Results for the Weak: Week 4

Well, that sure was an exciting week! A couple of teams surprised me this week, including Arkansas who put up a solid fight against #1 Alabama before Ryan Mallett literally threw the game away. I was also surprised to see Auburn put on such a show, though the opponent should have made me expect it.

The rest of the games basically went as expected, though that’s no reason not to read through them. I’m going to tear into one team during the course of this article, so it may be well worth your time to read it.

Read on to see how the day went down!

Thursday, September 23rd

#19 Miami (FL) at Pittsburgh

Final: Miami 31, Pittsburgh 3

Well, there’s your answer.  Despite a couple Jacory Harris mistakes, Miami looked to be by far and away the better team on the field.  Poor Pittsburgh, your continued faith in the Wanniestach is leading you to continual mediocrity.  You have to believe that Miami is the frontrunner for the ACC right now…not that it means much.

Eric: Miami 20, Pittsburgh 14

Computers: Pittsburgh 34, Miami 26 (65.3%)

Saturday, September 25th

#1 Alabama at #10 Arkansas

Final: Alabama 24, Arkansas 20

Wow, I nailed this spread spot on, and if two field goals turn into touchdowns I have the score down pat.  Arkansas took control of the game and went into the half up 10.  Unfortunately, Alabama began to figure out how to play again and got the score to within 3 with plenty of time left on the clock to get a stop and score.  However, they didn’t even need the time as Ryan Mallett made a poor decision over the middle to give Bama the ball slightly more than 10 yards away from the game winning touchdown.

Mallett then threw Arkansas’ answer away to Bama as well, sealing the deal.

Eric: Alabama 28, Arkansas 24

Computers: Alabama 37, Arkansas 30 (79.2%)

#24 Oregon State at #3 Boise State

Final: Boise State 37, Oregon State 24

Let me start out by saying that I have a lot of respect for Coach Peterson and what he’s done so far at Boise State.  He seems to keep his players on the straight and narrow and simply does not put up with any fooling around.

That said, I was deeply disturbed by what I saw transpire on the field last night.  It has been an awfully long time since I’ve seen a defense play as dirty as I saw BSU’s play.  Every game has a few of those hits that you look at and think “well, he probably shouldn’t have done that”.  Last night seemed to have a never ending supply of hits that made me think “that was atrocious”.  The one that most comes to mind is the hit that knocked James Rodgers out of the game.  The defender clearly lead with his helmet and had plenty of opportunity to stop himself.

Now, admittedly, the game was getting a little chippy out there towards the later quarters, and I’m probably exaggerating a bit on the number of bad hits (it sure seemed like a lot).  Sometimes emotions run a little high and players start to “go above and beyond the call of duty” as it were.  That still does not make it acceptable to attempt to knock players unconscious with your helmet.  Boise State should be ashamed of itself.

In terms of quality of play, Boise State has at least proven to me that they deserve to be in the top 15.  I’ll accept their ranking at #3 for now, but we seriously need to be rid of the preseason polls.  They’re only making it harder to fairly rank teams in terms of skill.

Eric: Boise State 35, Oregon State 23

Computers: Boise State 42, Oregon State 32 (75.2%)

#12 South Carolina at #17 Auburn

Final: Auburn 35, toUSC 27

Should’ve seen this one coming.  toUSC’s annual loss of focus is a welcome sign of fall.  Granted they did it against a competent (and ranked) team this time.  But they could have at least not given up in the fourth quarter.

Auburn is quickly going to gain a reputation for pulling their buns out of the fire late in games if they keep this up.  They’re probably also going to have an unusually high incidence of heart attacks.

Eric: toUSC 24, Auburn 17

Computers: Auburn 33, toUSC 23 (68.3%)

#22 West Virginia at #15 LSU

Final: LSU 20, WVU 14

This game was almost a disaster of epic proportions.  Then LSU reverted to their UNC game selves and gave up just enough of the lead to give the opponent hope at the end.  That will bite them in the rear one of these games.

Eric: LSU 30, WVU 21

Computers: LSU 25, WVU 24 (50.5%)

Bowling Green at #21 Michigan

Final: Michigan 65, BGSU 21

Like the other Big Ten schools, Michigan curbstomped their foe.  While I admit that I expected less out of Michigan against an FBS opponent, I’m still waiting to see them up against BCS quality competition.

No, UConn does not count.

Eric: Michigan 45, Bowling Green 35

Computers: Michigan 38, Bowling Green 16 (92.1%)

California at #14 Arizona

Final: Arizona 10, California 9

Talk about the game that offense forgot.  Arizona scored all of their points in the second half, including a late touchdown (1:11 left) to take the 1 point lead.  The only thing saving Arizona was their defense, who gave up only field goals all game.

To be honest…I have no idea what I was thinking on this.  I just looked at my pick and said “Wait…did I really pick California?”  It’s just too bad the game doesn’t end 1:12 seconds earlier than it actually does.

Eric: California 21, Arizona 17

Computers: Arizona 32, California 28 (61.4%)

Kentucky at #9 Florida

Final: Florida 48, Kentucky 14

No surprise here.  Florida got their offense going (for once) and never looked back.

Eric: Florida 24, Kentucky 14

Computers: Florida 38, Kentucky 16 (91.1%)

#5 Oregon at Arizona State

Final: Oregon 42, ASU 31

Arizona State’s defense gave them a chance at the end of this one.  Despite allowing 2 touchdowns in each of the first three quarters, the Ducks were held without a score in the last stanza.  Unfortunately, so was the Sun Devil offense.

Dear ASU, you cannot turn the ball over 7 times and expect to beat a team like Oregon.  Oh well, 4 interceptions is what you get for starting Steven Threet.

Eric: Oregon 38, ASU 24

Computers: Oregon 33, ASU 13 (92.1%)

So how’d we do?

• Eric 7-2 (24-14 season : 63.2%)
• Jeff 7-2 (26-12 : 68.4%)
• Mali 8-1 (29-9 : 76.3%)
• Jim 7-2 (29-9 : 76.3%)
• Joe 9-0 (30-8 : 78.9%)
• Jay 8-1 (31-7 : 81.6%)

Joe went nuts on us and wins the week, being the first person to have a spotless week.  Great job Joe!  Jay continues to run away with this season, picking over 80% of the games correctly so far.

As for the weekly results for the Pick ‘Em, we will update them as the results become available.