Week 4 Predictions

What a wild weekend in college football!  We had upsets, let downs, close games, blowouts and everything in between.

And who predicted two of the biggest upsets last weekend?

THIS GUY! 

Boston College beat USC 37-31 and that game wasn't even that close.  BC ran all over them.  And although my final score was off, I did call it!

A couple weeks ago VA Tech was sending Urban Meyer and OSU to their first regular season home loss since the late 80's when Alf briefly joined Faster Pussycat as their lead guitarist...

by the way, Faster Pussycat was HUGE on Melmac...

... and a week later, the Hokies were losing at home to East Carolina 28-21. Yep, called that one too!

Citizen Kane is impressed. 

Thank you! Thank you!

 Last weekend was quite a let down after HUGE wins for both BC and VA Tech...

Unlucky Louis

Meanwhile, the other team from Virginia pulled off an upset of their own, beating Louisville 23-21 in Charlottesville. So can those teams rebound this weekend?  Do we have upsets brewing for week 4?

Let's talk some football...

Top 25 Action

#22 Clemson @ #1 Florida State - I was going to talk about crab legs, or how no police officer in Tallahassee has ever seen Jameis Winston because they all turn their backs when he does something. Then I figured I could talk about the ill conceived idea by some dummy in the FSU PR office that thought doing a Jameis Winston Ask Me Anything was a good idea...

This won't end well... 

and predictably...

but just last night Jameis provided me with some great new material!

Today I walked by some big guy who kept saying "f**k her right in the pussy" turns out it was Jameis Winston. #lol#gonoles

— Alexis (@alexisgarciaaaa) September 16, 2014

And that's just one of the several eye witness tweets about Jameis and his latest behavior.  Roger Goodell is already under pressure to suspend him.

UPDATE: Winston has been suspended for the 1st half of the game this weekend!  That'll teach him not to yell profanity in the middle of campus!

So what about this game?  Clemson get crushed by Georgia in week 1 then played a patsy in week 2.  Florida State had a tougher than expected game against Okie State in week 1, and didn't look great against The Citadel in week 2.  What does that tell us?  I have no idea.  It's only week 3 and it's hard to tell where teams are at still.  This is a night game in Tallahassee though, and I'd expect FSU to be up for it.  Noles WR Rashad Greene is picking up where first round pick WR Kelvin Benjamin left off last season as one of the best WR's in the country.

Look for Greene and Winston to hook up but it's the ground game where Clemson's D is weak.  They gave up 328 rushing yards in their loss to Georgia.  Granted the Bulldogs have RB Todd Gurley, one of the best in college football, but the 'Noles are no slouches.

The 'Noles D has struggled thus far and this game will be closer than expected.

38-34 Florida State

#2 Oregon @ Washington State - Oregon, as usual, has been putting up a ridiculous amount of points averaging 52 through their first 3 games. QB Marcus Mariota will continue his Heisman campaign against a Wazzu squad that has forsaken running the football.  The Cougars rank first in passing yards per game at 517, and 126th in rushing with 40 per game.  What does that add up to?  A 1-2 record including a loss to Nevada.  Mike Leach is an odd cat...

Merry Christmas Meow.  

What else has Wazzu got? This...

... And another loss.

56-21 Oregon

Florida @ #3 Alabama - Florida absorbed many body shots last week against Kentucky...

... and emerged victorious after 3 OT's! So is Florida that good?  or is Kentucky underrated?  A little from column A, a little from column B.  Gators HC Will Muschamp is on the hot seat after a horrendous 4-8 season last year.  A win against SEC heavy weight Alabama would cool that seat down quite a bit.

'Bama is playing it's 4th straight home game to start the season.  So far their toughest game was week 1 against WVU.  As always, Bama's D is nasty....

... allowing only 11.7 points per game. The Gators offense has struggled under new offensive coordinator Kurt Roper, and will need to get off to a fast start or risk the game getting out of hand by halftime.  I just don't see the Gators offense being potent enough to outscore 'Bama.

