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Washington +14
Yeah, Washington ran out of gas last week where they played a motivated Stanford team who was catching them in a horrible spot after beating USC the week before but so what? I’ve watched Washington play now on four different occasions and can tell you that they are one of the most improved football teams in the entire country. Steve Sarkisian has instilled a new attitude in this program, every time I watch one of his press conferences I come away really impressed with what he has to say about what he and his players are trying to achieve. Expect an outstanding effort from Washington this week as they travel to play at Notre Dame. Most teams typically play very well at Notre Dame because many of the players on the opposing team grew up watching Notre Dame games and dreamed of what it would be like to play one day in the same stadium they grew up watching Notre Dame play in. Well the Washington players get that chance this week and there will be no one more fired up than QB Jake Locker, who means as much to his football team as does any player does to their team in the country. Locker is extremely versatile. One play he can run a zone read, the next a roll out pass, and he has also dramatically improved his pocket passing. I’ve said before there is nothing more difficult for an opposing team to defend against that a team with a mobile QB. Apparently everyone but Martin Blank has noticed, but Notre Dame’s defense is having some issues stopping opposing offenses and I think that trend continues this weekend. RB Christian Polk (3.8 ypc, 1 TD) is serviceable and WR’s James Johnson (19 rec, 2 TD), Jermaine Kearse (11 rec, 1 TD) and D’Andre Goodwin (8 rec) are all very capable. Notre Dame’s offense comes into this game with some major missing pieces. I mentioned last week how big it is that WR Michael Floyd isn’t in the line up and QB Jimmy Clausen is still battling turf toe which has affected not only his mobility but also his accuracy. RB Armando Allen should play this week, but he may not be able to kick it into high gear coming off an injury. As long as the Washington defense can focus on WR/RB Golden Tate they should have a shot to make this game very competitive, and competitive is exactly what I think they will be on Saturday.
Michigan State PK
It’s been interesting following the line movement this week of this game as Michigan State was as much as a 2.5 point dog on Sunday and now they are favored by over a field goal. What this line movement tells me is that the injury to Michigan’s freshman QB Tate Forcier is more severe than many are leading on. This is especially important to note because Michigan will be traveling on the road for the first time this season and they are a team comprised of mainly freshman and sophomores. Most people look at Michigan State and they see the 1-3 record and will dismiss this team, but its games like this where a team’s back is against the wall where you will see the team’s best performance. You’ve read some about the Michigan State team feeling disrespected by Michigan and I think that is part of why you will see MSU’s best effort, hell MSU practiced on a Sunday night which is very rare for most programs to do. I’ve also read that MSU has a clock in the athletic department that counts down the days, hours and minutes leading up to the Michigan game. Michigan’s biggest rival is Ohio State, not Michigan. I’ve read that MSU Head Coach Mark Dantonio is going to let Kirk Cousins start, although Keith Nichol will play. I’m not a big fan of the two QB system but fortunately for MSU they have a handful of very underrated playmakers. RB’s Caulton Ray (4.3 ypc, 1 TD), Larry Caper (4.5 ypc, 2 TD) and Glenn Wiston (4.2 ypc) have all performed well so far this season. WR’s Blair White (23 rec, 5 TD), B.J. Cunningham (19 rec, 3 TD) and Mark Dell (11 rec, 1 TD) are all explosive pass catchers. The Michigan defense facing a team with these types of playmakers while playing on the road for the first time is going to get exposed even more than they did vs. Notre Dame and Indiana. I’m not sure the Michigan offense will be able to keep up in this game without Forcier being 100%. While RB Carlos Brown (8.4 ypc, 3 TD) and Brandon Minor (5.7 ypc, 2 TD) are talented veterans and QB Denard Robinson (6.2 ypc, 3 TD) runs well, Robinson has only completed 4 passes so far this season. If MSU can make Michigan one dimensional in this game they have a chance to create some real separation
Miami FL +6.5
Miami was beaten down last week in Blacksburg, no doubt about it. Va. Tech played well and I tip my cap to them. This week, though, you will see a different Miami team that will come out motivated to defend their home turf against national power Oklahoma. Much has been made about whether or not Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford was going to start, but I think Stoops made the right call going with the healthier QB Landry Jones. Jones has been impressive no doubt, but he will be making his first road start in what should be a hostile home environment for the “U”. Miami is still a very young football team, and as they showed last week sometimes they are going to lay an egg. I don’t see that happening this week as they will have a top ten ranked team come in and they’ve had to hear all week about how they got their asses kicked at Va. Tech. I don’t expect Miami QB Jacory Harris to play as poorly as he did last week, nor do I expect the Miami running game to get shut down. Look for Travis Benjamin to make a big play through a catch or on special teams which could ignite the crowd. Miami will focus first on defending the Oklahoma running game which is led by DeMarco Murray but I also expect Chris Brown to play a lot. I see some issues with the Oklahoma offensive line and also like the fact that the Miami defensive line is more healthy this week. I can’t pass up this type of line value in a game that means this much to Miami. As much respect as I have for Oklahoma I’ve got to take the points with the home team down in a hot, humid environment Oklahoma isn’t used to.
