Week 4 - Miami Hurricanes vs. Pittsburgh Panthers

Miami Hurricanes (1-1 SU, 0-1 ATS) vs. Pittsburgh Panthers (1-1 SU, 0-1-1 ATS), Week 4 College Football, 7:30 p.m. EST, Thursday, September 23, 2010, Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Betting Odds: Canes -3.5/Pitt +3.5

Over/Under Total: 53

Miami and Pittsburgh both have already lost a game this season and have yet to defeat a legitimate opponent, but with both teams having had almost two weeks off since their last game these teams will be prepared to try and earn a key non-conference win.

Pittsburgh started its season with a 27-24 loss at Utah. Pitt was ranked No. 15 in the preseason and Utah was unranked, but is now ranked, and the loss was on the road and in overtime, so it's certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Pitt RB Dion Lewis, a possible Heisman candidate, had just 75 rushing yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. Pitt QB Tino Sunseri was 16-for-28 passing for 184 yards, a touchdown and an interception. With neither the passing game nor the running game really working effectively, it was tough for the Panthers to score enough points to win the game. Despite turning the ball over twice, the Panthers stayed in the game with three forced turnovers. They did a decent job against the run, allowing 122 yards, but they also allowed 283 passing yards and three passing touchdowns.

In their second game, the Panthers won 38-16 over New Hampshire. The Pitt offense was solid but allowing 16 points to a FCS team isn't a great accomplishment. Sunseri threw for 275 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while completing over 70 percent of his pass attempts. Lewis struggled mightily, running for only 27 yards on 10 carries, although he did get into the end zone once. Ray Graham was the real backfield threat for the Panthers, running for 115 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries, including a 64-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. WR Jon Baldwin had six receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown. The Panthers need to do a better job against the pass, as they allowed New Hampshire WR Chris Jeannot to catch 12 passes for 110 yards.

Miami opened its season with an easy 45-0 win over Florida A&M. The Hurricanes held their opponent to 110 total yards of offense (52 rushing, 58 passing). Meanwhile, QB Jacory Harris was 12-for-15 passing for 210 yards and three touchdowns. The Hurricanes also ran for 155 yards, led by Lamar Miller's 65 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. WR Leonard Hankerson had six receptions for 115 yards and two touchdowns.

In their second game, the Hurricanes lost to No. 2 Ohio State on the road, 36-24. Harris really struggled throwing the ball. He threw for 232 yards and one touchdown, but he threw four interceptions. The Hurricanes had 120 rushing yards. RB Damien Berry totaled 94 yards on 16 carries. Hankerson had seven catches for 90 yards. The Hurricanes had a lot of trouble containing OSU QB Terrelle Pryor, who threw for 233 yards and ran for 113 yards. Miami turned the ball over four times and couldn't force any turnovers.
Miami's offense revolves around Harris. When he gets time in the pocket, he can pick defenses apart. If Miami can establish the run, it will make it even easier for Harris. Pitt's offense was supposed to revolve around Lewis, but he hasn't been running the ball well thus far. If Lewis again can't put together a quality game, Pitt won't have much of a chance against this quality Miami team.

Pitt is 6-1 ATS in its last seven games following an ATS loss. The Panthers are 2-7-1 ATS in their last 10 games in September and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games following a bye week. Miami is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 non-conference games. The under is 7-0 in Miami's last seven games vs. the Big East. The under is 5-1 in Pitt's last six games in September. The under is 5-1 in the last six meetings between these teams.

Ryno's Pick to Cover the Point Spread: This should be a very close game. Pitt might not win straight up, but I do like them to cover the +3.5.

Week 3 - Kansas Jayhawks vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles Point Spread and Pick

So after week 2 of college football, I would like to know if anybody has the Kansas Jayhawks figured out yet? If you would like me to bring you up to date, the Jayhawks were upset by the North Dakota State Bison out of the NCAA FCS 6-3 in their opener in what was arguably the worse defeat in school history. While many thought Kansas would be forgotten for the rest of the 2010 season, the Jayhawks bounced back last week with an impressive 28-25 victory over the no. 15 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Not only did the Jayhawks redeem themselves, but they also looked like a totally different team throughout the game on both sides of the ball.

The question now is what team will show up this week when the Jayhawks take their first road trip out to Hattiesburg to battle with the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Southern Miss suffered a disappointing loss to South Carolina in their opener before breezing by Prairie View A&M last week 34-7. The Golden Eagles are expected to challenge for tops in Conference USA this season and a very interesting battle waits when Kansas rolls into town. The Golden Eagles were outmatched by speed and power against an SEC power in their opener, but their meeting with Kansas should be a better precursor of what is to come considering this will be very similar to the type teams they play for the rest of the season.

