Perusing the weekly lines for a straight-up shocker or two ?�for entertainment only, of course. This week's guest: Spencer Hall, of Every Day Should Be Saturday and SBN.
CHRIS BROWN, Smart Football and Grantland: Washington (+20) over Stanford.
I don't feel great about this pick, but Sarkisian's Huskies have steadily improved over the season and UW quarterback Keith Price leads by far the best opponent Stanford has seen ? as of today, none of the victims on the front half of the Cardinal's schedule has a winning record. Stanford just hasn't been challenged, and I simply think they won't be expecting the Huskies to come out gunning or to outplay them early. If the Cardinals get a lead they should be able to strangle and bludgeon Washington, but if Washington gets out early ? which I think it will ? I think it'll be a longer evening than Andrew Luck is used to.
Bonus Pick: Louisiana Tech (+6�) over Utah State. Because why not?
GRAHAM WATSON: Missouri (+7.5) over Oklahoma State.
A lot of pundits have called this a trap game for the 6-0 Cowboys, and while I'm not sure about it being a trap, I do think Missouri has the offense to keep pace with an Oklahoma State team that tends to play very little defense. However, the Tigers can't get into a track meet with the Cowboys. They need to slow the game down, run the ball against an Oklahoma run defense allowing 176.7 yards per game, and keep the ball out of the hands of the Oklahoma State offense. Easier said than done.
Missouri fancies itself as a quick-strike offense, so slowing the game down won't come easily, especially with pressure from the home crowd to score quickly and score often. The Tigers also need to limit turnovers. Mizzou had three giveaways against a lackluster Iowa State team last week, and turnovers contributed to their loss to Kansas State. Oklahoma State ranks second nationally in turnover margin, so that could be a major turning point in the game.
MATT HINTON: N.C. State (+5�) over Virginia.
Virginia is coming off its biggest win in two years under coach Mike London, a 24-21 upset over previously unbeaten Georgia Tech that moved the Cavaliers two games above .500 in October (4-2) for the first time since 2007. In four games against FBS competition, N.C. State is 1-3 and allowing 37 points per game. The Wolfpack also remain unusually banged up on defense, and without their best running back.
Before stunning the Yellow Jackets, though, the same Cavaliers needed a furious fourth quarter comeback to win at Indiana, lost to Southern Miss at home and had to hold off a two-point conversion in overtime to beat Idaho. Thursday night debacle at Cincinnati notwithstanding, N.C. State has scored at least 27 points in every other game, has a quarterback with a legit arm (Mike Glennon) and a legit target in T.J. Graham. When in doubt, a second-class ACC team basking in a brief turnaround in its fortunes is never a bad one to bet against.
SPENCER HALL, Every Day Should Be Saturday and SBN: Maryland (+18) over Florida State.
You go right ahead and laugh at Randy Edsall. You can't hurt a man with nothing to lose, and you certainly can't hurt a team that has been on the verge of beating someone clearly better than they are for the past two weeks in close losses to Georgia Tech and Clemson.
If anything should reassure you about this pick consider this: Which team will actually attempt to do things on offense? Florida State? That's right, and that makes FSU the team that loses by shooting itself in the foot. This is the ACC. We didn't make the rules. We just observed and wrote them down as they appeared.
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Errybody is on Twitter:
Follow Matt Hinton @DrSaturday.
Follow Spencer Hall @edsbs.
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