Thursday, September 13, 2007--Andis Kaulins [9/13/2007 08:07:00 PM] - Home - About - My Book
College Football Predictions - Week 3 - 2007
Update: Some Underestimated Teams to Watch the Rest of the Season
Air Force
Cincinnati
Hawaii (they have a good chance to go undefeated this season, which would rightly put the BCS in a real quandry)
Kansas
Tulsa
Update: We had a terrible week for predictions and have never called so many games wrong for a week in terms of the winners, going a mere 30-21 in the won-lost column and also going 23-26 against the spread. We'll try to do better next week. Our conference "system", discussed below, did not work well this week at all. It looks like it is better to concentrate on the game at hand.
Here are our predictions for NCAA I-A (FBS) college football for Week 3 where we go higher or lower against the spread depending primarily on the conference of each team - based on the performance of that conference in week 2 of college football as follows:
NOTE: If two conferences did well against the spread last week and are now in a game matching two teams from such conferences, we will assume that the spread is too high. A good example here is the Nebraska - USC game where the Trojans are favored in the official betting line by 10 points whereas all of the predictors (perhaps accurately - we shall see) have a spread in favor of USC which is in part much smaller than that. Hence we will call this game as having a smaller final margin than the 10 points currently given to USC. One does not have to pick the Huskers to win to beat this spread.
We split our predictions into two groups - one involving conference games and the other involving non-conference games, where we apply the conference performance system.
Conference Games
Air Force is an 8-point underdog to TCU (both are from the Mountain West Conference). Air Force has a new coach in Troy Calhoun (who previously coached in the NFL) and the Falcons have beaten South Carolina State and Utah this year, while TCU has beaten Baylor and lost to Texas, playing the Longhorns 10-10 for the first three quarters. Last year the Falcons lost on the road to the Horned Frogs 38-14. Let us call this one 28-24 for TCU.
Update: We did not call the win, but we beat the spread as Air Force upset TCU in overtime 20-17. This game confirms that the Falcons have found themselves an absolute top coach, trailing the entire game until late in the 4th quarter, losing the statistical battle, but winning the game in the end.
Record this week: o-1 in predicting the winner, 1-0 against the spread
Alabama (SEC) (see e.g. "The Changing Tide") is favored by 3 over Arkansas (SEC) in the betting line. The college prognosticators are divided about 50/50 as to the winner of this game. For us, this match is potentially a battle of coaching and we definitely favor "the new Bear Bryant" Saban over the Razorbacks Nutt. The Hogs beat the Crimson Tide 24-23 at home in 2006. We call it 31-24 for 'Bama.
Update: Alabama beat Arkansas by the line spread of 3, 41-38. Saban' star is rising, Nutt's is falling.
Record this week: 1-1 in predicting the winner, 1-0 against the spread
Auburn (SEC) is favored by 13 over Mississippi State (SEC).The Tigers beat the Bulldogs 34-0 on the road last year. We call it 30-14 for Auburn.
Update: Auburn has fallen out of sight with its second straight loss. First it was a 26-23 overtime loss to South Florida and this time around they lost to Mississippi State 19-14.
Record this week: 1-2 in predicting the winner, 1-1 against the spread
East Carolina (Conference USA) is a 1-point underdog to Southern Mississippi (Conference USA). The Pirates beat Southern Miss 20-17 on the road last year and lost to Virginia Tech only 17-7 this year, beating North Carolina 34-31. We see the Pirates overtaking the Golden Eagles 34-24.
Update: Southern Miss came back from a 21-14 deficit in the 3rd quarter to win 28-21.
Record this week: 1-3 in predicting the winner, 1-2 against the spread
Florida (SEC) is favored by 8 over Tennessee. The Volunteers started the season disappointingly and their Achilles heel seems to be their defense, which is fatal against the Gators, who seem to have their offense rolling better this year than last. We call it for Florida 44-27.
Update: Florida's 59-20 blowout of the Volunteers may signal the beginning of the end of the tenure of Tennessee's much criticized head coach Phillip Fulmer.
Record this week: 2-3 in predicting the winner, 2-2 against the spread
North Carolina (ACC) is favored over Virginia (ACC) by 3. Last year the Cavaliers beat Tar Heels 23-0 at home. It is hard to tell how much of an impact Butch Davis is having after last week's loss to East Carolina, but we think the Tar Heels are not yet up to Viginia's caliber and call it for the Cavaliers 27-24.
Update: Virginia wins 22-20.
Record this week: 3-3 in predicting the winner, 3-2 against the spread
Northern Illinois (Mid-American) is favored over Eastern Michigan (Mid-American) by 14. We call it 35-17 for the Huskies against the Eagles.
Update: Eastern Michigan won 21-19. The Huskies are really bad this year.
Record this week: 3-4 in predicting the winner, 3-3 against the spread
Tulane (Conference USA) is a 14.5 point underdog to Houston (Conference USA). We call it for Houston 45-28.
Update: Houston won 34-10.
Record this week: 4-4 in predicting the winner, 4-3 against the spread
Non-Conference Games
Arizona (Pac 10) is favored by 10 points over New Mexico (Mountain West) . We call it 34-20 for the Wildcats over the Lobos.
Update: New Mexico upset Arizona 29-27.
Record this week: 4-5 in predicting the winner, 4-4 against the spread
Arizona State (Pac 10) is favored by 28 over San Diego State (Mountain West). We call it 51-21 for the Sun Devils over the Aztecs.
Update: The Sun Devils won 34-13.
Record this week: 5-5 in predicting the winner, 4-5 against the spread
Arkansas State (Sun Belt) is favored by 3 over SMU (Conference USA). We call it 31-24 for
the Indians over the Mustangs.
Update: Arkansas State won 45-28.
Record this week: 6-5 in predicting the winner, 5-5 against the spread
Boise State (WAC) is favored by 12.5 points over Wyoming (Mountain West). We call it for the Broncos 37-23.
Update: The Broncos win 24-14.
Record this week: 7-5 in predicting the winner, 5-6 against the spread
Cal (Pac 10) is favored over Louisiana Tech (WAC) by 33.5 points, which is somewhat remarkable as the Bulldogs under new head coach Derek Dooley (from the NFL) almost beat Hawaii and Colt Brennan last week. It appears to us that they are much stronger than expected. We call it as a closer game for Cal 27-24.
Update: Cal wins 42-12.
