GridironStuds 3-for-3 Pick’em Week 8 College Football

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

Hey now,  this more than just a fad.  Five weeks in and I have not suffered a losing week and this includes last week which saw me go 2-1 both picking the games and versus the spread.  My lone game pick loser was Georgia.  Coincidentally,  I picked LSU vs. the spread.  My lone spread loser was Wisconsin who totally crapped the bed vs. Michigan. I expected a Michigan win but not in the blowout fashion that they did.  All in all,  I am 11-4 on the season for all you vegas types.  I’m also 11-4 just picking the games straight up.  I’m surgical with it y’all.  Here’s this week’s crystal balls.

# Michigan v. #24 Michigan St. 

Michigan just had a huge prime time win last week over Wisconsin and it seems they are adding seats to their bandwagon.  Not too long ago,  folks were wondering if Harbaugh was the guy in Ann Arbor.  That not too long ago was this season after the Notre Dame game.  Last week I told you I was unsure about Michigan.  Their blowout win over Wisconsin last week does not change everything for me.  Wisconsin is a hurting team right now and Michigan teed off on them.  The Wolverines have piled up wins vs. Maryland, Northwestern, Nebraska, SMU and Western Michigan.  The only true test has been Notre Dame and they lost.  Listen folks,  Michigan is a good team but I don’t know that they are a touchdown favorite good on the road against a rival that has found some confidence.  I fully expect this Michigan v. Michigan St. to be a war that goes back and forth.  Ultimately,  I think Michigan wins but they’ll go through hell to get it.  Michigan St. has improved on the offensive line and they will pressure the passer.  That alone will keep them in this game.  The Spartans can and will run the ball vs. Michigan to keep this game close.  Wolverines win a close one 24-20.

#16 NC State v. #3 Clemson

NC State is undefeated and no one is really talking about them.  Last week they defeated a very good Boston College team 28-23.  The score would indicate that this was a close game but that’s a bit misleading.  At one point,  NC State had a 28-3 lead in the contest.  It seems they relaxed and let their minds wander onto this week’s contest vs. Clemson.  Since Boston College is no punk,  they kept fighting and drew close at 28-23 before it ended.  Nc State has not piled up a bunch of impressive wins but that’s hard to do this year with the ACC being down.  What they are doing is winning and if you watched them against BC last week,  you had to be impressed.  NC State can pressure the quarterback,  protect their quarterback and run the football.  That alone can keep you in the fight vs. anyone.  The Wolfpack rushed for 225 yards vs. a physical BC team and tacked on 308 yards passing to boot.  I don’t see NC State getting blown out.

Clemson got an ego inflating win two weeks ago vs. Wake Forest 63-3.  Now they have had two weeks to sit around and think about how good they are.  I hope Dabo Swinney has been getting the message across that NC State is not to be taken lightly because they very well can upset them. This is the same Clemson team that struggled mightily vs. Syracuse even before Trevor Lawrence got his neck rearranged.  Call me crazy but this seems like the kind of game that Clemson has struggled in in year’s past. Oddsmakers also have not done Clemson any favors here by putting in this huge line.  I expect NC State to come in feeling disrespected and fired up.  I like them in the upset over Clemson 26-23.

#22 Mississippi St. v. #5 LSU

Had LSU not lost to Florida earlier this season,  I might have been inclined to fade them in this spot.  They would be dealing with a really heavy head in this game were that the case but it’s not.  LSU got their wake up call in Gainesville and will be properly focused for this meeting with Mississippi St.  LSU is tough to run on and quite frankly,  that’s the only thing that Mississippi St. can do well.  LSU’s defensive weakness is in pass coverage and Miss. St. is not built to take advantage of it.  The Tigers also got their offensive mojo back against Georgia and I expect that to carry over into this contest.

Mississippi St. ended their two game SEC slide two weeks ago when they dominated Auburn.  That win may have been good or it might end up being bad.  The Bulldogs seemed rather happy after that game and may have lost sight of the fact that they have a one dimensional offense.  That one dimension does not play to the weakness of LSU.  Rushing stats will be hard to come by for Mississippi St. and when they can’t find them,  turnovers may be found instead.  The road ahead for Mississippi St. gets bumpy with Texas A&M and Alabama coming.  It’s going to be extra rough when they enter those games off of a humbling loss to Mississippi St.  Take LSU 31-20.

5 Big Things Week 7 College Football: Bitten Bulldog, Wet Badger and West Coast Swing

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

I’m going to make a brief run through the 5 Big Things This Week just to show you how fast we are moving through the season and also because I missed my Tuesday deadline. Now I’m running a hurry up offense in this column.  Why not,  no one else is huddling these days.  The waters got muddy this week as top ranked teams had grease on their feet and slipped from their perches.  Follow along as I talk about it in this week’s column.

