IOWA: the Jewel is done for another year...ACL. Problem is, IOWA has literally zero depth at RB after Robinson this season..ruh-roh.
WIS: Freshman All-American LB Chris Borland for the season with a shoulder...tough to replace this guy in the middle of that D.
MN: no injuries to report, just a defection. Troy Stoudermire was apparently suspended for "conduct detrimental to the team" and has now said he's done at MN. Perhaps the first rat to jump ship before the eventual fall out that comes with the firing of a coach. It sounds like a locker room issue with Troy...fun stuff.
Now, before we get to LIONS week, I wanted to relive one of my all-time favorite Vegas moments, and likely my #1 favorite LIONS-PURPLE moment ever....
Such an ridiculously amazing moment, and still the Purple couldn't cover the number.
Anyway, on to the picks for Week 4:
JR: MIZZ, DUKE, ARK!, WF, IDAHO, BYU, FAU, SC, BAY, ORE
JG: MIA, NW, BGU, BALLST, WASU, WF, UCLA, OREST, MN, ORE
MR: PITT, NW, ALA, ND, FLA, GEO, SC, UTAH, MN, ORE
AW: MIA, GT, VT, PUR, KST, DUKE, ALA, NC, BYU, MDTN
GR: MIA, NCST, ARMY, ALA, NC, STAN, OK, MN, AZ, ORE
MH: VT, WASU, PSU, ND, AUB, OREST, MN, LSU, AZ, ORE
MC: UCONN, AF, ARKST, TULANE, IDAHO, MARSH, FAU, LT, UTEP, UNLV
SS: PITT, GT, MICH, PUR, TN, PSU, SC, OREST, MN, LSU
RO: MIA, NW, VT, IOWA, ALA, PSU, ND, SOMISS, BOISE, MN
JR: BAL, DET, IND, ARI, MIA
JG: CLE, DET, PIT, PHI, ARI
MR: SF, ATL, NE, NYJ, GB
AW: SF, TEN, PIT, ATL, PHI
GR: CIN, PIT, WAS, IND, GB
MH: ATL, WAS, PHI, IND, GB
MC: CIN, PIT, NO, IND, GB
SS: SF, NE, SD, NYJ, GB
RO: SF, BAL, SEA, IND, GB
CONSENSUS PICKS (3-4 last week)
MN-6 (scary)
ORE-5
SF-4
PIT-4
IND-5
GB-6
4 road favs as our locks for NFL...yikes. If we do better than 2-2 here I'll be shocked.
HEAD SCRATCHER OF THE WEEK (2-0 last 2 weeks!)
Once again, the honor this week goes to JG for his UCLA +16.5 over TEXAS. Now I don't think it's a terrible pick, but look at this. UCLA coming off a big blowout W over HOU, TEX coming off a sloppy W over TT...but they dominated defensively once again. My question is, can UCLA even score against TEX? I'm going with 7 points tops, which means can TEX score 24+. This is a legit question, but at home coming off a sloppy game...yeah, I think they can. I'll go 38-3 TEXAS. So congrats in advance JG on your pick that is sure to be correct.
GAME PREDICTIONS
MIA at PITT
Lots of action on this game, but I like PITT. Frankly, I'm still not sure Da 'U' is anywhere close to being back to their perceived dominant level. PITT is a tough club, at home on a Thursday, as a dog, and coming off a bye. Lots of stuff to like. Picking Jacory on the road to cover more than a FG against a good D in a hostile environment is a scary thought for me. I'll go PITT 21-20.
Side note - IOWA is a GREAT pick this week, if I could actually pick them. Giving 28 against a really BAD BALLST team is a layup. But it's Iowa, so I'm holding out hope for a Cardinals upset. Thanks to all of you for not making the Hogeye mistake again this week.
ARMY-DUKE
Okay, I know I pick the Army game every week but come on man! Only 6.5 point dog on the road against a DUKE offense that can score points and just got destroyed by BAMA? Meanwhile, Army coasted to their first blowout win in forever over NTEX last week. This is just setting up to be a really lop-sided one in favor of DUKE and perhaps the next Gopher coach David Cutcliffe...if you can turn around DUKE football you are welcome in MN.
ALA-ARK
Lots of BAMA love this week...except for this guy. I was thinking of ARK earlier in the week, then a read a couple more things and listened to some "experts" and now I really love ARK in this one. ALA defense will give up some points to this potent offense, and the ARK defense isn't a bad as it has been the last couple of years. I see a shootout (in SEC terms, which means a score in the 20's) so I love ARK to cover and lose a close one...ALA 24-21.
WF-FSU
Lock of the century, WF covers 17.5. Historically, they are great as a DD dog, they are coming off an extreme beatdown while FSU is rolling in off a huge blowout W. This is too easy.
NEV-BYU
Same theory here - NEV housed my CAL club last Friday night, and BYU lost back to back road games the last 2 weeks including a beatdown at FSU. Don't get too excited about this NEV club, BYU will not go to 1-3, and NEV is not a for real contender. BYU +3.5
WV-LSU
Love the 7+ point dog here as well. WV can play some D, as can LSU. The difference comes where LSU has zero competance on offense, but WV does. I don't think WV wins this thing, but it's definitely a TD or less so they will cover.
BAY-RICE
BAY -7.5, W. Rice is terrible, BAY is coming off a beat down against TCU, but they are actually a decent little club that scores a lot of points. It's not much of a road trip to get to Rice, and they will crush.
CAL-AZ
I like CAL +6.5. CAL, once again, coming off a huge ass kicking looking to mount a comeback in conference play. AZ coming off one of the largest wins in the programs history is in perfect position for a letdown.
CAL wins outright 31-27.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS at LAME DUCK BREW
Well, this one is a must win if we have any hope of salvaging this season. I think it's clear that barring a 6-2 B10 run, Brew is done...so there is no need making this point any longer. NILL can't really throw, which should help us. I think we'll play some pretty nice defense this week and maybe show some dominance (can you really use that word with this club?). Offensively, I think we'll be able to run it at them, once again this is an undersized D that we should be able to wear down. Bottom line, I'll give us an uninspired win...
GOPHERS 28 NILL 20
NFL PREDICTIONS
Call me crazy, but there's a lot of NFL games I like this week.
BAL -10.5 vs. CLE: Ravens come out and explode offensively and play dominant D...38-10.
TB will beat PITT.
NO will win and cover over ATL.
HOU will send DAL to 0-3.
WAS and Haslett will handle his old club STL and cover the 4 on the road.
IND will destory DEN, too much doubt on IND right now - they're great, DEN is a mess.
ARI rebounds to beat Gradkowski and OAK by a TD.
MIA will beat NYJ and Sancheese will look bad again.
KITTYS at PURPLE
Do the Vikes ever cover this one as a DD fav? It doesn't seem like it. And DET doesn't even look totally awful this year. I still don't think we find our offense, even though the Purple will surely win this game...right. But I give them zero chance to cover the 10.5.
PURPLE 23 KITTYS 17.
Good Luck!
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