College Football Live Thread - Weekend Nine

Sportsline.com Scoreboard ^ | Thursday 26th of October to Sunday 29th of October 2006

[MikefromOhio]

Weekend Eight was the weekend of near-misses and close calls. Texas, Cal and Notre Dame all escaped their games with wins. Texas won on a last second field goal in Lincoln against Nebraska, while ND drove 80 yards for a winning TD pass from Brady Quinn. Cal, however, had to go to overtime to defeat a steadily improving Washington team. It was business as usual for most of the top 5, with West Virginia, Auburn, Michigan and Ohio State all rolling to relatively easy wins. Unfortunately ND’s narrow win and subsequent drop in the polls prompted whining from Charlie Weis, which is rebutted by ESPN columnist DJ Gallo here. Needless to say, putting Florida and Tennessee aren’t the biggest transgressions this past weekend. Having to come back against a mid-tier Pac10 team, with their backup Quarterback at the helm, at home, late in the 4th quarter, IS a problem for ND.

This week’s match up of the week pits Georgia and Florida in the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”. This is a fun game every year to watch.

Saturday, October 28th, 2006 – 3:30 PM on CBS

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Georgia at (9) Florida (-13.5)

The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party pits Georgia against Florida. Generally this game is played in Jacksonville. Florida has all of the advantages on paper, but more than one good team on either side has been upset here before. Georgia could get back into SEC contention with a win here while Florida needs a win to hold serve to get to the SEC championship game. In the end, I think Georgia’s lack of offense will hold them back from winning this game. They will need points on every possession and the Florida defense is too good to allow that.

Florida 24 – Georgia 14

Thursday October 26th, 2006 (ESPN Thursday Night Game)

(10) Clemson (-4.5) at Virginia Tech

Clemson has a chance to take absolute and total control of the ACC with a win. This has been the type of game that Clemson has lost in the past. After winning a game that many thought they wouldn’t, they have a history of laying an egg the next week. Not this year.

Clemson 32 – Virginia Tech 24

Friday October 27th, 2006 (ESPN2 Friday Night Game)

UTEP at Tulsa (-14)

Tulsa has played one decent team (BYU) and lost. Look for Tulsa to roll over UTEP, although this game should be interesting for a while.

Tulsa 42 – UTEP 24

Saturday October 21st 2006 (in ranking order)

Minnesota at (1) Ohio State (-27)

Ohio State 38 – Minnesota 3

Northwestern at (2) Michigan (-30)

Michigan 45 – Northwestern 10

(3) USC (-10.5) at Oregon State

USC 37 – Oregon St. 13

(4) West Virginia BYE

(5) Texas (-10.5) at Texas Tech

Texas 34 – Texas Tech 20

(6) Louisville BYE

(7) Auburn (-19) at Mississippi

Auburn 38 – Mississippi 13

(8) Tennessee (-3.5) at South Carolina

Tennessee 28 – South Carolina 20

(11) Notre Dame (-13) at Navy

ND 38 – Navy 17

(12) Cal BYE

Louisiana Monroe at (13) Arkansas (NL)

Arkansas 49 – LA Monroe 6

(14) LSU BYE

(15) Boise St BYE

Illinois at (17) Wisconsin (-21.5)

Wisconsin 52 – Illinois 13

Buffalo at (18) Boston College (-35)

BC 48 – Buffalo 0

(19) Oklahoma at (23) Missouri (-2)

Mizzou 24 – Oklahoma 17

Oklahoma St. at (20) Nebraska (-5.5)

Oklahoma St. 28 – Nebraska 27

Miami (FL) at (21) Georgia Tech (-5)

Georgia Tech 32 – Miami 16

Baylor at (22) Texas A&M (-4.5)

Baylor 37 – Texas A&M 24

(24) Wake Forest (-8.5) at North Carolina

Wake 34 – North Carolina 10

Portland St. at (25) Oregon (NL)

BY REQUEST (FReepmail me to have your team included)

New Mexico at Colorado St. (-6.5) – Saturday, October 28th (Mountain West Conference)

Every time I pick against New Mexico, they win, and every time I pick them, they lose. I don’t know anymore.