A Tiger Bitten Bulldog Always Bleeds

Don’t try to sit there and act like you’re weren’t surprised.  You were probably at someone’s house or at a bar on Saturday watching this game and some dude who thinks he’s a football savant was telling you in the third quarter “I knew LSU was going to win.”  I hope you threw some really ice cold beer in his face (imported of course).  Though I picked Georgia to win this game,  I did say they would not cover the spread and boy did they not.  LSU came alive off of the Florida loss and took the Bulldogs’ dignity.  As someone who gets caught up in the schematics,  I must give a big thumbs up and a lot of credit for the LSU win to defensive coordinator Dave Aranda.  His move to a three man front vs. Georgia was everything.  All season long I have talked about how solid Georgia is up front.  Aranda figured,  why ram my head into a brick wall.  Aranda rushed one less guy,  dropped one extra in coverage to flood zones and make Jake Fromm do something he hasn’t had to do all year and that’s improvise.  The clean looks down field were all gone for Fromm and he became as confused as a Bourbon street straggler at 2 AM of a Saturday morning.  His inability to process the looks allowed the 3 man rush to eventually find him and take him down.  From time to time,  Aranda sent a fourth man from somewhere strange to speed up Fromm’s clock just in case Jake from State Farm thought he had insurance.  He did not and it opened up opportunities for LSU’s offense to play their style of game.  Perhaps a formula for beating Georgia has been released to the public.  I hope Florida was taking notes.

Wet Badgers Get A Washing

Cue up the Denny Green video.  They are who we thought they were but Michigan most definitely didn’t let them off the hook.  Coming into their matchup up with the Wolverines,  Wisconsin was already nursing a loss and some unspectacular performances against unranked football teams.  One was left to wonder what they would look like against a ranked opponent on the road.  Wonder no more.  I have talked several times this season about Wisconsin’s inexperience on defense and how we will finally get to see golden boy Jim Leonard’s true coaching ability.  As we should expect,  it needs more experience.  I won’t entirely judge Leonard off of this season just like it was unfair for many to judge him off of last year’s run with someone else’s players.  I am concerned about the defections by several defensive players prior to the season and the confusion I see in the back seven each week.  Perhaps they should have hung on to the departed and cast egos aside.  Michigan took full advantage of the chaos, particularly in the 2nd half,  as they racked up 25 points on the Badgers who could only counter with six of their own.  A Wolverine team built to run,  tallied up 320 through the air and ran away with the game in the third quarter.  Wisconsin can bounce back this week against Illinois or fall deeper in the man hole.  Illinois has been Jekyll and Hide this season.  Depending on which team shows up for the Fighting Illini,  the Badgers will either be on the road to recovery or headed off the beaten path.

West Coast Swing

What a fist fight we had out in Oregon.  The Pac-12’s game of the week lived up to they hype like a MMA match as the Huskies and Ducks traded punches for extended minutes in Autzen Stadium.  In the end,  Oregon learned some lessons from this season’s earlier failure like I thought they would and closed out the overtime period with a win.  It’s a shame that Oregon took that loss to Stanford earlier this year because a run of the table may be realistic.  Or not.  Part of the building process for Mario Cristobal in Eugene will be teaching his squad how to handle success.  Last week’s emotional win is greeted with this week’s challenge on the road vs. a surprising Mike Leach led Washington St. team.  The Huskies are a solid squad but as I stated in last week’s 3-for-3 predictions column,  too much praise was heaped on them because of Jake Browning.  Frankly,  Browning was pedestrian in this game as he’s been in all the big games this season.  Two of those games resulted in losses (Auburn and Oregon).  With Colorado next,  the highly publicized Husky signal caller is going to have to put some or all of this team on his back and crank out a strong performance to beat the Buffs or people will be talking.

