Weekend Card (Nov 23rd - 26th)

[Irish]

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

Kent St (-8) over Central Florida W
The knights are terrible, losing its last 2 games to Ball St and Ohio! HOWEVER they are respectable at home and play well there. The knights have 2nd worst offense of 117 Division I-A schools(267.1 yards per game). The Flashes on the other hand have won their last 3 games vs E.Mich, Buffalo and Ohio. Flashes' defense ranks 1st in the MAC in total defense (300 yards a game). Think this is a story of teams going in the opposite direction. kent looking to end their season on a high note while UCF just looking to end the season!

Arizona St (-14) over Arizona
Rivalry in-state or not this shouldn't be this close from kick-off. Past 2 years the sundevils have won by 14 and 21, and IMO this is a better ASU team than in the past! The last few games Arizona have played they have not gotten closer than 14. Arizona ranks last nationally in scoring, averaging 13 points per game. IMO Stoops is just thinking about who he is recruiting at this point! Even with a poor ASU defense the wildcat offense will struggle Now Arizona is starting TWO FRESHMAN CORNERS against Walters and upper class good route running WR PLUS the emergence to TE Mills!! Spells trouble all day!

GL
Irish

 

[gman2]

i havent seen kent play this well in a long long time. i know their recent win streak isnt against any mac elite, but theyre finishing the season with a bang and really building some momentum for next year. think you are right on with this play. cribbs has been incredible to close the year.

 

[Irish]

Toledo (+4.5) over Bowling Green W
Two great offense, but really if you look at the schedule, BG hasn't really played against a good defense and Toledo has a tough not GREAT defense. However yo look at Toledos last 2 games they lost to Miami (OH) thanks in part to 3 first quarter turn-overs (which the defense held to FG's) and they beat No. Ill (a team that beat BG). All this and Toledo plays VERY well in the glass bowl 4-0 this season. Both teams have tremendous talent on offense. Normally Bowling Green lets you score they just outscore you. Like the Marshall game!!! IMO Toledo has the talent on defense to bend (they will allow points) but not break. Also BG has a tendency to commit penalties. Scooter McDougle has come on of late, which helps Gradkowski a lot! Should be a good game, but with the home field advantage and the only team with a hint of defense, the edge goes to Toledo.

GL
Irish

 

[kneifl]

Good luck Irish!!!

kneifl

 

[devilfan02]

As a student at Arizona State, I can give you all the info you need to know on the UofA game. UofA is AWFUL on offense but is good on Defense. ASU is very good on offense and has a solid defense- not a bad one. it's hard to keep scoring defense down in the pac 10 as there are a lot of high powered offenses that throw a majority of the time. The D has held Iowa to 7, Northwestern to 13, a good CAL offense to 27 (7 was on a defensive TD), an improved UTEP to 14...... Whenever we have a good TE, our offense is potent. True Freshman Zach Miller is a load to cover as he is VERY SIMILAR to Todd Heap (another ASU grad). Walter is unstoppable and our recievers are clicking on all cylinders. I won't be betting the game because of the rivalry factor although I think ASU will cover by 7 or more. This game is almost the same as 2 years ago when ASU won in Tucson by 14 (except this years ASU team is better on both sides of the ball by a fair margin and UofA is still awful but has a much improved defense and better coaching). GL as I see ASU covering by a TD. I'll be making the trip down to smelly tucson to watch my Devils trounce the mildcats :clap:

 

[ajoytoy]

gl on the plays buddy!

toy

 

[Marra]

As a student at Arizona State, I can give you all the info you need to know on the UofA game. UofA is AWFUL on offense but is good on Defense. ASU is very good on offense and has a solid defense- not a bad one. it's hard to keep scoring defense down in the pac 10 as there are a lot of high powered offenses that throw a majority of the time. The D has held Iowa to 7, Northwestern to 13, a good CAL offense to 27 (7 was on a defensive TD), an improved UTEP to 14...... Whenever we have a good TE, our offense is potent. True Freshman Zach Miller is a load to cover as he is VERY SIMILAR to Todd Heap (another ASU grad). Walter is unstoppable and our recievers are clicking on all cylinders. I won't be betting the game because of the rivalry factor although I think ASU will cover by 7 or more. This game is almost the same as 2 years ago when ASU won in Tucson by 14 (except this years ASU team is better on both sides of the ball by a fair margin and UofA is still awful but has a much improved defense and better coaching). GL as I see ASU covering by a TD. I'll be making the trip down to smelly tucson to watch my Devils trounce the mildcats :clap:

Whoa devilfan...put down the crackpipe. ASU is statistically a better defense than U of A, but U of A is "good" and ASU is "solid-not bad" ? Come on. Don't look at that Wisky game as to why U of A has a good defense, they didn't have (by far) their best offensive player in Anthony Davis that game. 52nd best defense in 117 teams isn't very good. It's mediocre at best.

 

[Irish]

Toledo/ BG UNDER (65.5) L

Marra & devilfan02 I think you both have valid points and out of your two post one thing is clear and that is you agree that State is the play. Good luck this weekend

Cheers
Irish

 

[trolln4walii]

GL Irish. I like all the MAC plays. Have a great Thanksgiving holiday

 

[Clem D]

Best of luck bud

 

[AR182]

irish......


i played a small teaser on toledo & kent. bg scares me & i don't like to lay points on the road......


thanks for the contribution you make to this forum.it's been a pleasure reading your posts.


good luck this weekend.....

