Week 2 Card (Sept 10-12th)

[Irish]

GT(-4.5) over Clemson
Georgia Tech had 335 yards rushing while Clemson had about 200. Clemsons defense returns 8 starters from a year ago but they allowed Middle Tenn to move the ball on them. In fact Mid Ten St had the same number of first downs against Clemson but the Tigers got the big plays which showed on the score board. The names to watch in this thursday night game are Spiller and Dwyer. Both guys broke long gainers and are able to be the game changer in this contest. So it will be up to a defense to make waves. We see Clemson returns 8 starters but the yellow jackets also return 8 starters. Where I think the difference will be measured is on the offensive side of the ball. Both teams can stop teams but you have to play better than the defense and looking at GT I see more talent to do so. GT can blanket Spiller and the Tigers really don't have another option. Parker is the QB and they have 3 sophmores on the o-line which means the blitzing style of GT should cause them problems. GT returns 10 players on offense. They run the triple option which should hurt Clemson because the tigers are more of a speed team and they will lack the disciple to stay on assignment and thats good news because Nesbitt will take advantage and either make the read and pitch or take it for positive yards. I do wonder about the GT D-line but I like them a lot at LB and CB so the line just needs to play the run and stop up the middle letting the LB and safeties play the contain. You have the home field advantage, the returning 10 offensive starteers and 8 defensive starters the triple option aginst Spiller and the returning 8 players on the clemson defense under a new defensive Co.Looking at this you have to think the yellowjackets have the better options on offense but Clemson is a good team. Getting all over the backfield will help this spot as the inexperience of the QB and the only option being the running back all start from the backfield. GT needs to get back there early and often and disrupt and if the jackets get ahead of Clemson they are not made to come back from a big number. Force them to throw and they will break down further and the gap should open up. Also with the triple option the play action might open up some big plays as Clemson should pull players in to help stop the run.

Cheers
Irish

 

[Cie]

Was thinking the same way. GL sir:weed:

 

[Irish]

N.Tex (+3) over Ohio
North Texas looked very good the other day against Ball St. The o-line open holes and the mean green have a lot of speed. Yes they did not score a ton of points but they went to a tough enviorment and played solid offense and even better defense. Riley Dodge redshirt freshman, this kid is a player. Not only did he show good mechanics and decission making but he also showed a good running ability. Between dodge and Montgomery N. Tex had 200 plus yards on the ground. This means Ohio who gave up 250 plus against UConn might have their hands full. Ohio did fumble twice and lost one, which was not as much of a problem as Uconn throwing 3 picks and Ohio not making any points from these turnovers. Theo Scott and Jackson for Ohio played well but IMO it is off because Ohio only rushed for 60 yards and in the fourth they had to throw to catch up. Another key is Ohio on third down they went 3-14 which really makes me think this team is trying to find out how to keep drives going and N. Tex should be able to stop Ohio as well. Meanwhile N.Tex was 7-15 on third down, not grat but far better than ohio. This is a game with two teams that are going to have to play well to get the win. N.Tex should be riding high after the win and they get a nice home field advantage. They have a good offense and better yet a solid defense. The green held Lewis to 100 yards and they should be able to handle the Ohio running game. Should be a good game but I think N.Tex wins, I'll take the points because Solich is a good coach and is very unhappy with the UConn game. Still I look for Dodge to be a huge key to this shot at a win for N.Tex

EDIT:: Thanks Cie, GL to you too

Cheers
Irish

 

[spang]

Given the fact that N Tex will probably be my largest play of the week, nobody can question your guts. I need this one to get me going in the right direction.

Have a big week !

 

[bej0101]

ball st is baddddd this year and nt struggled to win that game..ohio likely handles the not so mean green,just a thought..

 

[AR182]

good luck this week irish & thanks for taking the time to do writeups....i for 1 greatly appreciate it....

 

[spang]

ball st is baddddd this year and nt struggled to win that game..ohio likely handles the not so mean green,just a thought..

