Results for the Weak: Week 5

Talk about a week you just want to forget.  Can we just say it never happened and move on?  If only…

On the positive side of things, Boise State dropped in the polls to a surging Oregon team.  It’s surprising how good Oregon is after losing so many of their talented skill players – including Masoli (Quarterback).  I expected that they would continue to be good, but I didn’t expect them to actually remain a National Title contender.  We’ll see if it lasts.

The Bucks hung on to their #2 spot despite an abysmally typical showing in Urbana-Champaign.  Luckily, they escaped with the victory.  Hopefully it serves as a wakeup call – especially for the offense.  Hat-tip to the Illinois defense for finding a way to successfully neutralize OSU’s passing game.  Granted they probably just did what they always do, considering Pryor has never had 100 yards passing in any game against the Illini.

Let’s take a look at how the other games turned out this week.

Thursday, September 30th

Texas A&M at Oklahoma State

Final: Oklahoma State 38, TAMU 35

T. Boone Picken’s University absolutely surprised me in this one.  I basically stopped watching halfway through the 2nd quarter, when OSU still had -13 net rushing and almost no success through the air figuring that TAMU had the game in the bag.  Oklahoma State did a great job of settling down and coming back from the deficit.

Eric: TBPU 27, TAMU 14

Computers: TAMU 32, TBPU 31 (52.5%)

Saturday, October 2nd

#7 Florida at #1 Alabama

Final: Alabama 31, Florida 6

This will almost certainly cement Alabama’s position in the #1 spot.  While Florida was horribly overrated, the voters will only see a victory over the #7 team in the nation who has spent the last 4 seasons being generally feared.  So much for that, the Gators just became a paper tiger.  Like the SEC needed more tigers…

Bama’s got a tough remaining schedule, but I give them good odds to run the table wire-to-wire after that win.

Eric: Alabama 20, Florida 17

Computers: Alabama 29, Florida 19 (76.2%)

#9 Stanford at #4 Oregon

Oh my.

Stanford went into the half with a 4 point lead and 28 points, and then spent the rest of the game pounding their head into the brick wall that is the Oregon defense.  Will anyone be able to stop the Ducks this year?  Stanford might have been the team with the best chance of it.  The PAC-10 may end up being the most interesting conference to watch this year.

Eric: Stanford 38, Oregon 31

Computers: Oregon 37, Stanford 28 (62.4%)

#21 Texas vs. #8 Oklahoma (neutral site)

Final: Oklahoma 28, Texas 20

Texas was getting hammered through most of this game before finding a way to make it close in the end.  Neither one of these teams is particularly spectacular this year, and I’m sure Oklahoma will stumble into a couple of losses at some point.

A Nebraska/Oklahoma Big-12 Championship to end the conference would be fun, wouldn’t it?

Eric: Oklahoma 28, Texas 24

Computers: Texas 28, Oklahoma 22 (69.3%)

#11 Wisconsin at #24 Michigan State

Final: Michigan State 34, Wisconsin 24

Michigan State just proved a lot of things to me.  They are a much much better team than I originally gave them credit for.  Part of me is very glad the Buckeyes aren’t facing them this year.  That might not turn out well for the Scarlet and Gray.  MSU faces Michigan next, and hopefully the Spartans can take care of business.

As for Wisconsin, they’ve definitely been exposed at this point.  A solid defensive effort can plug up the running game and Tolzien is still not competent enough to pull a win out on his own.

Eric: Chipmonks 21, Sparty 17

Computers: Wisconsin 38, Michigan State 37 (62.4%)

#22 Penn State at #17 Iowa

Final: Iowa 24, Penn State 3

I said that Iowa was looking for some blood, and they clearly got it.  Penn State just had no answer for Iowa and absolutely could not get their ground game going.  That said, either Penn State has a prolific passing game, or Iowa’s secondary is mediocre this year as PSU gained the vast majority of their yards through the air.

Eric: Iowa 17, Penn State 6

Computers: Iowa 22, Penn State 20 (50.5%)

Virginia Tech at #23 NC State

Final: Virginia Tech 41, NC State 30

The Hokies pulled this one out by the skin of their teeth, despite the 11 point score.  Buckeye fans should know how 11 point wins feel, right?

Eric: NC State 31, Virginia Tech 24

Computers: Virginia Tech 36, NC State 31 (73.3%)

Georgia Tech at Wake Forest

Georgia Tech managed to carry the game, despite going into the 4th quarter down 11.  An 18 point final stanza will do that for you.  Again a GT/WF game is decided by 5 points or less (third in a row).

Eric: Georgia Tech 28, Wake Forest 7

Computers: Georgia Tech 36, Wake Forest 20 (84.2%)

Washington at #18 USC

Final: Washington 32, USC 31

Speaking of “skin of their teeth”.  Washington barely escaped Los Angeles with the win, pulling out a 1 point victory over the weak Trojans.   The victory came not unlike Cal’s upset of USC from a couple years ago – a last second stunning field goal.

This should be the beginning of the end for the Trojans this year.

Eric: Washington 35, USC 31

Computers: USC 38, Washington 22 (86.1%)

Notre Dame at Boston College

Final: Notre Dame 31, Boston College 13

As expected, Brian Kelly was able to get his second win as a Golden Domer.  The Irish scored enough points for the win in the first quarter and then rode their defense the rest of the way out.  This should bring the Irish fans out of the woodwork for another week.  They’re totally going to the BCS, you know!

Eric: Notre Dame 23, Boston College 10

Computers: Notre Dame 27, Boston College 24 (64.4%)

How’d we do?

• Eric 7-3 (31-17 season)
• Jeff 6-4 (32-16)
• Mali 5-5 (34-14)
• Jim 8-2 (37-11)
• Joe 7-3 (37-11)
• Jay 7-3 (38-10)

Jay continues to lead, though things began to narrow this week.  Jim and Joe are within striking distance now.  Mali disappoints with one of the worst weeks so far this year.  Yeah, I just had to point that out Mali!

As for the Yahoo! Sports Pick ’em, the rankings got a little separation this week after getting knotted up at the top last week.

1. ckuehn: 65 points
2. Braylon’s Blow, Ludwig’s Losers: 63 points
3. jcaseyii, brownslovecolt: 62 points

Still lots of time for things to happen!  The top spot was a 3-way tie last week, so ckuehn‘s hold on the group might not last forever!