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Week 1 recap -
BYU -4 W
B.C. -5.5 W
Cal -6 W
Pitt -20.5 W
Tex Tech -9 W
N.D. -1.5 L
Duke +4 L
Fla St -3.5 L
Week 2
Virginia Tech +13 @ LSU - LSU perennially beats lesser teams to a pulp, but typically plays the better teams much closer. The Hokies didn't look all that great last week against East Carolina but I think you can chalk that up to being complacent and maybe looking ahead a bit. They did hold them to only 7 pts though. LSU, of course, beat a lesser team to a pulp. I would expect Virginia Tech to be a little more up for LSU and will give the Tigers a little more competition than Mississippi St did last week. Don't expect V.T. to help LSU out with 7 TO's like the Bulldogs did either.
Iowa -21.5 vs Syracuse - Man, Syracuse looked really bad at home vs the Washington Huskies, who probably aren't all that great really. The Huskies rolled up over 300 yds rushing and held Syracuse to only 8..... 29 rushes for 8 yds??? I hope that's a misprint. Meanwhile, Iowa was racking up 250 yds rushing of their own against N. Illinois while holding the Huskies to only 21 mainly because of the -31 yds rushing by one of the N. Ill QB's. I don't think Iowa is all that great either, but if Washington can beat Syracuse by 30 pts on the road I gotta believe Iowa can do the same at home. Keep in mind that Syracuse finished last year ranked 102nd in scoring and 110th in overall offense and 107th in total defense and 110th against the run. Looks like more of the same this year.
Hawaii -28 @ Louisiana Tech - Hawaii opened up with a nice 63-6 win over N. Colorado. Scores in the 50's and 60's could be commonplace this year. In fact, they scored over 50 pts 5 times last year with 4 of those games going over 60 pts! One of those 60 pt games was against Louisiana Tech. Final score .... 61-17.....a 44 pt margin of victory. Of course that was in Hawaii but hey, it's only -28 this time.
TCU +9.5 @ Texas - Texas better be ready because I think they're going to have another game on their hands this week. I'm not sure they're ready for this. TCU has nine starters returning on a defense that ranked second in the nation in total defense last year and third in scoring defense. Texas lost 3 games last year (Ohio St, Kansas St and Texas A&M) and had a couple other real close calls with Nebraska and Texas Tech, and then had to come from behind to nip Iowa by 2 in the Alamo Bowl so they are certainly not invincible. If Texas plays like they did last week they are liable to lose this one outright.
Penn St. -17.5 vs Notre Dame - For some reason, I was stupid enough to pick Notre Dame over Georgia Tech last week. I learn quick though. What did Notre Dame end up with...about 120 yds of total offense and 3 pts? At home? That team is in bad shape and now they get an even tougher foe and on the road.
Boise St -2.5 @ Washington - Washington may have looked good against Syracuse but I wouldn't get too excited yet. Boise St is 33-5 SU over the last 3 yrs. They went 16-0 last year and beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Washington's record over the past 3 yrs? 1-10 in '04, 2-9 in '05 and 5-7 in '06. I guess they are improving but not enough for this spot I'm afraid.
Virginia -17 vs Duke - I said last week that if Duke couldn't win, or at least be competitive, against UConn then it was going to be another long year. Guess what? A crappy UConn team wins by 31. The last 3 yrs scores between Virginia and Duke have all been lopsided as in 37-0, 38-7 and 37-16.
West Virginia -24 @ Marshall - Miami rushed for 260 yds against Marshall last week and beat them by 28. West Virginia scored 62 last week and rushed for over 300 yds. In fact, they amassed a total of 542 yds against W. Michigan. Probably a pretty similar result here.
