Week 4 Musings

Week 3 ws a break even proposition. 4-4-4. I think that's by far the most pushes I've ever had in a week...really strange. I guess good job to the oddsmakers on that. Thanks for doing your job, assholes!Looking back on it, there weren't really any bad beats, just some occurences that you(I ) wouldn't expect, like Buffalo sleepwalking through their game with Temple, which they should have lost outright obviously. I actually got a push on the Central Michigan game that we had no business getting, since CMU got outclassed in that one. Poor Frank Solich. His Bobcats have sacked up 3 weeks in a row and have nothing to show for it other than a modicum of respect from degenerates like me, and the seven other guys in the country who actually have a pathetic enough existence to be paying attention to them. I guess South Florida's inability to hang on to a 14 point lead at home in the final 4 minutes was kind of a shitty deal, but they came back from a 20-3 defecit in the first half, so you can't really have too many qualms with that.


ok. Let's say you are a D-1 school in a BCS conference who has been a speedbag lately, but you're gettting better. North Carolina for example. You are looking to schedule future opponents, and want to put your team in good position for success in the nonconference, but are sensitive to criticism when it comes to filling your schedule up with a bunch of creampuffs. Ideally, you'd like to play a BCS conference team that you can beat, who is good now, but won't be as good in a couple years. GET WEST VIRGINIA ON YOUR FUTURE SCHEDULES RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you don't mind intense B.O. and the coonskin caps, you can even go ahead and play them in Morgantown for more street cred. When Pat White leaves, this program with be a living, breathing, stench ridden debacle. Bill Stewart, village idiot emeritus, was recently given a 6 year extension. As a person who appreciates logic among those who are entrusted with any smidgen of authority, I am appalled that this half-wit could be given anything other than an immediate ticket to out of my faceville. Actually, I'm being harsh...what the hell do I care if a bunch of inbred hill-jackals want to hire one of their own? It's their business, and it will definitely provide some fodder for the musings, probably almost weekly. However, the fact of the matter is that it was a mind-numbing decision to extend this guy. To say that he is overmatched is like saying getting your nutsack caught in your zipper is somewhat annoying. And when I say overmatched, go ahead and pick a coach. Dan Hawkins, Skip Holtz, Les Miles, whoever coached K State back in the day, Bob Slattery(inside joke)...whoever. He's overmatched. Just read his quotes in postgame stories. Here's his quote after they got dominated by East Carolina:
"[To] the naysayers out there that want to ruin a guy's season after the first or second game, I'm not going to get all down in the dumps," coach Bill Stewart said. "You can't just put the old gold and blue on. ... You've got to play in the old gold and blue." Huh? To be honest...it's not really even worth it to get even any farther into this. We all can see it. Recruits are going to start realizing that they don't want to put ther futures in the hands of a dolt, and spend 4 years of their lives beating their heads against a wall just to watch thhemselves get hopelessly outschemed every week. There really isn't even all that much talent there after White leaves anyway. It's going to be a bad deal. After the ECU game, you could see it. Now after watching him make an ass of himself tonight by predictably bothing every decision possible down the stretch(thanks, by the way) he needs to be fired immediately. Of course, as evidenced by WVU's war with Dick Rod to get the money he owed them, they don't have the ability to just write off the contract, so he'll be there. They might lose 7 games this year. (USF, Auburn, @UConn, @Pitt and Cincy are still left). Like I said, get them on the schedule. They'll be the new Syracuse soon.

One other thing: Did I hear that Miami was crying about Urban Meyer kicking a FG in the last few seconds of their game with Flroda 2 weeks ago, which was awesome, by the way? Miami? Complaining about bad treatment from an opponent? Let's think about that one for awhile while harkening back to the glory days of yesteryear.

1. FRIDAY @UConn -12 v Baylor: There are a lot of people on Baylor here, as the line has moved from an opening number of 14. I'd assume the reason for that is in response to Baylor's success last week at the expense of another cesspool of a program at this juncture, Washington St. Any success against Wazzou should of course be taken with a grain of salt. Baylor now makes it's first foray on the road with a freshman "athelete" QB in a new system against a well coached, tough defense. We also know Baylor can't stop a soul on defense, and UCONN has had no trouble running the ball so far this year. Yes, Baylor probably has the atheletes to compete somewhat in this game, and Art Briles is a good coach, but they will not find their stride this week. Expect more of what happened to them in their home opener against Wake..some brilliance from the young QB, but an unhappy result at the end of the day. A Kirby Freeman sighting would mean even more fun.


2. @BYU -27 v Wyoming: It's really easy to pick this one, what with the absolute ass kicking BYU delivered to UCLA last week, but I can't resist Wyoming under coach Joe Glenn(he of about 2 more weeks of having a job) is 5-18 ATS in conference the past 3 years, and is 3-9 ATS on the road in the last 2. They were 17 point dogs 2 years ago in Provo and lost 55-7. Their offense is a joke..they couldn't move the ball with any regularity on Ohio, Air Froce or North Dakota St at home..now they go on the road to try to deal with BYU, who basically scores at will on anyone. Wyoming has no shot to compete in this one. Call off the dogs early...this one looks like a 49-3 ballgame.