35-10 Alabama

#4 Oklahoma @ West Virginia - It seems I underrated the OU D.  The Sooners are only allowing 11 points per game, good enough for 8th in the country and better than 'Bama.  They're also putting up 44.7 points per game, 16th in the nation.  The Sooners are hot right now...

... and WVU is looking to continue it's momentum after pulling out a 40-37 win against Maryland last week as they hit a FG as time expired. FSU transfer QB Clint Trickett is playing the best football of his career, throwing  TD's and only 1 INT so far.  Pitt transfer RB Russell Shell is also on point playing 4.1 yards per carry.  HC Dana Holgorsen is known as an offensive genius, but it's been the WVU D that's been the problem under his watch.  And the D has been an issue still this season.  Unless the Mountaineers some how figure out a way to stop the Sooners, there won't be any couches burning in Morgantown this weekend.

 45-17 Oklahoma

#5 Auburn @ #20 K State - A rare Thursday night top 25 matchup this week. 74 year old K State HC Bill Snyder seems to be the only one capable of keeping K State afloat.  Led by JUCO transfer QB Jake Waters, the Wildcats are putting up 43.5 points per game.

Jake Waters

K State had to come back from 28-13 down in week 2 against Iowa State, not exactly a powerhouse program.  They ended up winning, but, unlike these Auburn fans...

Can you help us? A Bama stole the bottom of our shirts!

...  they didn't look good doing so.

Auburn is averaging 52 points per game on the strength of their running game, which is averaging 330 yards per game, 7th in the nation.  Auburn hasn't really been tested yet and K State has been known to play down, or up, to it's competition.

45-35 Auburn

UPDATE: This game has already been played. And while I was WAY off on the points, Auburn did win 20-14.

#6 Texas A&M @ SMU - In 2008 when SMU lured June Jones away from Hawaii, he was a hailed as the savior of SMU football that would take them back to the glory days of Erick Dickerson.

Fast forward to 2014 and after an 0-2 start, including an embarrassing 43-6 loss to North Texas, June Jones resigned as HC of the Mustangs. SMU has scored a grand total of 6 points all season.  And has inexplicably AVERAGED -7 rushing yards per game.  That's bad.  But to give you some perspective, it's not as bad as this...

... so ... moving on.

Texas A&M doesn't seem to miss Johnny Football much. Barring an upset, they'll be 6-0 heading into a possible top 10 matchup against Ole Miss on October 11th.

45-3 Texas A&M

Mississippi State @ #8 LSU - Urban Meyer disciple and Bulldogs HC Dan Mullen was a hot name in coaching circles since being hired at Mississippi State.  He also bears a striking resemblance to Cousin Eddie...

"Shitter's full!"

Eddie's cousin also plays college football..

Starkville is not an easy place to win but he's led the Bulldogs to 4 straight bowl games and has kept the program afloat in the loaded SEC West.  So how good is MSU?  We'll find out in the next few weeks as the Bulldogs run the Gauntlet...

... of #8 LSU, #6 Texas A&M, and #5 Auburn.

LSU's D has pitched two consecutive shutouts against nobodies.  When they played a team with a pulse, Wisconsin put up 24 on them.  Mississippi State has a pulse. This is my upset of the week!

28-24 Mississippi State

Eastern Michigan @ #11 Michigan State - The last time we saw Sparty they were getting the shit kicked out of them by Oregon.  Sparty has had 2 weeks to let that loss simmer and unlucky Eastern Michigan, who just lost to FBS newbie Old Dominion, will be the on the receiving end as Sparty vents it's frustration.

45-0 Michigan State

Troy @ #13 Georgia - With all the talk about Jameis Winston's latest antics and the obsession with Johnny Football, it's good to hear some kids actually get it... I present to you  Georgia WR Malcolm Mitchell...