Roller Coasters In South Beach

Nothing fits the saying “fluid situation” more than college football.  Just over a week ago,  Miami football and it’s fans were in the throws of elation because of the newly formed streak against arch rival Florida St.  While a bit perturbed by the predicament they found themselves in, Miami fans were quite pleased with how Coach Mark Richt and young signal caller N’Kosi Perry stormed back to defeat the Seminoles.  One week later,  the fanbase wants Richt’s play calling card revoked and Perry to return to the cold seat on the bench.  The Canes called on banished former starter Malik Rosier to come in and try to save the day but the lungs had take on too much water.  I don’t know what Miami’s record is against Virginia over the years but it just seems that the Cavaliers have been the source of several disappointing losses in Hurricane history.  Perhaps it’s memories of the final game in the Orange Bowl but once again,  here is ugly Virginia being a pimple on the ass of progress for the program.  The Cavaliers’ Mickey Mouse offense found enough cheese to circumvent the trap and run into their hole with the win.  A similar performance next week on a Friday Night at Boston College and the city of Miami will burn.  The Canes will call on Rosier to diffuse the situation and hold off the molotov cocktail fest brewing in the underbelly of paradise.  That’s an extreme amount of pressure to ride around town with in your glove box.  I hope Rosier has a concealed weapon’s permit.  I will take umbrage with how the Canes were quickly ousted from the Top 25 by pollsters.  Michigan St.’s resume includes a pair of losses to unranked opponents including one at home to Northwestern. Wisconsin lost at home to unranked BYU and was all types of non-competitive vs. Michigan.  Even Penn State is allowed to hang out in the teens without a legitimate win to their name and a home loss to previously unranked Michigan St. on their docket. Both of Miami’s losses came away from home and one to the #5 ranked team in the country.  You smelling fish here?

Tango and Cash

Saturday afternoon in Columbia, South Carolina,  a pair of Nick Saban’s old assistants knuckled up for the fifth time as opposing head coaches.  Jimbo Fisher and Will Muschamp were part of Saban’s all-star 2003 LSU staff that went on to win a national title.  As head coaches at Florida State and Florida,  Fisher and Muschamp dueled four times and Fisher got the better of it three times.  Well make it four.  Fisher has a better squad from a talent standpoint at A&M than Muschamp has in South Carolina.  You can begin your debates about who’s fault that is.  This was widely the situation when the two used to square off in the Sunshine State.  Unfortunately for Coach Champ,  there would be no 2012 style upset as Texas A&M dominated most of the contest and then held off the furious charge at the end from the Gamecocks.  You can say what you want about Jimbo Fisher’s ability to run a program but you can’t question him as a play caller. Fisher can dial em up like a teenage daughter with unlimited cellphone minutes.  Up 19-16 with 7:28 left in the 4th quarter,  Fisher ran the 4 minute offense to perfection and essentially salted the game away.  Texas A&M held the ball for almost five minutes and put the dagger in with a touchdown run to close the door on South Carolina’s bull run.  It was vintage Jimbo and something I am sure Will Muschamp has seen enough of.

Among Other Things…

I just can’t put my finger on it but I am not a buyer of the 2018 Texas Longhorns’ stock. A part of me thinks the win over Oklahoma has some flukish, outlier qualities to it.  I know they were hung over from the Sooners win vs. Baylor but I just see them losing once maybe twice before all is said and done this regular season.  Who’s coming with me?

I see folks trying to rain on Central Florida’s parade.  Hey,  let them live their life.  Deep down inside,  they probably know they wouldn’t drink a cup of water in either division of the SEC, Big-10 or any other major conference.  However,  how often does a school go on a 19 game win streak?  It may never happen again and in this day in age of likes, shares and retweets,  I give way to their annoying nature and figure nothing they say can be more irritating than the 280 character onslaught seeping daily from an account named @RealDonaldTrump

I am going to blame Auburn’s rocket dissent to can on the media.  Why not? You guys boosted up this Auburn team to a pedestal they could not stand on.  Now one slip has led to another and we have teams like Tennessee beating them in Auburn.  What else can you chalk this up to other than expectations?  I always say expectations are a mother and now we can expect the pitch forks and torches to come out for Malzahn.  Film at 11.

Florida continues to find ways to win and slide up the polls.  This week they were forced to sober up after they entered the Vanderbilt game hung over from the LSU toga party.  I guess the coffee was strong because not only did the Gators erase an 18 point deficit but we got a WWE Smackdown type showdown between head coach Dan Mullen and Vandy head coach Derek Mason in the “squared circle”.  With a dialogue that would have made Samuel L. Jackson cover his ears,  the match was lit and the Gators climbed out of the toilet to emerge Pine Sol clean.  Any dips into the commode water in two weeks vs. angry UGA and these Gators will be taking a turd ride to hell.

Search buyout clause on Twitter or Google and Bobby Petrino’s picture will wallpaper your screen.  With his fourth straight loss and fourth by double digits this season,  the Go Fund me party is getting started for Petrino’s exit from Red Bird City.  I always preach patience with head coaches but no one in that town will listen after two weeks of getting outscored 104-51.  A much needed bye week has arrived and if anyone in Louisville sees Petrino on the back of a motorcycle right now they won’t try to stop him.