Record this week: 8-5 in predicting the winner, 6-6 against the spread
Central Florida (UCF - Conference USA), which beat North Carolina State (ACC) 25-23, is a 19-point underdog to Texas (Big 12). We call it for the Longhorns 41-20.
Update: Texas lucks out a win 35-32.
Record this week: 9-5 in predicting the winner, 6-7 against the spread
Colorado (Big 12) is a 4.5-point underdog to Florida State (ACC). The Buffs lost 33-14 at Arizona State last week after leading early but being shut down later by the Sun Devil defense. The Seminole defense has leaks. We call it for the Buffaloes here 30-28.
Update: Colorado loses 16-6.
Record this week: 9-6 in predicting the winner, 6-8 against the spread
Connecticut (Big East) is favored over Temple (Mid-American) by 29.5 points. The Huskies head coach Randy Edsall came in for some criticism last year for his lack of offense, but the team is off to a good start this year and is not likely to falter playing Temple. According to the conference principle, Connecticut should beat this spread. We call it Connecticut 52 Temple 17.
Update: Temple rebounds from big loss to Buffalo and loses only 22-17.
Record this week: 10-6 in predicting the winner, 6-9 against the spread
Florida Atlantic (Sun Belt) is an 8.5-point underdog to Minnesota (Big 10). We call it for the Golden Gophers 36-34.
Update: Florida Atlantic wins 42-39. The Big 10 is a shadow of its former self.
Record this week: 10-7 in predicting the winner, 7-9 against the spread
Georgia Tech is favored by 7 over Boston College. At the moment, these two teams look like the best teams in the ACC and a win by either team would not surprise us at all, so we call it close, going with the home team advantage to the Yellow Jackets, 41-38. The Eagles had only 3 losses last year, all on the road. while Georgia Tech last year had 3 of 5 losses at home, all to ranked teams, by 10 points total. Their offense appears better this year, so that they should not lose these close ones at home this year, but that depends, as always, on the playcalling and coaching.
Update: Boston College wins 24-10.
Record this week: 10-8 in predicting the winner, 8-9 against the spread
Indiana (Big 10) is favored over Akron (Mid-American) by 13. Akron beat Army on the strength of 3 field goals and held Ohio State to 20-2 win, but had to punt 14 times! No offense, excellent defense. We call it for Akron on the field goal advantage 12-9.
Update: Indiana wins 41-24. Is their offense better than that of Ohio State?
Record this week: 10-9 in predicting the winner, 8-10 against the spread
Iowa State (Big 12) is a 17-point underdog to Iowa (Big 10). The Cyclones have been terrible this year but the intrastate rivalry with the Hawkeyes may wake them up some. We call it for Iowa 31-21.
Update: Iowa State upsets Iowa 15-13.
Record this week: 10-10 in predicting the winner, 9-10 against the spread
Kansas (Big 12) is favored by 23 over Toledo (Mid-American). The Jawhawks this year have an offensive no-huddle juggernaut and the Rockets have allowed 52 points in each of their previous two games. Kansas beat Central Michigan 52-7. The Chippewas than vanquished Toledo 52-31. We call it for Kansas 63-7.
Update: Kansas wins 45-13.
Record this week: 11-10 in predicting the winner, 10-10 against the spread
Kentucky (SEC) is a 7-point underdog to Louisville (Big East). It looks like an offensive donnybrook in which we favor Brian Brohm over Andre Woodson 51-46.
Update: Andre Woodson completed a 57-yard touchdown pass with 39 seconds to play and Kentucky won 40-34. In the last 21 seconds of the game, Louisville's Brian Brohm completed several passes to bring Louisville deep in Kentucky territory, but time ran out.
Record this week: 11-11 in predicting the winner, 11-10 against the spread
LSU (SEC) is favored by 40.5 points over Middle Tennessee (Sun Belt). The last time the Tigers scored over 50 points was in 2005 against North Texas. As the Blue Raiders showed against Louisville, they have an offense, so that a spread this large may be an illusion. It will be interesting to see how many yards sophomore Phillip Tanner gets on the ground for Middle Tennessee. We call it 45-21 for LSU.
Update: The Tigers put up another superb defensive effort against Middle Tennessee and won 44-0.
Record this week: 12-11 in predicting the winner, 11-11 against the spread
Maryland (ACC) is a 16.5 point underdog to West Virginia (Big East). The Terrapins have two wins, were 9-4 last year and lost to the Mountaineers 45-24 on the road in 2006. Given what we saw in the Marshall game, West Virginia has vulnerabilities and we call it for West Virginia 38-31.
Update: Great spread. Right on the money. We called the winner but we violated the conference principle here on this call and pay for it by losing to the spread as the Big East Mountaineers beat the spread and win 31-14. (Big East beats spread, ACC loses to spread).
Record this week: 13-11 in predicting the winner, 11-12 against the spread
Miami of Florida (ACC) is favored by 32.5 points over Florida International (Sun Belt). We call it 46-21 for the Hurricanes.
Update: Miami won 23-9.
Record this week: 14-11 in predicting the winner, 12-12 against the spread
Miami of Ohio (Mid-American) is an 8.5 point underdog to Cincinnati (Big East). We call it 31-17 for the Bearcats.
Update: Cincinnati won 47-10.
Record this week: 15-11 in predicting the winner, 13-12 against the spread
Michigan (Big 10) is favored by 10 points over Notre Dame (Independent). Who would have thought that this game would involve a match of two teams not only both 0-2 in the win-loss column, but embarassingly so. It is a shame they both can't win, but one will. Maybe it will go into overtime. We call it 38-37 for the Wolverines in the Big House.
Update:
Record this week: 16-11 in predicting the winner, 13-13 against the spread
Michigan State (Big 10) is favored by 10.5 points over Pittsburgh (Big East). We call it for the Spartans 34-31.
Update: Michigan State beat Pitt 17-13.
Record this week: 17-11 in predicting the winner, 14-13 against the spread
Missouri (Big 12) is favored over Western Michigan (Mid American) by 20.5 points. The Broncos have a leaky defense, but so do the Tigers. We call it for the Mizzou 42-24.
Update: Mizzou continues to roll, beating the Broncos 52-24.
Record this week: 18-11 in predicting the winner, 14-14 against the spread
Navy (Independent) is favored over Ball State (Mid-American) by 7. The Midshipmen played Rutgers even in the second half and should never have lost by 17 last week. We call it 31-21 for Navy.
Update: Navy lost in overtime 34-31.