The kid is actually making the most of his free education.  Malcolm proves that reading is what?

FUNdamental!

Georgia destroyed Clemson to open their season, then followed that up with a loss to South Carolina.  The Bulldogs battled back after being down 31-20 in the second half but ultimately could not pull out the W.  Georgia gave up 447 yards of offense to the Gamecocks.

Troy is coming of a loss to FCS Abilene Christian.

56-10 Georgia

#14 South Carolina @ Vanderbilt - Think the Commodores miss HC James Franklin?

James Franklin is now dancing in Happy Valley

Vandy needed two touchdowns in the 4th quarter to rally for a 34-31 win over FBS also ran UMass last week at home.  So was it James Franklin that made this program good?  Or did he get while the getting was good, knowing Vandy lost a lot of good players to graduation?  Ask a Vandy fan, I'm sure they'll have an opinion.

We miss James Franklin. 

The Commodores are a mess on offense and defense, ranking 118th in passing yards per game, 111th in rushing, 121st in points per game and finally, 108th in points against per game.  Ugh.

After their embarrassing home loss to the Aggies to open the season, the Gamecocks have 2 wins in a row, including an impressive showing against Georgia last week.  This game should be much easier for The Ole Ball Coach and his team.

34-6 South Carolina

Indiana @ #18 Missouri - These aren't your Daddy's Hoosiers!  Under HC Kevin Wilson, seen here sporting an awesome pornstache...

Who wants a mustache ride!? 

... who was the OC for Oklahoma before getting the gig in Bloomington, the Hoosiers have found a pulse on the grid iron.  They are currently 4th in rushing in the FBS averaging 345 per game.  But that was against an FCS school and Bowling Green.  Indiana has not seen a team with the talent of Missouri yet this season.

Mizzou is 3-0 never really having been challenged all weekend.  Could they get caught looking ahead to their game against South Carolina next weekend?  It's possible but not likely.

37-14 Missouri

Bowling Green @ #19 Wisconsin - So far this season Wisconsin has choked at LSU and beat up on an FCS cupcake.  As usual in Madison, the Badgers offense is centered around the ground game.  This year it's RB Melvin Gordon leading the way by averaging 5.1 yards per carry for an offense that's 217.5 yards rushing per game.  Contrast that to the passing game averaging 169.5 yards per game and  ranked 111th.

Bowling Green is 2-1 but has no defense to speak of. They have up 52 points to Western Kentucky and 42 to Indiana.  Their offense is defense, but if you can't make a stop on D, you're not going to win many games against opponents with better players.

48-19 Wisconsin

Virginia @ #21 BYU - The Cavaliers pulled off one of the bigger upsets of the young season beating Louisville 23-21 last week. HC Mike London was on the hot seat entering the season after posting a 2-10 record in 2013.

Where did my wins go? 

After an 8-4 record in 2011 the program has seemingly regressed.  Virginia will now head to Utah for their first road game of the season.

BYU is the best team outside the Power 5 conferences, which means they'll need to do twice as much as other schools to get into the playoffs...

We can't... we're.. uh... Mormon. 

The Cougars are 3-0, having not really been tested along the way.  Dual threat QB Taysom Hill might be the best kept secret in college football, or perhaps the Mormon version of Tim Tebow?

The kid is a baller.  He threw for 2,938 yards, 19 TD's and 14 INT's while adding 1,344 yards and 10 TD's on the ground.  He's a dark horse Heisman candidate, and with a schedule that currently features zero ranked teams, he may have BYU in position for it's first undefeated season since 1984.

38-24 BYU

Miami FL @ #21 Nebraska - The Canes seem to have a love/hate relationship with HC Al Golden, in that they love to hate him.  But since firing Larry Coker after the 2006 season, the same coach who led them to the 2001 national championship, and almost repeated the feat in 2002 save for the refs bailing out Ohio State, Miami has been plagued by the scandal and a subsequent botched NCAA investigation, and is only 50-38 overall.

