Akron +10
The Zips come in at 0-4 and look to get their first conference win of the year. Akron played a good game at Virginia last week. They out gained the Cavaliers 495-414 and had 8 more first downs, but two interceptions by the Zips, a blocked punt and a turnover on downs led to 28 points for Virginia. QB Charlie Frye set career highs last week for completions, attempts and yards as he went 27-47 for 336 yards. The offense is ranked 49th in the country with 387 ypg and 14th in passing offense with over 290 ypg. The Miami Ohio passing defense isn?t faring too well at 98th, giving up over 253 ypg and the overall defense is 96th, yielding over 413 ypg and over 6 ypp. Frye could come out and have another big game, but they will need RB?s Payne and Hendry to get some yards on the ground. The two are averaging a disappointing 3.4 ypc, but better than the overall team mark of 2.6 ypc. The Miami rushing defense could help things for the Zips as they are ranked 74th, giving up 160 ypg and 4.5 ypc. The offense has committed 11 turnovers, including 8 interceptions, but backups have thrown 3 of those. Miami had forced 12 turnovers this season but have scored only 23 points off of those. Miami comes in off a win over Kent to get their first conference victory of the year. The offense ranks 82nd overall gaining just under 334 ypg. They will once again be without starting RB Cal Murray, but Luke Clemens has done a good job filling in. The Zips need to be weary of QB Ben Roethlisberger, who is having another good season, but is not in the top 50 in passing efficiency while Frye is ranked 35th. He is always a threat but the Zips passing defense has played very well against some good passing teams. They are ranked 42nd, giving up 191 ypg. The number can be considered low because of their first two games against Iowa and Maryland, who got big leads and didn?t throw the ball much. These teams have historically played close games in recent years and this year shouldn?t be much different. Akron has the offense to play with the Redhawks and as long as they keep the turnovers down, they can pull out the outright win.
Iowa +8
The Hawkeyes come in with a good angle of being the better rushing team and having the better run defense. Iowa welcomes back RB Fred Russell, who missed the last game with a shoulder injury. The team is 5th in the country with 272 ypg and 6.2 ypc, which ranks 3rd. The Penn St. rush defense comes in 40th giving up 119 ypg and 3.6 ypc. However, they have faced two teams who rely on the pass first in Central Florida and Louisiana Tech. The one team that they did play who relies on the rush first was Nebraska, who ran for 252 yards and 5.6 ypc on the Nittany Lions. Even though the game ended up being a rout, most of those yards came when the game was still close. Overall, Iowa is ranked 4th in offense with over 488 ypg and over 7 ypp, tops in the nation. The Penn St. defense ranks 89th overall, giving up over 307 ypg. Penn St. has been fortunate to force turnovers in their first three games, getting nine takeaways, with seven of those being interceptions. Iowa is led by QB Brad Banks, who is 11th in pass efficiency and has yet to throw an interception this year. If the running game can continue to succeed as it has thus far this year, which it should, Banks will be able to use his play action and make some plays through the air. Penn St. brings in a very good rushing game themselves, ranked 21st in the country with an average of over 222 ypg. They will be facing the 3rd ranked rushing defense, giving up a meager 47 ypg. Like Penn St., the Hawkeyes haven?t faced the greatest rushing teams but they did hold a good rushing team in Iowa St. to 85 yards with a 2.2 ypc average. The defense gets back SS Bob Sanders this week, who leads the team with 19 solo tackles in only three games. Penn St. will need to throw the ball against the defense that ranks 114th in yards given up, but rank better in passing efficiency defense at 89th. A lot of the yards have come late in games when the game was already decided as well as the comeback by Iowa St. Penn St. has the 60th best passing offense with 207 ypg, but have thrown only 73 times, the 13th least in the country. A lot of this is due to not needing to throw the ball because of their big leads and this could hurt them if they are put in a lot of throwing situations. The Hawkeyes also have the advantage in the kicking game. Iowa K Nate Kaeding is perfect on the year, going 19-19 in extra points and 8-8 in field goals, including a 51-yarder. Anything over a touchdown is an added bonus but hopefully it won?t need to come down to that.
