Week 8 Card (Oct 21-24th)

[Irish]

Miami (6.5) over Clemson
VERY BIG Play
Saw this line under a TD and loved it. Clemson deflated this line with a win over a BAD Wake team at home. Remember Clemson lost to Maryland folks on the road. Hangover from TCU or not Maryland is not good and any mid level ACC team should walk out of Terpville with a win. What I love in this match up team speed, the tigers use ford and spiller more than any other option because they are fast and are game breakers. Miami has the speed to stay with them on defense. Flip that coin the tigers do not have the speed to stay with the miami recievers. Miami's o-line should down right dominate the clemson pass rush. The clemson coaching staff is at each other throats and a win against Wake might get them on the same page but it is a different story going to Miami. The win last week made miami look at this game as the big game considering they have UVA UNC and Duke remaining in the ACC race. So this home game is huge for the Canes. They have found an offense that makes defense guess at play selection. Miami is not affraid to go dep on first down which opens the run and they have no problem loading up behind that o-line and using the run game. This is a spot that puts Clemson in a tone of trouble. GT was able to throw the ball down field to open targets all game, but Nesbitt could not accurately put the ball on the numbers. Misdirection gets the Clemson defense out of poistion and they tackle poorly. Thats all good news for play action and the ability to get playmakers the ball in space. Small plays should turn into big plays for Miami. Now the canes can shadow Spiller with the LB and use the safety to stay on top of Ford, this will eliminate about 65% of the clemson offense. I like the speed advantage on both sides of the ball for Miami, being at home for miami, knowing with a loss to VT this is a huge game and when both teams show up Miami is the much better team and Harris should be able to pick from a few open targets all day and move the chains and turn it into points. Miami will score and if they start to get ahead which should be the game plan, GET ahead and get Spiller out of running the ball, then they will have the tigers throwing and they can eat up the young QB with their closing speed. Of the five decent teams clemson has played they are 2-3 and I say decent because not one of those teams have the ability like Maimi, they will be the best defense Clemson has seen to date and I think the world of TCU but I think Miami is a lot better offensively. They should want this game and I see no reason why they do not speak loudly on saturday and walk with a convincing win!

EDIT: Normally do not post NFL but I loaded up on the Eagles (-6.5) over Washington
Philly was embarassed in Oakland and washington is that bad. No more play calling for Zorn is just another example that this team is looking for answers and has none. Plus now they yanked Campbell so he doesn't care even more, if thats possible... redskins = dumpster fire right now and the Eagles will want to rebound from Oakland and against that Washington secondary Jackson and Macklin should be open deep all day.

Cheers
Irish

 

[LDB]

gl this week irish:toast:

 

[tulah]

EDIT: Normally do not post NFL but I loaded up on the Eagles (-6.5) over Washington
Philly was embarassed in Oakland and washington is that bad. No more play calling for Zorn is just another example that this team is looking for answers and has none. Plus now they yanked Campbell so he doesn't care even more, if thats possible... redskins = dumpster fire right now and the Eagles will want to rebound from Oakland and against that Washington secondary Jackson and Macklin should be open deep all day.

Cheers
Irish

I agree that a fade is in order Vs the Skins but Secondary has performed well.....OL can't block anyone and if Collins is a go this week this game will get out of hand...Collins has no mobility at all and will be thrown around all game....Be careful what u wish for Skins fans because Campbell gives you your best chance beause of his mobilty and abilty to escape a pass rush and take off for 10-15 yds...This is a team in disaray and should be DD dogs at home....It's a tough time to be a Skins fan:sadwave:

GL this week

 

[Irish]

