MParris86
10-03-2006, 01:51 PM
Its been a rough two weeks after starting the season great. Back to the grind...
Northern Illinois -10.5 at Miami (Ohio)
I think the Huskies are starting to get on a roll here and this is a big game for them in the MAC title race. With two directional Michigan teams ahead of them, they can't afford to drop this one.
NIU has played much better in the past few weeks, riding a three game winning streak. They have torched their past three opponents (Buffalo, Indiana St, Ball State) putting up 39.7 ppg in the three wins. Last week, against Ball State, the scoreboard read 40-28, but Ball State put up two late scores on the 2nd stringers to make it look respectable. The bottom line is that NIU put up 610 yards of total offense. Garrett Wolfe is a flat-out beast and is becoming a legitimate Heisman contender after rushing for 353 yards last week. The dude is averaging 236 yards a game!
On the contrary, Miami is 0-5 and has one of the worst rushing offenses in the country, averaging 73ypg. Even that number is inflated, over the past two weeks combined the Redhawks have totaled 67 rushing yards and 1.3ypc. Miami has been held to 14 points or less in 4 of their 5 games.
Bottom line is that NIU has built up some momentum with a dangerous offense while Miami sits in the cellar unable to put points on the scoreboard. The Redhawks will fight, but I think NIU wins by two TDs.
Prediction: Northern Illinois 30 Miami 14
Tennessee -2.5 at Georgia
I watched Tennessee for the first time this year against Memphis and was impressed by their offense. Erik Ainge is a much improved QB and the Vols have some weapons in Meachem and Swain. Lamarcus Coker is a pretty good back that can churn out first downs. However, it is the big play potential for Tennessee that is winning them ball games.
The Tennessee defense has been getting better as of late and they made Memphis offense look like a big clusterfuck last Saturday, allowing only 121 yards of offense and 5 first downs.
Georgia's offense has been anemic, particularly in the past two weeks, a 14-13 win over Colorado and a 14-9 win over Ole Miss. The QB experiment with Matthew Stafford and Joe Cox is a mess, and neither is able to separate himself.
Reports are saying that normal starting QB Joe Tereshinski, who has been out since week two with a high ankle sprain, will be back this week as the starter against Tennessee. But lets be serious, its not like they've been missing their Heisman trophy QB. Tereshinski has 2 career TD passes. Plus, he is going to be rusty.
The 5-pt Ole Miss win was almost embarassing, as the Rebels had gotten blown out by 3 scores or more in each of their previous three games, all against unranked opponents.
Georgia's solid defense will slow down the Vols and homefield advantage will be a factor, but the skill players for Tennessee will make some plays. Georgia cant do the same.
Prediction: Tennessee 24 Georgia 14
South Carolina -6.5 at Kentucky
South Carolina found the formula for success last week against Auburn: Syvelle Newton. In his first game at QB since converting from WR, Newton threw for 240 yards, 2tds and ran for 44 yards. He literally picked apart the "vaunted" Auburn defense. SC's star WR, Sidney Rice was blanketed much of the game, so Newton used his other weapons, namely Kenny McKinley.
Yes, I know South Carolina still lost the game. But they outplayed the number two team in the country in many aspects of the game and most importantly established momentum and confidence.
Now they face a Kentucky defense that is allowing yards at an alarming rate. The Wildcats are allowing 461 yards of total offense per game, second worst in the country. That number actually looks alot worse if you take out Kentucky's win over I-AA Texas State....Against I-A competitiion they are allowing 524 yards of offense per game. OUCH.
If Newton and Co. can churn out yards against one of the nation's top defenses, I think they can do alot better against one of the worst. Probably quite a few points in this one, but SC is a better team looking to show they are for real.
Prediction: South Carolina 34 Kentucky 21
Alabama -29 vs. Duke
The Tide are coming in to this one riding a two game losing skid, a 1-pt loss at Arkansas and last week's 28-13 loss at the Swamp to Florida. Last week's 15-point loss to the Gators was a closely contested contest (14-13 in the 4Q) before Florida put up two late TDs to ice it.
Duke, meanwhile is 0-4 and have lost their past two games 36-0 and 37-0. Last week's loss to Virginia was against a team that hadn't put up more than 13 points in any of their previous 4 games. The Blue Devils have an atrocious offense that has been shut out three of their four games and has only put up one touchdown all season. They have the worst scoring offense in the entire country (3.3ppg).
The Tide are coming home after two tough road losses and will be taking their frustrations out on a bad opponent. They should put up at least 40 points here and Duke cant score double digits.
Prediction: Alabama 45 Duke 7
Illinois -6.5 vs. Indiana (bought 1 pt)
The Illini pulled off the upset of Michigan State last week behind the play of freshman QB Juice Williams. He threw and ran for over 100 yards each and led the game winning drive. The Illini outgained Michigan State 390-259.
On the other hand, Indiana got absolutely dismantled by Wisconsin, losing 52-17. The Badgers were up 52-0 in the third quarter and probably could have won by 70 if they didnt call off the dogs. Indiana allowed 539 yards of offense, including 330 passing yards (79% completion rate).
Both teams come in with 2-3 records. However, there is a big difference. Indiana has lost to So. Illinois (I-AA), UConn (bad) and Wisconsin (blowout). Illinois has lost to Rutgers (ranked), Iowa (ranked) and Syracuse (decent team).
Juice Williams is getting more and more confident and Illinois established something to build off with their win last week on the road against MSU. Indiana can't say the same.