3. San Jose St +8 1/2 @ Stanford: At this juncture, you can make a case that Stanford should not be signicantly favored against anyone. They got off to a good start this year with a nice effort against the Beavs, but counting that game, they have been statistically dominated in every game they have played. Tavita Pitchard throws like his first name suggests he would, that is weakly and girlish, and the running game is flimsy at best. SJSU comes in off a muscular effort against San Dego St, dominating them to the tune of a 476-146 yard advantage. The week before that, they hung with Nebraska on the stat sheet(359-318 yard advantage) if not on the scoreboard in a tough environment in Lincoln. They play good defense, and they have weapons on offense who can put points on the board in the running and passing game.. Stanford lacks firepower, so I don't see them covering a sizable spread. Very strong possibility of an outright winner for San Jose St here.
4. Eastern Michigan +21 1/2 @ Maryland: An ovious overreaction to the Maryland win at home against Cal last week. In case you didn't notice, Maryland got all the breaks in that one. They were thoroughly outgained, and did very little on offense after the first quarter. In addition, their one bright spot in that game, running back, Da'rel Scott, got hurt and won't be playing. This Maryland team cannot beat teams just by showing up, as their loss to MTSU 2 weeks ago will attest. EMU has a weak squad, but they have some talent on offense and might be able to get something going. I don't see any ability from Marylnd to blow anyone out, especially in a let down spot like this with the ACC opener coming next week. If Darius Heyward Bey catches 9 balls for 275 yards, maybe they cover, but otherwise, probably not.

5. @Auburn +2 1/2 v LSU: I realize that everyone is thoroughly unimpressed with Auburn's 3-2 taffy pull with Sly Croom's palsified bunch last week, but I am very suspiscious that Tuberville just mailed in the offense in this game so as not to spill the beans for LSU this week. Not that Les Miles would have noticed, but one of his coaching buddies probably would have called him and emailed him a playbook or something.. Had MIss St scored to take the lead or something(a laughable proposition considering they gained all of 116 yards for the game), Auburn probably would have opened it up, but they played it very close to the vest. They did, however show their strength on defense. Now LSU, who has played absolutely nobody, travels to Auburn to play a game in a place far superior teams to this one have lost. They are doing this with a brand new QB(a Harvard transfer no less) and with a coach who still wears diapers. No more Pelini to prop him up, by the way. Everyone in the world is expecting LSU to go in there and win, even though there is little doubt that they will struggle to score. I think Auburn will have enough new wrinkles to take this one, even though I am no fan of that program and their dickface of a coach.

7. @Ole Miss -7 v Vandy: Vandy comes in undefeated, a true credit to Bobby Johnson. Most people assumed coming into this year that Vandy would probaby end up with a goose egg in the conference win column. So far though, they have done extremely well, including taking a Thursday nighter at home aganst South Carolina. However, I think it's only a matter of time until their lack of a solid offense is really going to show up, and that will probably be this week. Now that Houston Nutt is in charge, Ole Miss is a legit outfit and he's got some talent. They probably should have beaten Wake on the road 2 weeks ago, and will almost certainly be able to put up some points on Vandy. Rice, for example outgained the 'Dores last week in Nashville. If Vandy hangs tough with Ole Miss here, more power to them, and I would absolutely love to see them go 4-0, but the talent difference is large, and the coaching advantage is small. I think Ole Miss gets at least a two score victory here.

8. @Georgia Tech -7 1/2 v Mississippi St: Speaking of Sly Croom's guys, did I mention how pathetic they have been on offense this year? I think people are impressed with this team because they were able to play Auburn to what what looked like a standstill, but as I mentioned, I think Auburn played a little possum in that game. What can't be disguised is the sickening level Miss St has played on offense...I'm getting redundant, I know. How do you go an entire game without cracking 120 total yards on your home field? Now they go on the road to play Georgia Tech, who is coming off two tough road games in which they proved their mettle on defense. The chances of Miss St having success on that defense are slim, and the chances that Ga Tech will be able to get their running game lathered up at home are pretty good in my opinion. Teams generally play much better defense at home than they do on the road, so we'll likely see Sly's guys give up a couple of long ones to Jonathan Dwyer while remaining in their doldrums on offense. I can see a 24-6 type game here..if Ga Tech avoid turnovers, maybe even more.

9. @Southern Miss -7 1/2 v Marshall: Laying points in Conference USA is always a very risky proposition, but I can see Marshall struggling in this one. They snuck by Memphis at home last week, but gave up big yardage in the passing game and got outgained. The week prior, they did an admirable job stopping PJ Hill up in Madison, but in the process gave up 300+ yards passing to Allen Evridge, a limited passer at best, who was also operating without his two top receivers, Travis Beckum being one of them. 51 unanswered points surrendered is ugly, regardless of how good your opponent is. Offensively, they have been average at best, and they travel to Hattiesberg to face Southern Miss, who has looked pretty good. They got a win on the road against Arky St, who previously had run all over their competition and hung on the road against Auburn. In their previous home game, they laid the wood to LaLa, which is better than Illinois can say. To me, it appears that Southern Miss will have too much on offense for Marshall in this one. Home field likely will make a big difference.

