The Bum's CFB Week # 12 Best Bets !

[StarDust Bum]

Top-Ranked LSU On Road At Ole Miss Rebels

Ole Miss has covered 11 of the last 14 meetings against LSU.
It has been a frustrating season for the Ole Miss Rebels, but all of the frowns in Oxford will turn upside down if the team can pull off one of the biggest upsets of the year on the NCAA football betting odds in their home finale against the LSU Tigers.

Saturday's SEC West showdown is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET) at Vaught Hemingway Stadium, and you can watch this one live on ESPN.

The Bayou Bengals (10-0 SU, 7-3 ATS) are ranked No. 1 in the land by just about all accounts, including here in our Don Best Linemakers Poll. They are three wins away from the BCS National Championship Game, and theoretically, this should be nothing more than a bump in the road before the regular season finale against the Arkansas Razorbacks at home next week.

The Tigers have played remarkable defense this year, allowing 253.2 YPG and 10.7 PPG. Both marks are No. 2 in the country behind their division rivals, the Alabama Crimson Tide. In games against non-Top 25 opponents though, the defense has really stepped it up, allowing just 7.2 PPG, and the unit has only allowed a grand total of three touchdowns in those six games.

The offense looked shaky last week against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in the first half, but in the end, the team put 42 points on the board, the sixth time in the last seven games in which LSU has scored at least 35.

It's difficult to see how the Rebels (2-8 SU, 3-7 ATS) will be able to get anything going against this defense. The team ranks No. 113 in America at 297.7 YPG, and it only scored seven points at home against the suspect Louisiana State Bulldogs just last week.

This is going to be the final home game in the tenure of head coach Houston Nutt, who will step down after next week's Egg Bowl against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. He hasn't won a conference game this year, and has yet to have a truly successful season since coming from Arkansas Razorbacks.

The Tigers make their living on the ground with a rushing attack that is putting up 197.4 YPG. Spencer Ware, Michael Ford and Alfred Blue are combining to average 31.7 carries per game for 152.6 YPG. All three of them have six touchdowns.

The Ole Miss rush defense allowed 389 rushing yards in the comparable game against Alabama, and the Rebels are allowing 210.1 YPG.

If you're grasping for reasons to like the Rebels on Saturday, just look at recent history. This was only a seven-point game in Baton Rouge a year ago, and LSU's victory was the first win in this series for the men in purple and gold since 2007.

Ole Miss is 11-3 ATS against the Tigers since 1997, and a respectable 6-8 SU in those games as well.

Still, the oddsmakers have made no bones about which team is the better in this game. The No. 1 team in the land has opened up favored by 28½.

Expect nice weather on Saturday for the Mississippi home finale. Temperatures are expected to dip into the low-50s at night, but the forecast is calling for clear weather and a minimal chance for rain.

[StarDust Bum]

Oregon Faces USC Trojans In Potential Letdown

The Oregon Ducks' dream of a second-straight national title bid is alive and well, but they can’t afford any letdown hosting the USC Trojans on Saturday night.

Oregon has opened as a surprisingly big 15-point favorite at Don Best. The total is still to be released and ABC will broadcast from Autzen Stadium in Eugene at 8:00 p.m. (ET).

The Ducks (9-1 straight up, 6-3-1 against the spread) were one of the biggest winners in college football last week, both literally and figuratively. They shocked previously undefeated Stanford 53-30 as 2 ½-point road ‘dogs and moved up from No. 7 to No. 4 in the BCS with Boise State also losing (36-35 TCU) for the first time.

Coach Chip Kelly’s team (+1000) is now tied for fourth in the updated national title odds along with Oklahoma, trailing LSU (-140), Alabama (+160) and Oklahoma State (+450),

Ironically, Oregon’s only loss this year was the season opener against LSU in Arlington, Texas. The final score was 40-27, with self-inflicted wounds of four turnovers and 12 penalties. A loss by undefeated LSU (not likely) or Oklahoma State (more likely) would give serious national title hopes to the 1-loss teams.

The Ducks first need to focus on their own game. The 53 points at Stanford was their most since Week 4 and increases the season average to 46.7 PPG (third nationally). Heisman favorite Andrew Luck was forced into three turnovers, including two interceptions.

The running game had 232 yards against Stanford and is fifth nationally (291.8 YPG). Running back LaMichael James leads the nation at 150.9 YPG and Kenjon Barner (643 yards) is also dangerous. Quarterback Darron Thomas can run when needed and is an underrated passer, although he’s often under 20 throws.

USC’ run defense is eighth in the county (100.4 YPG), but isn’t used to facing this kind of all-out ground assault.

Oregon has a 21-game home winning streak (12-7-2 ATS), last losing in 2008. The ‘over’ is 3-2 at home this year and 19-6-1 in its last 26 there.

USC (8-2 SU, 6-4 ATS) is ranked No. 18 in the AP, but flying under the radar nationally by being in the same conference as Oregon and Stanford. Southern Cal is also not eligible for a bowl game or the Pac-12 championship due to NCAA violations.

The Trojans aren’t letting sanctions ruin their season. They had an impressive 40-17 home win over Washington last Saturday as 11-point favorites. It was the second time this season quarterback Matt Barkley was held under 200 yards passing, but they were happy with that with 252 rushing yards (148 by junior Curtis McNeal).

Coach Lane Kiffin’s young team is now 5-1 SU (4-2 ATS) since a bad loss at Arizona State in late September. The only recent defeat was a 56-48 triple OT affair against Stanford. That was a ‘bad beat’ ATS failure as 7 ½-point ‘dogs. The defense has really come around, surrendering just 18.8 PPG in regulation the last five games.

USC has also won and covered its last three road games at Colorado (42-17), Notre Dame (31-17) and California (30-9) and is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 away dating back to last year.

The question for Kiffin is how will the team handle the trip to Eugene? USC should have success with the nation’s 23rd ranked passing attack (278.4 YPG). However, staying balanced is key with the running of McNeal and senior Marc Tyler.

All-American Oregon cornerback Cliff Harris is listed as questionable after multiple suspensions this year. He hasn’t played since October 22, but would be a big boost against Barkley and company.

Oregon won at USC 53-32 last year as 6-point favorites, putting up an incredible 600 total yards (312 rushing, 288 passing). The home team was 4-0 SU and ATS in the previous four meetings.

The Don Best Linemakers Poll has Oregon ranked fifth (120.1), up a spot from a week ago, and USC 19th (110.9). The 15-point spread does look a little big based on these rankings, even with home field considered.

Weather conditions call for rain all workweek, continuing Saturday with snow showers possible as temps dip into the 30s. That’s a big detriment to the visitors who prefer the balmy temperatures of Los Angeles.

[StarDust Bum]

Stanford Cardinal Off Loss To Host California Bears

The Stanford Cardinal will look to bounce back from a crushing loss to Oregon last week when they host the California Bears this Saturday in one of college football’s oldest rivalries.

Stanford is currently a 20-point favorite on the Don Best odds screen. Saturday night’s game will be televised nationally on ESPN, and will kick off at 10:15 p.m. (ET).

Known as the “Big Game,” the Cal vs. Stanford dates back to 1915 and is the 10th oldest rivalry in college football. Of course, this year’s “Big Game” won’t be nearly as big as it would have been if Stanford hadn’t lost to Oregon.

That defeat not only ended Stanford’s BCS National Championship hopes, but in all likelihood the Cardinal's Pac-12 championship hopes as well with Oregon just one win away from clinching the North Division.