Nevada +12
The Wolfpack are playing with confidence right now and still don?t seem to be getting any respect. They lost to Washington St. in a game that was much closer than the score indicates and then went on to beat BYU and Rice. They now face Colorado St., who was off last week. The Nevada offense is moving the ball with much success, even without RB Chance Kretschmer, who has been out the last two games. The passing offense has taken over, led by QB Zack Threadgill. They are 4th in the nation, averaging over 330 ypg and Threadgill is 4th in passing efficiency with a 170 rating. He is completing nearly 73% of his passes, which is tops in D-1 for quarterbacks. Overall, the offense is 14th, gaining over 448 yards per game. The Colorado St. defense is 81st, yielding almost 383 yards per contest. They faced a potent passing attack in Louisville two weeks ago and gave up 293 yards to Dave Ragone and 360 overall. They will be missing starting LB Doug Heald, who will be out for a few weeks after spraining a knee against Louisville. The obvious key for the Rams is to stop Threadgill, which could open up some holes for RB Matt Milton, who is averaging 3.8 ypc. Don?t be surprised to see a good game from Milton against the Rams defense that is giving up 169 ypg and has given up 11 rushing touchdowns this year. Milton ran for a season high 94 yards against BYU after Kretschmer left the game. On defense, Nevada will need to stop Cecil Sapp and will be keying on stopping the run. Bradlee Van Pelt hasn?t shown much throwing the ball this year as he?s not even in the top 50 in pass efficiency ? he is more dangerous with his legs. The defense has improved immensely from a year ago where they ranked under 100 in all defensive categories. This year they have improved to 69th in total defense, 70th in scoring defense and 40th in passing defense; good numbers considering the competition of Washington St., BYU and Rice. The experience that the ten returning defensive players have gotten over the last three years is paying off. Expect Sapp to get his yards but also expect Nevada to get their points and stay within the generous number.
The Zips come in at 0-4 and look to get their first conference win of the year. Akron played a good game at Virginia last week. They out gained the Cavaliers 495-414 and had 8 more first downs, but two interceptions by the Zips, a blocked punt and a turnover on downs led to 28 points for Virginia. QB Charlie Frye set career highs last week for completions, attempts and yards as he went 27-47 for 336 yards. The offense is ranked 49th in the country with 387 ypg and 14th in passing offense with over 290 ypg. The Miami Ohio passing defense isn?t faring too well at 98th, giving up over 253 ypg and the overall defense is 96th, yielding over 413 ypg and over 6 ypp. Frye could come out and have another big game, but they will need RB?s Payne and Hendry to get some yards on the ground. The two are averaging a disappointing 3.4 ypc, but better than the overall team mark of 2.6 ypc. The Miami rushing defense could help things for the Zips as they are ranked 74th, giving up 160 ypg and 4.5 ypc. The offense has committed 11 turnovers, including 8 interceptions, but backups have thrown 3 of those. Miami had forced 12 turnovers this season but have scored only 23 points off of those. Miami comes in off a win over Kent to get their first conference victory of the year. The offense ranks 82nd overall gaining just under 334 ypg. They will once again be without starting RB Cal Murray, but Luke Clemens has done a good job filling in. The Zips need to be weary of QB Ben Roethlisberger, who is having another good season, but is not in the top 50 in passing efficiency while Frye is ranked 35th. He is always a threat but the Zips passing defense has played very well against some good passing teams. They are ranked 42nd, giving up 191 ypg. The number can be considered low because of their first two games against Iowa and Maryland, who got big leads and didn?t throw the ball much. These teams have historically played close games in recent years and this year shouldn?t be much different. Akron has the offense to play with the Redhawks and as long as they keep the turnovers down, they can pull out the outright win.