Yeah, Washington ran out of gas last week where they played a motivated Stanford team who was catching them in a horrible spot after beating USC the week before but so what? I’ve watched Washington play now on four different occasions and can tell you that they are one of the most improved football teams in the entire country. Steve Sarkisian has instilled a new attitude in this program, every time I watch one of his press conferences I come away really impressed with what he has to say about what he and his players are trying to achieve. Expect an outstanding effort from Washington this week as they travel to play at Notre Dame. Most teams typically play very well at Notre Dame because many of the players on the opposing team grew up watching Notre Dame games and dreamed of what it would be like to play one day in the same stadium they grew up watching Notre Dame play in. Well the Washington players get that chance this week and there will be no one more fired up than QB Jake Locker, who means as much to his football team as does any player does to their team in the country. Locker is extremely versatile. One play he can run a zone read, the next a roll out pass, and he has also dramatically improved his pocket passing. I’ve said before there is nothing more difficult for an opposing team to defend against that a team with a mobile QB. Apparently everyone but Martin Blank has noticed, but Notre Dame’s defense is having some issues stopping opposing offenses and I think that trend continues this weekend. RB Christian Polk (3.8 ypc, 1 TD) is serviceable and WR’s James Johnson (19 rec, 2 TD), Jermaine Kearse (11 rec, 1 TD) and D’Andre Goodwin (8 rec) are all very capable. Notre Dame’s offense comes into this game with some major missing pieces. I mentioned last week how big it is that WR Michael Floyd isn’t in the line up and QB Jimmy Clausen is still battling turf toe which has affected not only his mobility but also his accuracy. RB Armando Allen should play this week, but he may not be able to kick it into high gear coming off an injury. As long as the Washington defense can focus on WR/RB Golden Tate they should have a shot to make this game very competitive, and competitive is exactly what I think they will be on Saturday.
Michigan State PK
It’s been interesting following the line movement this week of this game as Michigan State was as much as a 2.5 point dog on Sunday and now they are favored by over a field goal. What this line movement tells me is that the injury to Michigan’s freshman QB Tate Forcier is more severe than many are leading on. This is especially important to note because Michigan will be traveling on the road for the first time this season and they are a team comprised of mainly freshman and sophomores. Most people look at Michigan State and they see the 1-3 record and will dismiss this team, but its games like this where a team’s back is against the wall where you will see the team’s best performance. You’ve read some about the Michigan State team feeling disrespected by Michigan and I think that is part of why you will see MSU’s best effort, hell MSU practiced on a Sunday night which is very rare for most programs to do. I’ve also read that MSU has a clock in the athletic department that counts down the days, hours and minutes leading up to the Michigan game. Michigan’s biggest rival is Ohio State, not Michigan. I’ve read that MSU Head Coach Mark Dantonio is going to let Kirk Cousins start, although Keith Nichol will play. I’m not a big fan of the two QB system but fortunately for MSU they have a handful of very underrated playmakers. RB’s Caulton Ray (4.3 ypc, 1 TD), Larry Caper (4.5 ypc, 2 TD) and Glenn Wiston (4.2 ypc) have all performed well so far this season. WR’s Blair White (23 rec, 5 TD), B.J. Cunningham (19 rec, 3 TD) and Mark Dell (11 rec, 1 TD) are all explosive pass catchers. The Michigan defense facing a team with these types of playmakers while playing on the road for the first time is going to get exposed even more than they did vs. Notre Dame and Indiana. I’m not sure the Michigan offense will be able to keep up in this game without Forcier being 100%. While RB Carlos Brown (8.4 ypc, 3 TD) and Brandon Minor (5.7 ypc, 2 TD) are talented veterans and QB Denard Robinson (6.2 ypc, 3 TD) runs well, Robinson has only completed 4 passes so far this season. If MSU can make Michigan one dimensional in this game they have a chance to create some real separation
Miami FL +6.5
Miami was beaten down last week in Blacksburg, no doubt about it. Va. Tech played well and I tip my cap to them. This week, though, you will see a different Miami team that will come out motivated to defend their home turf against national power Oklahoma. Much has been made about whether or not Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford was going to start, but I think Stoops made the right call going with the healthier QB Landry Jones. Jones has been impressive no doubt, but he will be making his first road start in what should be a hostile home environment for the “U”. Miami is still a very young football team, and as they showed last week sometimes they are going to lay an egg. I don’t see that happening this week as they will have a top ten ranked team come in and they’ve had to hear all week about how they got their asses kicked at Va. Tech. I don’t expect Miami QB Jacory Harris to play as poorly as he did last week, nor do I expect the Miami running game to get shut down. Look for Travis Benjamin to make a big play through a catch or on special teams which could ignite the crowd. Miami will focus first on defending the Oklahoma running game which is led by DeMarco Murray but I also expect Chris Brown to play a lot. I see some issues with the Oklahoma offensive line and also like the fact that the Miami defensive line is more healthy this week. I can’t pass up this type of line value in a game that means this much to Miami. As much respect as I have for Oklahoma I’ve got to take the points with the home team down in a hot, humid environment Oklahoma isn’t used to.