Picks of the Week - Week 7
Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:16 am
Last Week: 0-5
Year to Date: 16-15
Florida State -7 at Virginia
Coming off back-to-back losses isn't the way to get up for FSU. Virginia has also suspended starting tackle Brad Butler for this game. UVA is getting preseason All-Americans D'Brickshaw Ferguson and Ahmad Brooks back for this game, but they haven't played in a month and are sure to be rusty. UVA is giving up nearly 400 yards of offense per game, and they haven't faced anyone with an offense even remotely as good as FSU. And, with Duke on the schedule for next week, it is highly unlikely that FSU will be looking past UVA. FSU is 12-1 overall against UVA and have won 8 in a row.
Northwestern +7.5 at Purdue
This is just going to be a shootout. Northwestern is 6th in the nation in total offense, averaging 514 yards per game; Purdue is allowing 482 yards per game. Northwestern is also 116th of 119 Division 1 schools in total defense (Purdue is 114th). This could very well be a repeat of the NU/Wisconsin game last week, with 100 points on the board. Purdue has lost three in a row and they are 4-8 over their last 12 games, with two of those wins over lowly Akron and Pac-10 doormat Arizona.
Nebraska -2.5 at Baylor
Are the Blackshirs back? Nebraska is first in the nation in sacks, fourth in rushing yards per attempt (1.8 ), and ninth in rushing defense (67 ypg). They are allowing less than 300 ypg. Baylor is 4-1, but they are just now getting to the meat of their schedule, putting up decent numbers against the likes of SMU, Samford and Army. Nebraska has won the last 7 games in the series.
Louisville -7 at West Virginia
Louisville has had their letdown game this year. They're on a mission to just bury everyone else on their schedule, including 69-14 spanking of North Carolina last week. WVU's starting running back Jason Gwaltney is out for a month, and while West Virginia can run the ball, but Louisville is only allowing 92 ypg on the ground, while gaining over 300 through the air. It won't even matter if WVU can control the ball, as Louisville averages only 2:25 per scoring drive and has 11 touchdown "drives" of 4 plays or less.
Bowling Green -23 at Buffalo
As bad as Buffalo is, there's always the risk that someone is looking past them to their next game; well, Bowling Green's next game is at Cincinnati, who is almost as bad as Buffalo, so I don't think there's the chance of a letdown here. Bowling Green is also getting P.J. Pope back for this game, and while the Falcon defense struggled against Wisconsin and Boise State, Buffalo isn't in the same galaxy as those two. In their six games this year, Buffalo has averaged less than a touchdown per game, and they have been shut out three times. The Falcons blew out Temple 70-7, and Buffalo is every bit as bad as Temple is. A 50-point performance is very reasonable to expect here.
Year to Date: 16-15
Florida State -7 at Virginia
Coming off back-to-back losses isn't the way to get up for FSU. Virginia has also suspended starting tackle Brad Butler for this game. UVA is getting preseason All-Americans D'Brickshaw Ferguson and Ahmad Brooks back for this game, but they haven't played in a month and are sure to be rusty. UVA is giving up nearly 400 yards of offense per game, and they haven't faced anyone with an offense even remotely as good as FSU. And, with Duke on the schedule for next week, it is highly unlikely that FSU will be looking past UVA. FSU is 12-1 overall against UVA and have won 8 in a row.
Northwestern +7.5 at Purdue
This is just going to be a shootout. Northwestern is 6th in the nation in total offense, averaging 514 yards per game; Purdue is allowing 482 yards per game. Northwestern is also 116th of 119 Division 1 schools in total defense (Purdue is 114th). This could very well be a repeat of the NU/Wisconsin game last week, with 100 points on the board. Purdue has lost three in a row and they are 4-8 over their last 12 games, with two of those wins over lowly Akron and Pac-10 doormat Arizona.
Nebraska -2.5 at Baylor
Are the Blackshirs back? Nebraska is first in the nation in sacks, fourth in rushing yards per attempt (1.8 ), and ninth in rushing defense (67 ypg). They are allowing less than 300 ypg. Baylor is 4-1, but they are just now getting to the meat of their schedule, putting up decent numbers against the likes of SMU, Samford and Army. Nebraska has won the last 7 games in the series.
Louisville -7 at West Virginia
Louisville has had their letdown game this year. They're on a mission to just bury everyone else on their schedule, including 69-14 spanking of North Carolina last week. WVU's starting running back Jason Gwaltney is out for a month, and while West Virginia can run the ball, but Louisville is only allowing 92 ypg on the ground, while gaining over 300 through the air. It won't even matter if WVU can control the ball, as Louisville averages only 2:25 per scoring drive and has 11 touchdown "drives" of 4 plays or less.
Bowling Green -23 at Buffalo
As bad as Buffalo is, there's always the risk that someone is looking past them to their next game; well, Bowling Green's next game is at Cincinnati, who is almost as bad as Buffalo, so I don't think there's the chance of a letdown here. Bowling Green is also getting P.J. Pope back for this game, and while the Falcon defense struggled against Wisconsin and Boise State, Buffalo isn't in the same galaxy as those two. In their six games this year, Buffalo has averaged less than a touchdown per game, and they have been shut out three times. The Falcons blew out Temple 70-7, and Buffalo is every bit as bad as Temple is. A 50-point performance is very reasonable to expect here.