 

 

 

 

GridironStuds 3-for-3 Pick’em Week 7 College Football

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

Well the wins keep coming and so do some surprises.  Last week this column and yours truly was 2-1 for your Vegas pleasures and 1-2 for your viewing pleasures.  My only loss against the spread came when Oklahoma threw away the real defensive game plan and subbed in the Scooby Doo one that was designed to give up 40+ points and lose by three points in the waning moments.  Mission accomplished.  For my surprise,  I was given some validation when Lincoln Riley made Oklahoma DC Mark Stoops walk the plank after the game. No surprises in my other two pick’ems.  I did pick Auburn to beat Mississippi St. but lose vs. the spread.  As I said in the column, it wouldn’t surprise me if Auburn lost.  Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech went as planned.  I expected a comfortable win for the Irish and they got that.  Notre Dame is good folks.  Try not to be mad about it.  On to this week’s action.

#7 Washington @ #17 Oregon

Just like I said I think Auburn is or was overrated,  I feel this same way about Washington.  Like Auburn,  Washington came into this season with a highly regarding quarterback.  Our football society and it’s media really adores quarterbacks.  So when Jake Browning came back for seemingly his 8th season as the Huskies signal caller love was thrown on the entire Washington football team.  I just don’t think they’re that good.  There is nothing remarkable about them up front and UCLA showed that last week.  UCLA’s not a good football team right now and they had their way at times with Washington.  I think the Huskies also don’t have dynamic playmakers at the skill positions.  That’s going to be an issue for them in this contest.  The biggest thing Washington has going is their quarterback and that’s not going to be enough on the road.

Oregon properly licked it’s wounds from the Stanford fiasco when it punched California in the face on the road last week. That was no task to sneeze on and it’s also what you want to see a good team do.  If you also remember back to that Stanford game,  Oregon was having their way with Stanford and fully on it’s way to blowing them out.  Oregon learned some valuable lessons in that contest and not just it’s players.  Oregon,  like Washington,  is unremarkable upfront but they are better at the WR and DB spots than Washington in my opinion.  I also think that Herbert is a better quarterback than Browning.  Despite that,  oddsmakers have made Washington the favorite and that’s all the motivation that Oregon needs.  Take the Ducks 31-24.

#2 Georgia @ #13 LSU

I have a lot of Florida fans reading this column each week.  Sorry guys,  I don’t see it for LSU here.  In the trenches,  Florida is not Georgia and LSU allowed Florida to win in that area last week.  That’s bad news for the Tigers.  I don’t believe in LSU’s ability to consistently penetrate the Georgia front to disrupt the running plays and I don’t believe in their ability to pressure Jake Frohm to force the necessary mistakes.  The only way to stop Georgia’s thick legged rushing attack is to stop them from getting downhill.  To do that,  LSU is going to have to load up on the five man fronts which will only lead to trouble when Georgia goes to the air and in particular play-action.  The bootleg passes to the backs out the backfield will also do it’s damage to LSU’s defense.  It would also be a measure of comfort if you were a Georgia hater if LSU was playing like the DBU they claim in the secondary but they’re not.  So, any mismatch upfront is going to be an issue for the secondary.

Georgia has been less than spectacular but they also have that lull you to sleep approach.  They won’t look like anything special for 35 minutes then all of a sudden you run out of energy trying to block and tackle them.  Once that happens,  it seems they are scoring 14 points each drive in the 4th quarter.  In every SEC game they have played,  Georgia has scored more in the 2nd half than they have in the first.  Watch that unfold again this week.  LSU will be hyped and festive in the first half of this game in front of the home crowd.  I would suggest they conserve their energy but they won’t.  Quietly,  UGA will administer doses of DeAndre Swift, Evander Holyfield Jr. and Mecole Hardman to make LSU sleepy then knock them out in the 4th.  Having said all of that,  I think oddsmakers spilled a little too much wine on this spread.  I like Georgia here but not by more than a TD as Vegas has suggested.  Georgia wins 26-21.

#15 Wisconsin @ #12 Michigan 

In the second of what we can call Big 10 showdowns this season,  two teams flying lower than they want to be meet up in The Big House.  Michigan almost sent all of Ann Arbor into turmoil last week when they let Northwestern hang around for an entire football game.  Michigan needs a Snicker bar because they aren’t who they are.  Maybe they are hungry.  I’ve watched Michigan several times this year and I don’t see the Michigan football that the hiring of Harbaugh would promise us.  Upfront,  the Wolverines are not physical enough.  They aren’t blowing open holes for backs,  they are ok in pass protection and defensively,  they are not ferocious enough.  Any game against Wisconsin will be a test of your toughness.  Perhaps Michigan can answer that challenge but I am not sure.  The saving grace for Michigan in this contest will be that they have a competent,  playmaking quarterback going up against a inexperienced secondary that has struggled.  The shine has worn off of wet behind the ears Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonard and now he’ll have to earn it.