That's not bad, but not up to Miami standards. In fact, some fans have called on Golden to resign and hand the job to Ray Lewis, or at least a recording of Ray Lewis.

Miami is a very attractive destination for college kids...

... So why has Miami been stuck in football purgatory for the better part of a decade?  Maybe the fact that they turned their weight room into a night club has something to do with it?

Ish... Ish... Ish... one more rep! Ish... Ish.. Ish.. who brought the Molly!? 

Yep, complete with strobe lights, disco balls and all that other shit kids are into these days. Miami is 2-1 this season, getting throttled by Louisville in week 1, then beating up on weaker opponents the next two weeks. It's still hard to tell what kind of team they have this year, but it's looking like another 7-5 year for the 'Canes.

 Meanwhile in the corn fields of Nebraska...

Do NOT touch my corn! 

The Huskers are averaging 47 points per game and 324 yards rushing.  But their opponents thus far are a combined 2-6, and they struggled against FCS McNeese State at home in week 2.  If this game were in Coral Gables I'd give the nod to Miami, but those South Beach boys visiting the mid west are in for a culture shock.

45-27 Nebraska

Games of Note 

Rutgers @ Navy - The Scarlet Knights opened their inaugural Big Ten season with their Super Bowl against PSU last weekend. Rutgers welcomed the Big Ten to Piscataway the way only Rutgers can...

New Jersey welcomes you! Now pay a $5 toll or you can't leave the state. 

Unfortunately for the Rutgers faithful, they were the Buffalo Bills of this Super Bowl.  The Knights led most of the night until giving up the game winning touchdown with 1:13 remaining and whining from northern jersey has not stopped since.  Rutgers AD has also issued an apology for it's "inappropriate and offensive" fans.

How is this inappropriate? 

The Scarlet Knights want to play big time college football and fancy their game with Penn State to be a "rivalry".  Rutgers is now 2-23-2 all time against Penn State.  If they want this to be a true rivalry they'll need to increase the number in that first column significantly.

To Rutgers credit, they dominated Penn State's offensive line for most of the game. Rutgers DT Darius Hamilton is a stud who will be playing on Sundays.  He was consistently in the back field all night.

But they couldn't over come 5 INT's by QB Gary Nova or big time throws by QB Christian Hackenberg in crunch time.

Navy should be an interesting match up as the Midshipmen can run the ball against anybody and shutting down the run is Rutgers strength on D.

Navy played OSU tough to start their season and has beaten Temple and Texas State thus far.  That doesn't really tell us much about them.  This is a match up of two teams who's season could go either way at this point.

32-27 Rutgers

UMass @ Penn State - Penn State's offensive line was atrocious for most of the game against Rutgers last week. They got absolutely owned in the first half and for a while it looked like Penn State might not score.  Alas, Rutgers being Rutgers, they gave up 13 points in the second half and lost.

Hackenberg gets all the credit but the strength of the Nittany Lions is clearly their defense right now.  Led by DT Anthony Zettel...

... the kid has been disruptive in every game and upped the ante against Rutgers last week.  The PSU D only allowed 2 first downs in the second half and held Rutgers scoreless while intercepting 5 passes.

This team is young and has some more Growing Pains to go through...

The Lions rushing game could use some Viagra as it's been impotent so far this season, ranked 120th in the nation and gaining only 75 yards per game.  They'll need to get that Viagra working...

As they head into their Big Ten schedule next week against Northwestern. If PSU can't run against UMass, they may not be able to run it at all this year.

As for UMass, they're 0-3 and blew games against Colorado and Vanderbilt.  They'll be competing for worst FBS team this season with the two programs listed next.

45-7 Penn State

Appalachian State @ Southern Miss - My Worst Game of the Week.  Two teams battling to stay out of the FBS cellar.  Should be fun.

23-13 Southern Miss