Stanford (9-1) still has something to play for down the stretch, though. Currently ranked No. 8 in the AP Top 25, the Cardinal could still earn an at-large bid to a BCS bowl if they finish the season with wins over California and Notre Dame.

Turnovers killed the Cardinal against the Ducks. Stanford held Oregon to under 400 yards of total offense, but couldn’t overcome five turnovers, including an Andrew Luck interception returned for a touchdown. The 53-30 loss at home was not only Stanford’s first straight-up loss of the season, but also their first loss against the spread as they fell to 9-1 ATS.

California (6-4) earned bowl eligibility last week with a win over Oregon State at home. Cal is 3-1 both SU and ATS over the the last four games, and has outscored its opponents 53-13 during the last two weeks.

The road has not been kind to the Bears this season as they are 1-3 SU and 0-4 ATS away from Berkley. California has scored just 22 points per game on the road this season and given up 34.5 points per game on the road, compared to 32.5 points for and 14.3 against at home.

The “Big Game” has gone California’s way in recent years. While Stanford won last year 48-14 at Cal, the Bears are still 7-3 SU and ATS in their last 10 games against the Cardinal. California is 3-1 SU and ATS in its last four games on the road against Stanford, including a 34-28 win as a 7-point underdog in its last trip to Palo Alto.

For California to be successful this week, the defense will need to step up against the run. Cal’s rushing defense was decimated in the last two road games against UCLA (294 rushing yards against) and Oregon (365). Stanford averages 215 rushing yards per game.

Each of the last three contests between Stanford and Cal have gone ‘over’ the total, but the previous six contests before that had all gone ‘under’. The total has gone ‘under’ in each of California’s last seven games.

Early forecasts call for sunny skies during the day in the Palo Alto area to turn cloudy after sunset. There's a 20 percent shot at rain with temps in the low-50s at kickoff before falling into the upper-30s.

[StarDust Bum]

Clemson Tigers Visit North Carolina State Wolfpack

The Clemson Tigers have already clinched a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game heading into a road meeting with the North Carolina Wolfpack on Saturday. The Tigers (9-1, 6-1 ACC) captured the conference’s Atlantic Division title for the second time in three years with a 31-28 home victory against Wake Forest last week while the Wolfpack (5-5, 2-4) must win both of their last two games to become bowl eligible.

Game time is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. (ET) with television coverage provided by ABC.

Clemson opened as a 9-point road favorite according to the Don Best odds screen but has failed to cover the spread in two straight games, including a narrow win over the Demon Deacons at home last Saturday.

The Tigers needed a 43-yard field goal from kicker Chandler Catanzaro to beat Wake Forest as time expired. Catanzaro had missed a 30-yarder with 1:42 left that could have resulted in the game-winner, but he still managed to come through for his teammates when they needed him the most. Clemson closed as a 16 ½-point favorite and was fortunate to be in position to win the game after trailing the Demon Deacons 28-14 with 5:59 left in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, North Carolina State has alternated wins and losses in four straight games following a 14-10 setback at Boston College last week. The Wolfpack were 1 ½-point road favorites and have covered just one of their five road games this season.

That will be a tough task for North Carolina State since the team has lost the last seven meetings with the Tigers, who are 2-3 against the spread in the past five. Last year, Clemson rallied back for a 14-13 home victory against the Wolfpack after trailing 7-0 at halftime. The Tigers were 4-point favorites in that game and routed N.C. State 43-23 in their previous trip to Raleigh in 2009.

North Carolina State's last win in this series came in 2003, a 17-15 decision as 5-point home favorites.

One player who has played extremely well for the Wolfpack this season is cornerback David Amerson, who leads the NCAA with 10 interceptions, which is also a school record. Amerson picked off BC quarterback Chase Rettig last week and will now focus on holding Clemson’s Tajh Boyd in check after he threw for 343 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions against Wake Forest.

The weather forecast for Saturday calls for a high temperature of 62 under partly cloudy skies.

[StarDust Bum]

Upsets force books to adjust

November 14, 2011

All season long, Scott Wolf of the LA Daily Press has been voting Boise State No. 1 in the AP Poll until last week when TCU went for a gutsy two-point conversion at the end of the game to beat the Broncos 36-35 on the road. The win ended Boise State’s record 65-game winning streak at home and gave them only their fourth loss since 2007, all of which have come by three points or less. It also ended a reign of publicity, or rather mockery, of Wolf’s lone vote. LSU is now the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation in the writers’ poll, the first time everyone has voted the same since 2008 when it was Texas in the top spot.

The last few years, teams like TCU and Boise State have always evoked contrarian thinkers -- those who want to go against the SEC grain -- saying they deserve a shot at the national title. In Wolf’s case, he really didn’t have any backing for his No. 1 vote all season other than saying Boise State deserved a shot because they consistently beat everyone put in front of them. Fans along the West Coast agree to a certain degree just because they feel left out of the East Coast bias equation that always seems to favor SEC teams.

So who does the anti-SEC establishment cheer for now? Who is the underdog that will garner support like TCU and Boise State has the last few years? How about the undefeated Houston Cougars.

Houston is currently one of three undefeated teams and have a BCS ranking of No. 11 (.5673 average), a ranking that if held up would get itself into a BCS bowl. By being the C-USA champions and in the top-12, Houston would make it as a non-automatic qualifying conference.

Meanwhile, Boise State with its loss looks like they’re going from the BCS mix all the way to the Poinsettia Bowl, which is a shame considering unranked Cincinnati from the Big East gets an automatic bid. The Big East doesn’t have one team ranked in the BCS Top-25.

As for Houston, it’s not out of the woods yet. In fact, the toughest part of its schedule is about to come. The school plays SMU this week with pressure of having the ESPN Game Day crew on campus (there aren’t very many marquee games this week) and then have to travel to Tulsa, who are tied with the Cougars at 6-0 in the West division. Should the Cougars get through all of that, they'll face No. 20 Southern Miss (9-1) in the conference title game.

The bottom line for Houston, just like TCU and Boise State over the years, is that the Cougars have handled everything in front of them and have compiled the No. 1 passing and scoring offense in the nation in doing so.

While it might be too outlandish to suggest they should play for the BCS Championship, if being one of only two undefeated teams in the nation, there will be some excitement of seeing them face off against a team from a major conference. If things all unfold their way, Houston would be facing Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

Here’s a look at the Possible BCS Bowl matchups based on where they are now:

BCS National Championship: LSU vs. Oklahoma State
Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Wisconsin
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Houston
Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Stanford
Orange Bowl: Clemson vs. Cincinnati

Las Vegas Hilton BCS Odds

LSU is the 5/7 favorite (Bet $70 to win $50) followed by Alabama (8/5), Oklahoma State (9/2), Oklahoma (10/1), Oregon (10/1), Arkansas (20/1), Clemson (30/1) and Stanford (60/1). Judging by the odds, it appears that Jay Kornegay and the Hilton crew have a lean towards Oklahoma beating Oklahoma State in two weeks and aren’t ruling out the possibility that Arkansas might beat LSU next week.

They could have extended risk on Alabama keeping the odds low, but outside looking in, it appears they believe we’ll see an LSU-Alabama rematch for the title game. If thinking Houston can somehow get past all the red tape and have all kinds of decisions fall their way the next two weeks, you can get them as part of the FIELD at 1000/1.