Wisconsin is Wisconsin in the sense that they are getting the ground game attack that they want and need.  They are also getting timely passing and efficient play out of quarterback Alex Hornibrook.  This is necessary because Wisconsin is not Wisconsin defensively.  The Badgers have not yet faced an offense that I would call explosive and I’m not here to call the Wolverines TNT but Wisconsin has had their struggles.  The Badgers’ front is not getting the pressure we’ve been used to.  Wisconsin only has three sacks in the last three games.  They’ve also allowed those last three opponents to rush for over 100.  Wisconsin will need a couple of big plays by their defense in this road game to get a win and I don’t think they can get it.  Oddsmakers have lost their mind in my opinion thinking Michigan is 9.5 points better but they are not wrong in thinking that the Wolverines will win this game.  Look for some end of the game Shea Patterson heroics to get the Wolverines a narrow win.  Take Michigan 28-24.

 

 

Stock Up: The next wave of sophomores in South Florida

Chad Wilson

By: Jerry Williamson – GridironStuds Blog contributor
@JerryRecruiting

When you think about high school football in South Florida, you can throw out the old saying, “that underclassman should wait their turn”, because if you haven’t paid close attention over the past four seasons, these young studs are out-playing some of the best recruits in South Florida.

The stock up series will highlight the next wave of talent throughout the state of Florida that’s ready to surface and will eventually blossom into household names. This article spotlights five sophomores at (QB, RB, OL, DB, CB) that are putting on a show each Friday night and names you need to get to know.

Hialeah (FLA.) 21′ CB Antwan Gisme 

Note: Gisme (5-9, 166) is having a remarkable sophomore campaign for the (5-1) thoroughbreds this season. The little-known talent has shut down opposing teams go-to-wide receivers. Gisme has three interceptions on the season. Against the defending state champions, Champagnat Catholic he made it known he can perform against notable talent. Gisme picked off one pass and blanketed his side of the field.

Pahokee (FLA.) 21′ DB Geoffrey Mckelton  

Note: Mckelton, a Florida Fire standout, stands 6-feet, 165-pounds that have recorded 15 tackles, 3 pass breakups, 1 defensive touchdown, and 3 interceptions for 142 yards this season. Mckelton sports a 3.7 weighted GPA and has a star-studded bloodline consisted of cornerback Janoris Jenkins (New York Giants) and defensive lineman Pernell McPhee (Washington Redskins) of the National Football League. The University of Miami is showing interest according to Geoffrey McKelton.

Gulliver Prep (FLA.) 21′ ATH Yulkeith Brown 

Note: Brown (5-10, 164) is on track to be named first-team all-county and all-state. In 6-games the emerging star has amassed over 900 all-purpose and 10 all-purpose touchdowns along with an average over 20-yards per touch. Brown is a highlight reel waiting to happen and ran for 150 yards and two touchdowns vs. Champagnat Catholic.

The Benjamin School (FLA.) 21′ QB Santino Marucci 

Note: How talented is Marucci? Last fall as a freshman he was named a top 10 linebacker in South Florida via Rising Stars. Fast forward a year later, he’s one of the hottest dual threat quarterbacks throughout the sunshine state. Through 5-games this season Marucci (6-1, 195) has his team undefeated at 5-0. The dual-threat has accumulated 14 touchdowns and no interceptions along with over 900 all-purpose yards from scrimmage. He was named a Rising Star last season and he’s certainly living up to expectations.

Homestead (FLA.) 21′ OL Jarvis Poole 

Note: The Broncos are (4-1) on the season behind the power and strength of up-and-coming talent, Jarvis Poole. Poole standing 5-foot-11, 275-pounds may not stand 6-foot-3 but he certainly packs a punch and creates running lanes on Friday nights. The unsung talent has averaged two pancakes per game (based on the film) and allowed one sack.

5 Big Things Week 6 College Football: Nole Surrender, Tiger Memories, RedRum Rivalry

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

The action is getting hot and heavy in the 2018 college football season as we start moving into the rivalry games and the stakes start getting high.  With that,  we get surprises,  upsets and muscle flexing.  I’ll address those things this week in this column.  Before I do that,  I hope you’ve been paying attention to the 3-for-3 article I’ve been writing every week.  I have not had a losing week yet.  Clap it up for your boy.  Let’s take a look at what week 6 provided us.

Nole Surrender

It’s a rivalry game so you know what that means.  Well many people forgot going into the annual Florida St. vs. Miami fist fight and if they bet on the game they were sad.  The Canes were double digits for the first time in many years and on the surface,  it only seemed right.  The Seminoles started off the year as an abject disaster.  From the lethal simplicity to the beatdown in Syracuse to the backpack,  there was little reason to have respect for Florida St. other than the fact that this is the state of Florida and football pride is a big deal.

