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Finally! I'm getting tired of baseball.
First pick of the season!
Top pick (and my CFB Game of the Week contest pick)
Southern Mississippi -10.5 vs Louisiana-Lafayette - Larry Fedora comes over as head coach for S. Mississippi after being OC at Oklahoma St. for 3 years, where his Cowboys averaged 33.4 points and 484.1 yards per game last year. In 2004 he was the OC at Florida where his offense led the league in a bunch of categories. He will be implementing his no-huddle, spread offense philosophy here as well. He'll be breaking in a couple of raw QB's, but word so far is that it's gone pretty well. Junior RB Damion Fletcher returns after his 1,586 yards, 15 TD effort in 2007. And the Golden Eagles always seem to field a decent defense.
Run-happy Louisiana-Lafayette ranked 7th in the nation last year in rushing, but had a pretty paltry passing game that ranked almost last in Division 1-A, resulting in a dismal 3-9 record. They will welcome back senior QB Michael Desormeaux, who is a huge running threat with over 1100 yds rushing last year, as well as returning senior RB Tyrell Fenroy who was good for over 1000 yds rushing himself. They'll have some holes to fill though as both TE's, DE's and 3 out of 4 starters in the secondary are gone. And it doesn't help to have several key players sitting out spring practice due to academics (last year's leading receiver Derrick Smith, backup RB Deon Wallace, the only returning member of the secondary free safety Gerren Blount).
The last 7 match-ups since 1994 tells you something about the disparity in quality of these two programs. Southern Miss has won all 7 by a combined score of 316-92. And it's been even worse lately, as the past 4 match-ups have been by an average score of 46-3.
My thoughts are that Fedora will have the troops ready, the no-huddle and dual passing/running threat will keep the Ragin' Cajuns off guard, the Golden Eagle defense can key on the run due to the lack of passing game and we'll see another blow-out victory in this match-up.
# 2 pick - (this was my second contest choice)
Kansas -36 vs Fla. International - Kansas returns a butt-load of starters but faces a tougher schedule this year as they've got both Texas and Oklahoma, who they were fortunate enough to have missed last year. They faced this same team last year in game 4 and annihilated them 55-3. Similar opponents were pummeled also (Central Mich 52-7, SE Louisiana 62-0, Baylor 58-10, Iowa State 45-7). Hell, they even beat Nebraska by 37 pts.
#3 pick - (this would have been my third contest choice if it had been -3)
Michigan -3 vs Utah - The line is now at 3, at my book anyway. I didn't like the hook very much, but at -3 I am much more confident in backing Michigan. Rich Rodriquez comes over from West Virginia, where he had huge success, and I think he'll have the troops fired up...especially after what happened last year to start the Wolverine season. They will not let that happen again, I assure you. I think they come out exceptionally focused and ready to play. There will be no reason to overlook the foe this time, as Utah brings a decent team in. These current Utes have never witnessed a venue like this, for sure. Especially under this year's circumstances, good luck winning here guys.
Washington St. +7 vs Oklahoma St. - Nice home dog getting 7 big ones here. Even with their high-octane offense last year, Oklahoma St. was still just 7-6, and they were just 2-4 on the road. They've got a suspect defense and have now lost their brilliant OC. The Cougars can be tough at home and were 4-2 there last year.
First pick of the season!
Top pick (and my CFB Game of the Week contest pick)
Southern Mississippi -10.5 vs Louisiana-Lafayette - Larry Fedora comes over as head coach for S. Mississippi after being OC at Oklahoma St. for 3 years, where his Cowboys averaged 33.4 points and 484.1 yards per game last year. In 2004 he was the OC at Florida where his offense led the league in a bunch of categories. He will be implementing his no-huddle, spread offense philosophy here as well. He'll be breaking in a couple of raw QB's, but word so far is that it's gone pretty well. Junior RB Damion Fletcher returns after his 1,586 yards, 15 TD effort in 2007. And the Golden Eagles always seem to field a decent defense.
Run-happy Louisiana-Lafayette ranked 7th in the nation last year in rushing, but had a pretty paltry passing game that ranked almost last in Division 1-A, resulting in a dismal 3-9 record. They will welcome back senior QB Michael Desormeaux, who is a huge running threat with over 1100 yds rushing last year, as well as returning senior RB Tyrell Fenroy who was good for over 1000 yds rushing himself. They'll have some holes to fill though as both TE's, DE's and 3 out of 4 starters in the secondary are gone. And it doesn't help to have several key players sitting out spring practice due to academics (last year's leading receiver Derrick Smith, backup RB Deon Wallace, the only returning member of the secondary free safety Gerren Blount).
The last 7 match-ups since 1994 tells you something about the disparity in quality of these two programs. Southern Miss has won all 7 by a combined score of 316-92. And it's been even worse lately, as the past 4 match-ups have been by an average score of 46-3.
My thoughts are that Fedora will have the troops ready, the no-huddle and dual passing/running threat will keep the Ragin' Cajuns off guard, the Golden Eagle defense can key on the run due to the lack of passing game and we'll see another blow-out victory in this match-up.
# 2 pick - (this was my second contest choice)
Kansas -36 vs Fla. International - Kansas returns a butt-load of starters but faces a tougher schedule this year as they've got both Texas and Oklahoma, who they were fortunate enough to have missed last year. They faced this same team last year in game 4 and annihilated them 55-3. Similar opponents were pummeled also (Central Mich 52-7, SE Louisiana 62-0, Baylor 58-10, Iowa State 45-7). Hell, they even beat Nebraska by 37 pts.
#3 pick - (this would have been my third contest choice if it had been -3)
Michigan -3 vs Utah - The line is now at 3, at my book anyway. I didn't like the hook very much, but at -3 I am much more confident in backing Michigan. Rich Rodriquez comes over from West Virginia, where he had huge success, and I think he'll have the troops fired up...especially after what happened last year to start the Wolverine season. They will not let that happen again, I assure you. I think they come out exceptionally focused and ready to play. There will be no reason to overlook the foe this time, as Utah brings a decent team in. These current Utes have never witnessed a venue like this, for sure. Especially under this year's circumstances, good luck winning here guys.
Washington St. +7 vs Oklahoma St. - Nice home dog getting 7 big ones here. Even with their high-octane offense last year, Oklahoma St. was still just 7-6, and they were just 2-4 on the road. They've got a suspect defense and have now lost their brilliant OC. The Cougars can be tough at home and were 4-2 there last year.
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