Took another piece of Miami (-5) over Clemson

Iowa (-2) over Mich St
Big play
Mich St was held to 24 points by N'Western. In my opinion who has MSU played that is top talent. They played an overrated ND team, an over valued Mich team and Wisky that has not performed as well as expected. And in those game what have the spartans done? They lose to ND in a dog fight, they lose to C Mich in a dog fight and they lose to Wisky in a dog fight. Then they beat Mich in a dog fight and they beat Illini in a dog fight and get a ten point win against N'Western. Then you have the hawkeyes that seem to just get no respect in the NCAA. They go to PSU and win by ten, they correct issues at half and win against Wisky by ten, beat Arizona by ten and should have beaten Mich by at least 9 but again like last week they gave them a late TD. What I like is the Iowa defensive line against the rushing attack and rotating QB's in MSU. I think the defense can put a strangle hold on what the spartans try to do. Now MSU will not just roll over but the hawkeyes are gaining confidence every week and it is not over hyped confidence but they go out and play hard. I sure would like to see the hawkeyes start a game with a little bit more but they have the ability to learn a team and play them tougher and tougher as the game goes on. Of the teams MSU has played I do not see as tough of a defense as Iowa has and I wonder how the spartans will react against defensive line pressure which they have not seen a lot of to date. Another nice plus is the N'western game may have helped Iowa this week, the DE for MSU collided and both walked away a little gimpy and thats gonna help take some of the pressure of Stanzi. The injuries are starting to mount for MSU and this is not the time to have guys limited, so I think Iowa is the more talented team that is healthier. I mean Iowa has played in tough places and played better teams and walked away the winner but the line opened at two and has dropped to a pick as of a few mins ago. I think thats interesting beacuse I think Iowa is extremely talented if they come to play and this again is a game they they should focus on. Right now with the loss to Ohio st the boys in the black and yellow are front runners in the big ten, so every team is going to be someone to take seriously. OH did I mention this is a REVENGE game for Iowa that lost last year to MSU by 3 points. So the hawkeyes will have a little more added fuel for this game. The scary aspect is the away team has LOST the game in the previous 9 meetings! That being said I like the hawkeyes because they carry a bit more swagger and they believe they are a good team. MSU will give them everything they have but the injuries and rotating QBs will hurt them. I think the Iowa defense makes a big statement and if there is blood in the water look out because they feed off that as well.

PSU (-4.5) over Mich
I have to give the advantage to the lions even in the big house. See I think Penn St may be angry and thats trouble for the remaining teams on their sched. The hammering they gave to Minny is an idea that the games mean something and even though they slept walk through the start of the season if they wake up they can still make waves. In fact since the loss to Iowa the lions have looked like a sharper team and I think they take Mich and apply the pressure on the QB until he is out and they in comes Robinson and that guy is down right terrible throwing the ball. See it was easy for Mich to beat up on Del st but remember Forcie had been taken out of the Iowa game do to a concussion and if it was a bad one, another tough hit and he might feel a little skiddish. I mean looking at Tate at the end of the Iowa game this kid looked like he was running for his life, no vision down field and then it was all she wrote. So he played a series last week and did well then got pulled to rest. I think Penn St throws the world at him and says welcome back to big boy football. Penn State has also been getting healthy over the past few weeks. Sean Hill came in against Minny and made a statement hit, something I think they will bring into this game. The Nittany Lions' defense has not allowed a first-half touchdown this season and has given up just six touchdowns all year. Royster is starting to find the second level like he did last year and I think the alarm bell has gone off for PSU and with the amount of seniors on that team I am sure they are trying to make every game count and they go into Ann Arbor with high energy. If they need any extra motivation PSU has gone to Mich and LOST the last 5 times and they were ranked 15 or lower in the NCAA... so they know if they don't come to play Mich can sneak up on them. Just like last year when they went in asleep Mich had about a ten point lead at half but then the PSU we know showed up and rolled of thirty nine points in route to the win. They come in and take the crowd out of the game.

C.Fla (-10.5) over Rice
Again as I have said for the past few week, any team under 20 points looks like value against Rice.

Navy (-3) over Wake
The deamon deacon have no defense, they should get rolled by navy offensively and being at home they will look for the crowd to get ontop of Wake and then it should be a track meet. See Wake has only had two road games and they lost them both, to BC and Clemson. Not too mention Wake has a battle next week with Miami so they might not be fully focused for this game. Now I am not saying navy is a power by any means, they have beaten the bad teams they should have, but I like their offense in this game because they can ground out the Wake offense. See I am not sold Wake can be effective over and over, and thats where Navy can get the lead and apply pressure. The mid shipmen are coming off an emotional win over SMU but I think they have enough to out play Wake especially in the later quarters. Three home games for Navy and three wins, they are not the best but I think Wake looks past them to start the game and when they wake up they just are not effective enough to score and hold and Navy makes this a close game until they get the small opening to take the game over.