Record this week: 18-12 in predicting the winner, 14-15 against the spread
The Big 12 is not what it used to be. Nebraska is a 10-point underdog at home in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln against USC. That kind of a thing was impossible under Devaney and Osborne. We really would love to see the Huskers finally pull one out of the hat for all the Big Red fans, but we are afraid those days are long gone and not about to return under Callahan's West Coast Offense, which has been weak against strong teams. Look for the Cornhuskers to fizzle again in the second half - and we predict, again, that NU will score no points in the 3rd quarter, as Callahan attempts to control the clock with his snail strategy while the Blackshirts on the field are taking a beating from the opposing offense. As a Husker alum, we call it 22-21 for NU, but we really do not think it will happen. It would be a miracle.
Update: USC rolled over the Huskers 49-31. As predicted, Nebraska did not score in the 3rd quarter - a statistic which was frequent in 2006 and shows the poor job of coaching adjustments being made by the Huskers between the halves. However, the game was already lost in the second quarter on three series of downs marked by inanely called plays at a time when Nebraska should have been playing all-out offensive football, rather than fooling around.
The Nebraska passing attack had been moving the ball well downfield, and then with the game still tied at 7-7 and Nebraska on the USC 24-yard line, Callahan again incomprehensibly and hopelessly went to his "afraid of your own shadow" conservative style of play and called three straight rushes by Marlon Lucky against a USC rushing defense that yielded 31 yards on 28 rushing plays the entire game:
1st-10, USC24 10:55 M. Lucky rushed to the right for 4 yard gain
2nd-6, USC20 10:34 M. Lucky rushed up the middle for 1 yard gain
3rd-5, USC19 9:41 M. Lucky rushed up the middle for 1 yard loss
4th-6, USC20 9:15 A. Henery kicked a 37-yard field goal
USC came back after the NU field goal to score a TD, and went ahead for good 14-10.
On the next series of downs, Callahan, not learning, AGAIN called two straight rushing plays by Lucky:
1st-10, Neb28 6:45 M. Lucky rushed up the middle for 2 yard gain
2nd-8, Neb30 6:25 M. Lucky rushed to the left for 5 yard gain
3rd-3, Neb35 5:40 S. Keller incomplete pass down the middle
4th-3, Neb35 5:20 D. Titchener punt, no return
If you run the ball on the first two plays of 1st down situations, you put the quarterback in obvious passing situations on 3rd down and make it easy for the defense to adjust to the offense.
If you call three straight rushing plays against a team that is stomping the rush but allowing passing yardage, then you can not be helped.
USC then scored another TD to go ahead 21-10.
With 1:12 to play in the half, rather than trying to get back into the game, Callahan then went into his version of the two-minute offense and AGAIN called two straight rushing plays by Lucky.
3rd-6, Neb14 0:40 S. Keller incomplete pass to the right. USC committed 15 yard penalty. USC committed 15 yard penalty
1st-10, Neb49 0:20 S. Keller incomplete pass to the left
2nd-10, Neb44 0:14 M. Lucky rushed to the left for 1 yard gain
3rd-9, Neb45 0:02 S. Keller passed to M. Lucky down the middle for 5 yard gain. lateral to T. Nunn for 15 yards
At that point, the game was over.
We can not take inept coaching and playcalling like that seriously. We do not even go into the terrible rushing defense of the Huskers, which allowed numerous long gainers, so that USC rushed for 313 yards on an average of 8.2 yards per rush. In the long history of Nebraska football, no Cornhusker team has ever allowed that many average yards rushing in a game. Callahan is setting records at Nebraska - of the wrong kind. As long as Callahan is the Nebraska football head coach, in our opinion - mediocrity is assured. Why NU athletic director Steve Pedersen and UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman just gave Callahan a new 5-year contract is anyone's guess - we do not understand it. We would not be surprised this season to see the Huskers lose at least three more season games (at Missouri, at Texas, at Kansas) and an upset loss at home is not to be excluded.
Ah well, we have some super head coaches to follow and cheer for, like Brian Kelly at Cincinnati, Troy Calhoun at Air Force or Todd Graham and Gus Malzahn at Tulsa. The days of the great Big Red teams are over.
Record this week: 18-13 in predicting the winner, 14-16 against the spread
New Mexico State (Western Athletic) is favored by 6 over UTEP (Conference USA). This is a fun game to predict because the New Mexico Lobos beat the Aggies 44-34 at home but lost to UTEP on the road 10-6, so that by comparative scores, the Miners of UTEP have the better team. Under QB Trevor Vittatoe, the Miners also put up a good show against Texas Tech before losing 45-31 last week. Almost all prognosticators pick UTEP to win. Last year, UTEP beat New Mexico State 44-38 at home. Now they are on the road. We go with New Mexico State 35-34.
Update: New Mexico State beat UTEP 29-24.
Record this week: 18-14 in predicting the winner, 15-16 against the spread
Northern Illinois (Mid-American) is favored over Eastern Michigan (Mid-American) by 14. We called it 28-21 for Northern Illinois.
Update: Eastern Michigan beat Northern Illinois 21-19.
Record this week: 18-15 in predicting the winner, 16-16 against the spread
Northwestern (Big 10) is favored by 16.5 points over Duke (ACC). We call it for the Wildcats 38-21.
Update: Duke came out of nowhere to beat Northwestern 20-14.
Record this week: 18-16 in predicting the winner, 16-17 against the spread
Oklahoma (Big 12) is favored by 46 points over Utah State (Western Athletic). The Aggies lost by only 7 points to UNLV which only lost by 7 points to highly rated Wisconsin. We think the Sooners have a great offense this year and Utah State was 1-11 last year with a 63-10 loss to Hawaii, but Sam Bradford is not as good as Colt Brennan yet. We call it for the Okies 51-6.
Update: Oklahoma continues to roll, beating the Aggies 54-3.
Record this week: 19-16 in predicting the winner, 16-18 against the spread
Oregon (Pac 10) is favored by 16.5 points over Fresno State (WAC). The Bulldogs lost to ranked Texas A&M in overtime last week. Oregon has five straight wins over Fresno State, beating them 31-24 on the road last year. We call it 40-21 for the Ducks.
Update: Oregon wins 52-21.
Record this week: 20-16 in predicting the winner, 17-18 against the spread
Penn State (Big 10) is favored by 34 points over Buffalo (Mid-American). The Bulls are getting better, judging by their 42-7 win over Temple, but the Nittany Lions are another league. Maybe the men of Turner Gill can crack the spread. We call it 35-13 for Penn State.
