Week 5 in Review

The highlights from last Saturday were many, with LSU and Georgia fighting until the last snap with the Tigers prevailing to set up an undefeated matchup with the Gators this weekend. Notre Dame pulled out an improbable win over Washington as they stopped the Huskies on the goal line, scored a TD to pull ahead and then saw Jake Locker lead his team to a tying field goal to force OT. But the Irish have been fortunate in close games 3 weeks in a row and escaped the upset once again. You have to believe Irish fans are not satisfied with last second comeback victories over Michigan State, Purdue and Washington and without a good showing against USC, which they haven’t had since the “Bush Push” game in Weis’ first year, Charlie may be on his way out. At 3-1 the season looks better than last year, but with the stock market rolling back up and the Wall Street bankers (ND boosters) counting their money, you just know they want to use that cash intelligently. Why bail out homeowners when you have a football team to save and what better way to use taxpayer funded bail outs than buy out ole’ Charlie’s contract and bring in the next sacrificial lamb. Gotta love the Irish!


If boosters really wanted someone’s head after last week they might take a trip to scenic Berkeley, CA, where for two weeks in a row a team that climbed to #6 in the country failed to score a TD and was blown out by a conference rival. Jeff Tedford and Cal were a product of preseason publicity once again, as their season went down the tubes in losses to Oregon and USC, being outscored 72-6 in the two games. A Kevin Riley interception in the end zone on the first drive of the game quieted the raucous Berkeley crowd and Joe McKnight electrified the USC sideline with a TD run on the ensuing drive and the Trojans never looked back, beating the Bears 30-3, but at least they got the field goal and avoided the dreaded shutout. The Trojans meanwhile have their swagger back and control their destiny for the Pac 10, but are still looking up at 3-0 Stanford in conference.

The Cardinal beat up a UCLA team coming off a bye week that felt they could dominate the Stanford interior lines after beating Tennessee in Knoxville. But it was Stanford that ran the ball right at the Bruins and around them on their way to a 24-6 lead and eventual 24-16 win, as the Bruins came back to make it close in the 4th quarter but could not move the ball on their last drive. Toby Gerhardt once again had an outstanding game, rushing for 3 TDs and 134 yards against a stout UCLA defense. But it was QB Andrew Luck that made the most noise, completing 14-20 passes for 198 yards, with a few perfect long throws to WR Ryan Whalen. He managed to keep the defense honest and made the plays when needed. Dare I say it looked like John Elway back on the Farm, for a week at least. The Cardinal travel to Oregon State and Arizona in back to back weeks so their grip on the Pac 10 lead is tenuous for the moment and we’ll see just how far up Jim Harbaugh has brought his team.

Another big development was Houston losing to UTEP and losing out on a chance to run the table and be in the BCS conversation. After beating Oklahoma State and Texas Tech it was letdown time for the Cougars as they travelled to El Paso and were beaten soundly. UTEP came into the game 1-3 including a loss to Buffalo, so this qualifies as a huge upset on the early season. Mike Price, UTEP’s coach, was firmly on the hot seat before this win, but is now VIP at every Gentlemen’s Club in West Texas (remember this is the same Mike Price that was hired by Alabama in 2003 but fired before he coached a game after a scandal erupted over him being caught with a “dancer”). With Houston’s loss the non-BCS contenders are down to TCU and Boise State. TCU has big wins at Clemson and Virginia (well don’t know if Virginia counts as a big win, but it is a BCS school), while Boise’s win over Oregon looks much better now than in the aftermath of the game. TCU has plenty to prove the rest of the way with road games at Air Force this week, at BYU and home to Utah. If they win all 3 and don’t get upset somewhere else along the way, TCU probably deserves a shot in the big bowls. Boise has a much easier road to perfection, but will most likely be jumped in the polls by teams behind them that win big. It will be interesting to see who is left standing at the end of the year and if it is Boise, will the Oregon win be enough to convince voters to put them in the BCS.