The Kansas offense came to life last week behind QB Jordan Webb who tossed 3 touchdown passes with a total of 179 yards through the air. Now the Jayhawks may not be the heavily favored passing teams of years past, in fact they prefer establishing the run upfront. However, the passing game must be able to be effective if their running game is going to be reliable and that is exactly what Webb was able to accomplish against Georgia Tech. Jayhawks running back James Sims carried the ball for 17 times while racking up 101 yards against the Georgia Tech defense last week. It was Simms first taste of action this season after the freshman did not take a snap in the opening loss. However, with the added consistency coming from the ground it should ensure that Simms will get a lot of action again next week. The Jayhawks will need that balance to remain effective offensively going forward.

Also, Kansas perhaps biggest playmaker is their utility player in Daymond Patterson. Patterson is used in a variety of ways whether it be running the ball out of the back field or moving outside to catch the football through the air. Either way he is the Jayhawks difference maker when big plays are needed. Patterson caught 7 passes for 85 yards last week including a big game changing 32 yard touchdown pass as well. The Golden Eagles defense must know where Patterson is lining up every play throughout the game if they plan on preventing any big plays.

Southern Miss has a fairly solid defense that kept Prairie View A&M to just 211 total yards last week. The Golden Eagles defense is an experienced group that can be very disciplined as well. They do a good job at keeping the ball in front of them preventing big plays. Thus it takes a patient offense to have success against the Golden Eagles defense. It will be interesting to see if the young Jordan Webb keeps his poise and does not try to force the ball into spots that could turn into Golden Eagle interceptions.

The Golden Eagles offense is led by a strong passing force led by junior WR DeAndre Brown. Brown is perhaps the best wide out in Conference USA and is coming off a 100 yard performance on just 5 catches from a week ago. Targeting Brown will be QB Austin Davis. Davis is the best throwing quarterback on the team and completed 11 of 18 passing for 178 yards last week.

However, the Golden Eagles will also let QB Martevious Young get into the action as well. Young is a bit more inconsistent than Davis, but also gives more of a dual threat behind center with his rushing capabilities. However, the Kansas defense proved last week that they could stop rushing quarterbacks when they shut down Georgia Tech QB Josh Nesbitt to just 33 yards last week. Nesbitt is perhaps the best rushing quarterback in America so I'm assuming we will see much more of Davis trying to spread the ball out down field for the Golden Eagles offensive attack.

Alright, so we went against Kansas last week by underestimating the rush defense. However, their pass defense is still plenty questionable and that is where their main problems will be in 2010. Kansas will have to prove it to me again because taking down a top ACC team is obviously not too difficult. Take Southern Miss -4

Week 3 - Central Michigan Chippewas vs. Eastern Michigan Eagles

We continue to see this but the linesmaker continues to ignore it. Losing an elite quarterback to the NFL results in an initial major setback to a college football program. It's happened this year in Texas, Florida, Notre Dame and Oklahoma and the most glaring drop-off could be in Mt. Pleasant as Dan LeFevour is no longer under center for the Chippewas. LeFevour may not have gotten the national pub as the Heisman Trophy hopefuls as previously mentioned but he's now playing on Sundays, at least holding a clipboard. The youngster set all kinds of passing records for Central and now after first entering play against Boston College as a freshman he's no longer on the sidelines.

The Chippewas averaged 33.9 points per game a season ago and after two games they are at 21.5 ppg and that includes as overtime game. One of the opponents was FCS opponent Hampton. This is a sandwich situation for Central as they are just off an overtime loss to projected league champion Temple with a trip to Northwestern on deck. We are all well aware of the last time the Chippewas headed to Big Ten country as they upset Michigan State at this time last year 29-27 in an exciting finish. Now they must face league doormat Eastern Michigan who they beat 56-8 a season ago.

The Eagles of Eastern Michigan entered this season off a winless 2009. They were outscored by 21.9 ppg a year ago in Ron English's first season. And while they enter this game on a 14 game losing streak this club is now playing respectable football. They easily covered their first two games dropping 4 and 7 point decisions to Army and Miami Ohio. They always get up to face their big instate rival Central Michigan, in fact, they have upset them 2 of the last 3 years getting double digits both times. The three years prior all went into overtime.
Central Michigan ran for just 1.3 yards per carry against Temple and without a decent running game they won't be able to attack through the air. The loss of LeFevour hurts tremendously not only on the field but in the locker room. This spread is simply too high as these two squads go in opposite directions.
PLAY EASTERN MICHIGAN

