Results for the Weak: Week 11

After about a half of play where the world seemed to have been turned on it’s ear, everything was returned to normal.  35 unanswered points in a half will do that.  I was admittedly impressed by McGloin’s play in the first half of the PSU game yesterday, but not surprised when he turned into a prototypical Nitt Quarterback in the second.  As a BSD commenter pointed out “Pick 6’s are all Penn State throws in the shoe”.  Couldn’t agree more.

Things were generally ho-hum in the rest of the college football landscape.  Granted, there weren’t many great games to be had.  Oregon survived a scare at California, and only their standard “go-for-two-even-if-we-don’t-need-it” play calling strategy kept that game from going into overtime.  Utah blew it again in big fashion, this time to hapless Notre Dame, leading me to wonder if the Utes haven’t had a major injury on their team in the last couple weeks.  And, of course, Wisconsin scored more points in a single game than they did in their entire 1965 season.  They even won a couple games that season!

The biggest surprise of the day might have been Georgia giving Auburn a fair run for their money.  With Cam Newton not sitting out, despite the swirl of allegations surrounding his eligibility, the Auburn Tigers were nearly overrun by the Bulldogs, but managed to pull ahead and build up a fair margin to the end of the game.  It’s too bad they’ll probably have to put an asterisk after it…after it matters of course.

Enough talking about players that are better tossed under the bus.  I, of course, refer to the entire Wisconsin football team.  On with the games!

Saturday, November 13th

Clemson at Florida State

Final: Florida State 16, Clemson 13

It was much closer than we thought it would be.  Florida State needed a last second field goal to edge the Tigers.  And not just any field goal – a 55 yarder, third longest in Florida State history.  Pretty impressive.

The closeness of the score may have been a result of Christian Ponder’s injury.  Ponder, Florida State’s QB, was unable to play in the game because of a ruptured bursa sac near the right elbow suffered in a game against Boston College.

Clemson had tied it up with 53 seconds left in the game, but weren’t able to hold out for overtime.

Eric: Florida State 24, Clemson 10

Computers: Florida State 35, Clemson 30 (66.3%)

Miami (FL) at Georgia Tech

Final: Miami 35, Georgia Tech 10

Proof in point that these guys are tough to predict.  The computers, which have about an 80% success rate, missed on this one.  Miami scored enough points to win in the first quarter and then scored 21 more for good measure to take care of Georgia Tech in “the Battle of the Backups”.  Apparently both teams are hurting a little bit – who knew?

We asked last week if Paul Johnson’s career was in jeopardy.  What are your thoughts now?

Eric: Miami 27, Georgia Tech 17

Computers: Georgia Tech 29, Miami 28 (51%)

Indiana at #7 Wisconsin

Final: Wisconsin 83, Indiana 20

Well, at least we got the teams right.  And we sorta had the right idea – Wisconsin in a butt-kicking.  We just never expected a Wisconsin team – in any sport – to put up 83 points.  Heck, they’re usually lucky to break 60 in Basketball, let alone Football.

Not sure if this says more about Indiana’s defense, or Bielema’s recent plunge into being a total raging dick.

Eric: Wisconsin 31, Indiana 10

Computers: Wisconsin 42, Indiana 18 (95%)

USC at #18 Arizona

Final: USC 24, Arizona 21

The Trojans yet again scrape together a win in this roller coaster season of theirs.  The Arizona Wildcats got down early and tried to rally back, but to no avail.  The Trojans were unable to keep them from scoring in the last quarter, but were able to hold it off long enough to ensure that they could run out the clock after Arizona scored.

Eric: Wildcats 38, Trojans 28

Computers: Wildcats 30, Trojans 22 (66.3%)

#10 Oklahoma State at Texas

Final: TBPU 33, Texas 16

As expected, there was nothing Texas could do to withstand the might of the Cowboys.  This is the first time in 12 years that the Pokes have managed to take out the Longhorns.  How many other records stand to fall with this never ending season of misery in Austin?

Eric: T. Boone Picken’s University 42, Texas 14

Computers: TBPU 35, Texas 26 (76.2%)

#13 Iowa at Northwestern

Final: Northwestern 21, Iowa 17

This was one thing Michigan State fans needed to see, and the last thing Buckeye fans wanted to see.  Northwestern taking out Iowa gives MSU the inside track to the Rose Bowl should Ohio State lose to Iowa.  Also, the Bucks will be walking into a very dangerous Kinnick Stadium next weekend.  The Hawkeyes are going to be angry and looking to ruin someone’s season – and OSU will be the target of choice.

Eric: Iowa 34, Northwestern 20

Computers: Iowa 33, Northwestern 19 (86.1%)

#14 Utah at Notre Dame

Final: Notre Dame 28, Utah 3

Who can honestly say they saw this coming?  Sure, if you’re a hater of BCS Busters maybe, but with the way Notre Dame has been playing this year, along with how solid Utah usually is, this almost seemed a lock for a Utah win.  As I said above, it almost seems like Utah has lost a critical player somewhere down the line with the results from the last couple weeks.

Eric: Utah 45, Notre Dame 28

Computers: Utah 35, Notre Dame 20 (36.1%)

#19 Mississippi State at #12 Alabama

Final: Alabama 30, Mississippi State 10

It was as much of a shellacking as we thought it would be.  Miss State didn’t score their touchdown until 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter.  That’s simply not going to do it against quality teams like Alabama.

The Tide next have to face the oh-so-challenging matchup of Georgia State before taking on Auburn at home.  An Auburn loss would be nice to see – and as you might expect, we’re gonna be picking that one in a couple weeks.

Eric: Alabama 28, Mississippi State 13

Computers: Alabama 34, Mississippi State 18, (85.6%)

#24 Kansas State at #17 Missouri

Final: Missouri 38, Kansas State 28

Surprise!  Ok, maybe just to me.  Missouri righted the ship and did enough to secure a victory against the Wildcats.  This was a bit unexpected with the way Missouri has been playing the last couple weeks, having lost two straight and looking unable to figure it out.  Kansas State, on the other hand, has been a more solid team over the span.  That doesn’t mean that things don’t change, though.  The Wildcats drop to 6-4 on the season, wholly disappointing given the way it started.  Missouri sits at 8-2 with a shot at the Big 12 title game still in their future – if Nebraska does them a favor against TAMU and Colorado.

Eric: Kansas State 30, Missouri 18

Computers: Missouri 32, Kansas State 16 (87.1%)

#23 South Carolina at #22 Florida

This game went about as expected.  Florida promptly pulled the exact reverse of the 2006 National Championship game.  After jumping out to a lead by taking the opening kick back for a touchdown, the Gators quickly fell apart and allowed the Gamecocks to walk all over them.  Florida was only able to score another touchdown as the Gamecocks pounded on them with gusto all night long.

Anyone wondering why Gameday was in Columbus needs only to look at the score of this game to understand why it wasn’t chosen.

Eric: toUSC 35, Florida 20

Computers: toUSC 29, Florida 24 (67.3%)

How’d we do?

A bit better than last week, though it would have been hard to beat that.

• Eric: 6-4 (66-42 Season)
• Jeff: no picks (56-42)
• Mali: 7-3 (73-35)
• Jim: 7-3 (69-39)
• Joe: 6-4 (75-33)
• Jay: 7-3 (75-33)
• Rob: 6-4 (25-15)

Joe and Jay are neck and neck with only 4 weeks left in the season.  Should be exciting to see how it turns out!

Stop by on Wednesday for the Week 12 picks!