Update: Penn State wins 45-24 as the Bulls get better, even leading Penn State 3-0 after the first quarter.
Record this week: 21-16 in predicting the winner, 18-18 against the spread
Purdue (Big 10) is favored over Central Michigan (Mid-American) by 21. The big Chippewa loss to Kansas reflects a vastly improved Jayhawk team. We call it for the Boilermakers 35-28.
Update: Purdue beat the Chippewas 45-22.
Record this week: 22-16 in predicting the winner, 18-19 against the spread
Rice (Conference USA) is a 27.5 point underdog to Texas Tech (Big 12). We call it for the Red Raiders 51-17.
Update: Rice wins 59-24.
Record this week: 23-16 in predicting the winner, 19-19 against the spread
Stanford (Pac 10) is favored over San Jose State (WAC) by 7 points in the Bill Walsh Legacy Game. Will this be the Cardinal's first win in the new stadium that went winless last year? Let us hope so. It would be a fitting game to do so, but we think it will be close as Stanford football still has a long way to go before it will become a winning program. We call it 25-24 for the Harbaugh team. (Walsh, a former Stanford football team head coach, who later gained fame with the San Franciso 49ers, passed away on July 30 this year and among other things gained fame by his development of the West Coast Offense in the days when it was a real innovation.)
Update: Stanford shows that Harbaugh's coaching is reaping rewards, beating San Jose State by a relatively astounding 37-0 score for their first win n the new Cardinal stadium.
Record this week: 24-16 in predicting the winner, 19-20 against the spread
Syracuse (Big East) is a 12.5-point underdog to Illinois (Big 10). The Fighting Illini surprised by barely losing to Mizzou 40-34 and won against Western Illinois 21-0. The Orange have been crushed by Washington 42-12 and Iowa 35-0. Last year Syracuse beat Illinois on the road 31-21 so we call it here for Syracuse 21-20.
Update: Syracuse was clobbered by Illinois 41-20.
Record this week: 24-17 in predicting the winner, 19-21 against the spread
Texas A&M (Big 12) is favored by 23 over Louisiana-Monroe (Sun Belt). The Warhawks have lost to Tulsa by 18 and to Clemson by 23 so that about a 3-TD difference is supportable. We call it for the Aggies 35-21.
Update: Texas A&M wins 54-14.
Record this week: 25-17 in predicting the winner, 19-22 against the spread
Troy (Sun Belt) is a 10-point underdog to Oklahoma State (Big 12). The Cowboy offense should have a field day against a team that has given up more than 50 points a game thus far. We call it for the Cowboys 52-31, but Troy too will score, as they did against Florida and Arkansas as well.
Update: This one was a real upset in our books as Troy trounced the Cowboys 41-23.
Record this week: 25-18 in predicting the winner, 19-23 against the spread
Tulsa (Conference USA) is a 7-point underdog to BYU (Mountain West). Brigham Young has a good team, beating one Pac 10 opponent, Arizona, 20-7 at home and then losing to UCLA 27-17 on the road, showing a strong defense. It will be interesting to see how they fare with the Tulsa high tech offense. The Golden Hurricane lost to BYU on the road last year 49-24. What a difference a year makes. We call it for Tulsa 37-34.
Update: Tulsa continues to improve as we expected, winning 55-47, with the offense sparkling and the defense needing work.
Record this week: 26-18 in predicting the winner, 20-23 against the spread
UNLV (Mountain West) is a 17.5 point underdog to Hawaii (Western Athletic), which beat them in Hawaii 42-13 last year. We call it 39-21 for Colt Brennan's Rainbow Warriors.
Update: Hawaii beat UNLV 49-14 as Colt Brennan completed 26 of 32 passes for 298yards and 2 TDs.
Record this week: 27-18 in predicting the winner, 21-23 against the spread
Utah (Mountain West) is a 14.5 point underdog to UCLA (Pac 10). We call it 38-20 for UCLA.
Update: In our book, one of the bigger upsets of the season as Utah annihilated the Bruins unexpectedly 44-6.
Record this week: 27-19 in predicting the winner, 21-24 against the spread
Vanderbilt (SEC) is a 5.5 point favorite over Mississippi (SEC). We call it for the Rebels here by 31-28, who beat Memphis and played well against a reputedly good Missouri team.
Update: Vandy beat Ole Miss 31-17.
Record this week: 27-20 in predicting the winner, 21-25 against the spread
Virginia Tech ACC) is favored at home by 21 points over Ohio (Mid-American). After their 48-7 destruction by LSU, how will the Hokies respond? The Bobcats in 2006 lost by an average of 21 points to 4 top teams so that the 21-point spread here is understandable. We see a lot of defense here and so call it 31-14 for Virginia Tech.
Update: Virginia Tech beat Ohio 28-7, equalling the spread.
Record this week: 28-20 in predicting the winner, 21-25 against the spread
Wake Forest (ACC) is favored by 19.5 points over Army (Independent). The Black Knights lost to Akron by 8 who lost to Ohio State by 18. The Demon Deacons may have trouble winning by nearly 3 TDs against a good defense, so we call it for Wake Forest 27-13.
Update: Wake Forest beat Army 21-10.
Record this week: 29-20 in predicting the winner, 22-25 against the spread
Ohio State (Big 10) is favored over Washington (Pac 10) by 4.5 points. As shown by the 20-2 win over Akron, who punted 14 times, the Buckeyes have a top defense and a weak offense. We call it 13-10 for the Huskies in a defensive battle.
Update: Ohio State won 33-14.
Record this week: 29-21 in predicting the winner, 22-26 against the spread
Washington State (Pac 10) is favored by 26 points over Idaho (WAC), but the Cougars will be facing Deonte Jackson, who ran for nearly 100 yards in a season-opening 38-10 loss to USC and for 214 yards in the win against Cal Poly. We call it for the Cougars against the Vandals, 38-24.
Update: Deonte Jackson ran for 113 yards for Idaho but it was not enough as Vandal QB Nathan Enderle threw for 3 TDs offset by 4 interceptions in losing to the Cougars 45-28.
Record this week: 30-21 in predicting the winner, 23-26 against the spread
Note: As the games are played this 3rd football weekend and when we have time to do so, which can be days later, we will update our predictions with scores and comments.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 9/13/2007 08:07:00 PM
College Football Predictions - Week 3 - 2007
Update: Some Underestimated Teams to Watch the Rest of the Season
Air Force
Cincinnati
Hawaii (they have a good chance to go undefeated this season, which would rightly put the BCS in a real quandry)
Kansas
Tulsa
Update: We had a terrible week for predictions and have never called so many games wrong for a week in terms of the winners, going a mere 30-21 in the won-lost column and also going 23-26 against the spread. We'll try to do better next week. Our conference "system", discussed below, did not work well this week at all. It looks like it is better to concentrate on the game at hand.