Week 3 - Kent State Golden Flashes vs. Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State's offense is now led by freshman QB Robert Bolden. Bolden looked good in their 44-17 season opening victory in an unlined game against Youngstown State. It was a little quick to throw him to the wolves last Saturday when playing on the road against the defending national champions, Alabama, who possibly owns the best defensive unit in the country. Penn State didn't perform that bad, as the offensive line didn't allow Alabama to sack QB Bolden even once in his 29 attempts, while he completed 13 of 29 passes for 144 yards. Penn State returns home to host an outgunned Kent State squad that has allowed 474 passing yards in their first 2 games, against Murry State and Boston College. HC Paterno will use last week's tough loss to teach QB Bolden to be a better college quarterback, and things will only get easier in front of their home fans while taking a huge drop in class against Kent State. With Head Coach Joe Paterno is 17-8 ATS at home following a road loss, expect the Lions to turn things around this Saturday

Week 3 - Iowa State Cyclones vs. Kansas State Wildcats

Take Kansas State Wildcats over Iowa State Cyclones (Saturday 12 pm FSN) Two of the teams in the Big XII North are set to open up conference play Saturday morning in Kansas City. Kansas State is 2-0 on the season and has one quality win against UCLA in week one. The Cyclones were exposed as frauds last week against Iowa and going on the road for the second straight week (game is in Kansas City) will be their undoing. The Wildcats have won two straight in this series including a dramatic 24-23 victory last year when they blocked a potential tying PAT. The difference in this game will come at the running back position where K-State has a big time player in Daniel Thomas. Thomas already has 371 yards on the season in just two games and that includes running for 234 yards against UCLA, a team with a much better defense then what Iowa State has. Kansas State will pull away late and we will collect big in the process as well. Do not miss

Week 2 - Wyoming Cowboys vs. Texas Longhorns Point Spread and Pick

Wyoming Cowboys (1-0 0-1 ATS) vs. No. 5 Texas Longhorns (1-0 0-1 ATS), Week 2 College Football, Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, Texas 7 PM EST Saturday September 11, 2010


by Jason Green of Predictem.com

Point Spread: Cowboys +28/Horns -28

Over/Under: TBA

On Saturday night in the Lone Star State the 5th ranked Texas Longhorns face (smash) the Wyoming Cowboys, who both won their season openers, but while Texas looked good Wyoming did not. The Longhorns have National Championship aspirations and while they are much better on both sides of the ball than the Cowboys Wyoming is an up-and-coming team that was a surprising 7-5 last season and beat Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl.

Texas beat Rice 34-17 in their first game of the season, but they did not come close to covering the big 31-point spread.

Wyoming beat Southern Utah of the huge football conference of the Great West Conference and just like Texas Wyoming did not come that close to covering the 21-point spread.

Wyoming beat Southern Utah even though they were out-gained in yardage (384 to 355) and had more turnovers (2 to 0). The Cowboys had a grand total of 36 yards rushing for a spectacular 1.4 yard per carry average. Really? 1.4 yards against Southern Utah, how well will they fare against Texas? However, Wyoming does have a decent passing attack and in the win over Southern Utah they did have 319 yards through the air with 3 TD.

The Longhorns used a well-balance offense in their win over Rice, as they rushed for 197 yards and passed for 172 yards. They were 7/14 on 3rd down conversions and their defense forced Rice into making 2 turnovers.

One thing that worries the Longhorns is their rushing attack, as even though they did gain 172 yards against Rice RB's Tre' Newton and Cody Johnson had their problems and each averaged less than 4 yards per carry. However, they will snap out of it this game against Wyoming and each will play well.

QB Austyn Carta-Samuels had a good game in the win over Southern Utah passing for 319 yards and 3 TD and for Wyoming to have any shot at the huge upset he will have to do so again, but this time against a much better Texas defense. WR's Zach Bolger and David Leonard are a good duo that combined for 11 catches and 192 yards in the Cowboys' opening week win.

Carta-Samuels has his work cut out for him against a Longhorns' defense whose strength is the pass rush and their secondary.

RB Alvester Alexander is the main back for Wyoming, but he struggled in the Southern Utah game only rushing for 40 yards and only averaging 3.7 yards per carry. It will not be easy improving upon those numbers against a solid Texas defense.

QB Garrett Gilbert leads Texas and he had a decent game against Rice passing for 172 yards, but he could not lead the Longhorns to the end zone. The defensive line of Wyoming may be the weakness of their entire team and they are very undersized.

The Cowboys' DL and LB stud Brian Hendricks will have to stop the run and try to use their quickness to get to Gabbert. Luckily they are facing a mediocre Texas offensive line that gave up 31 sacks last season. However, with a Wyoming line that lacks size look for Texas to push them around and for Gabbert and the Texas rushing attack to have no problems piling up the yards.