Texas (-13.5) over Mizzou
I see a lot of value here as Mizzou has lost faith in the QB and they struggle against decent defenses. Texas did not look good against Oklahoma and I think the Mizzou defense offers them an oppertunity to score in chunck. The mizzou offense looks a lot at the draw play and Texas is too big and strong up front for that to work. They have the home field advantage against a team that is just looking for leadership and not finding it. If they rallied behind the QB it would be a different story but since the coach came out and said he might bench the starter I just think the first years starters confidence is shaken and going against Texas it is not a time to break in a new QB or play a QB with no confidence. The defense stop Mizzou and the offense takes advantage. I can aslo see some real big defense and special team plays for the long horns. They will come in week because of the win last week but they will still have enough to make the Mizzou offense sputter.

Cheers
Irish

 

[Irish]

Tulah....
You have to think Campbell wasn't the answer when they went after Cutler and Sanchez now he got benched for collins who is also terrible... the skins have no options and no direction from the top down but the coach on the field is the QB and thats trouble... the Eagles defense should be licking their chops.

Cheers
Irish

 

[AR182]

good luck this week irish....& thanks for your writeups....:mj06:

 

[hawkeye]

GL Irish-Your Mia info makes a lot of sense

 

[Irish]

Thanks guys.....

Tulsa (-7) over UTEP
I think the boise game gave the huricanes a lot of confidence that they can play good football even though I think Boise did not play well in that game. UTEP has played a lot of good teams this season and have the ability to shock Tulsa. I think the Tulsa defensive number is deflated because they haven't really played a ton of talented offenses and I think the 18 points per game is not something I would think scares UTEP. The key will be can this overrated Tulsa defense is in for a challege because UTEP can score. This game will put points on the board but I think Tulsa can run and throw more effectively. They can get a lead and make UTEP feel the pressure and fold. Houston gave UTEP all the momentum they needed by letting them start fast. I think Tulsa starts fast, they were the first team to score on boise in the first quarter. This Tula team also needs to rebound. I have to go with the better team here and they should out perform and out run UTEP but I think they need to play well cause UTEP is a live dog. Still Tulsa can mix is up and Kline can make some big plays with his feet.
EDIT: Sorry had to get some stuff done.....
Tulsa is averageing a big amount on the board against somewhat weak teams UTEP has been playing the big boys but got a ton of points against Houston, Buffalo, new mexico state and memphis. Not really power houses on defense. Still I am worried because they have played the better teams, so really can a tulsa team that put a goose egg in oklahoma and lost a heart breaker to Boise go on the road and play hard. I am not worried about the road games because Tulsa has played well on the road in fact of their 6 games four have been on the road so that doesn't bother me. Right now you have to look at UTEP that has the taste for blood after beating Houston at home and Tulsa who needs wins if they want in a bowl. Give both teams should come to play in this game I still like how multi demensional Tulsa is and how effective they can be passing the ball. They use misdirection well and in the end I like them to win this game by DD.

Cheers
Irish

 

[LDB]

Thanks guys.....

