College Week 3, Pro Week 2

[Kam]

Alrighty, so my calls were pretty crappy last week, but that's why they play the games. Although i did pick Texas! Looks like Michigan is following in TX's footsteps (High pre-season rankings and failing at the big games).

So another huge slate of football coming up...

Florida v. UT - JDaniel where are ya??? vols are up for the first big test. and given how they looked against opponents they should have been crushing, this looks like they could lose this one. i hate to say it... but the gators will win.

BC v. FSU - ok yeah, 'noles put 60+ on the citadel... at home... put weatherferd in the hostile envirnonment at chapel hill (correction: am an idget, i meant chestnut hill) and he goes down. the defense is still strong, but if BC stops the run, they win.

UCLA v. OK - the sooner spiral continues. bruins win in an upset.

ND v. MSU - i just can't pick the irish!!! i just can't!!!!!

Upset Special:
Other than the bruins beating the sooners, i think the danger game for cal is hosting illinois. if this was at home, i think illinois could pull off the upset. but cal gets the advantage at home in a game they'd lose on the road.

'Canes v. Clemson - tough road game but i think they've worked out some kinks to that offense. now if the special teams is at least average, they win easy. its also a revenge game for miami, but clemson has the benefit of beating the 'canes in the orange bowl last year, so they wont be scared.... they will be.

Pro Week 2
Raiders v. Chiefs - this game just doesnt have the luster it used to.

Wash. v. Cowboys - neither does this game. (side note, how the hell is washington still named the redskins? especially after the uproar to LEGITIMATE college mascot team names)

Lions v. Bears - neither does this game.

Minn v. my bengals - 2-0!!! on the way to the playoffs!

thank god i dont bet on sports, WAY too involved with my teams...

peace
k2

[ericl]

Raiders v. Chiefs - this game just doesnt have the luster it used to.

WHAT!?!!?!

I suppose if you're not a raiders or a chiefs fan.

I can't wait. Home opener against the chiefs! Randy Moss's first touchdown in the black hole!! I'll be sitting right here with a beer and my three bros:

http://www.seatdata.com/images/nfl_r...00x600/342.jpg

This game is going to be awesome. For week 2, this is a pretty high stakes game. Must win for the raiders, I think they can pull it out. If the raiders o-line and secondary can hold together, we'll win.

eric

[Woochifer]

Actually, UCLA right now is a touchdown favorite to beat OU, which is strange given that OU is the ranked team and scary given UCLA's recent history against ranked teams. This game is a huge question mark because my Bruins are atrocious against the run, while OU can't pass worth a damn. It might come down to how much OU can slow down UCLA's west coast offense, which in its third year seems like it's starting to click and give opposing defenses a lot of different looks that they need to contain. I can see just about anything happening with this game - big UCLA blowout, big OU blowout, close high scoring shootout, close low scoring scrum, Maurice Drew or Adrian Peterson gaining 300 yards, etc. Should be interesting!

Cal (my "other" team) against Illinois actually should be a comfortable Bears win, but the finger injury to Marshawn Lynch is the X factor. Coach Tedford said that Lynch will play, but he still has a splint on his finger. With Lynch in the game, defenses have to worry about the run. Without Lynch, they can tee off on first year QB Joe Ayoob, who got hot against lowly Washington, but has yet to see a legit pass rush.

[kexodusc]

UCLA v. OK - the sooner spiral continues. bruins win in an upset.

On the coldest day in H-E-double hockey sticks, that ain't gonna happen...hey...even a blind squirrel finds a nut in a forest once everynow and then...OK will win this, UCLA won't even cover the spread...(edit: If what Wooch says is true about UCLA being favored by a TD, scrap this last statement...but OU still wins...)

'Canes v. Clemson - tough road game but i think they've worked out some kinks to that offense. now if the special teams is at least average, they win easy. its also a revenge game for miami, but clemson has the benefit of beating the 'canes in the orange bowl last year, so they wont be scared.... they will be.