Sports Books enjoy another College Football Saturday

The Las Vegas sport books had a good week of college football with a tough schedule for players to figure out. The favorites went 28-27-2 over the week with 16 of the underdogs winning outright. The liability coming into the weekend made it an uphill to climb with the four favorites all covering in Thursday and Friday night games, but one of the 16 upsets on the day found a way a few to eliminate that risk.

Right out the gate Saturday morning, Purdue (+7) and Pittsburgh (+3) winning was a bad decision for most players. Most bettors felt that Boise State (-15) would shine in their first real test of the season since its season opener against Georgia, but instead became one of the biggest upsets of the day.

The Mountain West also provided three other upsets that helped the books with San Diego State (-13 ½) losing to Colorado State, Air Force (-16) losing to Wyoming and UNLV (-7) falling at New Mexico. With Air Force, the books not only beat the small public play, but also sharp money.

Mississippi State (+18 ½), Washington State (+12) and Colorado (+10 ½) were also good decisions for the house.

Surprisingly, on the most heavily bet game of the day, the public wasn’t on the favorite. Oregon (+3) to the OVER (66) was the most popular combination and it got there quite easily as the Ducks speed overwhelmed Stanford on their home turf.

This week we don’t have a “Game of the Year” and it’s hard to even tell what the game of the week is. But there are quite a few intrastate rivalry games and others that play for trophies across state lines that should spark some interest.

The books have had their way the last couple of weeks, so it’s time to turn the tables. Stay focused and most of all, you should be confident when going to the windows. If you’re indecisive on a game, don’t play it. Just because it’s on TV doesn’t mean it has to be played.

[StarDust Bum]

Pac 12 Notebook

November 14, 2011

Week 11 Rewind

The outcomes in the Pac 12 this past weekend were different than the last two weeks where only one game was decided by single digits each week.

This week none were!

The game that everyone was anticipating ended up being competitive for a half. Oregon took care of Stanford by 23 points (53-30) despite getting outgained 400-387. The Ducks took advantage of five Stanford turnovers and turned three of those into touchdowns. The Cardinal has now lost just twice in 23 games, both coming against Oregon.

Colorado picked up its first ever Pac 12 victory with a resounding 48-29 win over Arizona. The Buffaloes racked up 500 total yards, only the second time they have gained at least 500 yards this season. Colorado held the Wildcats to 60 yards rushing on 23 carries (2.6 ypc) while its own offense ran for 273 yards on 45 carries (6.1 ypc).

USC outgained Washington 426-244 and allowed just one drive of more than four plays in the first half. The Trojans jumped ahead 30-3 as they returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown and eased off the pedal for a 40-17 win. USC is averaging 39.8 points per game in its last six games after averaging 25.5 PPG in its first four games.

After falling into the situation of controlling its own destiny, UCLA returned to its old form and was shellacked 31-6 at Utah. The Bruins actually outgained the Utes 295-291 but were hurt with two interceptions, two fourth down failures and a missed field goal that resulted in 175 'empty' yards.

California became bowl eligible with a rather easy 23-6 win against Oregon State. The Golden Bears outgained the Beavers 424-270 and it was the rushing advantage that was most prominent. California rushed for 296 yards on 46 carries (6.4 ypc) while the Beavers were held to 27 yards on 21 carries (1.3 ypc).

The biggest upset took place in Pullman as Washington State took down Arizona State 37-11 as an 11 1/2-point underdog. The Cougars outgained the Sun Devils 598-411 as freshman quarterback Connor Halliday threw for 494 yards and four scores. It should be noted however the game was played on a snowy field.

Pac 12 South Debacle

As mentioned, UCLA controlled its own destiny in the Pac 12 South but a loss at Utah made the division even more of a mess. The Trojans are ineligible so even though they are in first place, it means nothing.

A few hours after the UCLA loss, Arizona State lost which put the Bruins back in the drivers’ seat. UCLA holds the tiebreaker over the Sun Devils because of the head-to-head win but the Bruins close the season at USC so winning out is not likely.

The Sun Devils last two games are at home so they have a good shot at a strong finish.

Don't forget about Utah though. The Utes close with games against Washington State and Colorado so should they win out and both UCLA and Arizona State lose once, the Utes will face the North Division winner in the inaugural Pac 12 Championship.

Going Bowling

Six of the 12 teams in the conference are bowl eligible with Utah and California locking up spots this past weekend. They join Oregon, Stanford, Washington and Arizona State as the only teams eligible for the postseason.

UCLA needs one more win while Washington State needs two more wins to join the group. The Cougars upset of Arizona State kept them alive and they must win out with a home game against Utah this week and then facing Washington in the season finale in the Apple Cup.

That game is not a true road game as it takes place at Qwest Field with Husky Stadium undergoing renovations.

"We've been talking about this, particularly the last few weeks," Cougars head coach Paul Wulff said, "to continue to improve our aggression, to continue to play at a high level for four quarters and to play with more attitude on a consistent basis."

He may need his team to win out in order to save his job.

Game of the Week

The game of the week has the second highest point-spread of the six conference games on Saturday but it has the makings of a good one.

USC is playing very solid despite the fact it is not eligible for any postseason games. The offense is clicking at a high caliber right now and it will need to continue that in order to keep up with Oregon.

You only need to look back to last season to prove that as USC took the lead on the Ducks early in the third quarter 32-29 but Oregon ran off 24 unanswered points to end the game as the Trojans offense stalled with two turnovers on downs, an interception and a punt in their final four possessions.

The one edge for USC is a possible letdown by Oregon following the win at Stanford.

The Ducks are listed as 14 1/2-point favorites.

[StarDust Bum]

NIU aims for 6th straight victory Tuesday

BALL STATE CARDINALS (6-4)
at NORTHERN ILLINOIS HUSKIES (7-3)

Kickoff: Tuesday, 8:00 p.m. EDT
Line: Northern Illinois -19

Northern Illinois goes for its sixth straight win on Tuesday when it hosts a Ball State team that has piled up four consecutive ATS victories (3-1 SU).

The Huskies are rolling on offense, tallying 45.2 PPG in MAC play, while the Cardinals have amassed 99 points in the past three games. Considering both teams are horrible defensively (NIU: 438 YPG, 33.4 PPG and Ball State: 491 YPG, 33.0 PPG), this has all the makings of a shootout. And this plays into the hands of the team with the better quarterback, and that advantage clearly belongs to NIU with Chandler Harnish (20 TD, 4 INT) over BSU’s Keith Wenning (15 TD, 9 INT). The Cardinals are 13-5 ATS (72%) on the road since 2009, but the Huskies are 11-3 ATS (79%) in conference play over the past two years, and are 9-3 SU (7-5 ATS) in the past dozen meetings with Ball State. The spread is hefty, but expect NORTHERN ILLINOIS to cover it on Tuesday night.

This four-star FoxSheets trend also supports the Huskies.

Play Against - A road team (BALL STATE) - after gaining 6.25 or more yards/play in their previous game against opponent after gaining 6.75 or more yards/play in 2 consecutive games. (54-17 over the last 10 seasons.) (76.1%, +35.3 units. Rating = 4*).

After not throwing a single touchdown pass during a three-game stretch, Wenning has picked up his game, tossing 8 TD with 944 passing yards (315 YPG) in the past three contests. Senior WR Briggs Orsbon has three of those touchdowns as part of 25 catches for 238 yards in the past three games. Despite the four-game ATS win streak, the Cardinals defense has allowed 523 total YPG and 30.8 PPG in these four contests. The reason they are hanging in ball games is because of an opportunistic defense that has forced 10 turnovers in the past four weeks. But the Huskies don’t give the ball up much, with just one turnover in the past three games.