I tried to caution the Twitter-verse about the dangers of the Canes overlooking the Seminoles leading up to kickoff.  While I was surprised that Florida St. held a lead at the half and into the 3rd quarter,  I was not shocked.  Rivalry games have a way of producing these kind of outcomes.  I did figure that sooner or later,  Miami would make their run but when the score got to 27-7 midway through the third,  my caution flags went up.  I began to think about the ramifications of such a loss for the Miami program,  the players and my Twitter account.  Fortunately,  Miami mustered up all the strength of the Canes of old.  With that,  they stormed back into the contest like Jason Voorhees comes back from the dead in every Friday the 13th movie you’ve ever watched.  21 unanswered left Florida St. questioning their ability to win a big game.

The game speed was as fast as I have seen on film between two teams this season.  It really reminded me of the 1989 meeting between Florida St. and Miami that left such an impression on my teen mind at the time.  Had this Florida St. team showed up for all of their games this season,  their record would be undoubtedly different. Both teams’ defensive lines dominated and forced the offenses into a bevy of mistakes.  For Miami,  the door is open for them to run the table up to the ACC Championship game and for Florida St.,  the fight will be to finish the season above .500 with some tough ball games coming up.

Thanks for the Memories Tigers

When the Gators and the Tigers hook up there’s always a chance you will see something great.  I had the pleasure of attending this game in person on Saturday and I don’t think I have ever seen the Swamp that packed both inside and out.  Walking around outside of the stadium before the game,  I remember think to myself “there’s no way that everyone outside of this stadium is going to fit inside of this stadium.”  Perhaps it did happen because the announced attendance was just over 90,000 and it sounded like it.

LSU came out in abnormal LSU fashion as they mixed up their plays in the most unpredictable way and moved down the field like water vs. the Gators in their first possession.  If you were a Florida fan,  you had to take a deep breath and think to yourself that this was not normal.  LSU does not behave in this way.  Florida failed to answer and once again,  LSU moved down the field with relative ease.  Ultimately,  the Gators would force a turnover with pressure,  something that ended up becoming the theme of the game.

LSU would eventually settle into their mundane offensive selves and slowly,  Florida would impose their will.  With Tim Tebow and several members of the 2008 Gators on hand, Florida would smack the cajun dust off of LSU’s SEC and college football playoff hopes.  The sturdy ladder LSU put in place towards their goals after the Auburn win got hit with a greasy rung when Louisiana native Brad Stewart scampered into the endzone with a pick six off of Joe Burrow.  Per usual,  rugged defense was on display from both sides in this game and it has been the hallmark of success for both programs in this 2018 season.  It seemed to be a bigger win for a Florida program that has seemingly had it’s head held under water ever since Urban Meyer’s heart palpitations.  Now the trick is to handle success adequately enough to actual obtain a true measure of it.

RedRum Rivalry

While I wasn’t shocked by the 2nd half lead for Florida St. in their game vs. Miami,  I was shocked by virtually everything that happened in this Red River rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma.  This game was the only one I lost in my 3-for-3 this week and none of what happened made sense.  First of all,  the defensive game plan for the Sooners baffled me.  I guess I wasn’t the only one because the loss resulted in a pink slip for DC Mike Stoops.  The Sooners have been at their best defensively this season when they have lined up in three man fronts and sent pressure.  Versus Texas,  the defensive plan turned into a four man front with occasional three man fronts mixed with little to no pressure.  As a result,  Longhorn QB Sam Ehlinger was sacked only once and enjoyed his best game yet this season with 314 yards passing and 2 TDs.

Despite amassing 24 points against his defense and a truck load of yards going into the half,  Stoops did not adjust tactics in half #2 and Sooner fans were treated to another 24 points piled up by Texas on their beloved.  Down 45-24 late,  the Sooners did manage to come barking back and tie the game near the end of regulation. Once again,  the Sooners’ defense came up lame and allowed Texas to hook’em with a late field goal.  It was definitely a much needed win for a Texas program looking to reclaim some past glory.  In front of a sold out crowd and more importantly,  a solid group of recruits,  Texas won for the first time since 2015 to give themselves a tremendous pendulum swing in their favor.  As mentioned,  the the loss left a casualty in the Sooners’ staff as Lincoln Riley gave Stoops his walking papers. Ex East Carolina head coach Ruffin McNeil will assume Stoops’ duties.

Bowed Back Bulldogs

It had been a rough couple of weeks for the Mississippi St. Bulldogs.  After splashing into the 2018 season with all the giddiness of a moonshine party,  the Bulldogs found a fly in their drink in the form of Kentucky and Florida.  Mississippi St. is no punk however,  so it only stood to reason that they were going to straighten up their back at some point.  Saturday Night vs. visiting Auburn appeared to be the ample time to do so.  Lose three SEC games in a row and you can kind of kiss your season good bye and that was what the Bulldogs were facing.  This was also what the Auburn Tigers were walking into.  So it should come as no surprise to anyone that these dogs were biting.

