Michigan State's fake field goal capped off week 3's best finish.
You can always count on a couple things every week; the first is an amazing finish, the second is a team stepping up and saying, “Look at me! Look at me! I’m just as good as those other guys!!!” Notre Dame – Michigan State was the amazing finish, and Arizona stepped up and acclimated themselves from Cindy to Jan Brady status. Michigan State’s fake field goal to beat Notre Dame in overtime was the most gutsy call we’ve seen since probably the New Orleans Saints’ onside kick to start the second half of the Super Bowl last February. Just the thought of what his team had just pulled off possibly caused Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio to suffer a heart attack later that night. Who’s going to to have an amazing finish? Who’s going to stomp their foot and scream, “MARCIA! MARCIA! MARCIA!”??? I guess we’ll know on Monday, let’s get to the “Headlines” for this week:
Notre Dame Has Luck on Their Side Again
If there was such a thing as the “best loser,” it would be Notre Dame. Their last seven losses, dating back to last year of course, have come by less than a touchdown. Their losses this year have both been nail-biters, this week’s game with Stanford will be no different. With other quarterbacks faltering, the Cardinal’s Andrew Luck has emerged as one of the nation’s top passers. As good as Luck and Stanford’s offense is, Irish QB Dayne Crist is equally as good at running Notre Dame’s offense. The difference in this game will be Notre Dame’s defense, they will play better than Stanford’s. Expect a lot of scoring, but this week it will be the Irish defense that gets the last laugh, and there will be no fake-outs.
Tide Wimps Out in Arkansas
Arkansas is not your typical SEC team. They like to win by scoring, not by having their defense stop the other team from scoring and hope to catch a break. Perhaps that’s the influence of their offense-minded head coach Bobby Petrino, who came from Louisville(Loo-vule) back when the Big East was relevant a few years ago. The Tide haven’t faced any good offenses yet this year; Duke, San Jose State, and Penn State don’t come close to the offensive capabilities of the Razorbacks. QB Ryan Mallett is having a great year and in the safe confines of Razorback Stadium will be confident and poised to knock off #1 Alabama. If Alabama is to win, fans need to forget “Roll Tide,” and start saying “Score Tide.”
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's LSU's offense!!!
Tigers Pounce on Mountaineers
Watching LSU‘s offense is like watching a “vibrating football” game. They can move the ball, but ever so slowly, like paint drying. LSU QB Jordan Jefferson is only averaging 120 yards/game and completing 60% of his passes. The Tigers ARE your typical SEC team with an inept offense but a very good defense, which has only given up four touchdowns all year. All four of them actually came in their first game against North Carolina and they have allowed under seven points in their other two game (against highly inferior opponents but impressive nonetheless). A few stats are that might be overwhelming to West Virginia are that LSU has a 30-game winning streak against out of conference opponents at home and LSU has never lost to West Virginia. Actually, this is their first meeting, so West Virginia has never lost to LSU either! The Mountaineers offense is heating up after a very lackadaisical start to the season, especially against Marshall two weeks ago. They do have the weapons to score points, but not on LSU’s defense.
JIB Picks
Last Week: 21-2 / Overall: 49-5
#1 Alabama – #11 Arkansas / #2 Ohio St. – Eastern Michigan / #3 Boise St. – Oregon St. / #4 Texas – UCLA / #5 TCU – SMU / #6 Oregon – Arizona St. / #7 Nebraska – South Dakota State / #8 Florida - Kentucky / #9 Oklahoma – Cincinnati / #10 Wisconsin- Austin Peay/ #12 LSU – #21 West Virginia / #13 Utah – San Jose St. / #14 Auburn – #15 South Carolina / #16 Arizona – California / #17 Stanford – Notre Dame / #18 Iowa – Ball St. / #19 Miami – Pitt / #20 Penn St. – Temple / #22 Michigan – Bowling Green / #23 Michigan St. – Northern Colorado / #24 Missouri – Miami (OH)/ #25 Oklahoma St. (Bye)