NIU’s defense has been nothing to boast about either, but it has been far better at home (22.0 PPG, 293 YPG) than away (40.2 PPG, 536 YPG) this season. Harnish has been eating up yardage both running and passing during the five-game win streak, totaling 1,670 yards (1,025 passing, 645 rushing) and a dozen touchdowns. He has also played pretty well in his career against Ball State, completing 24-of-31 passes (77%) for 307 yards, 3 TD and 1 INT in the past two meetings (both wins).

[StarDust Bum]

Tuesday, November 15

Game Score Status Pick Amount

Ball State - 8:00 PM ET Ball State +18 500

Northern Illinois - Under 72.5 500

[StarDust Bum]

Boston College At Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will host the Boston College Eagles this Saturday in their final home game of the season at South Bend.

Notre Dame is currently a 24½-point favorite over the Eagles on the Don Best odds screen, up a half-point from the opener. Saturday’s game is set to start at 4:00 p.m. (ET) and will be televised nationally on NBC.

While the Fighting Irish just barely cracked the AP Top 25 at No. 24 this week and failed to crack the BCS Top 25, the Don Best Linemakers Poll gave them their share of respect at No. 13 (tied with Virginia Tech in that spot). Boston College is unranked.

Notre Dame (7-3) has strung together three straight wins (2-1 ATS) after suffering its last loss against USC. Last week against Maryland, the offense had a big day with Tommy Rees passing for 296 yards and two touchdowns and Jonas Gray rushing for 136 yards and two touchdowns in the 45-21 win.

One of the key’s to Notre Dame’s 508-yard day against Maryland was an up-tempo, no-huddle offense. Brian Kelly’s offense has clearly started to take form as the season has gone on; the Irish averaged 24.3 points per game through their first four games and have averaged 39.8 points per game over their last six.

Boston College (3-7) picked up its second win in the last three games this past Saturday, narrowly holding on to a 14-10 win at home against North Carolina State as a 1½-point favorite.

The Eagles have been completely anemic on offense all season long. They rank 113th in the country in scoring offense with just 18 points per game, and if you take away the 45-17 win over FCS opponent Massachusetts, that number falls to 15 points per game. For Boston College to put up a fight this week, the Eagles will need to find a way to run the ball on Notre Dame’s suspect rushing defense.

In last year’s matchup against Notre Dame, Boston College managed only five rushing yards and lost 31-13. The Eagles are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games against Notre Dame, but Notre Dame appears to be turning the tables on the rivalry as they’ve won in each of the last two meetings between these two teams and are a decisive favorite this week.

Still, the Irish shouldn’t sleep on this game or get caught looking ahead to Stanford next week; Boston College is 3-1 SU and ATS in their last four games against Notre Dame in South Bend.

Each of the last four games between Notre Dame and Boston College have gone ‘under’ the total, with this week's number starting at 47 points. Due to Boston College’s dreadful offense and solid defense, the Eagles have gone ‘under’ the total in all nine of their games against FBS opponents this season.

Weather could play a role in this one with a 30 percent chance of showers in the forecast. Afternoon temps are expected to just creep into the 50s.

[StarDust Bum]

Arkansas, Mississippi State in SEC Betting Clash

Whenever two teams from the SEC West get-together, NCAA football betting fans flock to the game, knowing that it is going to be an intense, physical contest. This week's clash should be no exception, as the Arkansas Razorbacks put their BCS bowl hopes on the line against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

This matchup from War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock is the showcase SEC game on CBS, and will be shown live at 3:30 p.m. (ET).

Mississippi State (5-5 SU, 5-5 ATS) knows that it needs one more win to qualify for a bowl game this season. The likelihood is that the Bulldogs will get that victory next week against the Ole Miss Rebels in the Egg Bowl, but they would love to leave nothing to chance by pulling off the upset in this one.

Don't confuse this team for your average .500 squad, though. MSU hung in there with the Alabama Crimson Tide for the full 60 minutes last week before dropping 24-7.

Expect to see a rotating quarterback system used by head coach Dan Mullen in this one. Chris Relf, Tyler Russell and Dylan Favre all saw time against the Crimson Tide, and all three should once again take snaps to try to keep up with Arkansas' potent offense.

If the Bulldogs are to win this game though, it is going to be because of their defense. Though they allowed 386 yards to the Crimson Tide, they did a nice job bending without breaking in their own territory, forcing the visitors to try to kick field goals instead of getting touchdowns.

This has really been the theme all season long for Mississippi State. The defense is allowing 353.0 YPG, No. 40 in the country, but because of its strong play in its own territory, particularly in the red zone, the Bulldogs rank No. 17 in scoring at 19.2 PPG allowed.

It is a safe bet that the Razorbacks (9-1 SU, 6-4 ATS) hope to score more than 19 points in this one if they are going to continue their march towards the BCS. They have only had one game this year – in Tuscaloosa, no less – in which they have scored fewer than 29 points, and they have scored at least 42 in half of their games.

The men to really keep an eye on in this offense are Dennis Johnson and Jarius Wright.

Wright has at least four catches in all but one of his games this year, and already has four 100+ yard efforts. He has found the end zone 10 times on the campaign, including four scores in the last three games.

Johnson started getting more carries four weeks ago against Ole Miss, and hasn't looked back since that point. He has tallied 395 yards and three TDs over his last four games, and he has pitched in as a receiver for an average of 36.9 YPG since the start of October as well.

Last year, the Hogs were able to escape from Starkville with a 38-31 overtime victory. Though Mississippi State has only won one game in this series in the last decade, these two teams have split the last 10 meetings from an ATS vantage point.

The home team is 8-1 ATS over the last nine meetings, but the underdog is 11-5 ATS in the last 16.

Four straight between these SEC West rivals have exceeded the total.

On Saturday, the Razorbacks are laying 13 points in Little Rock. The total has held firm since the start of the week at 53½.

There is a modest 30 percent chance of rain on Saturday afternoon in Little Rock, but if Mother Nature holds off, it should be a nice day. Expect temperatures in the mid-60s.

[StarDust Bum]

Kansas State In Austin To Meet Texas Longhorns

Will the real Texas Longhorns please stand up? One week after rushing for nearly 440 yards in a 52-20 win over Texas Tech, the Longhorns couldn't even muster 250 total yards of offense in a 17-5 loss at Missouri.

There's no need for the real Kansas State Wildcats to stand up. Bill Snyder's bunch could use some extra rest after going to four overtimes in a thrilling win over Texas A&M last week, and the real Wildcats have been standing up all season to completely fool most preseason soothsayers.

Texas and Kansas State collide Saturday night in Austin with the FX Network providing the telecast (8:00 p.m. ET). College football oddsmakers have installed the Longhorns as 9½-point favorites at home. Saturday's total came out at 55½ points but was very quickly reduced by a couple of points.

The spread for this game appears too large for several reasons, from the teams' recent performances to the series history between the two clubs. Texas is also dealing with a long list of injuries and the proximity of the Longhorns and Wildcats in the Don Best Linemakers Poll suggests a smaller spread.

K-State sits in a tie for 23rd with a 108.7 rating while UT is just behind in 25th (108.5) in the latest Don Best rankings. The schools are 13th and 23rd respectively in the BCS Standings.