 

[gardenweasel]

i`d be a little afraid of the kent game....people are talking consensus on toledo.....it seems like the consensus is on kent......



i remember playing n.ill. at c.fla, laying over 2 td`s and being up by around 3 td`s and n.ill.. almost lost the game outright.....

i haven`t seen one person on 2 sites on c.fla........

be careful....and g.l.

 

[Irish]

Good start to the week. 2-1
Thanks for the words of encouragement!

WVU (-3) over Pitt L
Hate doing it, but I'm going with line strength. The O-line of WVU vs. D-line of Pitt. BC was able to dominate the line of scrimmage all day and IMO the Panthers can't do that. WVU has to play great pass defense because this Pitt team is rejuvenated! The believe and are playing the best they have in a while! Still this will be a sloppy, cold, crazy thanksgiving night game. I have been to 2 of these games in the past few years. Not really a home game for Pitt because there will be a ton of Mountaineer fans there. Gonna be close but I think the scrambling ability of Marshall is the difference.

Rutgers (+3) over UConn L
UConn is good at home and not so on the road! they are 0-3 on the road against BC, Cuse and Tech. All loses by double digits. The knights play very well at home! 3-2 there, with wins against Temple, Mich St and Kent. This Rutgers team is not good against the run (Navy proved that). However UConn isn't the strongest running team. The two teams played a memorable game last year, with UConn recording a 38-31 win. Looking at a possible upset here, but I'll take the points!

Colorado (+3) over Nebraska W
The cornhusker offense will not get to much resistance from the terrible Colorado defense. However I think the running game of Colorado could be enough for the Buffalo's to win. Nebraska will be fired up for its last home game, but this play comes down to coaching ability the edge goes to Colorado.(IMO)

Boston College (-11.5) over Cuse L
Cuse is terrible on the road losing to Temple and WVU in their last handful of games. BC is undefeated at home this season and are playing there best football of late. BC has the league's top scoring defense and the top rushing defense (113.2 yards per game). Petterson is out for this game, but regardless the eagles still have a great defense and solid running back. Whitworth will be able to run on the Cuse defense which should make it easier to pass for the Redshirt freshman Matt Ryan. Good player IMO, got some time against Temple did well, not Petterson, but should be fine.

UVA (+4) over VT L
Wow what a game the Hokies played last week. They came out and opened a can on the Terps. Might lead to a bit of over confidence coming into this game. I don't think the Cav's will cough up the ball on its first three possessions. UVA 8-2 with loses to FSU and Miami. VT 8-2 with Loses to USC and NC State. However this is a "give me everything you got" Al Groh game, while the Hokies have a Hurricane on the horizon! TB Mike Imoh injured a hamstring against Maryland last week and has been bothered by a stomach virus this week - VERY bad news if he can't go! VT has a great defense, very quick and aggressive, but if you look at their last few games against scrambling QBs they haven't done so well. Having problems with GT (until the last few mins), UNC and WVU. Haggens should be no different. I like the Wahoos for an upset, but playing in blackburg is tough so I'll take the points.

Louisville (-17.5) over Cincy W
loved the Bearcats when I first saw the line, but had to dig a little deeper. Cincy has done very well scoring and playing defense of late! BUT this is the last home game for LeFors, Russell, McCune, Jones, Gates, Leffew and some others! This team will be jacked up. cincy runs a very pass happy offense, I would say it is similar to Memphis, and we all saw how close that game was! Still that was played at Memphis, I expect a big time performance from the cardinals. The bearcats will hang in there for a bit but I think Louisville has too much depth and talent for them.

Hawaii (+6) over N'Western W - cats aren't the best road team, so you fly them across country and have them play at midnight! The warriors play very well at home, partly because in the second half the other team is half asleep. N'Western isn't the best pass defense in the nation as is, so Chang will be able to complete some passes.

ND (+22.5) over USC L - USC should win but this is the bowl game for the Irish, they will be up for it. ND weakness is the pass and USC can chuck it, still the drives of ND can be time consuming and result in points. USC is not the juggernaut of past years, they are good but thats a lot of chalk against a team with a solid running game and good defense.

small plays
Texas (-10.5) over Texas A&M W
Arkansas (+4) over LSU L

GL & Cheers
Irish

 

[Blackman]

Disagree on Rutgers, but best of luck this weekend.

 

[RexBudler]

nice start and good luck the rest of the week buddy

 

[IntenseOperator]

Rutgers (+3) over UConn
UConn is good at home and not so on the road! they are 0-3 on the road against BC, Cuse and Tech. All loses by double digits. The knights play very well at home! 3-2 there, with wins against Temple, Mich St and Kent. This Rutgers team is not good against the run (Navy proved that). However UConn isn't the strongest running team. The two teams played a memorable game last year, with UConn recording a 38-31 win. Looking at a possible upset here, but I'll take the points!

Leaning to this play as well. Rutgers has played a tougher schedule. The bad turnover numbers for Rutgers are better at home while look bad for Uconn on the road. I think Rutgers is better on both sides of the ball in the all important run game. This line is begging for Ucon $$. Rutgers has done very well at this spread and also in games at this total.

GL