10. @UNLV -2 1/2 v Iowa St: More of a situational play here, as it is generally tough for a lower division BCS conference team to go on the road and win(see Maryland/MTSU 2 weeks ago) against a capable non-BCS opponent, especially when they are coming off an emotional road game against a rival last week. Iowa St played Iowa tough in Iowa City last week, but showed in that game that they really aren't ready for prime time. Now they have to regroup and go back on the road to play a UNLV team that is gaining confidence and absolutely believes that this game is watershed one for them. Last wek they won at Arizona St in a look ahead spot for the Sun Devils, but it wasn't really a fluke, as they held ASU's offense in check and hung around long enough to break through with a late score. I think Iowa St would have to bring their absolute best effort to have a chance at bringing home a win here, and I don't see that happening in this situation.

11. @Pitt +1 v Iowa: The public likes Iowa here, as the line has moved from Pitt's side over to Iowa's. I can understand that, as I agree that Wanny works hard to figure out ways to lose, but I think Pitt is looking at somewhat of a mirror image of itself here, ad maybe a team that isn't as capable as others would be at taking Wanny's gifts. Kirk Ferentz has turned into a gutless, whoops, I mean "conservative" coach on offense. Don't make mistakes, treat their collection of apparently basket case QB's with spongy gloves, etc. They also still haven't really played anyone. They ran it well on Iowa St last week, but Pitt will be more of a test defensively. Iowa actually has the talent at receiver to open things up, it just doesn't appear that Ferentz has the confidence in his team. I think making this team a favorite on the road against a decent opponent is a mistake at this juncture. I have a hard time seeing them pulling it off, as Pitt does have good talent on offense and should be fired up to give a better effort at home than they have against their previous opponents from the MAC.

12. @Arkansas +9 v Alabama: Arkansas obviously is still finding their way, as they almost embarrassingly lost both of their warm up games, but they pulled out victories, and the games were statistically not a close as the scores made them look. As expected, Petrino already has them doing well in the passing game, as Casey Dick has settled in as a thrower. You could actually see him improve late last year, and he has looked good so far this year. It's another situational spot, as Bama, by virtue of their beat down of a schitzophrenic and poorly coached Clemson team is highly ranked, and I would argue, overranked. They have a trip to Athens Georgia on deck next week and they are playing a team everyone in creation has picked for last in the SEC West, and has struggled in both of their previous games. However, it's still a road game in the SEC, against a team with good atheletes that can score points. Bama still struggles offensively in key spots when things get uncomfortable for JP Wilson. This is a dangerous game for Bama. Early start. Regional coverage only. Even if they play pretty well, I think they will have a hard time covering a two score spread.

Others........Wake is catching 4 1/2 at Florida St...even with the recent history of these two teams, I still yearn for more points in this spot, but I am absolutely not sold on FSU's QB situation as well as their offensive line, and their kicking game is in shambles. People like them because they destroyed their two D-1AA patsies. Wake is already battle tested..I think they'll emerge in this one, but I wish I could have 7....Ohio St returns home with their tails between their legs. They need to get Terrelle Pryor entrenched at QB now and take whatever lumps they need to take to get him ready, because they are not going to be an elite team until he leads them to great things. They are out of the MNC picture for sure at this point, as nobody will vote them back into position again, almost out of spite. If they go back to the same old tired crap, Troy will hang with them all day, as they can move the ball and slop around in the mud on D, and at a level a step higher than Ohio can. They're catching 21, so I can see them covering that line pretty easily......Why is Miami favored at A&M? I guess it's because A&M stinks, but Miami still hasn't proven they can do anything on offense. A FreshmanQB making his second start in a tough environment on a crap offense and they're favored? I don't think so. I'll take the 3 with A&M, maybe even 4 if the line keeps moving that way....The mother of all bad spots stares Fresno in the face this week. They travel across the country to Toledo coming off their self proclaimed "biggest game in program history". Definite let down spot, and Toledo is normally a tough place to play. To me, this seems like a game that should be played on a weeknight, but it's just an under the radar game on Saturday, so no real reason for Fresno to get jacked up. It's also the #1 most public game of the week, with 80% laying the 7 with Fresno. I'll go the other way as the situation is a horrible one for Fresno, and they have a habit of mailing it in after big disappoinments....I also have a hunch that UCLA(+2 1/2) will somehow come off the mat after that absolute deomlition at the hands of BYU. Arizona comes in off a bad loss themselves to New Mexico. I can't overstate the coaching mismatch here between Neuheisel/Chow and Mike Stoops and his collection of mouth breathers.....As I mentioned, Frank Solich needs a hug, so I'll call for his Bobcats to hang with Northwestern catching 11 in Evanston. That's it for this week. Good luck and good fortune to all.