College Week 4, Pro Week 3

[Kam]

Whew! Close call for my 'canes last week! Kexo called it! Miami on the last play! ANd my bengals! Lord can it be!? 2-0! The first time i've seen that "0" in the loss column without a "1" before it!

Iowa v. Ohio State - Iowa was supposed to contend for the big ten title, then got dismantled by Iowa State. Ohio State is looking to get back on track, everyone knows a 1-loss team can still play for the national championship... Ted Ginn needs his touches. OSU wins.

Arkansas v. Alabama - is Alabama for real? well usc dismantled ark for 70 points... lets see what alabama does.

ND v. Wash - irish go visit tye. and i still... just... cant.... pick the irish. GO HUSKIES!

Caution games:
GT v. VT - georgia tech has been looking good, here's there measuring stick. are the hokies legit contenders? first big test for them right here. unfortunately, i think they'll pass the test.

USC v. Ducks - tough place to win at, but if anyone can, its usc. Will the trojans lose their focus for one game? will this be that game? i dont think so, i think asu might be the ones to knock these guys off. USC wins.

UT v. LSU - the vols drop two in a row. smarting from that loss at the swamp, the vols drop another one.

Miami v. CU - my two alma-maters going at it! Last time they played up at boulder, there was a bench clearing ball and nearly a dozen ejections. Colorado is supposed to compete for the big12 north title (for what its worth) and gets to test miami at home. will kyle wright start to grow and GET RID OF THE FREAKIN' BALL before logging in another 5+ sacks!!!??? Moss definitely looks like he's on his way. have you noticed how miami has switched from "quarterback U" to "linebacker/ runningback/ tight end U"? how does that not get mentioned more often? All the miami runners in the nfl: edge, jackson, portis, mcgahee, gore, davenport, luchey (backup with my bengals!) that's impressive. not too mention how much the middle of the field is plugged with miami linebackers.

Pro:
Wow that washington game was exciting. well... the last five minutes of it was exciting at least. moss (miami) 2 touchdown bombs, and that hit that taylor (miami) layed down on the cowboys receiver knocking the ball out, wow, that was awesome.

BENGALS v. Chicago - 3-0!!!!!!!! Yes, bengal pride has blinded me. but c'mon, after 15 years allow a little delusional fantasies for a die-hard bengals fan! Playoffs here we come!!

Tb v. GB - greenbay's gotta get it together. not looking good at 0-2.

Giants v. SD - eli goes visiting the team he ran from. should be verrrrry interesting.

Monday Night: KC v. Denver - good divisional rivalry game here. KC's defense has been looking good. denver's running game isnt quite what it used to be. but ron dayne might be the spark for them.

peace
k2
go 'canes!
(and bengals!)

[topspeed]

Well, I gotta agree with all your college picks. The LSU/Vol game is going to be real tight and could very well go either way. This one depends on how well Fulmer gets his team's head on straight. I don't think LSU is as good as their ranking, but we'll see.

Tough game for my Trojans. The noise in Autzen could be a real problem for Leinart as he likes to audible a lot. We now have zero returning starters on defense after we lost Sartz, the heart of the unit. Yeah, I'm worried about this one...

[dean_martin]

SEC update

After opening 3-0, Vanderbilt has a chance to go 5-0 before they meet LSU. Vandy plays Middle Tenn St then Richmond. They'll only need 1 victory in their remaining 6 games to be bowl eligible. The problem is that only 2 of those remaining 6 - Kentucky and South Carolina - look winable. I hope they don't stumble over their next 2 games. As long as their senior QB Jay Cutler stays healthy they should be fine.

Speaking of senior leadership, Arkansas had none to display in their butt-kicking by So. California. Senior leadership and experience are necessary ingredients when you go on the road against a top-flight program. It looks like that Trojan offense is unstoppable. Can Reggie Bush get any better? Where do all those receivers come from?

Arkansas comes into Tuscaloosa this weekend. The Tide is riding high. They've demonstrated that they have a dangerous vertical passing attack that they use early. Bama also uses its running game in the late 3rd and 4th to wear down opponents. Bama's avg. gain per carry in the 4th quarter is around 6 yards. Arkansas's chances are limited. I know the players play the game, but Bama fans are not completely sold on Shula yet although he has surrounded himself with quality assistants. If it comes down to coaching/play calling, Houston Nutt might have the edge.

Tennessee goes 0-2 in the SEC. LSU has loads of talent. I didn't see all of their game against ASU, but it looked to me like they relied too much on the prevent defense. I'm still not sure whether their last TD was actually a TD. It looked to me like the ball was moving around as the receiver slid out of the end zone. But, it's a play like that that propels a team. This will be LSUs first game in Baton Rouge since Katrina. If you know LSU fans, you know it will be a crazy scene. This one won't be close. (For the fourth straight week, I hate Tennessee. There's nothing in college football more obnoxious than 100,000 hillbillies singing "Rocking Top", but they won't bring that many to LSU. Where is JDaniel? I've been calling him out for 4 wks now.)

There aren't too many other good matchups in the SEC this week. LSU/Tenn will be the one to watch if you like an electric atmosphere. Bama/Ark should be a nuts & bolts type game for Bama to prove that it can win the games they are supposed to win.

I'll be looking outside the SEC at those matchups Kam highlighted. I love big intersectional games and there are still a few out there before teams get locked into their conference schedules. I watched that Colo./Colo St. game at the beginning of the season and the ending to that one was great. But, I didn't see the talent level that you see on a team like Miami.

I hope the Wash/ND game is as good as the coaching story. Wash is on the other side of the country from me, but from what I've read, the Huskies have a long way to go.

[dean_martin]

Breaking news: The LSU/Tenn game will be played Monday night in Baton Rouge due to weather concerns relating to Hurricane Rita. Baton Rouge is expecting tropical storm force winds and rain Saturday.

[topspeed]

It looks like that Trojan offense is unstoppable. Can Reggie Bush get any better? Where do all those receivers come from?

New Jersey (Dwayne Jarrett), Florida (Mike Williams), Tennessee (Patrick Turner), Cali (Steve Smith), and that's just our wide outs . With our offense, you have to account for the TE, RB, and FB as well.