Mississippi St. was the wrong opponent for Auburn to face.  Heading out on the road to face a desperate opponent who’s prone to being physical has it’s nightmarish qualities.  The Bulldogs muffled Auburn’s screams and terrorized them for 60 minutes.  Auburn entered this game having trouble moving the ball on the ground.  Mississippi St. is not the place you go to fix your running game.  Needless to say,  the mechanic was not in as Auburn’s 90 yards rushing contributed to their offense only managing three field goals.  The Bulldogs countered that with their revved up rushing engine cranking out 349 yards on the ground enroute to the convincing 23-9 victory.

The 2nd SEC loss undoubtedly puts Auburn out of the SEC West title race and leaves them wondering what they are playing for the rest of the way.  The expectation coming in was that Auburn could challenge Alabama for the crown this year.  At this point that seemed absurd but it also could leave Auburn with a tattered mindset that Gus Malzahn must carefully manage.

Altered States

I alerted you a couple of weeks ago to a disturbing trend I was observing with Stanford this season.  Despite having a Heisman Trophy candidate at running back,  the Cardinal could not really block for him.  What Stanford appeared to be better at was pass protection and that’s not really Stanford’s game.  To their credit,  Stanford has thrown the ball better than in year’s past and it has bailed them out,  most notably in their game vs. Oregon.  Were it not for their late game heroics in Eugene,  Stanford would have been swallowing their third straight loss of the season.  Instead,  they will have to settle for having been blown out in back to back weeks and giving up an average of 36 points per game over the last three. When Stanford can’t run well,  they apparently can’t stop people and so Utah took full advantage.

If Stanford does not find a way back to their bread and butter they will be left eating soup for the rest of the season.  Though they are 3-3,  Arizona St. is a dangerous opponent up next for Stanford with Washington coming next.  David Shaw has never really faced any pressure at the head of Stanford’s program but four or more losses in a season could start things rolling in the wrong direction come 2019.  The Pac-12 is in a weakened state with USC down and a number of new hires.  This is a situation that Stanford should be taking advantage of but instead,  we have this.

This and That

Thursday Night,  Georgia Tech ran up the rushing yards like a drunk runs up a bar tab vs. Louisville.  542 yards on the ground resulted in 542,000 searches for “Bobby Petrino’s buyout” on Google.  To save you some time,  it’s $14 million.  That represents a sum that history would indicate that Louisville would not be willing to part with.  So for all of you with the red ass,  settle down and support your red birds.

Quietly and under the cover of Big Ten type gray clouds,  Michigan St.’s program is receding like a 45 year old hairline.  The Spartans are 3-2 and the list of wins are not impressive.  A loss to Northwestern on Saturday might get things stirred up in East Lansing.  Should a trigger get squeezed,  who might be a candidate for the job?  Credit to Ohio St. for locking up OC Ryan Day but Greg Schiano is still is unprotected and East Lansing is far enough a way from Knoxville.

Speaking of Ohio St.,  apparently Urban Meyer had a health issue at the game on Saturday……. I’m just saying.

Alabama coach Nick Saban chastised the students and fanbase last week for their poor attendance to the big Louisiana Lafayette matchup in Bryant Denny Stadium.  This week they poured a 40 ounce on Arkansas by the half (41-14) and cruised to a 65-31 victory.  With Missouri coming to Tuscaloosa next week,  it might be standing room only in the dorms during game time once again.  That Coke can is in trouble at the press conference.

South Florida running back and former Florida Gator Jordan Cronkite put up some insane rushing numbers on Saturday vs. U.Mass.  Cronkite exploded on the scene with 302 yards on just 22 carries vs. the Minutemen.  The total equaled exactly the amount of yards he had in two seasons with the Gators before transferring after the 2016 season.  He may be one to keep an eye on the rest of the way.

 

 

GridironStuds 3-for-3 Pick’em Week 6 College Football

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

Week 6! That doesn’t even seem right coming out of my mouth but here we are.  We are halfway through the college football season and flying like the speed of light. Weekly we are searching for someone or anyone to knock off the four Mount Rushmore of programs currently sitting atop the rankings in college football (Alabama, Clemson, Georgia & Ohio St.) A couple of those teams that may be poised to slide into a spot should their be a slip at the top are featured in this week’s column.  Last week,  you Vegas types were treated to profits with a 2-1 record as I picked point spread winners with West Virginia and Notre Dame.  I was right on all three games in terms of who was going to win but Ohio St. made things too interesting and was my only loss vs. the spread.  Overall in this column,  I am 7-2 vs. the odds and 8-1 picking straight up. So without further adieu, let’s get into the picking.