Tulsa (-7) over UTEP
I think the boise game gave the huricanes a lot of confidence that they can play good football even though I think Boise did not play well in that game. UTEP has played a lot of good teams this season and have the ability to shock Tulsa. I think the Tulsa defensive number is deflated because they haven't really played a ton of talented offenses and I think the 18 points per game is not something I would think scares UTEP. The key will be can this overrated Tulsa defense is in for a challege because UTEP can score. This game will put points on the board but I think Tulsa can run and throw more effectively. They can get a lead and make UTEP feel the pressure and fold. Houston gave UTEP all the momentum they needed by letting them start fast. I think Tulsa starts fast, they were the first team to score on boise in the first quarter. This Tula team also needs to rebound. I have to go with the better team here and they should out perform and out run UTEP but I think they need to play well cause UTEP is a live dog. Still Tulsa can mix is up and Kline can make some big plays with his feet.
EDIT: Sorry had to get some stuff done.....
Tulsa is averageing a big amount on the board against somewhat weak teams UTEP has been playing the big boys but got a ton of points against Houston, Buffalo, new mexico state and memphis. Not really power houses on defense. Still I am worried because they have played the better teams, so really can a tulsa team that put a goose egg in oklahoma and lost a heart breaker to Boise go on the road and play hard. I am not worried about the road games because Tulsa has played well on the road in fact of their 6 games four have been on the road so that doesn't bother me. Right now you have to look at UTEP that has the taste for blood after beating Houston at home and Tulsa who needs wins if they want in a bowl. Give both teams should come to play in this game I still like how multi demensional Tulsa is and how effective they can be passing the ball. They use misdirection well and in the end I like them to win this game by DD.

Cheers
Irish

great write up...

 

[TWHIT]

You talk down about a Clemson defense thats #11 in the country...hmmmm

 

[Irish]

TWHIT
Not talking down but I just do not think they have seen an offense like Maimi yet. They struggled mightly against GT, they gave up almost 400 yards to TCU but the frogs could not sustain drives. TCU also had over 100 yards in penalties. Then they beat on a terrible road team in BC, lost to Maryland and beat a poor Wake team. I think they have a fast defense but I believe it is overrated as to the talent they have faced. I can tell you are a fan but ask Cincy if South Florida had a top FIVE defense in the country.

Tulsa/UTEP OVER 13.5 1st quarter
small play

Cheers
Irish

 

[spang]

I'm on the bench tonight but I'll be rooting for your play to come through.

GL this week

 

[Morris]

Like Tulsa too. GL tonite!!

 

[Irish]

Thanks for the good luck Spang and Morris what can I say what I did not want to see happened UTEP came out focused Tulsa did not and UTEP got up on them and played with confidence. I do question Tulsa's play calling a bit as they did not go deep off play action as much as I thought they could have against an aggressive defense.. oh well.

North Carolina (-2.5) over FSU
Big play
Right now 69% of the money is on the Noles and the line hasn't moved. North Carolina is a very good team on their own field. UNC is 1-14-1 all time against FSU and thats not good. This is the first ever thursday night game for UNC and they have VT on the door step again not good. What you have to like is FSU riding a 3 game losing streak, the boosters are calling for bowdens head and they just do not seem to have their heads on straight going into this game. I mean aside from the game against BYU the Noles have not beaten any team on their sched with a pulse. Now FSU has NEVER lost four in a row in the Bowden era so the guys on that team should play with a little pride. What I love is FSU instead of getting a little extra time to prepare for this game actually gave the kids time off over the weekend. Considering they lost three in a row and emotionally are not good I am not sure giving guys time off is the best way to get them focused for this huge game. Right now I think the FSU coaching staff is just going crazy trying to fix the issues, the o-line coach busted into the running backs meeting before the GT game. The running game needed to have the o-line help them because apparently these running backs were not on the same page as the line. Why this game really makes me uneasy is UNC bad offense, they are just poor when it comes to setting up the run and passing the ball. At times they look very sharp and at others they can not get out of their own way. I mean looking at UNC they lost to Virginia for god sake and they also lost to GT, in fact the only true bright spot is the defense is playing very well and keeping this bad offense in the game in order to make plays but they have failed to do so. What I think may help them is they used the time off to get the offense up to speed, how will that help them is still yet to be seen. They need to figure things out considering the Heels have only 56 rushing yards in their two conference games. I would love to see Zack Pianalto get back in action, the dummy hurt himself celebrating in the UConn game but he is a great target and can make some big plays for UNC from the TE position. The heels are in a must win position, they have to show up and play well if they are going to do anything in the ACC. This week and next week are like playoff football for UNC if they win them both they have a good oppertunity in the ACC. Can the heels run the ball against the Noles, FSU just lost their starting DT which helps a little but I really think the glaring weakness for FSU is in the pass defense department. Yates will have to have a huge game in order for UNC to get the win. The running game should play better with the extra preperation but I still think UNC lacks a true great player at runningback. Still I think the electricity will be something that will help get the most out of the UNC players. Everyone on that team sees this as the big game at home on national TV against a team considered as a national football powerhouse. So can that energy translate into the offense playing well enough to get the win? We I think Yates is good enough to manage the game but he needs help. Greg Little needs to play like one of the best recuits in the nation. I know they have moved him around to running back but the kid needs to make that next step. The defense should be able to hold their own but the offense now has to do its part. I think FSU will continue to committ penalties and hurt them self but UNC must take advantage. I think the key in this game is UNC needs to make FSU pay is they make mistakes. If FSU makes mistakes all night and UNC cannot hurt them then the defense will get tired and FSU has the talent to hurt them. UNC has the oppertunity to open the playbook up and play risky, if they win this game they control their destiny, if they lose then they will be lucky to get into a bowl. A huge hinge game on their own field. Time for the offensive Butch Davis to prove his worth, instead of hoping to trick FSU with slip screens and flanker sweeps line up and power rush then hit play action. Take an FSU team that is emotionally down and play hard physical football. I think the defense is in a position to also score, FSU will fumble if UNC applies pressure. Fly to the ball and rip then scoop and score. The defense will play well and tonight I think the energy of the situation makes the offense play well enough.