Here are our predictions for NCAA I-A (FBS) college football for Week 3 where we go higher or lower against the spread depending primarily on the conference of each team - based on the performance of that conference in week 2 of college football as follows:
| Football Conference | Performance Against the Betting Line |
| Pac 10 | 5-2 |
| SEC | 4-2 (3-0 in the East Division) |
| Mid-American | 4-2 |
| Big East | 4-2 |
| Big 12 | 6-4 |
| Sun Belt | 4-3 |
| WAC | 3-3 |
| Mountain West | 4-5 |
| Big 10 | 3-6 |
| ACC | 2-5 |
| Conference USA | 2-6 |
| Independents | 0-3 |
NOTE: If two conferences did well against the spread last week and are now in a game matching two teams from such conferences, we will assume that the spread is too high. A good example here is the Nebraska - USC game where the Trojans are favored in the official betting line by 10 points whereas all of the predictors (perhaps accurately - we shall see) have a spread in favor of USC which is in part much smaller than that. Hence we will call this game as having a smaller final margin than the 10 points currently given to USC. One does not have to pick the Huskers to win to beat this spread.
We split our predictions into two groups - one involving conference games and the other involving non-conference games, where we apply the conference performance system.
Conference Games
Air Force is an 8-point underdog to TCU (both are from the Mountain West Conference). Air Force has a new coach in Troy Calhoun (who previously coached in the NFL) and the Falcons have beaten South Carolina State and Utah this year, while TCU has beaten Baylor and lost to Texas, playing the Longhorns 10-10 for the first three quarters. Last year the Falcons lost on the road to the Horned Frogs 38-14. Let us call this one 28-24 for TCU.
Update: We did not call the win, but we beat the spread as Air Force upset TCU in overtime 20-17. This game confirms that the Falcons have found themselves an absolute top coach, trailing the entire game until late in the 4th quarter, losing the statistical battle, but winning the game in the end.
Record this week: o-1 in predicting the winner, 1-0 against the spread
Alabama (SEC) (see e.g. "The Changing Tide") is favored by 3 over Arkansas (SEC) in the betting line. The college prognosticators are divided about 50/50 as to the winner of this game. For us, this match is potentially a battle of coaching and we definitely favor "the new Bear Bryant" Saban over the Razorbacks Nutt. The Hogs beat the Crimson Tide 24-23 at home in 2006. We call it 31-24 for 'Bama.
Update: Alabama beat Arkansas by the line spread of 3, 41-38. Saban' star is rising, Nutt's is falling.
Record this week: 1-1 in predicting the winner, 1-0 against the spread
Auburn (SEC) is favored by 13 over Mississippi State (SEC).The Tigers beat the Bulldogs 34-0 on the road last year. We call it 30-14 for Auburn.
Update: Auburn has fallen out of sight with its second straight loss. First it was a 26-23 overtime loss to South Florida and this time around they lost to Mississippi State 19-14.
Record this week: 1-2 in predicting the winner, 1-1 against the spread
East Carolina (Conference USA) is a 1-point underdog to Southern Mississippi (Conference USA). The Pirates beat Southern Miss 20-17 on the road last year and lost to Virginia Tech only 17-7 this year, beating North Carolina 34-31. We see the Pirates overtaking the Golden Eagles 34-24.
Update: Southern Miss came back from a 21-14 deficit in the 3rd quarter to win 28-21.
Record this week: 1-3 in predicting the winner, 1-2 against the spread
Florida (SEC) is favored by 8 over Tennessee. The Volunteers started the season disappointingly and their Achilles heel seems to be their defense, which is fatal against the Gators, who seem to have their offense rolling better this year than last. We call it for Florida 44-27.
Update: Florida's 59-20 blowout of the Volunteers may signal the beginning of the end of the tenure of Tennessee's much criticized head coach Phillip Fulmer.
Record this week: 2-3 in predicting the winner, 2-2 against the spread
North Carolina (ACC) is favored over Virginia (ACC) by 3. Last year the Cavaliers beat Tar Heels 23-0 at home. It is hard to tell how much of an impact Butch Davis is having after last week's loss to East Carolina, but we think the Tar Heels are not yet up to Viginia's caliber and call it for the Cavaliers 27-24.
Update: Virginia wins 22-20.
Record this week: 3-3 in predicting the winner, 3-2 against the spread
Northern Illinois (Mid-American) is favored over Eastern Michigan (Mid-American) by 14. We call it 35-17 for the Huskies against the Eagles.
Update: Eastern Michigan won 21-19. The Huskies are really bad this year.
Record this week: 3-4 in predicting the winner, 3-3 against the spread
Tulane (Conference USA) is a 14.5 point underdog to Houston (Conference USA). We call it for Houston 45-28.
Update: Houston won 34-10.
Record this week: 4-4 in predicting the winner, 4-3 against the spread
Non-Conference Games
Arizona (Pac 10) is favored by 10 points over New Mexico (Mountain West) . We call it 34-20 for the Wildcats over the Lobos.
Update: New Mexico upset Arizona 29-27.
Record this week: 4-5 in predicting the winner, 4-4 against the spread
Arizona State (Pac 10) is favored by 28 over San Diego State (Mountain West). We call it 51-21 for the Sun Devils over the Aztecs.
Update: The Sun Devils won 34-13.
Record this week: 5-5 in predicting the winner, 4-5 against the spread
Arkansas State (Sun Belt) is favored by 3 over SMU (Conference USA). We call it 31-24 for
the Indians over the Mustangs.
Update: Arkansas State won 45-28.
Record this week: 6-5 in predicting the winner, 5-5 against the spread
Boise State (WAC) is favored by 12.5 points over Wyoming (Mountain West). We call it for the Broncos 37-23.
Update: The Broncos win 24-14.
Record this week: 7-5 in predicting the winner, 5-6 against the spread
Cal (Pac 10) is favored over Louisiana Tech (WAC) by 33.5 points, which is somewhat remarkable as the Bulldogs under new head coach Derek Dooley (from the NFL) almost beat Hawaii and Colt Brennan last week. It appears to us that they are much stronger than expected. We call it as a closer game for Cal 27-24.