Texas @ Oklahoma 

I know folks,  you want to believe in Tom Herman and the Longhorns so bad that it hurts.  Believe in them too much this week and the pain will be all yours.  We can all see that Texas is moving in the right direction but believing that they are going to go into the Cotton Bowl and knock off the Sooners would be too soon.  They aren’t there yet people.  Texas is getting solid offensive line play and that will help them in this contest but I don’t see them being able to pick up the Sooner blitzes enough to make Sam Ehlinger comfortable.  I am also not seeing enough of a running game to disturb Oklahoma’s defensive plans.  Texas has also played admirably on defense to this point but they have not faced the bevy of skill that Oklahoma is going to set in front of them on Saturday.  It will be a bit of shock for the Longhorns and I am not sure they can handle it.

Oklahoma flexed it’s muscle last week against Baylor 66-33 after a few questions marks popped up after the narrow Army win.  Good teams do stuff like that and Oklahoma is good.  Do they have deficiencies?  Sure like all teams not named Alabama do but they are not glaring enough for Texas to take advantage.  What I see here is an extremely talented quarterback in Kyler Murray that is going to be one giant headache for those boys out of Austin.  Texas is not equipped to deal with his passing and running capabilities.  I see any number of physical mismatches for Texas so unless Oklahoma’s coaching staff feels like laying an egg,  I don’t see how Texas makes it to the finish like of this one close enough to touch a Sooner.  Take Oklahoma 41-17.

Auburn @ Mississippi St. 

Auburn once again has provided a solid football team for the War Eagle hopeful.  The problem for the Tigers is the amount of love that was thrown their way coming into the 2018 season.  I have often spoken on how expectations change things.  That is the case for Auburn at this point.  They were oversold and it cost them in the game vs. LSU.  One can only hope that the loss adjusted their mindset but when you watch the struggles last week vs. Southern Miss,  you have to wonder. This trip into Starkville comes at a bad time.  Auburn is not playing their best ball and they are facing a Mississippi St. team that will be fighting for their season.  Auburn has the decided edge in skill positions but they don’t have the edge on the line of scrimmage.  I think the trench warfare is going to be tough for the Tigers.

We know the stakes for Mississippi St.  It’s amazing how much one week in college football can change everything.  Last week the Bulldogs could have knocked off Florida and restored order after the disappointing loss to Kentucky.  Now with back to back SEC losses,  the Bulldogs are looking to avoid steering their 2018 season into a ditch.  With this hanging around their necks,  I see Mississippi St. playing like a wounded animal.  This is the 2nd week in a row that they are playing host to a big SEC foe and the Bulldogs will give everything they got.  I fully expect them to turn this into a slugfest and that can turn this into a marathon.  The oddsmakers got this one right making Auburn only a 3.5 point favorite.  We are looking at a pretty good game in my opinion and one that I wouldn’t be surprised if Auburn lost.  With that said,  I think one of Auburn’s playmakers on the outside comes up with a big play late to give the Tigers a narrow win.   Take Auburn 24-21.

Notre Dame @ Virginia Tech 

I totally understand people not people not getting on the Notre Dame bandwagon.  Hell we all hate the incessant love they have received in the past for seemingly no reason.  We’ve also been duped before by supposedly strong Irish squads that go out and get completely handled by the big boys.  Well that’s not the picture I get here this week.  This Notre Dame team might be for real (I’m still in wait and see mode) but for this week,  they are good enough.  Notre Dame is winning where it counts and that is in the trenches.  Adding accurate and competent quarterback play has further bumped up their profile.  Gradually, they are adding more dynamic skill and the Irish are able to do things like they did last week.  In year’s past,  that Notre Dame vs. Stanford matchup would have been a last minute field goal game. Now,  Notre Dame has the pieces to vanquish an opponent earlier.  Virginia Tech is that kind of opponent.  Unless Notre Dame is too drunk off of last week’s success,  I don’t see why they don’t beat Tech by double digits.

Virginia Tech has a solid football team but they don’t know enough about themselves right now.  The opening night win against Florida St. felt good but watching the rest of the Noles’ season has knocked some of the flavor off of that meal. Along the way,  games vs. William & Mary and Old Dominion have not tested their worth and have only served to weaken them as the loss to Old Dominion most certainly did. Perhaps the Duke win was something to hang their hat on but it’s hard for them to know that at the moment.  I think this Hokies team is still trying to find themselves and that’s a bad place to be against a Notre Dame team that is solid in all phases of the game.  If Tech was more dynamic at the skill positions I could give them a shot here but they’re not.  Eventually,  the Irish will impose their will.  Take Notre Dame 24-14.