Not sure how you think that they struggled, as they were a 16 pt dog that won by 10 on the road. In doing so the Mean Green rolled up 500+ yards of offense to just over 300 for Ball State. All of this done despite being penalized for about 85 yards as compared to Ball States 30. I would hardly tag that a struggle. N Tex was far better on both sides of the ball.

I'm not knocking you, there is no right or wrong. It's just funny how we come up with with two completely different opinions after watching the same game. I copy and paste all the Mac games into a folder for future reference so I pulled this one back out to take a look. The numbers here do tell a story.

I very much do agree with you that Ball State is in for a very long season.

 

[Irish]

bej0101
Thanks for the comments, but I was more impressed that N.Tex moved the ball extremely well against a defense that was being talked about as very good from last year and returned 7 starters. I mean you have to think 500 yards against a defense that was that experienced shows N.Tex has a pretty good offense or did in last weeks game.

UNC (-4.5) over UConn
UConn was turnover happy against the really fast Ohio defense I wonder how they will handle the NC defense. This game is only tough because UConn is a very good home team but even that does not make me think they have the players to stay in this game for more than a half. Yes NC lost good players on offense but look at who returned, they get TJ Yates back from injury, the entire o-line and the leading rushers. Lack of experience at WR is tough to over come but you have to think Davis has some players ready to jump into that system and be play makers. Then on defense is where I really like UNC, they return 9 players and all the quality players. Goddard in the secondary is the only star they really lost. UConn lost its best rusher and QB, I do think Frazer is a good option but neither QB is very good and both are a step up from last season. Still you cannot replace Brown over night and the Husky offense will have a hard time finding themselves which was seen against Ohio. The Huskies return 6 on defense but I just do not think they can move the line for UNC, the heels should be able to block they d-line and open room for Yates or the running back. The Uconn strength is at LB and it just is not enough in this game. I see the heels with more talent on offense and defense and they are the better team looking at position by position. Home field is a funny thing but I think the heels over come it and push the huskies around, a little worried about UConns quickness but I still think UNC is fast enough to stop it. New QB, Sophmore RB, and replacing some key parts on the o-line will not allow UConn to move the ball and UNC does enough to cash in on points and spread the gap as the game progresses.

Cheers
Irish

 

[Irish]

TCU (-11) over UVA
Is UVA really as bad as they looked saturday? They lose to an FCS team in their home opener. UVA returns 5 on offense and the offensive line was supposed to be even better this year than last. I think it is because this team is not a spread team and these players are not spread players. I mean W&M was 5-20 on third downs for peat sake. So you have a team that is not good at their system and right now after dropping SEVEN turnovers is not too confident. So bring in the frogs in the season opener. The Horned Frogs allowed 18 total touchdowns last season!. Also only 217.8 scrimmage yards allowed per game is pretty solid for this sometimes undersized defense. I think the UVA offense is looking for answers and this frogs defense is not going to let them find them. I mean don't forget this defense lost a TON of players, in fact they only return 4 starters but they are getting a DT starter from 07 back and they got a great JUCO player in the secondary to help ease this pain. So only having four turns into 6 solid returners and a lot of playing experience in the replacement players. The frogs on offense are looking like another year of solid output. The line needs to gel quickly but with 2 sr, 2 jr and a soph these guys all know this system and should be opening holes for Turner all season. Having Turner, Dalton and the recieving corp back is going to help the offense over come some struggles with the gaps in the line to move the chains. UVA returns 6 starters on defense but they gave up over 300 yards to W&M, so they have a lot of questions and no answer on the D-line and at LB. Groh is a good coach and I think UVA is better then what they showed week one but this is a spot where the frogs have film on UVA and there is not present film on TCU so they have a lot of advantages and should be able to handle this big number on the road.

Cheers
Irish

 

[Irish]

WOW... talk about putting your team in a hole, Nesbitt should be beaten to death by his Wr with his own shoes after that passing performance. I would think about putting the kicker in there on passing downs after watching that game.

I will be out of the loop this weekend so I thought I would post all my plays. Since there are a few the write ups are not going to be as detailed as I like in my threads but here we go....