Update: Cal wins 42-12.
Record this week: 8-5 in predicting the winner, 6-6 against the spread
Central Florida (UCF - Conference USA), which beat North Carolina State (ACC) 25-23, is a 19-point underdog to Texas (Big 12). We call it for the Longhorns 41-20.
Update: Texas lucks out a win 35-32.
Record this week: 9-5 in predicting the winner, 6-7 against the spread
Colorado (Big 12) is a 4.5-point underdog to Florida State (ACC). The Buffs lost 33-14 at Arizona State last week after leading early but being shut down later by the Sun Devil defense. The Seminole defense has leaks. We call it for the Buffaloes here 30-28.
Update: Colorado loses 16-6.
Record this week: 9-6 in predicting the winner, 6-8 against the spread
Connecticut (Big East) is favored over Temple (Mid-American) by 29.5 points. The Huskies head coach Randy Edsall came in for some criticism last year for his lack of offense, but the team is off to a good start this year and is not likely to falter playing Temple. According to the conference principle, Connecticut should beat this spread. We call it Connecticut 52 Temple 17.
Update: Temple rebounds from big loss to Buffalo and loses only 22-17.
Record this week: 10-6 in predicting the winner, 6-9 against the spread
Florida Atlantic (Sun Belt) is an 8.5-point underdog to Minnesota (Big 10). We call it for the Golden Gophers 36-34.
Update: Florida Atlantic wins 42-39. The Big 10 is a shadow of its former self.
Record this week: 10-7 in predicting the winner, 7-9 against the spread
Georgia Tech is favored by 7 over Boston College. At the moment, these two teams look like the best teams in the ACC and a win by either team would not surprise us at all, so we call it close, going with the home team advantage to the Yellow Jackets, 41-38. The Eagles had only 3 losses last year, all on the road. while Georgia Tech last year had 3 of 5 losses at home, all to ranked teams, by 10 points total. Their offense appears better this year, so that they should not lose these close ones at home this year, but that depends, as always, on the playcalling and coaching.
Update: Boston College wins 24-10.
Record this week: 10-8 in predicting the winner, 8-9 against the spread
Indiana (Big 10) is favored over Akron (Mid-American) by 13. Akron beat Army on the strength of 3 field goals and held Ohio State to 20-2 win, but had to punt 14 times! No offense, excellent defense. We call it for Akron on the field goal advantage 12-9.
Update: Indiana wins 41-24. Is their offense better than that of Ohio State?
Record this week: 10-9 in predicting the winner, 8-10 against the spread
Iowa State (Big 12) is a 17-point underdog to Iowa (Big 10). The Cyclones have been terrible this year but the intrastate rivalry with the Hawkeyes may wake them up some. We call it for Iowa 31-21.
Update: Iowa State upsets Iowa 15-13.
Record this week: 10-10 in predicting the winner, 9-10 against the spread
Kansas (Big 12) is favored by 23 over Toledo (Mid-American). The Jawhawks this year have an offensive no-huddle juggernaut and the Rockets have allowed 52 points in each of their previous two games. Kansas beat Central Michigan 52-7. The Chippewas than vanquished Toledo 52-31. We call it for Kansas 63-7.
Update: Kansas wins 45-13.
Record this week: 11-10 in predicting the winner, 10-10 against the spread
Kentucky (SEC) is a 7-point underdog to Louisville (Big East). It looks like an offensive donnybrook in which we favor Brian Brohm over Andre Woodson 51-46.
Update: Andre Woodson completed a 57-yard touchdown pass with 39 seconds to play and Kentucky won 40-34. In the last 21 seconds of the game, Louisville's Brian Brohm completed several passes to bring Louisville deep in Kentucky territory, but time ran out.
Record this week: 11-11 in predicting the winner, 11-10 against the spread
LSU (SEC) is favored by 40.5 points over Middle Tennessee (Sun Belt). The last time the Tigers scored over 50 points was in 2005 against North Texas. As the Blue Raiders showed against Louisville, they have an offense, so that a spread this large may be an illusion. It will be interesting to see how many yards sophomore Phillip Tanner gets on the ground for Middle Tennessee. We call it 45-21 for LSU.
Update: The Tigers put up another superb defensive effort against Middle Tennessee and won 44-0.
Record this week: 12-11 in predicting the winner, 11-11 against the spread
Maryland (ACC) is a 16.5 point underdog to West Virginia (Big East). The Terrapins have two wins, were 9-4 last year and lost to the Mountaineers 45-24 on the road in 2006. Given what we saw in the Marshall game, West Virginia has vulnerabilities and we call it for West Virginia 38-31.
Update: Great spread. Right on the money. We called the winner but we violated the conference principle here on this call and pay for it by losing to the spread as the Big East Mountaineers beat the spread and win 31-14. (Big East beats spread, ACC loses to spread).
Record this week: 13-11 in predicting the winner, 11-12 against the spread
Miami of Florida (ACC) is favored by 32.5 points over Florida International (Sun Belt). We call it 46-21 for the Hurricanes.
Update: Miami won 23-9.
Record this week: 14-11 in predicting the winner, 12-12 against the spread
Miami of Ohio (Mid-American) is an 8.5 point underdog to Cincinnati (Big East). We call it 31-17 for the Bearcats.
Update: Cincinnati won 47-10.
Record this week: 15-11 in predicting the winner, 13-12 against the spread
Michigan (Big 10) is favored by 10 points over Notre Dame (Independent). Who would have thought that this game would involve a match of two teams not only both 0-2 in the win-loss column, but embarassingly so. It is a shame they both can't win, but one will. Maybe it will go into overtime. We call it 38-37 for the Wolverines in the Big House.
Update:
Record this week: 16-11 in predicting the winner, 13-13 against the spread
Michigan State (Big 10) is favored by 10.5 points over Pittsburgh (Big East). We call it for the Spartans 34-31.
Update: Michigan State beat Pitt 17-13.
Record this week: 17-11 in predicting the winner, 14-13 against the spread
Missouri (Big 12) is favored over Western Michigan (Mid American) by 20.5 points. The Broncos have a leaky defense, but so do the Tigers. We call it for the Mizzou 42-24.
Update: Mizzou continues to roll, beating the Broncos 52-24.
Record this week: 18-11 in predicting the winner, 14-14 against the spread
Navy (Independent) is favored over Ball State (Mid-American) by 7. The Midshipmen played Rutgers even in the second half and should never have lost by 17 last week. We call it 31-21 for Navy.