Colorado St. 28 – New Mexico 17

Baylor at (22) Texas A&M (-4.5)

A&M needs to play better defense against Baylor than they did against OK St. Baylor can score in bunches. If it can ever figure out the defense thing, they could be a dangerous team.

Baylor 37 – Texas A&M 24

Sunday October 29th, 2006 (ESPN Sunday Night Game) UCONN at (19) Rutgers (-19)

As UCONN proved last week against West Virginia, it has a problem stopping the run. Ray Rice should get close to 200 yards in this one.

Rutgers 35 – UCONN 10

[MikefromOhio]

Yep....

ping coming in a second :)

[MikefromOhio]

College Football Ping.

Freepmail me to be added to this list.


Rutgers and UCONN on ESPN...should be an interesting game to watch....

[scott says]

Hope Connecticut doesn't totally embarrass themselves. Rutgers plays West Va next month and UL in the next couple of weeks, a lot to be decided for the Big East/BCS representative.

[MikefromOhio]

yeah the Big East will have a definitive champion. I do like that.

I don't know if Rutgers is on the same level as WVA or Louisville, but they could be onto something big there...

[MikefromOhio]

Rutgers 7 UCONN 0


Also, there is going to be a live look in on the replay officials for this game the entire night. That should be very informative.

[BookmanTheJanitor]

Hey Mike,

Not sure if you have noticed, but former pro QB Jim Harbaugh has been doing a terrific job as head coach at the University of San Diego (Division 1-AA). They've won 24 out of their last 25 games including their last 16 in a row. Their offense has been putting up some real big numbers.

Harbaugh was in the running for the San Diego State job. I am sure he'll get some looks this year for a D-I offensive coordinator job or maybe a "lower level" Division I head coaching job.

Just thought I'd pass it on to you. Thanks again for "running/"officiating" :o) this weekly thread.

[MikefromOhio]

yeah I've heard some things about him.

It won't be long before he's a D-1 coach, although I think he's smart enough to want to be a coordinator first.....

[MikefromOhio]

Ummmmm....

they are playing rugby at Rutgers tonight....

this might be a TD on a fumble recovery of a fumble recovery of a fumble recovery....

[Biggirl]

As a UConn fan, I am learning why there are three undefeated Big East teams in the rankings, the speed game.

[MikefromOhio]

yep

Speed is the single biggest factor in the college game. It may not win every game, but it will win most of them.

UCONN isn't horrible, but they have aways to go...

[MikefromOhio]

Rutgers 17

UCONN 0



UCONN just had a big kickoff return called back.

[Biggirl]

Also UConn's football is a young program, and from what I am seeing, has a good future ahead of it. But it has to learn along the way.

[MikefromOhio]

yeah.... And to be honest, West Virginia has been building to this year for a while now. They might not be able to sustain this level of play, and Louisville has shown no staying power either. Maybe that will change, but there is a certain equilibrium to college football.

[MikefromOhio]

self-inflicted wounds kill you every time....

[Biggirl]

Yes, WV has been building up to this season the last few seasons. This buildup comes from a lot of recrutting of new players.

[MikefromOhio]

That and Rich Rodriguez has been perfecting his 3-3-5 defense for a while now.

Having Slaton as a RB was the final piece of the puzzle.

[Biggirl]

So coach Randy has to do the same thing, do this 3-3-5 thing and get a good RB then.

[MikefromOhio]

yeah, but they would be better served to get a balanced offensive attack.

WVU has no balance. They are run first and only pass when they have too.

That won't win National Championships anymore.

[MikefromOhio]

TD UCONN!! Wow that was impressive.....now let's see if their defense can get a stop....

17-7 Rutgers

[hispanarepublicana]

It's true; our inexperienced quarterback and sorry excuse for a defensive coordinator are what made the crooked refs relevant, but crooked they were nonetheless. (I'd buy the one-way ticket for Setencich myself if I thought it would entice him to leave town.)
And why would their calls in this game for Texas have anything to do with last year's OU game?