Colorado (-3.5) over Toledo
Toledo get pounced by Purdue who returned only 5 offensive players. Colorado was embarassed against Colorado State and should look to rebound. I would think the running game for the Buff is used more and they have one goal in mind and that is to rebound from last week. Toledo is tough at home even with 9 starters returning on offense the rockets are not a team I see beating up on the Buffs o-line like state did, this will come down to want to and I think that Hawkins after that loss gets a lot more from his players. If he doesn't I would looking in the colorado want ads because they will start looking for a new coach.

S. Fla -24 over Western Kent
I mean this team did just lose by 60 to florida and the Bulls have a good bit of talent returning. South Florida walked through Wollford in a nice warm up and the bugs should be out for this team to really play well against the toppers. With Plancher and Grothe the Bulls can run the ball all day in this game and look for the defense to make some big plays. Considering Charelston Southern is on Deck the bulls should be above this team offensively and defensively and should be a little angry they are not being given any respect this season.

Penn St (-28) over Cuse
Paulus made a big mistake last week and cause the loss but the passing attach for the gophers was open all day. Now happy valley can get to the best QB's and after a tough loss the orange should be a little down and the ions should be all over them. The best match up is the lions defense line against the cuse o-line, I expect paulus to be under pressure all day and even though last week he made some throws this week will be a different story. Home field, the better team and the Cuse inexperience should be enough even though this is a ton of chalk I see Cuse scoring less than ten and Penn st being able to do what they want on offense.

ECU (+6) over WVU
this is a play because ECU is the better team right now. WVU looked bad against Liberty and I just do not think Brown is a good spread runner. The pirates have a veteran bunch and they know they can play this team. WVU has no answers on defense and stopping Devine will cause the offense to go three and out too many times and hurt the timing of the offense. I actually think ECU wins this outright but I'll grab six because WVU cannot be as bad as they looked last week. 9 offensive and 7 defensive returns means this team will be looking not to be in this game but to win it. It also means these guys believe in the system that won them some huge games last year. This team was 0-7 against WVU until last years 24-3 win, they believe they can win as do I.

Utah (-13) over SJ St
Better players on a better team should be enough for the utes. The USC rusing attack moved the ball all over this defense and I think Utah can do the same. They played bad against Utah St and they should have made some corrections on defense and eliminate those issues. I think the line is low because Utah St moves the ball but take away the big plays and I think Utah runs away with this game. A little scared because San Jose returns a lot of players but I think Utah is by far the better team and is looking to play better after last week. They should have been focused all week in practice and fixed some big holes.

Org St (-7) over UNLV
The beavers lost talent on defense but make up for it on offense. They have the running and passing attack to make waves in the PAC-10 and I cannot see the rebles staying with them even at home. I think the rodgers brothers will have far too much speed for them. 7 returniers on offense should have the bevers looking to outscore teams because the defense only brings back 3 players. This time of the year defenses are ahead of offenses so this should be a good sign because the Org st offense is going to be the game changer and the defense can make plays Unlv returns 7 and 7 and a qb group of players but I just don't think it will be enough against the beavers.

Kansas (-11) over UTEP
UTEP has a decent defense but Kansas returns a lot of talent and should run and pass on the miners. Defensively the jayhawks need to get to the QB he makes VERY bad decisions under pressure and he also gets tunnel vision. I think if the jayhawks get to him he will run and as the offense scores more points the miners will not be able to keep up. This is a game where as time goes on the Kansas lead should grow bigger and bigger. 8 offensive and 7 defensive returners for Utep scares me a but Kansas returning 7 on both sides should be able to handle this.

ND (-4.5) over Mich
I like the Irish defense against Mich. They just saw a good QB and offense in Nevada and shut it down. The offense moved the ball well and I think the Michigan defense is overrated after last weeks win. This is a good o-ine for ND and that means time for the QB and with time he should find the solid WR deep on passes. I think the story after the game is how the ND defense fustrated the Mich young QB and caused the Mich offense to take a step backwards. ND scored 21 against Mich last season so this group knows they can score and they also force Mich into 6 turnovers so the defense can make it happen against Hot Rods systems. With Wies calling the offense and staying away from the defense ND looks like a better team and Wies as a play caller is where he made his reputation which I think will grow because he has the right players and can manage the game to his advantage.

