Our new leaders are afkas17, JerseyDomer, Savannah_Domer, and SirPaul after they each posted perfect 8-0 records against the spread this past weekend.
Congratulations to them, but remember, we still have a long way to go and many more games to pick.
Recap:
1) Notre Dame 50 at Navy 10
Winner: Notre Dame (-15.5)
92% picked correctly
There was very little doubt with this one. I'll be interested to see if this spread creeps up into the mid-20's next year in favor of the Irish
2) Ohio 24 at Penn State 14
Winner: Ohio (+6.5)
63% picked correctly
It's going to be a long season for Penn State. The Lions led 14-3 at the half but then failed to score a point the rest of the way. New head coach Bill O'Brien decided to put the offense in Matt McGloin's hands (an absurd 48 pass attempts) and it didn't work. Worse still, PSU gave up 499 yards of offense to a MAC team and were outgained by 147 total yards overall.
3) Marshall 34 at West Virginia 69
Winner: West Virginia (-24.5)
75% picked correctly
The Mountaineers piled up 655 yards of total offense and raced out to a 55-17 lead in the third quarter. My pick for the Heisman in Geno Smith got off to a good start on the season finishing 32 of 36 for 323 yards and 4 touchdowns, while also adding 65 yards and another score on the ground with no turnovers. WVU did give up 545 yards to Marshall if you're looking for some criticism of the 'Neers.
4) Miami 41 at Boston College 32
Winner: Miami (-2.5)
85% picked correctly
Boston College actually showed some offensive pop in this game (which might mean Miami's defense is not going to be good, but I digress) and the Eagles raced out to a 14-0 lead. However, the Canes fought back with a pick six and a pair of long touchdown runs by freshman Duke Johnson to turn the tide. Despite over 500 yards of offense and a 122 yard advantage overall, Boston College was down 41-23 in the fourth before scoring a touchdown and safety to close the gap, but still ending up with the loss.
5) Southern Miss 20 at Nebraska 49
Winner: Nebraska (-19.5)
46% picked correctly
This was a game into the second half, but the Huskers pulled away late with some impressive offense. Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez finished with 5 touchdowns and 354 yards passing and wasn't even needed to run the ball. Big Red finished +372 in total yards during this route. Southern Miss could barely throw the ball (75 yards) which does not bode well for their offense.
6) Clemson 26 at Auburn 19
Winner: Clemson (-3.5)
42% picked correctly
Big win for Clemson and the ACC against the SEC's Auburn. Tajh Boyd played well without star receiver Sammy Watkins, but it was Clemson's running back Andre Ellington who shined the brightest with 231 yards on just 26 carries. Auburn held a small lead in the 4th quarter but Clemson finished the game on a 10-0 run to take the victory and the cover. The orange and purple Tigers finished with 154 more yards of offense.
7) Michigan 14 at Alabama 41
Winner: Alabama (-13.5)
49% picked correctly
I'm sure most of you watched this game as Bama rolled out to a 31-0 lead and cruised the rest of the way. Denard hit some long passes but otherwise looked wildly inaccurate as always. What's more, the Michigan staff looked positively afraid to run with Shoelaces---he finished with just 10 rushing attempts and only 2 in the first half. How much was this game a case of Alabama being just that good?
8) Arkansas State 34 at Oregon 57
Winner: Arkansas State (+36.5)
51% picked correctly
This game was 50-3 mid-way through the 2nd quarter and I headed to bed on Saturday thinking Oregon would easily cover. Yet, the Ducks would score just one more touchdown the rest of the way as they emptied the bench and let Arkansas State pile up 530 yards of total offense and 24 second-half points. That's probably not what Oregon wanted to see on defense, but their offense looked ridiculous in the first half.
Opponent Watch
Eastern Kentucky 6 at Purdue 48
There was a last minute suspension to Caleb TerBush so good old Robert Marve started at quarterback for the Boilers and finished 30 for 38 with 295 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Purdue goes +357 in total yards against their high school competition.
Boise State 13 at Michigan State 17
This game wasn't as close as the score indicates as Sparty held the Broncos without an offensive touchdown and controlled the line of scrimmage from start to finish. Only a few turnovers (and a pick six) kept this one close.
San Jose State 17 at Stanford 20
Not a great debut for Stanford in the post-Luck era. The Cardinal scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the game but needed a field goal early in the 4th quarter (after SJSU fumbled in their own territory) to escape with a victory. Stanford was actually outgained by the Spartans while the running game looked pretty pedestrian for most of the night.
Washington State 6 at BYU 30
Brigham Young easily handled Wazzou in Mike Leach's return to college football, holding them without a touchdown. BYU looked solid on both sides of the ball but Washington State might still be pretty poor even under Leach's new leadership.
Oklahoma 24 at UTEP 7
This game was tied at the half, and just 10-7 Oklahoma after 3 quarters. The Sooners also allowed UTEP to run for 207 yards at 5.8 per rush. Still, UTEP couldn't score an offensive touchdown, nor pass the ball with any consistency (just 7 completions on 26 attempts). Star JUCO running back Damien Williams led the way for OU with 104 yards on 9 carries, including a game-sealing 65-yard score.
Youngstown State 31 at Pittsburgh 17
The Paul Chryst era got off to a rousing fail over the weekend. Youngstown scored the first touchdown and never trailed as the FCS team pulled off the upset on the road. That power running game that Chryst brought over from Wisconsin didn't go too well with just 130 yards for the game. We'll see if Pitt can recover from the loss.
Liberty 17 at Wake Forest 20
The Demon Deacons are believed to have one of the weaker offensive lines among BCS teams and it showed this weekend as Wake rushed for just 98 yards and 2.6 per rush against a FCS opponent. What's more, Wake Forest was outgained by 70 yards and needed a 4th quarter touchdown to escape an upset.
Hawaii 10 at USC 49
The Trojans got off to a fast start and didn't look back. Sophomore Marqise Lee has been overshadowed by his teammate Robert Woods, but Lee took his teams first play from scrimmage for a 75 yard touchdown and finished with 197 yards on 10 receptions. Oh, he also had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown as well. The USC front looked very solid holding Hawaii to just 56 yards on 32 carries.
Early Lines for This Week's Big E Picks:
Miami (+6.5) at Kansas State
UCF (+17.5) at Ohio State
Purdue (+14.5) at Notre Dame
Florida (+1.5) at Texas A&M
Air Force (+21.5) at Michigan
Washington (+23.5) at LSU
Nebraska (-4.5) at UCLA
Georgia (-3.5) at Missouri