The strength of the Wyoming defense is their secondary, which returns all 4 starters.

Pass protection was a major problem for Wyoming last season and that will likely not change this season. The Texas pass rush is strong so look for them to Austyn Carta-Samuels early and often not allowing him time to find his targets.

Cowboys' RB Alvester Alexander had his problems against Southern Utah so how do you think he will do against Texas? Yeah, not well. He will have problems finding holes behind a suspect line and he will not pick up many rushing yards in this game putting even more pressure on Carta-Samuels.

Jason's Pick to Cover the Spread: Who made this spread? 28? How about 56-7? The ROLL in a huge blowout on Saturday.

Week 2 - LSU Tigers vs. Vanderbilt Commodores Point Spread and Pick

No. 21 LSU Tigers (1-0, 0-1 ATS) at Vanderbilt Commodores (0-1, 1-0 ATS), Week 2 College Football, Saturday September 11th, 7:00PM Eastern Dudley Field Nashville, T.N.


By Jay Horne of Predictem.com

Point Spread: Louisiana State University -10/Vandy +10

Over/under: TBA

The no. 21 LSU Tigers held off a late rally from the no. 18 North Carolina Tarheels last week at the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic in an exciting 30-24 win. The Tigers actually had the Tarheels dominated leading by as much as 30-10 at the half before being held scoreless in the 2nd half and escaping two North Carolina passing attempts at the end zone in the final plays of the game. This game just confirmed my beliefs on Coach Les Miles as he almost blew another important game late in the 4th quarter by being very conservative on offense. However, the Tigers still prevailed over a depleted North Carolina defense that had over 14 players out due to NCAA rules violations and now look to move forward into SEC action this Saturday.

The Vanderbilt Commodores lost their most important figures over the off-season when Coach Bobby Johnson surprisingly left in the middle of July just 6 weeks shy of the Commodores first game. Now coaching Vanderbilt is Robbie Caldwell who failed at capturing victory in his season debut last week when the Commodores fell to Northwestern 23-21.

One of the highlights from that match-up was a decision by Caldwell to go for a 2 point conversion in the 3rd quarter which failed ultimately coming back to bite the team in the end. Vanderbilt has always been shy of talent in the SEC over the last few years, but Coach Johnson always had his teams prepared and could keep them competitive. With Johnson out of the picture, I am just not convinced that Vanderbilt will stay any bit competitive this season.

One reason is because what Vanderbilt lacked on offense in terms of talent, Johnson made up for with brilliant defensive game plans. Now that the defensive mind is out of Nashville, it's hard to think the Commodores can accommodate those losses by putting up points against those nasty SEC defenses. Attempting to prove critics like me wrong, the Commodores are led by QB Larry Smith who is a dual threat type player behind center.

Smith's numbers last week were respectable completing 19 of 33 passing for 240 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 pick. Junior tight end Brandon Barden led all receivers with 4 catches for 63 yards and 1 touchdown. While the passing offense is not too much to get excited about, the Commodores do have the tools needed to provide a solid ground game. Smith carried the ball 14 times for 48 yards. More importantly the Commodores have solid tailbacks in both Zac Stacy and Warren Norman. Both tailbacks combined for 19 carries and 115 yards last week for 2 touchdowns. Both guys have ability to eat up yards which may be the Commodores safest option on offense.

LSU on the other hand has talent all over the field. QB Jordan Jefferson threw for 15 of 21 passing for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns in last week's win over North Carolina. The passing offense did not rack up a ton of yards, but I still blame that on the conservative play call of Coach Les Miles. Rather the Tigers ran the ball a combined 36 times for 162 yards. Tailback Stevan Ridley carried the ball 19 times for 81 yards to lead the offense. None of those numbers are extremely impressive for a ball club that scored 30 points all of which came in 1 half of football.

However, it was the special teams that provided the sparks last Saturday night. Patrick Peterson returned 4 punts for 157 yards capped by an electrifying 87 yard touchdown run. Patrick's punt return yardage was the best out of any returner in the nation last week and that is excluding the additional 100 yards on 3 kick returns that the LSU standout also posted on the night as well. If not for all the big plays in the return game, LSU would have likely never escaped the Georgia Dome with a win last Saturday night. However, talented teams find ways to win and that is exactly what they will have to do if they are to compete in the SEC West this season.

Jay's Pick to Cover the Spread: Despite the losses North Carolina had last week, they are still an under rated group and that is why I believe that LSU win was still very solid. I believe the playbook opens up a bit this week and they find many more ways to score. Take LSU -10.