Saturday Lox Week 5 in Review

After a miserable start to the season, the Lox had a big comeback in week 5, winning 5 of 6 bets and half the outright upsets. But like Les Miles said after the win in Georgia, you can’t feel good about yourself for long, as next week starts today and although I don’t have to play Florida, I do have to find this week’s winners. But first let’s recap the Lox of week 5 and rejoice in a winning week.

Premium Lox

Week 5: 3-0

Overall: 8-10

Winners:

Ole Miss (-10): 23-7

The Rebels bounced back nicely from their loss to South Carolina and although they didn’t play a great game, led 23-0 and held on in the second half for a 23-7 win over Vanderbilt. Jevan Snead threw 3 TDs but also 3 int’s that almost let Vandy back in the game. He is not living up to the preseason hype yet and will have to bring his A game to beat Alabama this week. Shay Hodge had 122 yards receiving and 2 TDs for Ole Miss, but Dexter McCluster still did not touch the ball much and Houston Nutt’s offense is sputtering without him so far this season. To have any hope of winning the SEC West, the Rebels must get it together before Saturday as Bama has been the most impressive team thus far.

South Florida (-7): 34-20

USF moved to 5-0 on the season with a nice win in the Carrier Dome over Syracuse. But it was not the USF offense that carried the team as their defense forced 7 turnovers and was the deciding factor in the victory. As I predicted Greg Paulus has not faced that kind of pressure since his point guard days for Duke and it showed as he threw 5 int’s and gave the game away. Syracuse had the ball to tie the spread late in the game but was stopped at their own 31 and never had another chance.

Auburn @ Tennessee (Under 51): 26-22

Auburn led the entire game and put up substantial yards against the Vols but settled for 4 field goals that resulted in the game going under the total. Tennessee stayed in the game with a TD late in the half to make it 13-6, then again in the 4th quarter to trail 23-16, but Auburn put another drive together ending in a field goal to clinch the game 26-16. Tennessee scored on the final play of the game to get to 22 but did not attempt the PAT per SEC rules. This was a huge play because the total was bet down to 49 on some books and the PAT could have tied it. No doubt there were people in Vegas thankful for the SEC rules and others cursing their TV because of that obscure rule.

Regular Lox

Week 5: 2-1

Overall: 8-8-1

Winners:

Miami (+7): 21-20

Miami got off to a slow start at home and trailed 10-0 early, with Jacory Harris turning the ball over on his first two possessions. After settling down the Hurricanes got to within 10-7 at halftime. The turning point came when Landry Jones of Oklahoma was sacked and fumbled on the third play of the second half, leading to a Harris TD pass and a lead the Canes would not relinquish. They led 21-10 and seemed in control on both sides of the ball, when the Oklahoma punter faked being roughed up and the referee threw the flag for the 15 yard penalty. It was a horrible call that switched the momentum and almost cost Miami the game. The punter was seen laughing on the sideline after the play. This led to a Sooner TD and a 21-17 game, which turned to 21-20 when Oklahoma settled for a field goal on their next drive. But when Miami got the ball back Harris led them to several first down passes and they were able to take a knee inside Oklahoma’s red zone to pull off the upset. Miami showed some resilience in this game while Oklahoma showed they are a long way from a Championship team. Even with Sam Bradford I don’t believe this is the same Sooner team as we thought, the loss of All American TE Jermaine Gresham actually may be the biggest injury they must overcome. Now the Sooners can only hope to dismantle Texas’ season and win the Big 12, because with 2 losses their title hopes are gone.

Arkansas (-1): 47-19

The Razorbacks enjoyed their time in Cowboys stadium, but must have been in awe for the first several drives. Texas A&M jumped out to a 10-0 lead and looked to be in control in the first quarter, but Ryan Mallet settled down and led Arkansas back with a vengeance. Big plays on defense got them the lead and their offense moved the ball nicely in a big win for Arkansas and a game that Jerry Jones would have loved to see his Cowboys play. The final score was larger than the yardage differential would indicate but Arkansas cruised in the second half to victory to please the large contingent of Razorback fans that made the trip. Tony Romo better watch his back if they don’t start winning, as Jerry Jones will be all over QB Ryan Mallet when he comes into the draft. The transfer from Michigan is learning the position nicely from Bobby Petrino and has the NFL arm to be a high pick. Could this game have been a preview of Mallet’s eventual destination? If Romo keeps up the mediocrity that we have seen, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Losers:

Clemson (-13.5): 21-24

Clemson’s season is slowly falling though their fingers after the upset loss to Maryland. They came in off a tough home loss to TCU and figured to be motivated to play in this ACC rivalry. After dominating the first quarter and leading 10-0 (a trend is developing, you don’t want to lead 10-0 early, you will lose) Clemson completely lost interest in the game and Maryland came roaring back. Clemson though had 3 chances in Terp territory to tie or take the lead but 2 missed field goals and a sack and fumble clinched the big win for Ralph Friedgen and Maryland. I said that Friedgen’s job would be on the line after they lost this game, but I had it opposite, as Dabo Swinney is not making any friends with the Clemson boosters or alumni that backed his controversial hiring. Clemson students like to make signs saying “Yaba Dabo Doo” in reference to Coach Dabo, but those signs might mean coach will be watching Flintstones reruns on Saturdays after his performance lately. Clemson is 2-3 and if this were Tommy Bowden, fans would be screaming for his job. Swinney deserves some time to right the ship, but with all the talent in the world, he can’t continue to lose games like this. Clemson may have the Notre Dame complex and believe they are entitled to win ACC championships and compete for national titles, but they don’t have the leadership or the mental toughness yet to win close games. We’ll see how the year plays out.

Upset Specials

Week 5: 2-2 (outright upsets)

Overall: 4-8 (outright upsets)

Winners:

Wisconsin (+3) and Kansas State (+2)

Wisconsin held on over Minnesota to go to 5-0 and set up a big game this week at Ohio State, while Kansas State blocked a late PAT to preserve a 24-23 win over Iowa State. Both teams were on the road and pulled the upset.

Losers: Michigan (+3) and NC State (+4)

Michigan made a great comeback to force OT against Michigan State, but came up short in their loss. Tate Forcier had another dramatic drive, going 92 yards and throwing a 4th down TD to tie the game. NC State also came up short against Wake Forest, with QB Russell Wilson throwing 2 int’s that snapped the longest streak in the nation without an int. The second came on the final drive with NC State in position to tie the game.

Now onto Week 6 and a big Thursday Night Big 12 game.

Thursday Night Special Premium Lox

#21 Nebraska (-3) @ #24 Missouri

Players:

Nebraska: QB Zac Lee, RB Roy Helu, DT Ndamukong Suh

Missouri: QB Blaine Gabbert, RB Derrick Washington, WR Danario Alexander

The Big 12 usually does not play these ESPN Thursday Night games, but this will be a treat to see two top 25 teams battle it out in their first conference games. Missouri is 4-0, including their surprising upset of Illinois week one, which looks not so surprising the way Illinois has played since. They also won a hard fought game at Nevada. The Cornhuskers are 3-1 but could easily be 4-0 and top 5 in the country, as their only loss was at Virginia Tech in a game they dominated but self destructed on the final drive. Missouri has surprised many people with their offensive fire power after losing their QB and two best targets to the NFL last year. But Gabbert has been spectacular, throwing for 11 TDs and 0 int’s. Washington has been huge on the ground and Alexander and Jared Perry have been great targets, catching 4 and 5 TDs each. But they haven’t faced any good defenses and will face a monster tonight. The Huskers come into this game looking for revenge as they lost 52-17 to Missouri in Lincoln last year and 41-6 the year before. Bo Pelini will remind his team of those crushing losses and Nebraska should be ready to prove they are back at the top of the league. The Huskers will need their defense to slow down Missouri and pressure Gabbert into some bad throws and sacks. Suh will be looking to have a big game on national TV and I expect great things from him. The Nebraska offense will score points behind Zac Lee and Roy Helu, who should carry the team on the ground, and I expect the Cornhuskers to get revenge on the Tigers and bring them down to earth while staking claim to their rightful spot on top of the Big 12 North. PICK: Nebraska 27 – Missouri 20