Texas' injury report reads like a who's who on the offensive side of the ball. Fozzy Whittaker, who had been so instrumental in the Longhorns routing Texas Tech, was lost for the year when he suffered a knee injury in the loss at Missouri. Whittaker was the team's third-leading rusher with 386 yards, so the first thought might be Texas still has its two top backs.

Well, maybe. Malcolm Brown (toe), who leads the team with 635 yards on the ground, is questionable this week as is Joe Bergeron (hamstring) who is second with 414 yards.

Also sitting under the questionable heading are a pair of true freshmen who have been key contributors to the Longhorns offense, receiver Jaxon Shipley (knee) and guard Sedrick Flowers (shoulder), one of the nation's top recruits along the line.

The potentially thin nature on offense, especially in the backfield, could put a ton of pressure on quarterbacks David Ash and Case McCoy, neither of whom performed well last week against the Tigers. Ash, a true freshman, and McCoy combined to complete just 16 of their 36 passes, with Ash picked off once to bring his TD:INT ratio to a sickly 3:6.

If there's good news for Mack Brown and his coaches, it's that they aren't preparing to face a defense as strong as Missouri who kept the Longhorns from scoring an offensive touchdown for the first time since Oklahoma shut Texas out in Oct. 2004.

Kansas State ranks in the bottom third of the country in total yards and points allowed, and has seen at least 50 scored on them in each of the last three games. Granted, this past week saw Texas A&M 'only' have 31 points at the end of regulation before reaching 50 in the fourth overtime.

The Wildcats' 53-50 win was the first quadruple overtime game in Big 12 history, and became an instant classic when quarterback Collin Klein capped his huge day with a fifth rushing touchdown on the game's final play.

Klein is one of only two QBs at the FBS level to have rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 2011, and the big junior is a big reason Kansas State has confounded preseason predictions with an 8-2 record both straight up and against the spread. The Wildcats were 100/1 picks to win the Big 12, eighth among the 10 squads when the campaign started. Their defense was pegged as the biggest shortcoming, which has proven true, and very few thought Klein and the offense could make up for that as well as they have.

Texas will stick with its ground attack (15th in the country) regardless of who suits up, but also look for Texas QBs to target their tight ends more in this game. Wideout Marquise Goodwin should also see extra balls come his way if Shipley can't make it.

The Longhorns will be looking to snap a 3-game losing streak to Kansas State who has absolutely owned this series at the betting window since the advent of Big 12 play. The Wildcats' 5-2 record straight up includes a perfect 7-0 mark beating the spread.

Texas' last victory over K-State came here in Austin back in 2003.

Warm and muggy with a 30 percent chance of scattered t-storms is the current forecast for Austin during the day Saturday. The threat of rain decreases after sundown with thermometers in the mid-70s for kickoff.

[StarDust Bum]

Reeling Penn State Visits Ohio State Buckeyes

Normalcy is a relative term when it comes to Penn State football these days. But perhaps the focus will thankfully begin to return to the gridiron for the Nittany Lions (8-2 straight up, 2-7-1 against the spread) when they travel to the Big Horseshoe in Columbus for a Big Ten showdown vs. Ohio State (6-4 SU, 5-5 ATS) on Saturday.

The Don Best odds screen show the Buckeyes listed as a 7-point favorite early in the week at the majority of Las Vegas wagering outlets, with the total a low-ish 39½. Kickoff time on Saturday will be 3:30 p.m. (ET), with TV coverage provided by ABC or ESPN, depending upon your region of the country.

For this year, at least, these seem to be faded Big Ten powers, understandable considering the upheavals surrounding both programs over the past six months. Although the magnitude of the recent Penn State news has pushed some of the controversies in Columbus to the back pages of the sports section and overshadowed discussions about the future football direction at Ohio State, which might or might not include interim head coach Luke Fickell after the current season completes. More on that in a moment.

Confirming the downgrades on both sides from recent levels, this week’s Don Best Linemakers Poll has dropped the Nittany Lions (tied for 25th last week) from the top 30 and out of its rankings completely. As for the Buckeyes, they barely remain in the Don Best Linemakers Poll at 26th, dropping three spots this week after last Saturday’s surprising loss at lightly-regarded Purdue.

The distractions in Happy Valley need no further amplification from us, though it is safe to say the media firestorm surrounding former assistant Jerry Sandusky does not figure to abate anytime soon. This story is too big to disappear after one or two news cycles, so be prepared for coverage of this scandal to continue into the foreseeable future.

And after years of granting Joe Paterno a very wide berth, much of the national media is beginning to change its tune on ’ol "Shades" as well since his dismissal last week. The school appears intent on making as clean a break as possible from the Paterno regime after the details of the Sandusky mess became public.

Although we maintain that if the majority of the sporting press had been doing its job over the past several years, the Penn State brand would have already been sullied before the Sandusky situation hit the headlines. Surely Paterno’s "Saint Joe" image should have been tarnished in recent years by a series of damning indictments put forward by a couple of the higher-profile national sports media outlets.

While acknowledging Paterno’s vast contributions to the game and his greatness as a coach, the mainstream sports media should have been sparing us another example of the sort of shallow saint-like labeling regarding "Joe Pa" of which the sporting press is famous.

And we’re not even talking about some of Paterno’s acknowledged peculiarities, such as believing he would meet the same fate when retiring as did friend Bear Bryant, unlike Paterno a hard-liver who died less than a month after he coached his final game. Or ruthlessly running up scores to curry favor with pollsters, of which Paterno was especially guilty after losing ground to Nebraska at the top of the 1994 rankings when surviving a close call against lightly-regarded Indiana. Paterno thus went about shamelessly padding the scores several times in subsequent years, embarrassingly so, tactlessly humiliating Michigan State HC George Perles in the final game of the latter’s career, then almost coming to blows with Rutgers’ Doug Graber for a long TD pass in the final moments vs. the Scarlet Knights in 1995.

Not to mention other Paterno peculiarities, including (especially so) his reluctance to gracefully step aside as the Nittany Lions’ coach. To the contrary, Paterno has been obstinate about his position for decades, even in recent years when retreating mostly to the background on a day-to-day basis, when assistants Tom Bradley (defense, and now interim coach) and Galen Hall (offense) were effectively coaching the time. Paterno would reportedly still not consider a successor plan in Happy Valley unless his son Jay, an offensive assistant, would be next-in-line.

There was also never a clear line of succession at Penn State, because so few of Paterno’s aides would ever leave his side to cut their head coaching teeth elsewhere. Only Dick Anderson, who gave it a go at Rutgers in the mid ’80s, ever attempted as much at another major program. Another peculiarity in Happy Valley.

But it was Paterno’s reaction to a downturn in Nittany Lion fortunes over a decade ago that continued to be overlooked by much of the media. Several sources have long indicated "Joe Pa" decided to lower his recruiting standards and accept countless at-risk troublemakers. Paterno lowered the bar, alright. What followed was the emergence of Penn State as one of the nation’s premier "outlaw" programs, in every sense of the word, over the past decade.

While much of the media continued to promote the "Saint Joe" image, Paterno’s program spiraled out of control. In 2008, ESPN, in a rare bit of objectivity, focused upon Paterno’s Penn State in an "Outside the Lines" investigative report. The results spoke for themselves; according to the July 2008 ESPN study, 46 Nittany Lions faced 163 criminal charges since 2002, with 27 being convicted of or plead guilty to a combined 45 counts. And in 2007 alone, 17 players were charged with 72 crimes, with nine guilty pleas. Not coincidentally, Penn State began to win again consistently in the middle of the last decade.