Prediction: Illinois 28 Indiana 17
Thats it for now....Good luck all.
Northern Illinois -10.5 at Miami (Ohio)
I think the Huskies are starting to get on a roll here and this is a big game for them in the MAC title race. With two directional Michigan teams ahead of them, they can't afford to drop this one.
NIU has played much better in the past few weeks, riding a three game winning streak. They have torched their past three opponents (Buffalo, Indiana St, Ball State) putting up 39.7 ppg in the three wins. Last week, against Ball State, the scoreboard read 40-28, but Ball State put up two late scores on the 2nd stringers to make it look respectable. The bottom line is that NIU put up 610 yards of total offense. Garrett Wolfe is a flat-out beast and is becoming a legitimate Heisman contender after rushing for 353 yards last week. The dude is averaging 236 yards a game!
On the contrary, Miami is 0-5 and has one of the worst rushing offenses in the country, averaging 73ypg. Even that number is inflated, over the past two weeks combined the Redhawks have totaled 67 rushing yards and 1.3ypc. Miami has been held to 14 points or less in 4 of their 5 games.
Bottom line is that NIU has built up some momentum with a dangerous offense while Miami sits in the cellar unable to put points on the scoreboard. The Redhawks will fight, but I think NIU wins by two TDs.
Prediction: Northern Illinois 30 Miami 14
Tennessee -2.5 at Georgia
I watched Tennessee for the first time this year against Memphis and was impressed by their offense. Erik Ainge is a much improved QB and the Vols have some weapons in Meachem and Swain. Lamarcus Coker is a pretty good back that can churn out first downs. However, it is the big play potential for Tennessee that is winning them ball games.
The Tennessee defense has been getting better as of late and they made Memphis offense look like a big clusterfuck last Saturday, allowing only 121 yards of offense and 5 first downs.
Georgia's offense has been anemic, particularly in the past two weeks, a 14-13 win over Colorado and a 14-9 win over Ole Miss. The QB experiment with Matthew Stafford and Joe Cox is a mess, and neither is able to separate himself.
Reports are saying that normal starting QB Joe Tereshinski, who has been out since week two with a high ankle sprain, will be back this week as the starter against Tennessee. But lets be serious, its not like they've been missing their Heisman trophy QB. Tereshinski has 2 career TD passes. Plus, he is going to be rusty.
The 5-pt Ole Miss win was almost embarassing, as the Rebels had gotten blown out by 3 scores or more in each of their previous three games, all against unranked opponents.
Georgia's solid defense will slow down the Vols and homefield advantage will be a factor, but the skill players for Tennessee will make some plays. Georgia cant do the same.
Prediction: Tennessee 24 Georgia 14
South Carolina -6.5 at Kentucky
South Carolina found the formula for success last week against Auburn: Syvelle Newton. In his first game at QB since converting from WR, Newton threw for 240 yards, 2tds and ran for 44 yards. He literally picked apart the "vaunted" Auburn defense. SC's star WR, Sidney Rice was blanketed much of the game, so Newton used his other weapons, namely Kenny McKinley.
Yes, I know South Carolina still lost the game. But they outplayed the number two team in the country in many aspects of the game and most importantly established momentum and confidence.
Now they face a Kentucky defense that is allowing yards at an alarming rate. The Wildcats are allowing 461 yards of total offense per game, second worst in the country. That number actually looks alot worse if you take out Kentucky's win over I-AA Texas State....Against I-A competitiion they are allowing 524 yards of offense per game. OUCH.
If Newton and Co. can churn out yards against one of the nation's top defenses, I think they can do alot better against one of the worst. Probably quite a few points in this one, but SC is a better team looking to show they are for real.
Prediction: South Carolina 34 Kentucky 21
Alabama -29 vs. Duke
The Tide are coming in to this one riding a two game losing skid, a 1-pt loss at Arkansas and last week's 28-13 loss at the Swamp to Florida. Last week's 15-point loss to the Gators was a closely contested contest (14-13 in the 4Q) before Florida put up two late TDs to ice it.
Duke, meanwhile is 0-4 and have lost their past two games 36-0 and 37-0. Last week's loss to Virginia was against a team that hadn't put up more than 13 points in any of their previous 4 games. The Blue Devils have an atrocious offense that has been shut out three of their four games and has only put up one touchdown all season. They have the worst scoring offense in the entire country (3.3ppg).
The Tide are coming home after two tough road losses and will be taking their frustrations out on a bad opponent. They should put up at least 40 points here and Duke cant score double digits.
Prediction: Alabama 45 Duke 7
Illinois -6.5 vs. Indiana (bought 1 pt)
The Illini pulled off the upset of Michigan State last week behind the play of freshman QB Juice Williams. He threw and ran for over 100 yards each and led the game winning drive. The Illini outgained Michigan State 390-259.
On the other hand, Indiana got absolutely dismantled by Wisconsin, losing 52-17. The Badgers were up 52-0 in the third quarter and probably could have won by 70 if they didnt call off the dogs. Indiana allowed 539 yards of offense, including 330 passing yards (79% completion rate).
Both teams come in with 2-3 records. However, there is a big difference. Indiana has lost to So. Illinois (I-AA), UConn (bad) and Wisconsin (blowout). Illinois has lost to Rutgers (ranked), Iowa (ranked) and Syracuse (decent team).
Juice Williams is getting more and more confident and Illinois established something to build off with their win last week on the road against MSU. Indiana can't say the same.
Prediction: Illinois 28 Indiana 17
Thats it for now....Good luck all.