Results for the Weak: Week 8

Well, that week didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped. Michigan State survived a scare against Northwestern that probably should’ve been a loss. As per usual, MSU needed a late rally to get over a Pretty Kitties team that looked better than Sparty all day.

On the positive side of things, Nebraska got back to their winning ways, meaning that Mali gets to leave the sofa finally. And hurrah for Auburn finally giving LSU the loss they so desperately deserved.

In a game we didn’t pick, what is up with Texas? They lost for the first time ever against Iowa State. Worse yet, it was the second straight home loss for them – the first time that has happened since the early 90’s.

Now the Buckeyes are part of an ignominious streak. With Oklahoma’s loss to Missouri, this is the first time since the 1960’s that 3 #1’s have gone down in consecutive weeks. The previous time saw Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri fall in the first 3 weeks of 1966. And how atrocious were those preseason rankings? That Minnesota team started out ranked #1 and ended with a 4-5-1 record. Disgusting.

Now that we’re in the right frame of mind, let’s talk about the games!

Saturday, October 9th

Indina at Illinois

Final: Illinois 43, Indiana 13

Illinois bounced back from their loss to MSU in a big way.  Of course, playing Indiana has a way of doing that for you.  The Illini returned two INT’s for touchdowns to blow this game wide open.

Eric: Illinois 21, Indiana 10

Computers: Illinois 31, Indiana 28 (51.5%)

Rutgers at Pittsburgh

Final: Pittsburgh 41, Rutgers 21

After keeping pace with Pittsburgh through the first half, Rutger’s defense fell apart.  Any chance that they wore themselves out after all the emotions from the week?  Most likely.  That 2nd half score was 27-7…ouch.

Watch out for Rutgers to tailspin out of control from here on out.  Given they’re in the Big East it might not be as bad as it could be.

Eric: Pittsburgh 28, Rutgers 17

Computers: Pittsburgh 31, Rutgers 11 (88.1%)

North Carolina at Miami (FL)

Final: Miami 33, North Carolina 10

Oops.  I missed this one by about as much as you possibly can.  North Carolina started out like they were going to be in control, and then Miami ran over them.  Miami was down 10-3 and then just pounded out 30 unanswered points to take the win.  This Miami team is getting to be pretty hard to figure out this year.

Heck, this entire season is getting hard to figure out at this point.

Eric: North Carolina 34, Miami 20

Computers: Miami 29, North Carolina 19 (75.2%)

#22 Kansas State at Baylor

Final: Baylor 47, Kansas State 42

Baylor will be ranked this week, almost certainly.  That was an impressive win for them, proving they’re one of the more dangerous squads in the soon-to-be-defunct Big 12.  Even more surprising is that they lead the Big 12 South standings right now.  If they can win out (and that’s a big if) we’re going to be seeing the beginning of the end of Texas’ control of the Big 12.

Baylor took a 10 point lead into the half and then rode their defense to the victory.  Well played Bears, well played.

Eric: Baylor 38, Kansas State 34

Computers: Baylor 32, Kansas State 19 (79.2%)

Air Force at #5 Texas Christian

Final: TCU 38, Airforce 7

Remember when I said I was as wrong as I could’ve been for the Miami game?  I was wrong about that too.  This is as wrong as you can be.  Poor Air Force flew into Texas sky-high and walked out again with their tails between their legs.  What a shellacking.

TCU’s defense was a lot better against the ground game than I anticipated (obviously).  They then proceeded to beat Air Force at their own game, picking up 377 yards on 51 carries on the ground.

Eric: Air Force 27, TCU 24

Computers: TCU 44, AFA 13 (95%)

#7 Michigan State at Northwestern

Final: MSU 35, Northwestern 27

I almost had this one.  With minutes left on the clock, Northwestern was up 27-21 and 1 defensive stop away from picking up the win over the undefeated Spartans.  Not only could they not stop Michigan State once in the last couple minutes, they were unable to keep them from scoring twice. MSU rattled off a single running play on their last drive to completely seal the game after the Kitties completely failed on their attempt at a game winning drive.