For what it’s worth, Paterno scoffed at the story, calling it a "witch hunt" instead, and many loyalists jumped to his defense, citing transgressions elsewhere. Yet until the last week, no label ever stuck to Paterno other than "Saint Joe."

Last March, Sports Illustrated conducted its own updated report on "Criminals in College Football" and found Penn State’s program ranked tied for fourth worst in the country in such a listing, with 16 players on Paterno’s roster having police records. That put Penn State well ahead of Florida State, Miami, Oklahoma and Oregon, and others on the shamed list.

Those are the sorts of transgressions within a program that have resulted in several coaches being dismissed at other locales, yet much of the sporting press chose to overlook those issues and continue to promote the "Saint Joe" image while Penn State’s Board of Trustees blithely excused the iconic Paterno.

All of that, however, was before developments of the last week, which included a last act of arrogance by Paterno, a personal power play when unilaterally announcing his retirement at season’s end (which some believed was in the cards anyway), suspecting that move would trump whatever the school’s Board of Trustees had in mind if it wanted to act more swiftly.

Now, Paterno has become fair game for the majority of the nation’s sporting press, though we suggest they have arrived several years too late.

On the field this season, the Nittany Lions remain one of the nation’s most-curious storylines, somehow sitting at 8-2 despite a horse-and-buggy offense that ranks 88th nationally. The strike (out) force suggested it might be ready to detonate a few weeks ago in a 34-24 win at Northwestern when Matt McGloin assumed full-time QB duties over erratic Rob Bolden, but Penn State scored a grand total of 24 points in its next two games vs. Illinois and Nebraska.

And now the offense has to contemplate the possibility that its main threat, RB Silas Redd (1059 yards rushing), could be sidelined with a collarbone injury.

Outscoring the popgun Penn State attack would not figure to be too much of a problem for any capable offense, although in this game there are two factors indicating that might not be as easy as it looks. First is the still-robust Nittany Lion defense, which ranks eighth nationally overall and third in scoring (12.9 ppg). Second is Ohio State’s ongoing offensive inconsistency.

Many of the erratic elements of the OSU offense stem from inadequacies at QB which, because of shortcomings of early-season starter Joe Bauserman, forced Fickell into using true frosh Braxton Miller much sooner than anticipated. Combined, Bauserman and Miller are completing fewer than 50% of their passes.

The Bucks also had suspension issues early in the campaign which held out a variety of potential contributors, including RB Dan "Boom" Herron, who returned to the lineup in mid-October and has provided a spark, gaining 119 ypg since reinstatement.

Points thus figure to be at a premium on Saturday on the banks of the Olentangy, although we wonder if Penn State can keep pace if main threat Redd is sidelined or otherwise compromised.

The subject of Fickell’s future is also a brisk one these days at OSU, with sources indicating the Bucks will look elsewhere for their new gridiron leader once the season concludes. Ironically, another sidebar story to this game will be Urban Meyer, rumored to be a target of both schools. Stay tuned for further developments.

[StarDust Bum]

Oklahoma Sooners Need Big Win At Baylor Bears

The Oklahoma Sooners are very much alive in the national title hunt, but need a statement win Saturday night at the Baylor Bears.

The Sooners are between 14 ½-15 ½ point favorites at Don Best, with the total steady at 75. This Big 12 affair is one of the ABC games at 8:00 p.m. (ET) and will come from Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco.

Oklahoma (8-1 straight up, 6-3 against the spread) is coming off a bye week, but still moved from No. 6 to No. 5 in the BCS standings thanks to losses by Stanford and Boise State. The bad news is it was leapfrogged by Oregon.

The Sooners can take care of one team ahead of them when they visit No. 2 Oklahoma State on December 3. However, they will need to win big this week and home next week against Iowa State to have any chance of moving ahead of No. 3 Alabama or No. 4 Oregon (both fellow 1-loss teams).

Coach Bob Stoops knows a huge scoring day is necessary and optimism is warranted given Baylor’s 108th national ranking in points allowed (36 PPG) and 110th in total yards (458.2 YPG). However, this is the first full game without receiver Ryan Broyles and that will certainly affect the offense.

The All-American Broyles tore his ACL in the third quarter of last game, a 41-25 home win over Texas A&M on November 5. He’s the NCAA’s all-time leader in career receptions (349) and had 83 this year for 1,157 yards. Kenny Stills (610 yards), Jaz Reynolds (578 yards) and others will see more balls from quarterback Landry Jones, but Broyles can’t be replaced.

This is a squad that already lost top running back Dominique Whaley (ankle) for the year, with the diminutive Roy Finch doing his best to fill the void and averaging 88.3 YPG the last three.

Stoops’ team is 2-0 SU and ATS since its stunning 41-38 loss to Texas Tech on October 22. Teams aren’t supposed to lose at home as 29-point favorites and it looks worse with the Red Raiders dropping three straight since by a combined 159-33 score.

Oklahoma has at least done its best work on the road (3-0 SU, 2-1 ATS). That includes wins at highly ranked Florida State (23-13) and Kansas State (58-17). There was also a neutral site blowout win (55-17) over ranked Texas.

Oklahoma is 6-2 ATS in its last eight road games as a 10 ½-point favorite or greater. The ‘over’ is 7-1 in those contests.

Baylor (6-3 SU, 4-4 ATS) is ranked No. 22 in the BCS, so a solid Oklahoma win would sit well with the voters and computer rankings. School pride is on the line for the Bears, 0-20 SU lifetime against the Sooners and 1-7 ATS in the last eight at home.

Quarterback Robert Griffin III has experienced the Oklahoma misery first hand. He threw for just 124 passing yards last year and had two picks in the 53-24 loss as 8-point home ‘dogs.

The junior has improved in all statistical categories this year, ranking third nationally in quarterback rating (188.6) with 3,093 passing yards (seventh nationally). It was his three TDs (running and throwing) in the fourth quarter last week at Kansas that allowed Baylor to escape with a 31-30 OT win as big 20 ½-point favorites.

Coach Art Briles knows he dodged a bullet and can’t afford a slow start against Oklahoma. Baylor is 11th in the country in scoring (40.3 PPG), not that far behind sixth-ranked Oklahoma (45.4 PPG) and Griffin will have success against the Sooners 72nd ranked pass defense (232.9 YPG). He can also scramble (489 rushing yards).

The problem on the other end is stopping Jones’ aerial attack, even without Broyles. Baylor has had to do a lot of shuffling in the secondary due to injuries.

The big savior could be home field with a 5-0 SU (4-0 ATS) mark. TCU (then No. 14) was the toughest home opponent back in opening week, with the three losses coming away against tough teams Kansas State (36-35), Texas A&M (55-28) and Oklahoma State (59-24).

The Bears are just 1-6 ATS in their last seven games as an underdog. The ‘over’ is 6-1-1 on the year and 13-3-1 in their last 17 overall.

The Don Best Linemakers Poll has Oklahoma ranked third, only trailing SEC LSU and Alabama. Baylor is given far less respect here (No. 37) than in the BCS.

Waco weather calls for isolated thunderstorms and wind. It will also be warm with temps likely in the low 70s.

[StarDust Bum]

Alabama Gets Breather Against Georgia Southern Eagles

The Alabama Crimson Tide hope to use Saturday's game against the Georgia Southern Eagles to get prepared for the Iron Bowl next week against the Auburn Tigers.