Iowa +8
The Hawkeyes come in with a good angle of being the better rushing team and having the better run defense. Iowa welcomes back RB Fred Russell, who missed the last game with a shoulder injury. The team is 5th in the country with 272 ypg and 6.2 ypc, which ranks 3rd. The Penn St. rush defense comes in 40th giving up 119 ypg and 3.6 ypc. However, they have faced two teams who rely on the pass first in Central Florida and Louisiana Tech. The one team that they did play who relies on the rush first was Nebraska, who ran for 252 yards and 5.6 ypc on the Nittany Lions. Even though the game ended up being a rout, most of those yards came when the game was still close. Overall, Iowa is ranked 4th in offense with over 488 ypg and over 7 ypp, tops in the nation. The Penn St. defense ranks 89th overall, giving up over 307 ypg. Penn St. has been fortunate to force turnovers in their first three games, getting nine takeaways, with seven of those being interceptions. Iowa is led by QB Brad Banks, who is 11th in pass efficiency and has yet to throw an interception this year. If the running game can continue to succeed as it has thus far this year, which it should, Banks will be able to use his play action and make some plays through the air. Penn St. brings in a very good rushing game themselves, ranked 21st in the country with an average of over 222 ypg. They will be facing the 3rd ranked rushing defense, giving up a meager 47 ypg. Like Penn St., the Hawkeyes haven?t faced the greatest rushing teams but they did hold a good rushing team in Iowa St. to 85 yards with a 2.2 ypc average. The defense gets back SS Bob Sanders this week, who leads the team with 19 solo tackles in only three games. Penn St. will need to throw the ball against the defense that ranks 114th in yards given up, but rank better in passing efficiency defense at 89th. A lot of the yards have come late in games when the game was already decided as well as the comeback by Iowa St. Penn St. has the 60th best passing offense with 207 ypg, but have thrown only 73 times, the 13th least in the country. A lot of this is due to not needing to throw the ball because of their big leads and this could hurt them if they are put in a lot of throwing situations. The Hawkeyes also have the advantage in the kicking game. Iowa K Nate Kaeding is perfect on the year, going 19-19 in extra points and 8-8 in field goals, including a 51-yarder. Anything over a touchdown is an added bonus but hopefully it won?t need to come down to that.
Nevada +12
The Wolfpack are playing with confidence right now and still don?t seem to be getting any respect. They lost to Washington St. in a game that was much closer than the score indicates and then went on to beat BYU and Rice. They now face Colorado St., who was off last week. The Nevada offense is moving the ball with much success, even without RB Chance Kretschmer, who has been out the last two games. The passing offense has taken over, led by QB Zack Threadgill. They are 4th in the nation, averaging over 330 ypg and Threadgill is 4th in passing efficiency with a 170 rating. He is completing nearly 73% of his passes, which is tops in D-1 for quarterbacks. Overall, the offense is 14th, gaining over 448 yards per game. The Colorado St. defense is 81st, yielding almost 383 yards per contest. They faced a potent passing attack in Louisville two weeks ago and gave up 293 yards to Dave Ragone and 360 overall. They will be missing starting LB Doug Heald, who will be out for a few weeks after spraining a knee against Louisville. The obvious key for the Rams is to stop Threadgill, which could open up some holes for RB Matt Milton, who is averaging 3.8 ypc. Don?t be surprised to see a good game from Milton against the Rams defense that is giving up 169 ypg and has given up 11 rushing touchdowns this year. Milton ran for a season high 94 yards against BYU after Kretschmer left the game. On defense, Nevada will need to stop Cecil Sapp and will be keying on stopping the run. Bradlee Van Pelt hasn?t shown much throwing the ball this year as he?s not even in the top 50 in pass efficiency ? he is more dangerous with his legs. The defense has improved immensely from a year ago where they ranked under 100 in all defensive categories. This year they have improved to 69th in total defense, 70th in scoring defense and 40th in passing defense; good numbers considering the competition of Washington St., BYU and Rice. The experience that the ten returning defensive players have gotten over the last three years is paying off. Expect Sapp to get his yards but also expect Nevada to get their points and stay within the generous number.
