comps
Steve Zukiel
Michigan Wolverines vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish
NCAA Football 137 Michigan vs 138 Notre Dame Saturday, September 13th, 2008 3:30 pm est, 12:30 pm pacific Line: Michigan(-2) Rating:
EZ Free Winner In this contest, my money is on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Both of these teams once again come into this contest struggling as Michigan continues to struggle with the new spread offense employed by new HC Rich Rodriguez while the Irish almost fell to the San Diego State Aztecs last week. I do see some light at the end of the tunnel however for the Irish. QB Jimmy Claussen rallied his team back from the dead, with two 4th quarter TD passes. Plus, let's not forget the Irish have huge revenge on their minds as they were humiliated last season 34-0. Take the Irish in this one. STEVE ZUKIEL TAKES THE NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH PLUS THE POINTS OVER THE MICHIGAN WOLVERINES
NOTRE DAME
George Smeader
Oklahoma Sooners vs Washington Huskies
The Huskies really sold out for Ty Willingham (possibly fighting for his job) last week, but between the first blowout loss, where it was manhandled by Oregon and its reserve quarterbacks, and last week's debacle, where it was penalized for "excessive celebration" and then missed an extra point which could have tied highly-regarded BYU, Washington has been through the emotional grinder.
Oklahoma does not offer any relief in this regard. The Sooners have racked up 1079 yards and 109 points in their two games, but last week's 592-yard effort in the 52-26 win over Cincinnati was particularly impressive, as the Bearcats' defense has a couple of pre-season All-Americans (defensive tackle Terrill Byrd and cornerback Mike Mickens). Sophomore quarterback Sam Bradford is 77% accurate, with seven touchdown passes. And DeMarco Murray, with seven yards per carry, is proving to be just as good as advertised.
Sure, we respect the athletic ability of Washington's QB, Jake Locker, but is HE as good as advertised? While he seems to run the ball well enough (181 yards on the ground thus far), Locker will be facing the fastest front seven this side of USC. And while Oklahoma may have some holes in its secondary, Locker (48%, five yards per attempt) is not really efficient enough to exploit those potential deficiencies. And "not for nothing," but he should have had more presence of mind than to toss the ball up in the air after that TD, which precipitated the demoralizing course of events that may have kept a "W" off of UW's ledger.
Certainly, we salute Washington's effort in going down to the wire which the nationally-ranked Cougars, and we acknowledge that Willingham is well-liked enough that players would be happy to save his job. But to use proper perspective, if they were on a neutral field, Oklahoma would most likely be at least a two-touchdown favorite over BYU. And the Sooners don't figure to be at an emotional valley, with a bye week coming after this. If OU is on its game, this isn't a contest. let's move with Oklahoma, the 20-point favorite in the BetUS NCAA football betting odds.
OKLAHOMA
Lou Barry
Georgia Bulldogs vs South Carolina Gamecocks
The Georgia Bulldogs begin their SEC Conference schedule this Saturday when they invade South Carolina to take on a Gamecocks squad that was beat, yet again, by the Vanderbilt Commodores. The Bulldogs have looked fantastic in their past two games, but South Carolina is an actual team while Central Michigan and Georgia Southern, well, they?re not exactly online football betting powerhouses. Then again, is Georgia?
The Bulldogs have a difficult schedule ahead of them and there?s no doubt that the Bulldogs will have to be the number one team in college football in order to navigate that schedule. They play ASU, Alabama and Tennessee in succession. Then, they play LSU, Auburn and Florida, the Tigers and Gators back to back, within a month. That?s incredible.
So, it appears that South Carolina could very well be the upset play this Saturday as Georgia no doubt will be peeking into the future. ASU next week is a huge game for Georgia. What are the real chances that the Bulldogs will approach their game versus South Carolina as a real meaningful one?
Even with Georgia probably looking ahead in this game, I just don?t see how they lose to South Carolina. In fact I don?t see how Georgia doesn?t win this game by close to three touchdowns.
The problem South Carolina has is that they can?t move the football. Their offense is dreadful. They lost to Vanderbilt, again, because they couldn?t score more than 17 points. How are they going to keep pace with the mighty Bulldogs who have Knowshon Moreno carrying the ball and quarterback Matthew Stafford throwing it to what figure to be wide open wide receivers?
The Bulldogs should run away with this thing. I really believe that they are an excellent online wager to cover the BetUS 8 ? point spread. Obviously, I?m not the only one who believes that as the Bulldogs opened up as 7 point online betting favorites. The line has already shifted a point and a half in about three days.