Cheers
Irish

 

[Irish]

UNC (.5) over FSU 2nd half
small play
everyone seems to like FSU in the second so I'll bite on the heels for a little.

Cheers
Irish

 

[Irish]

WS PLcing it and the odd's changes to

UNC (+1) over FSU
Lets go defense, I hope the pressure builds more on FSU.

EDIT: I have been drinking can my speling show it... hahah

Cheers
Irish

 

[djv]

I smell/spell that way all the time 100% my way. However you are much better :mj06: And your write ups are very good.
GL w/your plays.

 

[Irish]

Thanks djv appreciate it.

Army (+10.5) over Rutgers
Small play - after last nights debacle.
Army hasn't played the best teams in the land. In fact their toughest game was against Vandy, but they won shockingly. But on the reverse side of the ball Rutgers sched has not been peppered with tough teams with the exception of Cincy and Pitt. Army has dropped 5 straight games against Rutgers by more than a three TD margin. But Schiano is only 15-26 in away games, last year they were 0-1 as an away favorite. This is a test of two true freshmen playing QB, Savage for Rutgers and Steelman for Army. This is the first year for Army with the coach so they have done some good things but are not any where near a great football team. I think Rutgers has the better players and are the more talented football team but I like the never quit attitude Army has in games. Looking at this game Rutgers needs a win, Army is a speed bump on the road to bigger teams, and they have UConn next week. Before the Maryland game Rutgers only beat FIU by 8, and I am hoping to see that type of look ahead situation again. This is the first road start for Savage and I think the cadets can muster a bit of offense. I think Savage will have more time then he did against Pitt but I think the Cadets will bring some heat because he is a young QB. The cadets have a nice home field advantage and they will fight in this game and if they are not in it to win it they might back door it playing with pride as Rutgers slows it down and gets ready for UConn. I would like to see Army start fast. They have a good running game and they can grind clock, turn long possesions into points is the way they can get a shocking win (doubtful) but grind time of possession and they should have enough to stay with in the total. Then again Rutgers does have more talent and they may get ahead and stay ahead running it up. Hope west point is going crazy tonight and makes it very hard on the fr QB for rutgers.

Cheers
Irish

 

[Woodson]

Best of luck with your plays Irish. Read you write ups like its the paper.

Thanks man!

 

[el JB]

THANKS A LOT FOR THE REASSURANCE

THANKS A LOT FOR THE REASSURANCE

I PLAYED these very same picks ( miami and iowa ) YESTERDAY:00hour
parlayed for 500 to win 1300:00hour
today i started reading this post and now i feel reassured:00hour
THANKS A LOT MATE AND BEST OF LUCK TO US:00hour :00hour :00hour :00hour :00hour :00hour