I think this one comes down to the final play...I'll go with the Canes...

Pro Week 2
Wash. v. Cowboys - neither does this game. (side note, how the hell is washington still named the redskins? especially after the uproar to LEGITIMATE college mascot team names)

Cowboys look very improved this year...Glenn, KJ, and Bledsoe? C'mon...
Side note, my native relatives all love the references. Those are their favorite teams more often than not. When there's no ill will or hatred behind them, no ill will or bad intent should is taken, despite the history of some...just like Fightin' Irish...

Minn v. my bengals - 2-0!!! on the way to the playoffs!

Bengal pride is blindin' ya....though, it will be a long year in Minnesota if they start 0-2.

[dean_martin]

SEC update:

Week 2 saw Vanderbilt get its second win, Georgia squeek by So. Carolina, LSU steal one in the desert, and Bama win one they probably would have lost last year.

I know its early but it looks like the Ole Miss/Vandy winner in week 3 will be bowl bound.

Bama vs. So. Carolina is too close for this Bama homer to call. Spurrier seemed too relaxed at yesterday's conference call and Bama's kicking game is terrible.

Vols vs. Gators - the Vols will be exposed as posers in the Swamp! For the third straight week, I hate Tennessee. I'm gonna enjoy this one. (If Vandy wins, they will be ahead of the loser of this game in the SEC East standings. Imagine that!)

Hey you left coast guys, who does Arkansas play this week? Yes Arkansas lost to Vandy, but don't be surprised if the hogs play with heart. They won't beat USC, but I hope they make a game of it. I wish Matt Jones was still a hog.

After an extremely emotional week, LSU has a bye and prepares for Tennessee in Baton Rouge. I love it! When was the last time the Vols started 0-2 in the conference? OK, did everybody turn their heads during the replays of that last pass against ASU?

[Woochifer]

On the coldest day in H-E-double hockey sticks, that ain't gonna happen...hey...even a blind squirrel finds a nut in a forest once everynow and then...OK will win this, UCLA won't even cover the spread...(edit: If what Wooch says is true about UCLA being favored by a TD, scrap this last statement...but OU still wins...)

If you saw any of UCLA and OU's first two games, you'd see why UCLA's favored. OU lost to TCU and then barely beat Tulsa, while UCLA blew out two teams that they were supposed to beat (believe me, that alone is reason for optimism in Westwood because my Bruins have not been doing that consistently for the past few seasons). I have a feeling that Adrian Peterson will single handedly keep the Bruin defense busy, even though OU has no credible passing game whatsoever.

So, it will come down to how effectively OU's defense can slow down UCLA's offense, which IMO looks like their most dynamic and balanced attack since the Cade McNown era. The Sooner defense is good but inexperienced and the Bruin offense has some veteran playmakers, including a senior QB who seems to finally have a reasonable grasp of the west coast offense. (I'm still not sure if the WCO is a good system for college ball, given its complexity and how long it typically takes even a pro QB to learn the offense; and pros don't have the practice time restrictions that college players have.) A lot of unknowns heading into this game, and having UCLA as a touchdown favorite still seems really strange to me. But, I think UCLA's offense can give OU's defense enough problems to pull it out (for one thing, OU let Tulsa's TE run wild on them last week, and Bruin TE Marcedes Lewis is a much bigger mismatch). Of course, I can also see Peterson keeping our defense on the field most of the day and their huge O-line wearing down our already depleted and undersized D-line. There's a reason why OU was ranked in the preseason top 10. But, that's why they play the games!

[topspeed]

Hey you left coast guys, who does Arkansas play this week? Yes Arkansas lost to Vandy, but don't be surprised if the hogs play with heart. They won't beat USC, but I hope they make a game of it. I wish Matt Jones was still a hog.

With the giant target Troy has had on its back the past few years, Pete has done a terrific job of ensuring respect for every single team SC faces. We know that we're going to get their best game every single time. Who wouldn't want to take down #1? Honestly, I'm a little nervous to see how our revamped defensive line is going to handle the nation's top running game. Naturally, I still think we'll win, I'm just curious to see if we can still be one of the top rushing defenses. Even with our offense, which is scary good , I know defense wins championships.

