BOISE STATE vs. NEVADO RENO ? November 27th, 7:55 pm
The 10th ranked Boise State Broncos head to Reno with their BCS dreams and undefeated season on the line. The Broncos have tied a school record with 43 rushing touchdowns in just ten games including 22 in the last three. That record should easily be broken this Saturday against the Nevada Wolf Pack whose season stands at 5-6.
Boise has now won a NCAA high 21 consecutive contests and one reason is that they own one of the best home field advantages in the NCAA with their blue ?Smurf Turf? field which provides little contrast with their matching blue uniforms. It only stands to reason that the Broncos would want to play as many games as possible on their home field and the schedule has given them only three games on the road prior to this match-up at Nevada. Playing the Wolf Pack has not exactly been a worry for them in the past as they have won the last three games by a total score of 149-17.
Nevada has been a ?Jeckyl and Hyde? style of team this season, winning and covering all five of their home games and doing just the opposite on the road. The Wolf Pack has scored 38, 35, 54 and 42 points in those home games and coincidentally Boise has allowed 31, 42, and 49 points in their road games without a single cover. In fact, in the Broncos road games this season they have won by margins of only 16, 3, and 7 points and their opponents in two of those games were Tulsa and San Jose State with only three wins between them. Nevada beat them both this season by larger margins that Boise.
Bottom line, this is a golden spot to take an underdog at home where they are undefeated and getting nearly four touchdowns against a team who is getting too much respect and has not played well on the road. The Wolf Pack is trying to avoid a losing season and complete an undefeated home season. Rest assured that they would like nothing better that to play the spoiler to this Boise team that has beaten them like a redheaded stepchild the last three years.
The Verdict: Nevada (+26)
NOTRE DAME vs. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ? November 27th, 8:10 pm
Pete Carroll is no dummy and if you think that the scheduling of Notre Dame at this point in the season is a coincidence, then you are. As everyone in the free world is aware, Notre Dame?s games are all televised nationally by ABC which assures Coach Carroll the type of undivided attention of the pollsters that he wants. The Trojans were not exactly pleased with the snubbing they received last year when they were not invited to the Sugar Bowl to play for the undisputed national championship, and instead, had to be content with the AP title. Do not expect them to jeopardize their chance to go to the big show this time while the entire country is watching.
The last two games between these two teams ended in nearly identical 44-13 and 45-14 wins by Southern Cal with a 1,161 to 388 total yardage edge in those matches. "That is in the past," said Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn. "It's not something that we really think about." Yeah, right. While it may appear to some that the Irish should stand a better chance this time, they really don?t. Since Vegas began taking wagers on NCAA football, Notre Dame has never been a three touchdown underdog. That?s right, NEVER! Any guesses why they are getting 23 points spotted to them this week?
The Fighting Irish are at their best when they can run the ball, which won't be easy to do this week against the Trojans who rank 2nd nationally in rush defense and are allowing only 69.2 rushing yards per game. Passing against USC is not exactly a walk in the park either as they have only allowed over 200 yards passing in three games. There you have two of the reasons that the Trojans currently are the unanimous choice for the No. 1 team in the country.
Two weeks ago, Pittsburgh QB Tyler Palko was able to drop five touchdowns and 331 yards passing on the Irish at home. What kind of success do you think UCS QB Matt Leinart is going to have with one of the best home field advantages in the land? The Irish secondary is their biggest weakness and has been absolutely lit up in all four of their losses, with BYU, Purdue, Boston College and Pittsburgh averaging 348.3 passing yards. That's a scary thought with Heisman frontrunner Leinart taking aim this week.
The storied Notre Dame program which was for years, loaded with talent, has frankly had a difficult time recruiting recently. The hope of the school was that by bringing in Ty Willingham as head coach they could turn that unfamiliar trend around. Well, they haven?t. At virtually every position on the field, the talent level of USC?s players is head and shoulders above that of Notre Dame again this year and there is nothing the Golden Domers can do about it but prepare for a third consecutive throttling at the hands of Carroll?s boys.