I hate to say this, but we’re quickly getting to the point where MSU might legitimately be a national title contender.  Oh the MSU fans are going to be absolutely insufferable.

Eric: Northwestern 24, Michigan State 17

Computers: Michigan State 32, Northwestern 29 (65.3%)

#16 Nebraska at #14 Oklahoma State

Final: Nebraska 51, T. Boone Picken’s University 41

Defense?  What’s defense?  Nebraska got out to a big lead and started rolling up the points on the Cowboys.  Lucky for them too, because the Cowboys were trying to pull the same stunt on the other side of the ball.

So much for the Blackshirts making an appearance.  If I were Pelini, I might take those black practice jerseys away again.

Eric: Nebraska 38, T. Boone Picken’s University 24

Computers: T. Boone Picken’s University 31, Nebraska 25 (61.4%)

#13 Wisconsin at #15 Iowa

Final: Wisconsin 31, Iowa 30

Well, we got a good sense for the state of the conference.  We belong to Michigan State now.  Wisconsin put together just enough to get a lead, and then allowed Ferentz to botch it completely.

Here’s the situation.  You just ran a play that netted you yardage, but ended up getting stopped in bounds.  You have 12 seconds left and a timeout, down 1 and just inside Wisconsin territory.  Your offense just hurried up to the line and are prepared to spike the ball the moment the clock starts.  What do you do?

Yes, Ferentz, you call the timeout.  What a BONEHEAD call.  The next play turned into a pass play that was clear Iowa was taking a shot at the endzone, couldn’t find anyone, so they dumped it off in the flat.  The player was tackled in bounds and the game was over.  What a pathetic way to end a great game.

The more college football I watch, the more I realize just how few coaches actually understand how to manage a clock in pressure situations.  Do they get nervous?  Do they toss their brain aside in the heat of the moment?  Or are they really just that stupid?

I guess we’ll never know.

Eric: Iowa 24, Wisconsin 17

Computers: Iowa 30, Wisconsin 22 (69.3%)

#6 LSU at #4 Auburn

Final: Auburn 24, LSU 17

I got my wish.  I picked LSU and Auburn came through for us.  But now I have to take another loss.

Thanks Les, thanks a lot.  I have more losses on the season thanks to you than due to anyone else.

There’s a good chance that Auburn will hope Boise State in this week’s BCS standings and end up at #2 behind Oregon.  We’ll know later tonight, but Boise State’s BYE week couldn’t have helped them any.  Though it won’t hurt them either, like playing anyone from their conference.

Auburn did a great job of taking control of the game and giving Miles no chance to get lucky at the end.  Good job Tigers.

Eric: LSU 32, Auburn 31

Computers: Auburn 30, LSU 24 (67.3%)

#1 Oklahoma at #11 Missouri

Final: Missouri 36, Oklahoma 27

Good, one that I managed to call successfully!  I predicted another #1 was going to fall, and in true Oklahoma fashion, Bob Stoops gave me what I asked for.

Oklahoma started out the game exactly the same way the Buckeyes did last week, had to come back – though did a much better job than OSU at keeping their heads – but Missouri was good enough to keep forcing turnovers.  Eventually the smoke cleared and Oklahoma was staring at a 9 point loss.

Eric: Missouri 24, Oklahoma 20

Computers: Oklahoma 32, Missouri 31 (52.5%)

How’d We Do?

As you might have expected reading this article, I did not do so hot this week.  Of course I didn’t do so great last week either, so this is probably just a phase.

• Eric: 5-5 (48-30 Season)
• Jeff: 7-3 (49-29)
• Mali: 7-3 (53-25)
• Jim: 7-3 (52-26)
• Joe: 6-4 (55-23)
• Jay: 6-4 (56-22)
• Rob: 7-3 (7-3)

Be sure to stop by on Wednesday for our Week 9 picks!