[kexodusc]

There's a reason why OU was ranked in the preseason top 10. But, that's why they play the games!

Most fellow Sooner fans I know expected a long year...we were surprised to still be ranked. My heart says yes but my brain tells me no...

Let's put a friendly wager on this one...Bruins win, you buy yourself a cold one, Sooners win, I'll do the same.

(sob, sniffle, sob) Boomer Sooner (sob, sob)

[Woochifer]

Most fellow Sooner fans I know expected a long year...we were surprised to still be ranked. My heart says yes but my brain tells me no...

Let's put a friendly wager on this one...Bruins win, you buy yourself a cold one, Sooners win, I'll do the same.

(sob, sniffle, sob) Boomer Sooner (sob, sob)

I bought myself a cold one anyway!

A lot of surprises in that game.

The Bruin defense holds Peterson to less than 60 yards, but OU winds up finding a passing game.
The Sooner defense contains the Bruin running game (which had been the most effective part of our offense), but lets 10 different Bruin players make catches.
Fumbleitis by the Sooners
Penalties galore by both teams

It's kind of a contradiction, but I think OU made a mistake by going to the air -- this despite it being the only part of their offense that worked reasonably well. They should have just kept pounding the ball up the middle because they had such a huge size advantage, and the Bruin d-line is young, undersized, and not very deep. OU was either gaining 7-8 yards or losing 3-4 yards on each rush, but I think they could have worn down our d-line eventually. As it is, I think OU found a QB for the future (either that, or my Bruins have a very suspect pass defense, which would not bode well for Pac-10 play), and this could very well be the turning point for the UCLA program under Karl Dorrell (I hope!).

[kexodusc]

My Pats lost too...bad weekend all in all.

I think OU is realizing that they can't just rely on the veterans from a consistenly good program to win games for them to cover up for their mistakes. Sooner (no pun intended) or later it comes down to players making plays themselves. This is probably going to be a long, grueling rebuilding year. Or two. As long as we don't lose to those stinky Aggies I'll be okay...

UCLA does look better than I can recall them being for quite some time.

[Woochifer]

I think OU is realizing that they can't just rely on the veterans from a consistenly good program to win games for them to cover up for their mistakes. Sooner (no pun intended) or later it comes down to players making plays themselves. This is probably going to be a long, grueling rebuilding year. Or two. As long as we don't lose to those stinky Aggies I'll be okay...

UCLA does look better than I can recall them being for quite some time.

It's hard not to have at least some dropoff when 10 guys from last year's OU team got drafted by the NFL! I think OU will be fine once the rookies get some playing time, which is hard to get when the team was stocked with veterans who now play on Sundays. At the very least, it looks like OU's QB situation has now settled. A freshman QB facing a defense doing a lot of things that they did not show during the first two games (our defense played very conservatively against SDSU and Rice) is usually not a pretty sight. And Bomer made just enough mistakes to keep the game out of reach, despite him making a lot of very smart plays.

UCLA's gone through some very painful growing pains the past couple of seasons (and some pretty ugly late season pratfalls before that), and I'm really hoping that this is the "real" Bruin team that I'll see the rest of the year. Last year was our turn with having to play a lot of inexperienced players (I think it was 12 true freshmen and 22 total first-year players) and endure their mistakes. The biggest difference this year is that we have a senior QB who's had two years to learn the WCO. The jury's still out on this team, and unfortunately the pattern under Coach Dorrell has been to "turn the corner" with a good win, and then squander all that progress with an ugly loss. Whether that pattern is endemic to Coach Dorrell's teams, or if they were just necessary growing steps while building up a program, we'll get a good idea with the Washington game in a couple of weeks (a game where we will be heavily favored and have to avoid a letdown/look ahead) and then a key game against Cal (which has been going through its own ups and downs with their new QB and key injuries) at home.