranny/Nash/Taylor/Connor/ OSU Josh. Miami

BYU vs Air Force Vincent/Ranny/Andrew/Nash/Taylor/Connor/Josh. BYU

Penn State vs Alabama Vincent/Ranny/Andrew/Nash/Taylor/Connor/Josh. Alabama

Oregon vs Tennessee Vincent/Ranny/Andrew/Nash/Taylor/Connor/Josh. Oregon

West Virginia vs Marshall Vincent/Ranny/Andrew/Nash/Taylor/Connor/Josh. WVU

Mississippi vs Tulane Vincent/Ranny/Andrew/Nash/Taylor/Connor/Josh. Ole Miss

Virginia vs USC Vincent/Ranny/Nash/Taylor/Andrew/Connor/Josh. USC

Stanford vs UCLA Vincent/Josh/Connor. Stanford Andrew/Taylor/Nash/Ranny. UCLA

Colorado State vs Nevada Vincent/Ranny/Andrew/Nash/Taylor/Connor/Josh. Nevada

Syracuse vs Washington Vincent/Ranny/Taylor/Connor/Josh. Wash Andrew/Nash. Cuse

Face Time

College Football started off with a bang. We had some great games. ECU launched hail marry to defeat Tulsa in an exciting high scoring affair. Jacksonville State defeated mighty Jeremiah Masouli in his Ole Miss debut. UNC staged a massive comeback and had 2 chances to win against LSU in the Chick-Fil-a Kickoff game in the Georgia Dome. And Boise State topped Virginia Tech by a very slight margin in the game of the week last night. Our Connor Jones will have more on the big night in Landover. So with a spectacular week one who wins this face time?

Congrats to all you hot seat coaches. Brian Kelley, Rich Rodriguez, and Lane Kiffin. These were three guys on the hot seat right away. They all responded with big wins this weekend. Kelley's Irish beat Purdue. Rich Rod's Wolverines trounced UCONN. Kiffin's Trojans prevailed on the road against Hawaii. These guys earned their first wins. Now lets see if they can build off this.-Josh Neighbors

Postgame Review, Boise State vs Virginia Tech

I will start off by saying after watching this game both teams have work to do. Both teams had there highs and there lows which is normal for an opening game of a season. Kellen Moore showed once again why he is one of the top quarterbacks in college football, when he was in trouble he always knew where to go with the football. Tyrod Taylor kept the Hokies in the ball game all night long, but at the end he wasn't able to make the big throws. Taylor said after the game that he believed there was a pass interference to end the ball game, either way it was a debatable call and you can not count on the referee throwing that flag. Boise's game MVP was wide receiver Austin Pettis. Pettis caught two touchdown passes and blocked a punt early in the game that gave the Broncos all the momentum. One of his touchdown's catches was the game winner with 1:07 to go on the clock. Virginia Tech's major problem throughout the game was whip linebacker Jeron Gouevia- Winslow. Winslow did not make key stops throughout the game. All three of Boise State's touchdown passes were to the man that Winslow was supposed to be covering. As the season goes along watch for the Hokies to replace Winslow with starting safety Davon Morgan. Davon Morgan played a fantastic ball game, he was the Hokies emotional leader throughout the ball game. Both teams did some things well and some things wrong, there is still a lot to play for for both teams and they can not dwell on the result of this game for to long.

Connor Jones

Where We Stand

It was a shaky week for myself. But the rest of the picks crew did a pretty solid job. I have got myself some work to do. I would like to also introduce two new pickers Andrew Reed, and Vincent Steenburgh. We let them start off at .500. They as well has work to be done,but after week one here is where we stand.

Taylor Bostic (15-5)

Nash Wiley (14-6)

Connor Jones (14-6)

Ranny Kennon (14-6)

Josh Neighbors (11-9)

Andrew Reed (10-10)

Vincent Steenburgh (10-10)

Picks Week 1

Week one is finally here. Our picks committee has been busy. This is what we have for you guys.

Southern Miss at South Carolina: Ranny/Connor/Josh/Taylor/Nash. South Carolina

USC at Hawaii: Ranny/Connor/Josh/Taylor/Nash. USC

Arizona at Toledo: Nash. Toledo Ranny/Connor/Taylor/Josh. Arizona

Miami (OH) at Florida: Ranny/Connor/Josh/Taylor/Nash. Florida

Western Michigan at Michigan St.: Ranny/Connor/Josh/Taylor/Nash. Michigan State

Illinois vs Missouri: Ranny/Connor/Josh/Nash. Missouri Taylor. Illinois

Purdue at Notre Dame: Josh/Ranny/Nash. Notre Dame

Kentucky at Louisville: Josh/Ranny/Nash. Louisville

Connecticut at Michigan: Connor/Taylor/Ranny/Josh UConn Taylor: Mich

Texas at Rice: Ranny/Connor/Josh/Taylor/Nash. Texas

UCLA at Kansas St: Ranny/Connor/Nash/Taylor: K State Josh: UCLA

Washington St. at Oklahoma St.: Ranny/Connor/Josh/Taylor/Nash. OK ST

Washington at BYU: Ranny/Connor/Josh: Wash Nash/Taylor: BYU

Oregon St. vs TCU: Ranny/Nash/Taylor/Connor: TCU Josh: OSU

LSU vs North Carolina: Connor/Nash/Ranny/Josh: LSU Taylor: UNC

Cincy at Fresno St.: Ranny, Connor, Josh, Nash: Cincy

Tulsa at ECU: Ranny/Connor/Nash: ECU Josh/Taylor: Tulsa

SMU at Texas Tech: Ranny/Connor/Josh/Taylor/Nash. TTU

Navy vs Maryland: Ranny/Connor/Josh/Taylor/Nash. Navy

Boise St. vs Virginia Tech: Ranny/Connor/Josh/Taylor/Nash. VT