BYU -4 W
B.C. -5.5 W
Cal -6 W
Pitt -20.5 W
Tex Tech -9 W
N.D. -1.5 L
Duke +4 L
Fla St -3.5 L
Week 2
Virginia Tech +13 @ LSU - LSU perennially beats lesser teams to a pulp, but typically plays the better teams much closer. The Hokies didn't look all that great last week against East Carolina but I think you can chalk that up to being complacent and maybe looking ahead a bit. They did hold them to only 7 pts though. LSU, of course, beat a lesser team to a pulp. I would expect Virginia Tech to be a little more up for LSU and will give the Tigers a little more competition than Mississippi St did last week. Don't expect V.T. to help LSU out with 7 TO's like the Bulldogs did either.
Iowa -21.5 vs Syracuse - Man, Syracuse looked really bad at home vs the Washington Huskies, who probably aren't all that great really. The Huskies rolled up over 300 yds rushing and held Syracuse to only 8..... 29 rushes for 8 yds??? I hope that's a misprint. Meanwhile, Iowa was racking up 250 yds rushing of their own against N. Illinois while holding the Huskies to only 21 mainly because of the -31 yds rushing by one of the N. Ill QB's. I don't think Iowa is all that great either, but if Washington can beat Syracuse by 30 pts on the road I gotta believe Iowa can do the same at home. Keep in mind that Syracuse finished last year ranked 102nd in scoring and 110th in overall offense and 107th in total defense and 110th against the run. Looks like more of the same this year.
Hawaii -28 @ Louisiana Tech - Hawaii opened up with a nice 63-6 win over N. Colorado. Scores in the 50's and 60's could be commonplace this year. In fact, they scored over 50 pts 5 times last year with 4 of those games going over 60 pts! One of those 60 pt games was against Louisiana Tech. Final score .... 61-17.....a 44 pt margin of victory. Of course that was in Hawaii but hey, it's only -28 this time.
TCU +9.5 @ Texas - Texas better be ready because I think they're going to have another game on their hands this week. I'm not sure they're ready for this. TCU has nine starters returning on a defense that ranked second in the nation in total defense last year and third in scoring defense. Texas lost 3 games last year (Ohio St, Kansas St and Texas A&M) and had a couple other real close calls with Nebraska and Texas Tech, and then had to come from behind to nip Iowa by 2 in the Alamo Bowl so they are certainly not invincible. If Texas plays like they did last week they are liable to lose this one outright.
Penn St. -17.5 vs Notre Dame - For some reason, I was stupid enough to pick Notre Dame over Georgia Tech last week. I learn quick though. What did Notre Dame end up with...about 120 yds of total offense and 3 pts? At home? That team is in bad shape and now they get an even tougher foe and on the road.
Boise St -2.5 @ Washington - Washington may have looked good against Syracuse but I wouldn't get too excited yet. Boise St is 33-5 SU over the last 3 yrs. They went 16-0 last year and beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Washington's record over the past 3 yrs? 1-10 in '04, 2-9 in '05 and 5-7 in '06. I guess they are improving but not enough for this spot I'm afraid.
Virginia -17 vs Duke - I said last week that if Duke couldn't win, or at least be competitive, against UConn then it was going to be another long year. Guess what? A crappy UConn team wins by 31. The last 3 yrs scores between Virginia and Duke have all been lopsided as in 37-0, 38-7 and 37-16.
West Virginia -24 @ Marshall - Miami rushed for 260 yds against Marshall last week and beat them by 28. West Virginia scored 62 last week and rushed for over 300 yds. In fact, they amassed a total of 542 yds against W. Michigan. Probably a pretty similar result here.
Also, here's a sample of some of their scores last year, all losses - @ Neb 49-10, @Tex A&M 45-14, @ Clemson 51-0, @Boise St 55-14, @ San Jose St 44-10, @Hawaii 61-17, vs Nevada 42-0, @N.M. St. 50-23. The 3 wins were against Nicholls St, Utah St and N. Texas. It looks like the poor slobs play a lot of road games and lose by big numbers. Maybe they'll be better this year with all those starters back (16 of them!)
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