VT(-19) over Marshall
The hokies at home looking to get a big win before some big games. I am not sold on them offensively but they should be able to handle the hurds lack of offense. Taylor never got more then 3 seconds against Alabama to set in the pocket, that should change this weekend and he should look a lot better. The hokies now HAVE to win because they have to find out what type of team they have. * returns on offense and defense for the herd scares me a little, but they lost Passmore the best deep threat which leaves the TE Slate as the best reciever and they have a QB that likes to toss picks if pressured. Not to mention in the last 2 years the herd lost their best 4 linemen, two last year and two this previous year.

S.Carolina (+7.5) over Georgia
I like the TD and hook, I think SC is terrible on offense right now but after the first game they should look to rebound and Georgia did not show me much against Okie st. They were shut down by a defense that is not known for shutting people down. I think that speaks to the issues at QB for Georgia. They lose the Lt which is a big hit and SC should be able to do enough to stay in this game. Or they can play like last week and get a woodshed beating beacuse they just do not show up.

Neb (-24) over Ark
I like the defense for Neb, the coach said they played soft so they should come out looking to hit and they will be more physical on both sides of the ball while Ark is good I think Nebraska is looking to prove something and the coach has his team going in the right direction on offense and defense.

Ohio St (+7) over USC
The USC line scares me because they are a true running team now and Navy ran all over the bucks but in the shoe Ohio st needs this win and after being beat down last season might have more of an advantage. They have holes on defense as do USC but I think Pryor is the key. He needs to THROW the ball well and since the O-line for st got embrarassed against Navy I am sure they will be hungry in this game and with USC reloading on defense this might be the oppertunity to do so. I think this game will be a shoot out but I like the more seasoned QB in this game not to make the bad decision and cost his team.

Houston (+15) over okie St
Emotional let down and I think the cougars can keep pace with this cowboy offense. Houston returns 8 on offense and they all should feel better in second year coach system. High scoring game both teams will be able to move the ball but I like these points after a big game for Okie st.

GUT PLAY
TENN (-10) over UCLA
Something just screams at me to take a small flyer on the Vols in this big game.


Sorry for the lack of detail but I think I did alright with the limited time I have, now my fingers are burning from typing so fast...

Cheers
Irish

 

[Irish]

Some totals that look good to me.....

USC/OSU OVER 44.5
Both teams are big on offense and need to fill holes on defense.

UCLA/Tenn OVER (45)
Looking for both teams to come in shooting. A few big plays from Tenn and some points from the bruins should make for a larger number.

ND/Mich OVER 48
Like the offense for ND and I think if they poped 21 last season they should be good for some more and rods offense looked better last week than all last year.

Colorado/Toledo UNDER 54.5
I like the buffalos to win but I can't see this game with the running attack of buffalo looking past 50.

Minny/AF OVER 48.5
AF score 70 last week, Minny let Cuse move the ball on them all game. Both defenses are in questions and offense should be the name of the game in the dome.

Small play
Ducks (-12.5) over Purdue
Pure emotion, that the ducks should have at home after a loss. They have something to prove on offense.

Normally I would run through threads and say GL but can't so GL guys.

Cheers
Irish

 

[tulah]

I LOVE SFLA this week

Should be a good ole fashion beatdown..

Got Colorado tonight too

GL this week Irish

 

[ageecee]

Kansas is now -12.5

 

[joefrog91]

Great write-up on TCU. The offense is supposed to open it up a little more this year. Ryan Christian used as a RB out of necessity last year is back at his original slot receiver spot. He took a short pass and turned it into an 60 yrd td during fall camp. The offense will still be balanced, but expect more down the field passing than in previous years. Dalton's a JR now and he is the QB everyone expected him to be when he arrived on campus four years ago.

TCU usually has a hard time covering on the road, but I see at least a two TD advantage for the Frogs.

 

[eddieeagle]

Good Luck Irish.....Cheers!:mj06:

 

[hawkeye]

GL Irish that is a lot of games!