Saturday’s matchup starts at 2:00 p.m. (ET) and will be broadcast on-line on ESPN3. The game remains off the board with odds yet to be released; Kenny White of Don Best Sports set his number at Alabama -31½.

Due to the rigorous conference schedule in the SEC, it is fairly standard for SEC teams to use one of their out-of-conference games on a weak opponent late in the season to get a reprieve, which is exactly what Alabama did when they scheduled Georgia Southern.

Georgia Southern (9-1) has had a strong year in the FCS this season. Quarterback Jaybo Shaw leads the way in the Eagles’ option rushing attack, having passed for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns this season while rushing for 297 yards and 10 touchdowns. Kicker Adrian Mora is a perfect 12-for-12 on field goals this season and 48-for-48 on extra points, so if Georgia Southern miraculously finds its way into the redzone, it has a capable kicker that could steal a field goal or two.

Needless to say, boasting the best defense in college football (allowing just 7.1 points per game), Alabama isn’t going to have any trouble at all containing this option attack with starters or backups. The Crimson Tide are currently ranked No. 2 in the Don Best Linemakers Poll behind only the LSU Tigers.

Alabama (9-1) got a sliver of hope last Saturday with Boise State and Stanford losing their first games of the season. Currently sitting at No. 3 in the BCS standings behind No. 2 Oklahoma State, Alabama could conceivably end up in the BCS Championship Game if Oklahoma State stumbles.

But how would the computers rate them next to a one-loss Oklahoma or Oregon? Only time will tell, and all Alabama can focus on now is winning their last two games.

The Crimson Tide defense will be looking for its third shutout of the season. Alabama has given up a touchdown or less in six games, and has given up no more than 14 in any of them.

Trent Richardson will also likely use this game to pad his stats; with 1,205 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns so far on the campaign, Richardson is still in the thick of a Heisman race that doesn’t have a clear-cut favorite at this point.

While stat padding is always nice, the Tide's main focus of this week is to stay healthy and simply tune up for the Iron Bowl. Last year, Alabama blew a 24-point lead at home against Auburn; and while this year’s Auburn team no longer has Cam Newton, the Crimson Tide would still love to exact some revenge on the Tigers in Auburn.

The only real question mark in this week’s game is whether or not Alabama will give up a point.

Weather shouldn't enter into the equation with zero chance of rain, partly cloudy skies and an afternoon high reaching the low-70s in the Tuscaloosa forecast.

[StarDust Bum]

News & Notes - Week 12

November 15, 2011

Week 12

One week after breaking the MAC record for comb'd TD's (17) in a 63-60 loss to Northern Illinois, Toledo came right back and had 37-32 FD and 804-635 yd edges and beat Western Michigan 66-63 in regulation, setting MAC records again...

Houston had a streak of 19 straight quarters with a score surprisingly end vs Tulane. Surprisingly, because the final was 73-17. In the 1Q UH had 1 poss and they got 2 FD's and punted. TU had 15 and 8 pl drives but was int'd in the EZ and punted and it was scoreless. UH got a 72 yd TD run with :18 left in the half to go up 35-10 and had a 373-232 yd edge at the half. UH had a 70 yd PR TD by Edwards early 1Q, and in the 4Q a 76 yd PR TD by Payne. Backup QB Turner engineered scoring drives of 59 and 79 yards for UH and their final drive ended at the TU25 taking a knee...

Pittsburgh had 396-280 yd and 21-15 FD edges with Louisville's TD's coming on an 11 yd drive after a 7 yd punt, and trailing 21-7 they drove 71/7pl for a TD with :12 left. Pitt remains in the Big East race...

Tulsa piled up a season high 682 yds vs Marshall and finished with a 32-16 FD edge. TU actually had a 414-148 yd edge at the half and led 42-3 going through the motions in the 2H...

Vanderbilt got their biggest win over Kentucky since 1969 and matched their largest margin in an SEC game since 1971. VU finished with a 28-9 FD edge and in the 1H had a 278-41 yd edge. Kentucky bobbled a snap and was tkl'd at their own 3 on a punt and VU got a TD 3pl later and VU would lead 24-0 at the half...

South Carolina won its 6th SEC game for the first time since joining the league in 1992 but need Georgia to lose to Kentucky next week to get back to the SEC Title game. Florida led 3-0 when SC drove 62/11pl for a TD with 7:07 left in the half then rec'd a fmbl, converted on 4&1 with a 10 yd run and went 46/11pl for a 1 yd TD with :31 left in the half to lead 14-3. UF got it to 14-12 with 11:23 left but their 2 pt conv was int'd and SC got a 46 yd pass setting up a 28 yd FG for the final. UF punted with 5:34 left and SC got 3 crucial FD's not punting until :42 remained. UF had a 17-16 FD and SC a 299-261 yd edge...

There was nothing fluky about Purdue's win over Ohio State. OSU did not get a FD on their first 3 drives of the game and trailed 10-0 and at the half PU had a 242-97 yd edge and led 17-7. OSU did go on a 66/19pl drive for the apparent game winning drive and got a TD with :55 left but their xp was blk'd and PU won in OT after converting on 3&12 with a FD pass to the 1 and getting a TD on the next play...

Everyone says Texas Tech is an up-and-down team since they upset Oklahoma. That was really their only good game of the year. They had another poor performance last week when in their home finale, facing an OSU team whose D had been giving up a ton of points, were flat out dominated. Oklahoma State had a 332-151 yd edge at the half and led 49-0. TT scored their only TD on a FR TD and OSU finished with a 637-270 yd edge...

Joe Paterno started as an assistant at Penn State in 1950, took over as the HC in 1966 but after an incredible week where all the news in college football was focused on Happy Valley, he was fired. It was the first game he was not in charge of in a very very long time. Still, PSU finished with a 375-311 yd edge. PSU had a 176-167 yd edge at the half but actually trailed 10-0 and came up three pts short to Nebraska (14-17)...

USC lost to Washington on last second FG's in each of the last 2 years but this one was not close. USC had a 246-91 yd edge at the half and led 23-3 and after 3Q's it was 37-10 with a 401-148 yd edge. UW took over with 3:07 left and went 69/10pl and on 4&4 got a garbage 20 yd TD pass to "only" lose 40-17...

Virginia actually snapped a three-game losing streak to Duke. The game was tied at 14 and 21 when UVA got a TD with 6:52 left in the 3Q and a 29 yd FG and led 31-21 after 3Q's. Duke missed a 35 yd FG with 5:50 left and was SOD at the UVA42 with 3:33 left and UVA got 1 FD and ran out the clock only finishing with a 356-337 yd edge...

Boise State appeared to have the TCU game locked up as they led 35-28 and had the ball on 2&6 at the TCU35 in range for the game clinching FG and only 2:26 remained when they fumbled. TCU got a TD with 1:05 left and went for 2 and got it. BSU still went on a 9pl drive and were in the middle of the field for a 39 yd FG but it trailed off to the right and BSU's perfect season came to a halt, also ending BSU's streaks of 10 straight overall wins, 35 overall home wins, 47 straight conference wins, a 65 reg season home wins...

Northwestern had a 533-254 yd edge vs Rice getting a 90 yd TD pass in the 1H then 2 TD's in the final 4:26. Rice took over with 6:07 left trailing 28-0 and went 62/5pl getting a TD with 4:16 left but NU got 2 FD's to the Rice 11 running out the clock. Jeremy Ebert had 7 catches for 208 yards...