The Verdict: Southern California (-23)
The 10th ranked Boise State Broncos head to Reno with their BCS dreams and undefeated season on the line. The Broncos have tied a school record with 43 rushing touchdowns in just ten games including 22 in the last three. That record should easily be broken this Saturday against the Nevada Wolf Pack whose season stands at 5-6.
Boise has now won a NCAA high 21 consecutive contests and one reason is that they own one of the best home field advantages in the NCAA with their blue ?Smurf Turf? field which provides little contrast with their matching blue uniforms. It only stands to reason that the Broncos would want to play as many games as possible on their home field and the schedule has given them only three games on the road prior to this match-up at Nevada. Playing the Wolf Pack has not exactly been a worry for them in the past as they have won the last three games by a total score of 149-17.
Nevada has been a ?Jeckyl and Hyde? style of team this season, winning and covering all five of their home games and doing just the opposite on the road. The Wolf Pack has scored 38, 35, 54 and 42 points in those home games and coincidentally Boise has allowed 31, 42, and 49 points in their road games without a single cover. In fact, in the Broncos road games this season they have won by margins of only 16, 3, and 7 points and their opponents in two of those games were Tulsa and San Jose State with only three wins between them. Nevada beat them both this season by larger margins that Boise.
Bottom line, this is a golden spot to take an underdog at home where they are undefeated and getting nearly four touchdowns against a team who is getting too much respect and has not played well on the road. The Wolf Pack is trying to avoid a losing season and complete an undefeated home season. Rest assured that they would like nothing better that to play the spoiler to this Boise team that has beaten them like a redheaded stepchild the last three years.
The Verdict: Nevada (+26)
NOTRE DAME vs. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ? November 27th, 8:10 pm
Pete Carroll is no dummy and if you think that the scheduling of Notre Dame at this point in the season is a coincidence, then you are. As everyone in the free world is aware, Notre Dame?s games are all televised nationally by ABC which assures Coach Carroll the type of undivided attention of the pollsters that he wants. The Trojans were not exactly pleased with the snubbing they received last year when they were not invited to the Sugar Bowl to play for the undisputed national championship, and instead, had to be content with the AP title. Do not expect them to jeopardize their chance to go to the big show this time while the entire country is watching.
The last two games between these two teams ended in nearly identical 44-13 and 45-14 wins by Southern Cal with a 1,161 to 388 total yardage edge in those matches. "That is in the past," said Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn. "It's not something that we really think about." Yeah, right. While it may appear to some that the Irish should stand a better chance this time, they really don?t. Since Vegas began taking wagers on NCAA football, Notre Dame has never been a three touchdown underdog. That?s right, NEVER! Any guesses why they are getting 23 points spotted to them this week?
The Fighting Irish are at their best when they can run the ball, which won't be easy to do this week against the Trojans who rank 2nd nationally in rush defense and are allowing only 69.2 rushing yards per game. Passing against USC is not exactly a walk in the park either as they have only allowed over 200 yards passing in three games. There you have two of the reasons that the Trojans currently are the unanimous choice for the No. 1 team in the country.
Two weeks ago, Pittsburgh QB Tyler Palko was able to drop five touchdowns and 331 yards passing on the Irish at home. What kind of success do you think UCS QB Matt Leinart is going to have with one of the best home field advantages in the land? The Irish secondary is their biggest weakness and has been absolutely lit up in all four of their losses, with BYU, Purdue, Boston College and Pittsburgh averaging 348.3 passing yards. That's a scary thought with Heisman frontrunner Leinart taking aim this week.
The storied Notre Dame program which was for years, loaded with talent, has frankly had a difficult time recruiting recently. The hope of the school was that by bringing in Ty Willingham as head coach they could turn that unfamiliar trend around. Well, they haven?t. At virtually every position on the field, the talent level of USC?s players is head and shoulders above that of Notre Dame again this year and there is nothing the Golden Domers can do about it but prepare for a third consecutive throttling at the hands of Carroll?s boys.
The Verdict: Southern California (-23)