Update: Navy lost in overtime 34-31.
Record this week: 18-12 in predicting the winner, 14-15 against the spread
The Big 12 is not what it used to be. Nebraska is a 10-point underdog at home in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln against USC. That kind of a thing was impossible under Devaney and Osborne. We really would love to see the Huskers finally pull one out of the hat for all the Big Red fans, but we are afraid those days are long gone and not about to return under Callahan's West Coast Offense, which has been weak against strong teams. Look for the Cornhuskers to fizzle again in the second half - and we predict, again, that NU will score no points in the 3rd quarter, as Callahan attempts to control the clock with his snail strategy while the Blackshirts on the field are taking a beating from the opposing offense. As a Husker alum, we call it 22-21 for NU, but we really do not think it will happen. It would be a miracle.
Update: USC rolled over the Huskers 49-31. As predicted, Nebraska did not score in the 3rd quarter - a statistic which was frequent in 2006 and shows the poor job of coaching adjustments being made by the Huskers between the halves. However, the game was already lost in the second quarter on three series of downs marked by inanely called plays at a time when Nebraska should have been playing all-out offensive football, rather than fooling around.
The Nebraska passing attack had been moving the ball well downfield, and then with the game still tied at 7-7 and Nebraska on the USC 24-yard line, Callahan again incomprehensibly and hopelessly went to his "afraid of your own shadow" conservative style of play and called three straight rushes by Marlon Lucky against a USC rushing defense that yielded 31 yards on 28 rushing plays the entire game:
1st-10, USC24 10:55 M. Lucky rushed to the right for 4 yard gain
2nd-6, USC20 10:34 M. Lucky rushed up the middle for 1 yard gain
3rd-5, USC19 9:41 M. Lucky rushed up the middle for 1 yard loss
4th-6, USC20 9:15 A. Henery kicked a 37-yard field goal
USC came back after the NU field goal to score a TD, and went ahead for good 14-10.
On the next series of downs, Callahan, not learning, AGAIN called two straight rushing plays by Lucky:
1st-10, Neb28 6:45 M. Lucky rushed up the middle for 2 yard gain
2nd-8, Neb30 6:25 M. Lucky rushed to the left for 5 yard gain
3rd-3, Neb35 5:40 S. Keller incomplete pass down the middle
4th-3, Neb35 5:20 D. Titchener punt, no return
If you run the ball on the first two plays of 1st down situations, you put the quarterback in obvious passing situations on 3rd down and make it easy for the defense to adjust to the offense.
If you call three straight rushing plays against a team that is stomping the rush but allowing passing yardage, then you can not be helped.
USC then scored another TD to go ahead 21-10.
With 1:12 to play in the half, rather than trying to get back into the game, Callahan then went into his version of the two-minute offense and AGAIN called two straight rushing plays by Lucky.
| 1st-10, Neb10 | 1:12 | M. Lucky rushed up the middle for 6 yard gain |
| 2nd-4, Neb16 | 0:47 | M. Lucky rushed up the middle for 2 yard loss |
1st-10, Neb49 0:20 S. Keller incomplete pass to the left
2nd-10, Neb44 0:14 M. Lucky rushed to the left for 1 yard gain
3rd-9, Neb45 0:02 S. Keller passed to M. Lucky down the middle for 5 yard gain. lateral to T. Nunn for 15 yards
At that point, the game was over.
We can not take inept coaching and playcalling like that seriously. We do not even go into the terrible rushing defense of the Huskers, which allowed numerous long gainers, so that USC rushed for 313 yards on an average of 8.2 yards per rush. In the long history of Nebraska football, no Cornhusker team has ever allowed that many average yards rushing in a game. Callahan is setting records at Nebraska - of the wrong kind. As long as Callahan is the Nebraska football head coach, in our opinion - mediocrity is assured. Why NU athletic director Steve Pedersen and UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman just gave Callahan a new 5-year contract is anyone's guess - we do not understand it. We would not be surprised this season to see the Huskers lose at least three more season games (at Missouri, at Texas, at Kansas) and an upset loss at home is not to be excluded.
Ah well, we have some super head coaches to follow and cheer for, like Brian Kelly at Cincinnati, Troy Calhoun at Air Force or Todd Graham and Gus Malzahn at Tulsa. The days of the great Big Red teams are over.
Record this week: 18-13 in predicting the winner, 14-16 against the spread
New Mexico State (Western Athletic) is favored by 6 over UTEP (Conference USA). This is a fun game to predict because the New Mexico Lobos beat the Aggies 44-34 at home but lost to UTEP on the road 10-6, so that by comparative scores, the Miners of UTEP have the better team. Under QB Trevor Vittatoe, the Miners also put up a good show against Texas Tech before losing 45-31 last week. Almost all prognosticators pick UTEP to win. Last year, UTEP beat New Mexico State 44-38 at home. Now they are on the road. We go with New Mexico State 35-34.
Update: New Mexico State beat UTEP 29-24.
Record this week: 18-14 in predicting the winner, 15-16 against the spread
Northern Illinois (Mid-American) is favored over Eastern Michigan (Mid-American) by 14. We called it 28-21 for Northern Illinois.
Update: Eastern Michigan beat Northern Illinois 21-19.
Record this week: 18-15 in predicting the winner, 16-16 against the spread
Northwestern (Big 10) is favored by 16.5 points over Duke (ACC). We call it for the Wildcats 38-21.
Update: Duke came out of nowhere to beat Northwestern 20-14.
Record this week: 18-16 in predicting the winner, 16-17 against the spread
Oklahoma (Big 12) is favored by 46 points over Utah State (Western Athletic). The Aggies lost by only 7 points to UNLV which only lost by 7 points to highly rated Wisconsin. We think the Sooners have a great offense this year and Utah State was 1-11 last year with a 63-10 loss to Hawaii, but Sam Bradford is not as good as Colt Brennan yet. We call it for the Okies 51-6.
Update: Oklahoma continues to roll, beating the Aggies 54-3.
Record this week: 19-16 in predicting the winner, 16-18 against the spread
Oregon (Pac 10) is favored by 16.5 points over Fresno State (WAC). The Bulldogs lost to ranked Texas A&M in overtime last week. Oregon has five straight wins over Fresno State, beating them 31-24 on the road last year. We call it 40-21 for the Ducks.
Update: Oregon wins 52-21.