This should be a Georgia Bulldogs? blow-out victory.
Georgia
Gale Scheelar
Temple Owls vs Buffalo Bulls
Both of these programs are on the rise, and it's a nice thing to see. Buffalo is gathering talent and making smart recruiting moves under coach Turner Gill, and they have placed themselves in a position where last week's loss to Pittsburgh was a minor setback on their way to a bowl. Buffalo is going have edges at the quarterback position with Drew Willy (62%, 5 TD, one INT) and running back with the dynamic James Starks (276 yards in two games).
But remember, Buffalo not necessarily used to the favorite's role, while Temple is a team that is doing what it can to shed its old identity, as coach Al Golden brought back a boatload of players from last year's squad. The Owls probably suffered a more disappointing loss, as they fell in double overtime to u-Conn. But that was a positive, encouraging sign. So is the fact that the Owls got off the road "schneid" (had lost 24 of previous 25) with the resounding win at West Point.
While Adam DiMichele (11 for 28 against Connecticut) is not bulletproof in terms of keeping his job, he does have quite a few starts under his belt and provides a rushing element this team needs. But you have to respect Temple's defense, which brought back nine starting players from a unit that was 21st against the pass last year, and has given up just one touchdown in eight quarters of regulation play. True, Temple does not want to get into a situation where it is trading points, but they can get enough stops to take this thing the whole 60 minutes.
We'll grab the points with Temple, the six-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA football betting odds.
TEMPLE
Jimmy Doyle
Rice Owls vs Vanderbilt Commodores
Undefeated teams with similarly potent offenses will take the field in this matchup looking for ways to slow down their opponent.
The Owls are averaging a whopping 49.0 points per game, largely on the strength of their stellar passing attack, (288.0 ypg) but are also allowing 31.0 points per contest and 430.0 yards of total offense.
The Commodores are holding their opponents to just 15.0 points per game and 332.5 total yards of offense, while putting up 29.0 points per game of their own and a whopping 202.0 rushing yards per game.
The Rice Owls have been putting big points on the board in the early going of the 2008 season but will see their high-scoring ways come to a screeching halt, or at least a slow crawl, in this contest.
Vanderbilt?s outstanding defense should be able to get the job done well enough for the Commodores to win this contest. Besides, the Owls don?t play much defense of their own. Take the Commodores to cover the spread with an emphatic victory in this matchup.
Vanderbilt
High Rollers Club
Oregon Ducks vs Purdue Boilermakers
Oregon looks like it might have an offensive juggernaut on its hands, even after losing Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart to the NFL. The Ducks, who walloped Washington 44-10 in the opener after having to turn to its third and fourth-string quarterbacks, rolled up 688 yards (a school record) against Utah State last Saturday in a 66-24 win over a team that had covered seven of its last eight as a road underdog. Justin Roper, who threw for four touchdowns in last season's 56-21 Sun Bowl win over South Florida, was lost in the opener with a concussion, but came back last week to complete 13 of 18 for 173 yards. The Ducks gained eight yards per pass, 7.7 yards per rush, and turned all Utah State offensive advances into "garbage" after getting off to a 38-14 halftime lead.
Compared to the Washington and Utah State defenses Oregon has faced, Purdue looks like the second coming of the Monsters of the Midway. As such, the Ducks may need ail of Jeremiah Johnson, who left last week's game with a dislocated shoulder.
Purdue was lightly tested in its opener, a 42-10 win over Northern Colorado, but all indications are that the Boilermakers, who averaged 34 ppg last year won't be hurting for scoring punch. Curtis Painter threw for 29 TD's with just 11 pickoffs last year, and is one of the most highly-regarded senior quarterbacks by NFL scouts. With Kory Sheets, he's got a pro prospect at running back to work with, as well as one of the top wide receivers in the country in Greg Orton. Coach Joe Tiller feels he has his best defensive line ever at Purdue, and if they are successful in slowing down the Ducks ground game, which has rambled for 664 yards thus far, that will put some pressure on Roper, who will be starting for the first time in front of a hostile crowd.
Painter threw for 546 yards in the Motor City Bowl last year, and did a great job at cutting down on his interceptions last year (had 19 in 2006). With the more experienced quarterback at the controls, the Boilermakers can trade points every step of the way. We'll grab the number with Purdue, the eight-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA football betting odds.
PURDUE