Miami, Fl. finished with a 383-259 yd edge vs Florida State and a 24-13 FD edge. FSU did not get its first FD until midway throughout the 2Q but benefitted from three 1H Miami TO's. FSU got a 37 yd FG on a 9 yd drive and later got an 83 yd PR TD and led 17-7 at the half despite being outgained 203-79. UM got a TD with 1:27 left in the game but missed the xp, 23-19 and FSU rec'd the onside kick. It was the first time in 6 years the home team had won and the first time in 7 years there was not an outright upset...

Texas A&M blew 2 double-digit leads. One in each half and it was the 4th game this year lost in which they had a DD lead. Collin Klein threw for a career high 281 yds passing in a 4OT shoot out. A&M had leads of 14-0 in the 2Q and 31-21 with 6:38 left. A&M did finish with a 482-411 yd edge but settled for a 20 yd FG in the 4OT and Kansas State got a 1 yd TD run for the 53-50 win.

CONTROLLING THEIR OWN DESTINY

Wisconsin now controls their own destiny in the Big Ten as they outgained Minnesota 461-156 with UM getting a 96 yd KR for a TD in the 3Q. UW got ahead of the spread with a TD with 9:07 left in the game after UM had been SOD on 4&1 at the 50. UM also scored on a fake FG for a TD but were outFD'd 29-9. UM QB MarQueis Gray had a bad back and his girlfriend had just given birth to twin boys on Friday and he hit 6-14-51...

Michigan State controls its destiny in the Big Ten and just needs to win in their final 2 games. MSU had a 19 yd drive after an int then after a 20 yd PR, drove 35 yds for a TD with 1:57 left in the half then Iowa fumbled the KO and MSU got a TD 2pl later for their commanding 31-7 HT lead. They did have a 269-153 yd edges at the half while Iowa finished with a 20-19 FD edge for the game...

Georgia just keeps getting better each and every week. Versus Auburn they had 30-10 FD and 528-195 yd edges. They now just need to beat Kentucky to find themselves in the SEC Championship game. Isaiah Crowell and Carlton Thomas (both susp'd LW) each topped 100 yards rushing and UGA led 35-7 at the half with a 328-89 yd edge...

It seemed a bowl was almost impossible for Navy but they've now pulled 2 straight upsets and only need to beat SJS and Army where they will be favored in each to get back to bowl eligibility at 6 wins. Navy has won 5 straight vs SMU. SMU finished with a 386-335 yd edge. SMU's last 2 drives of the 1H went 74/13pl but on 3&gl from the 6 they were int'd in the EZ then went 79/14pl for a 28 yd FG, 10-3. SMU was SOD at the Navy 21 late 3Q and trailed 24-10 when they got a TD with 3:40 left but Navy converted on 3&7 and 3&4 for FD's to run the clock...

Clemson finds itself in the ACC Title game after they overcame a 28-14 deficit vs Wake Forest and kicked a 43 yd FG on the final play for the win. CU finished with a 522-317 yd edge and led 14-7 when WF got a 50 yd PR TD and then after a fmbl a 25 yd drive for a TD and after an int, drove 44/4pl for a TD.

FRONTDOOR COVERS

Memphis led UAB 35-17 after 3Q's. UAB settled for a 24 yd FG, drove 70/9pl and 69/4pl for TD's but the 2 pt conversion failed with 7:08 left and they still trailed by 2. UAB went 77/10pl and got a TD with 1:36 left, not only for the win, but for the frontdoor cover. MEM got to the UAB43 after a personal foul but on 4&10 fired incomplete. UAB did finish with a 601-384 yd edge...

Army got a TD with 14:02 left in the game but missed the xp and trailed Rutgers 13-12. Army was punting with 6:36 left and RU blk'd the punt and ret'd it 32 yds for a TD to make it 20-12. Army was SOD at the RU41 with 2:21 left. On 3&7 after Army had used 2 time-outs, so one FD would have ended the game, Jamison broke through a hole and raced 56 yds for a TD to give RU the frontdoor cover. Army was SOD at their own 26 and RU finished with a 314-305 yd edge, thanks to that 56 yd run.

WINDY GAMES

North Carolina State CB David Amerson extended his school record with his 10th int in the 1H and NCSt had a 267-190 yd edge. Boston College had a 92-88 yd edge at the half and led 14-3 on a very wind day where the winds affected FG's and punts...

The winds gusted up to 60 mph for the Wyoming-Air Force game but surprisingly WY (more of a passing team) pulled out the win. Brett Smith hit 17-30-139. AF hit just 2-5-(-1) but don't normally pass anyway. The goal posts were teetering, tents in the parking lot were toppled and the fighter jet fly over was scrubbed. WY delivered their 3rd outright upset as a Big Dog Play for us this year and a 12 yd punt with 3:22 left in the half set up them for a 42/7pl TD drive and the lead, 12-7. They did trail 17-12 but got a TD with 7:40 left and AF fmbl'd at the WY24 and then fmbl'd and it was ret'd 48 yds for a TD with :25 left to make an 18-17 game a 25-17 final. WY finished with a 351-311 yd edge...

Colorado and Arizona was played in 45 mph winds which gusted up to 71 mph in the 4Q. Nick Foles still hit 35-53-352 yds but UA trailed by 24 points in the 3Q and CU had 273-60 yd edge.

BIG DOG NEAR MISSES

Kansas led Baylor 24-3 in the 4Q. The cover was never in question but KU appeared on its way to a huge outright upset. BU got a TD with 11:45 left to pull within 24-10, a 36 yd TD with 7:58 left to make it 24-17 and then a 67 yd TD pass with 3:32 left to tie it. KU was nearly in FG range when on 2&10 from the BU39 they were int'd at the 25. In OT each team got a TD but smartly KU went for 2 but unfortunately did not get the 2 pt conversion...

San Jose State had a 30-21 lead and had the ball at the Utah State 7 when they settled for a 24 yd FG with 8:13 left which kept Utah St within 12. USt got a TD on 3&14 with 5:14 left and then a 21 yd TD pass with :41 left to escape with a 1 pt win. SJS did attempt a 67 yd FG on the final play but it was blk'd...

Colorado State lost QB Pete Thomas in the 2Q. He had taken every snap at QB this year and Garrett Grayson hit 6-15-26 yds in his place. Still, San Diego State took the lead 18-15 with 5:49 left and CSU's final drive did get to midfield where they were SOD.

INJURIES OF NOTE

There could be bad news for Cincinnati who had the Big East in their control. QB Zach Collaros was on the sideline on crutches after being inj'd in the 2Q vs West Virginia. That injury changed the entire BE race. Bkp QB Legaux hit 10-21-144. Even with the bkp QB, UC which wore all red uniforms for the first time since 1993, had a shot at the win. They led 21-17 but gave up a 4Q TD and then UC had a FD at the WV22. On 3&3, Legaux ran for 1 yd and they went for the 31 yd FG for OT but it was blk'd...

Texas had 2 RB's come into the game questionable but neither Malcolm Brown or Joe Bergeron played vs Missouri. Foswhitt Whittaker left with an ankle inj in the 1Q. UT was held without a TD for the first time since 2004 and lost to Missouri for the first time since 1997. UT went 77/12pl for a 27 yd FG and got into MO terr on their next drive but their offense slowed down and MO did enough for a 17-5 win finishing with a 338-247 yd edge.