Wow, such a terrible week for me going 2-6 with correct picks on Alabama and Arizona State only.
Ouch, that's kind of embarrassing.
It could be worse I suppose. Burger, jkra0512, Bstarr3, and ricke002 all settled for 1 win each.
Overall it was a challenging week for nearly everyone as only 8 out of 42 people were over .500 for week 3. Jim Miesle and profgubler led all pickers with very impressive 6-2 records from Saturday, so congratulations to them on whippin' us real good.
Total leaderboard coming after the jump.
We now have a four-way tie for 1st place, and ricke002 is struggling big time with a .250 winning percentage at the bottom. Don't go to Vegas any time soon ricke002!
Recap:
1) Virginia Tech 17 at Pittsburgh 35
Winner: Pittsburgh (+10.5)
7% picked correctly
I mean....what....huh? This has to be one of the strangest victories we'll see this season. Props to the 7% who picked it correctly.
So now what do we think of Pitt? Did they just need some time to adjust to their new coach? Did Va Tech just shoot themselves in the foot too much (4 turnovers)? Are the Hokies terribly overrated? Did some Steelers magic rub off on the Panthers inside Heinz Field?
How did Pitt have their biggest offensive output in over 5 years against a Bud Foster defense?
2) Virginia 20 at Georgia Tech 56
Winner: Georgia Tech (-9.5)
52% picked correctly
Mike "He Who is Doing Great Things" London and his Virginia team got roughed up big time and are off to a 0-1 start in ACC play.
The Yellow Jackets racked up 594 total yards and an amazing 461 yards rushing at 9.2 yards per carry. That is some serious triple option domination and why Georgia Tech raced out to a 49-7 lead by the 4th quarter.
3) Alabama 52 at Arkansas 0
Winner: Alabama (-20.5)
71% picked correctly
It looks like poop is about to hit the fan in Fayetteville if it hasn't already. John L. Smith likely won't survive this season (and really what did they expect?), while injured quarterback Tyler Wilson was calling out teammates for quitting. Good luck with all that drama Razorbacks!
Meanwhile, Alabama held the Hogs to just 137 total yards. I'm starting to get the feeling that the Tide are going to roll straight to another national title. That's not exactly a bold prediction is it?
4) Florida 37 at Tennessee 20
Winner: Florida (+2.5)
43% picked correctly
I must say Florida has the crappiest looking amazing offense I've ever seen. I swear it seemed like they couldn't move the ball that well in this game, then by the fourth quarter the Gators pulled away and finished with 555 total yards and a comfortable victory.
I don't know why, but I feel bad for Tennessee. This was a really big game for their program and now they have an uphill climb in order to make some noise in the SEC East.
5) Arizona State 20 at Missouri 24
Winner: Arizona State (+6.5)
48% picked correctly
Solid win for Missouri who was without quarterback James Franklin. The Tigers led 24-7 in the 4th quarter but a couple Sun Devil scores brought ASU the backdoor cover.
4 turnovers really killed Arizona State in this one.
6) USC 14 at Stanford 21
Winner: Stanford (+9.5)
21% picked correctly
Well, it certainly wasn't Stanford coming back down to earth was it? Barkley threw two picks and was under 50% on the day, USC rushed for just 26 yards, and gained a mere 280 total yards.
Stanford meanwhile rushed for over 200 yards and clearly owns USC now.
7) Notre Dame 20 at Michigan State 3
Winner: Notre Dame (+5.5)
74% picked correctly
Notre Dame is +5 in turnovers right now. Let us rejoice.
8) Utah State 14 at Wisconsin 16
Winner: Utah State (+13.5)
48% picked correctly
What is going on with Wisconsin? Needing a missed field goal as time expires to escape another loss? The Badgers are currently 119th nationally in total offense, 96th in total rushing, and 117th in total passing. All that terrible production against one below-average FBS team---whom they lost to.
Is this going to be a 5-win season for the Badgers?
Opponent Watch
Navy 7 at Penn State 34
Yup, Navy is terrible again. 4 turnovers and sloppy offensive execution is looking like the norm nowadays for coach Niumatolololololol and the Middies.
Navy did end up out-gaining Penn State though, 391 to 341.
Eastern Michigan 16 at Purdue 54
It was a big day on the ground for Purdue as they racked up 392 yards on 42 carries, rolling out to a 33-9 halftime lead. That included 4 players who rushed for at least 47 yards too.
UMass 13 at Michigan 63
The Charlie Molnar era for Massachusetts is off to a great start as the Minutemen have been outscored 145-19 through three games this season. Welcome to D-1 football!
This one had all the stats you'd expect from a blowout, but UMass did manage to net 259 total yards.
Bethune-Cookman 10 at Miami 38
This wasn't exactly a blowout by the Canes. They were only up 24-10 in the fourth quarter and only out-gained Bethune by 71 yards.
True freshman running back Duke Johnson had a big game and has pretty much been the lone bright spot for Miami. He now has 248 rushing yards, 85 receiving yards, and 5 total touchdowns in 2012.
BYU 21 at Utah 24
Did you see the end of this game? Go right now and watch the highlights.
Utah nearly blew a 24-7 lead in the fourth quarter, but thanks to some poor field goal kicking the Utes escaped with the Holy War victory.
Oklahoma
The Sooners were idle and face Kansas State this weekend.
Boston College 13 at Northwestern 22
Frank Spaziani simply cannot weather this storm of a season, no way. BC is now 1-2, already lost to what looks like a bad Miami team, and let Northwestern gain 560 yards in this loss.
The Eagles are a hot mess right now.
Wake Forest 0 at Florida State 52
Remember how everyone was like "Wake Forest has Florida State's number and FSU is a paper tiger like always!"
The Seminoles were like, LOL, NO.
Guess what, Florida State is really talented. They were +486 in total yardage in this game. 486!!!
Early Lines for This Week's Big E Picks:
Missouri (+9.5) at South Carolina
California (+15.5) at USC
LSU (-18.5) at Auburn
Rutgers (+5.5) at Arkansas
Michigan (+6.5) at Notre Dame
Kansas State (+13.5) at Oklahoma
Clemson (+13.5) at Florida State
Arizona (+23.5) at Oregon