if duke is ever going to break through and get 6 wins and get to to a
bowl game, this is the year. Cutcliff has 17 returning starters and 8
on offense including verner. duke was able to get the w over this fiu
team last year in spite of giving up over 550 yards of offense to ty
hilton, wesley carroll and co. well, carroll and hilton are gone, that
is a lot of production. times is a nice receiver for sophomore qb
medlock, but i think they will try to run the ball a bit more here. fiu
had a nice pass rush last year, ranked in the top 30 nationally, but
there is one qb they didn't get to last year, Sr. qb Sean Renfree. that
is no bueno for fiu. Renfree as such a command of cutcliffs offense
and what he wants him to do, i don't see fiu defense really stopping
duke's offense. duke has an experienced offensive line and for the
love of God, i think they have a good enough offense to get to 6 wins
and get to a bowl this year, senior qb, veteran O line. They get this W
here.
Duke -3I'm really looking for an
ass whippin' tonight in tampa. the mocs went 5-6 last season and lost
40-7 to Nebraska in its only game against an FBS opponent. I think BJ
Daniels and co. are going to come out on fire tonight, they know they
are in a 2 team race for the bigeast title with louisville. he Bulls
return an experienced, talented team. Daniels eturns for his fourth year
as a starter, surrounded by nearly all of
his backs and receivers from 2011. On defense, eight of USF's top 10
tacklers from last year are back, including the entire linebacker corps.
In total, 17 starters return from a hard-luck 5-7 team that lost five
games by less than a touchdown. the mocs return 17 as well but start a
new qb. they will try to shorten the game, but i'm just looking for usf
to come out with a purpose and impose their will over time.
South Florida -29I'm
going to lay the number with texas. they've obviously struggled
recently and are ready to make a move and get back to where they were.
their offense still has ?, but i think this is all about their defense.
I don't think Wyoming scores over 10 points and the reason is because
manny diaz knows how to shut down spread option attacks like wyoming
will try to run tonight. Part of the usual Diaz gameplan for
dual-threat QB's often involves
heavy usage of his Fire Zone blitzes with linebackers instructed to
hesitate and lurk in passing lanes before attacking the edges in order
to force the QB to stay in the pocket and find an open receiver amidst
the chaos of the blitz. If he dances out of the pocket to find running
room or receivers those backers are positioned to converge on him. This
gameplan thwarted nard dog robinson and Cam Newton while Diaz was at
Miss. St., and absolutely silenced the
Kansas St. offense last year with Texas. Against the less athletic and
somewhat inexperienced Wyoming OL it could easily result in a shutout. i
wonder how much wyoming will want to get smashed up before their conf
schedule. I think texas comes out like gangbusters. if they don't, then
they are who we thought they were, hahaha.
Texas -31chow
has a looong road ahead of him, returning only 10 starters, usc is just
going to be too much. it really is just a matter of when kiffin calls
off the dogs, but i'm not seeing a cover here by hawaiil. really not
much else to say except I hope usc puts the peddle down as they know
they can actually end up in the big on this year. I'm goingn to lay'em.
Southern Cal -42really
liking auburn's advantage in the trenches. clemson is not returning
much on their o line and auburn has a pretty stout d line. auburn
returns 9 of 11 on defense which bodes well for game 1. it is just very
hard for me to pass up points in an sec/acc match up and the sec is
getting points. clemson is helter skelter and are they going to have a
hangover from their bowl game? an inexperienced offensive line doesn't
get me excited for clemson, they have nice talent at the skill
positions, but if that line isn't shored up, that talent on the outside
doesn't matter. I'm getting points with an experienced SEC defensive
line vs an inexperienced ACC o line. ok, i'll take them.
Auburn +3Robinson hasn’t faced many defenses the caliber of Alabama’s, but
when he has, he has struggled. Last season Robinson faced three defenses
ranked in the Top-10 nationally (Michigan State, Illinois, Virginia
Tech), and his numbers were unspectacular.
In those three games, Robinson ran the ball 43 times for just 85
yards, which is under two yards per carry. Through the air, Robinson
completed 24 of his 55 pass attempts, averaged 110 yards per game, and
threw three touchdowns to three interceptions. Robinson is not going to
be able to get the edge on bamas defense, so he is going to have to
throw to win, i don't see it. i see another mismatch in the trenches
and alabama being too much.
Alabama -13