Record this week: 20-16 in predicting the winner, 17-18 against the spread
Penn State (Big 10) is favored by 34 points over Buffalo (Mid-American). The Bulls are getting better, judging by their 42-7 win over Temple, but the Nittany Lions are another league. Maybe the men of Turner Gill can crack the spread. We call it 35-13 for Penn State.
Update: Penn State wins 45-24 as the Bulls get better, even leading Penn State 3-0 after the first quarter.
Record this week: 21-16 in predicting the winner, 18-18 against the spread
Purdue (Big 10) is favored over Central Michigan (Mid-American) by 21. The big Chippewa loss to Kansas reflects a vastly improved Jayhawk team. We call it for the Boilermakers 35-28.
Update: Purdue beat the Chippewas 45-22.
Record this week: 22-16 in predicting the winner, 18-19 against the spread
Rice (Conference USA) is a 27.5 point underdog to Texas Tech (Big 12). We call it for the Red Raiders 51-17.
Update: Rice wins 59-24.
Record this week: 23-16 in predicting the winner, 19-19 against the spread
Stanford (Pac 10) is favored over San Jose State (WAC) by 7 points in the Bill Walsh Legacy Game. Will this be the Cardinal's first win in the new stadium that went winless last year? Let us hope so. It would be a fitting game to do so, but we think it will be close as Stanford football still has a long way to go before it will become a winning program. We call it 25-24 for the Harbaugh team. (Walsh, a former Stanford football team head coach, who later gained fame with the San Franciso 49ers, passed away on July 30 this year and among other things gained fame by his development of the West Coast Offense in the days when it was a real innovation.)
Update: Stanford shows that Harbaugh's coaching is reaping rewards, beating San Jose State by a relatively astounding 37-0 score for their first win n the new Cardinal stadium.
Record this week: 24-16 in predicting the winner, 19-20 against the spread
Syracuse (Big East) is a 12.5-point underdog to Illinois (Big 10). The Fighting Illini surprised by barely losing to Mizzou 40-34 and won against Western Illinois 21-0. The Orange have been crushed by Washington 42-12 and Iowa 35-0. Last year Syracuse beat Illinois on the road 31-21 so we call it here for Syracuse 21-20.
Update: Syracuse was clobbered by Illinois 41-20.
Record this week: 24-17 in predicting the winner, 19-21 against the spread
Texas A&M (Big 12) is favored by 23 over Louisiana-Monroe (Sun Belt). The Warhawks have lost to Tulsa by 18 and to Clemson by 23 so that about a 3-TD difference is supportable. We call it for the Aggies 35-21.
Update: Texas A&M wins 54-14.
Record this week: 25-17 in predicting the winner, 19-22 against the spread
Troy (Sun Belt) is a 10-point underdog to Oklahoma State (Big 12). The Cowboy offense should have a field day against a team that has given up more than 50 points a game thus far. We call it for the Cowboys 52-31, but Troy too will score, as they did against Florida and Arkansas as well.
Update: This one was a real upset in our books as Troy trounced the Cowboys 41-23.
Record this week: 25-18 in predicting the winner, 19-23 against the spread
Tulsa (Conference USA) is a 7-point underdog to BYU (Mountain West). Brigham Young has a good team, beating one Pac 10 opponent, Arizona, 20-7 at home and then losing to UCLA 27-17 on the road, showing a strong defense. It will be interesting to see how they fare with the Tulsa high tech offense. The Golden Hurricane lost to BYU on the road last year 49-24. What a difference a year makes. We call it for Tulsa 37-34.
Update: Tulsa continues to improve as we expected, winning 55-47, with the offense sparkling and the defense needing work.
Record this week: 26-18 in predicting the winner, 20-23 against the spread
UNLV (Mountain West) is a 17.5 point underdog to Hawaii (Western Athletic), which beat them in Hawaii 42-13 last year. We call it 39-21 for Colt Brennan's Rainbow Warriors.
Update: Hawaii beat UNLV 49-14 as Colt Brennan completed 26 of 32 passes for 298yards and 2 TDs.
Record this week: 27-18 in predicting the winner, 21-23 against the spread
Utah (Mountain West) is a 14.5 point underdog to UCLA (Pac 10). We call it 38-20 for UCLA.
Update: In our book, one of the bigger upsets of the season as Utah annihilated the Bruins unexpectedly 44-6.
Record this week: 27-19 in predicting the winner, 21-24 against the spread
Vanderbilt (SEC) is a 5.5 point favorite over Mississippi (SEC). We call it for the Rebels here by 31-28, who beat Memphis and played well against a reputedly good Missouri team.
Update: Vandy beat Ole Miss 31-17.
Record this week: 27-20 in predicting the winner, 21-25 against the spread
Virginia Tech ACC) is favored at home by 21 points over Ohio (Mid-American). After their 48-7 destruction by LSU, how will the Hokies respond? The Bobcats in 2006 lost by an average of 21 points to 4 top teams so that the 21-point spread here is understandable. We see a lot of defense here and so call it 31-14 for Virginia Tech.
Update: Virginia Tech beat Ohio 28-7, equalling the spread.
Record this week: 28-20 in predicting the winner, 21-25 against the spread
Wake Forest (ACC) is favored by 19.5 points over Army (Independent). The Black Knights lost to Akron by 8 who lost to Ohio State by 18. The Demon Deacons may have trouble winning by nearly 3 TDs against a good defense, so we call it for Wake Forest 27-13.
Update: Wake Forest beat Army 21-10.
Record this week: 29-20 in predicting the winner, 22-25 against the spread
Ohio State (Big 10) is favored over Washington (Pac 10) by 4.5 points. As shown by the 20-2 win over Akron, who punted 14 times, the Buckeyes have a top defense and a weak offense. We call it 13-10 for the Huskies in a defensive battle.
Update: Ohio State won 33-14.
Record this week: 29-21 in predicting the winner, 22-26 against the spread
Washington State (Pac 10) is favored by 26 points over Idaho (WAC), but the Cougars will be facing Deonte Jackson, who ran for nearly 100 yards in a season-opening 38-10 loss to USC and for 214 yards in the win against Cal Poly. We call it for the Cougars against the Vandals, 38-24.
Update: Deonte Jackson ran for 113 yards for Idaho but it was not enough as Vandal QB Nathan Enderle threw for 3 TDs offset by 4 interceptions in losing to the Cougars 45-28.
Record this week: 30-21 in predicting the winner, 23-26 against the spread
Note: As the games are played this 3rd football weekend and when we have time to do so, which can be days later, we will update our predictions with scores and comments.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 9/13/2007 08:07:00 PM
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