The Weekly Scoreboard: Hatin' On Pro-Style Offenses

Not a great week for most of us and especially myself. I remain stuck way down in the bottom of the overall standings after a 3-5 week.

Only Dmac4real and j1066 were over .500 for the week with 5-3 records.

The crafty Savannah_Domer retains the overall lead heading into week 6.

Recap:

1) Baylor 63 at West Virginia 70

Winner: Baylor (+11.5)

32% picked correctly

I took this screen shot of Geno Smith after this game.

WATCH OUT KID YOU'LL BURN YOUR HAND!

2) Ohio State 17 at Michigan State 16

Winner: Ohio State (+2.5)

46% picked correctly

Braxton Miller was the difference (136 rushing yards) although he turned the ball over 2 or 3 times. Never mind, the Buckeyes still held Michigan State to 303 yards and stole this victory on the road.

3) Tennessee 44 at Georgia 51

Winner: Tennessee (+13.5)

19% picked correctly

My No. 1 DO WANT recruit from last year (Keith Marshall) exploded in this game. He now has 428 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns on just 52 carries this season. It's insane, especially when you factor in fellow true freshman Todd Gurley having 536 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns.

Oh, where have you gone Isaiah Crowell?

4) Texas 41 at Oklahoma State 36

Winner: Texas (-1.5)

73% picked correctly

Can we all agree that the spread offense is the most efficient way of moving the pigskin in football history? Say what you want about controlling the clock and running I-formation 30 times a game, if teams like Alabama committed to the spread I'm telling you they'd never lose.

Texas has a really good defense---honest to goodness a really good defense. Oklahoma State with a bunch of newbies and a 2nd string QB on offense still piled up 576 yards. It's out of control.

5) Wisconsin 27 at Nebraska 30

Winner: Wisconsin (+11.5)

32% picked correctly

Poor Wisconsin was up 20-3 in this contest and ready to put their terrible start to the season behind them. Then Nebraska outscored them 27-7 down the stretch and stole the win right out from underneath them.

The Badgers went into a shell offensively after playing well in the 1st quarter. They only finished with 295 yards, which means they only had about 180 in quarters two through four. That is what happens when you run a pro-style offense...the Huskers shut down the run and Wisconsin was completely lost.

6) Louisville 21 at Southern Miss 17

Winner: Southern Miss (+10.5)

8% picked correctly

This game was literally played in a monsoon.

Chuck Cook/US Presswire

I guess that's how you neutralize Teddy Bridgewater and cover against Louisville. Well played, Southern Miss...well played.

7) Ole Miss 14 at Alabama 33

Winner: Ole Miss (+29.5)

24% picked correctly

I had to check out the box score because I didn't see any of this game and Alabama had just 4(!) 2nd half possessions. That includes a 12-play 7:07 minute drive that ended with a nice comforting field goal. That's like sex to Nick Saban.

That's why you have to watch out for these pro-style offenses like Alabama. They get up by a few scores and if a defense is playing them tough (which apparently Ole Miss was) they will just drip the clock away and take an uninspiring win.

#SpreadOffense4Alabama

8) Oregon State 38 at Arizona 35

Winner: Oregon State (+2.5)

68% picked correctly

Oregon State's quarterback Sean Mannion is probably the best signal caller in the nation that you've never heard of. Through 3 games he's sitting on 1,088 passing yards and just one interception.

The Beavers are also one of the teams who could legitimately claim as tough or tougher schedule than Notre Dame this year. They came back in heroic fashion in this game and move to 3-0 (their first game was postponed), but still have to play BYU, Washington, Utah, Stanford, and Oregon.

Opponent Watch

San Jose State 12 at Navy 0

The Middies terrible season continues as they fall to 1-3 while being shutout at home. Navy managed just 144 yards of offense and have yet to beat a FBS opponent in 2012.

Marshall 41 at Purdue 51

The Boilers move to 3-1 on the season and led this game 42-14 at halftime. They did end up surrendering 27 points in the second half and 534 total yards (including 439 passing yards on 68 Thundering Herd attempts) but they forced 4 turnovers.

Michigan

The 2-2 Wolverines were idle this week and travel to Purdue this weekend.

NC State 37 at Miami 44

Notre Dame's next opponent pulled off a Hail Mary to escape NC State and move to 4-1 on the season. Hurricanes QB Stephen Morris threw for 5 touchdowns and a school record/ACC record 566 yards.

Stanford 13 at Washington 17

The Cardinal suffered their loss of the season this past Thursday to UW and fall to 3-1 this fall. Stanford was held without an offensive touchdown and just 235 total yards.

Hawaii 0 at BYU 47

The Cougars got back to 3-2 on the season with a blowout over Hawaii. BYU was +391 in total yardage in this game as Hawaii was helpless on both sides of the ball.

Oklahoma

The 2-1 Sooners had their second bye week in three weeks and will travel to Texas Tech this weekend.

Pittsburgh

The 2-2 Panthers were idle this week and play at Syracuse this Friday.

Clemson 45 at Boston College 31

BC showed some spunk on offense but fell to 1-3 on the season giving up 576 total yards to Dabo & Co.

Duke 34 at Wake Forest 27

Wake suffered their first loss to Duke in 13 years and fell to 3-2 on the season. They've been blown out by Florida State, struggled against Army (themselves winless and just blown out by Stony Brook) and now lost to the Blue Devils, all in the past three weeks.

USC

The 3-1 Trojans were idle this week and travel to Utah this Thursday on ESPN at 9:00 PM ET.

Early Lines for This Week's Big E Picks

LSU (-2.5) at Florida

Iowa State (+10.5) at TCU

Oklahoma (-5.5) at Texas Tech

Georgia (+1.5) at South Carolina

West Virginia (+6.5) at Texas

Miami (+12.5) at Notre Dame

Nebraska (+3.5) at Ohio State

Washington (+23.5) at Oregon