Week 4 Rewind
By Judd Hall
VegasInsider.com
If people wanted excitement to start the fourth Saturday in college football, then they were extremely disappointed.
The Big Ten was the main culprit of the boredom as Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Iowa all had victories with margins that were larger than I am in age. That will happen when you’re taking on lower tier FCS schools and the haphazard Mid-American Conference.
Purdue might not think so much of picking on the MAC after winding up on the wrong side of a 31-20 decision to the Rockets as an 11-point home favorite. The Boilermakers’ defense didn’t do much to help out by letting Toledo pick up 376 total yards. Their offense didn’t do much by turning the ball over on downs and losing Robert Marve in the first quarter to a knee injury. Rob Henry did help the Boilers pull close at 24-20, but the Rockets’ win was never really in doubt.
The Wolverines’ 65-21 win over Bowling Green came with a scare as quarterback Denard Robinson went down with a knee injury after breaking off a 47-yard run. All signs are that it isn’t serious. If anything, it allowed Michigan’s faithful to see Tate Forcier complete all 12 of his throws for 110 yards and a score.
Northwestern has cemented itself as the biggest cover tease of the early season to me. The Wildcats came into their game against Central Michigan as seven-point home faves. And they were certainly in a position to give us the cover with a 30-13 advantage to start the fourth quarter. But the Chippewas took advantage of an undisciplined Northwestern defense to pull a backdoor cover in a 30-25 battle. The Wildcats pulled this on many gamblers (myself included) in the season opener against Vanderbilt by coughing up a 23-15 lead to win 23-21 in Nashville.
Over in the ACC, Virginia Tech looks to be putting itself back in the mix for the league crown after a 19-0 shutout of the Eagles in Chestnut Hill as a 3 ½-point road “chalk.” Tyrod Taylor did complete 16-of-21 passes for 237 yards, but was sacked twice and threw a pick. Darren Evans was bruised and battered today against Boston College, but did pick up a touchdown and 32 rushing yards on 14 carries. Shutouts don’t happen to often in league games for Frank Beamer. In fact, the last time the Hokies blanked an league opponent was a 17-0 home win over Virginia to close out their 2006 ACC campaign.
We finally found some excitement during the mid-afternoon showdowns as upset bids dotted the landscape.
Penn State was the first big name to get a scare on Saturday as a 13 ½-point home “chalk” against the resurgent Temple Owls. Public sentiment was behind Al Golden’s club as the line actually opened up at 16 ½ at most betting shops. The Owls proved to be up to the task by holding a 13-6 lead midway through the second quarter. It was all Nittany Lions after that as Evan Royster lit up for 186 rushing yards as they held a 444-204 yardage advantage for the game. PSU did its level best to keep the Hooters to just 1-for-11 on third downs and forced them into four turnovers that helped them win 22-13 in Happy Valley.
Things were also dicey in Fayetteville for the top-ranked Crimson Tide against Arkansas. Alabama was posted as a seven-point road favorite, but Greg McElroy did whatever he could do to let the Hogs win. The Tide’s signal caller tossed two interceptions in the second quarter. Luckily for them Ryan Mallett and Company converted just one of those picks into a touchdown as they took a 17-7 lead into halftime. The second half saw Mallett turn back into a pumpkin in the fourth quarter by throwing picks on Arkansas’s final two drives. Meanwhile, Mark Ingram gained 72 of his 158 yards in the second half to go along with the game-winning score to stay unbeaten with a 24-20 escape against the Razorbacks.
While ‘Bama and JoePa were able to escape with wins, Mack Brown’s Longhorns are left to answer a lot of questions. That tends to happen when you get embarrassed 34-12 against UCLA as 16-point home favorites. This outcome was pretty much a lot of bad luck (3 fumbles, 1 interception) and an inability to run the ball (85 rushing yards). The Bruins had no problems in exposing Texas’s porous rush defense by racking up 260 yards on the ground, with 197 of those yards coming in the second half. This was easily the worst loss Brown has suffered at home in his 13 years in Austin.
Some teams on Saturday were just looking to make a statement for themselves on a national level.
Stanford falls into that category with its 37-14 win over the Fighting Irish as a 4 ½-point road favorite. You’d like to believe that Brian Kelly’s club was in this game after two horrible losses, but that just wasn’t the case. Notre Dame converted just four of its 13 third downs and that helped in seeing them fall behind 34-6 in the fourth quarter. If there was one negative for the Cardinal it would have been Andrew Luck. He still connected on 19-of-32 passes for 238 yards, but had two bad interceptions. Luckily they didn’t lead to any points for the Irish.
We nearly had another major upset on the banks of the Ohio River in a game the public was all over for the pups. Oklahoma was a 17-point road favorite when the line was made for its showdown with the hapless Bearcats. Yet everyone and their uncle pushed Cincinnati down to a 14-point home pup just before kickoff. It turns out that those bettors were right on the money as the Bearcats narrowly lost 31-29. What’s worse for Cincy is they had every chance to win this game outright in the fourth quarter. Zach Collaros fumbled the ball after being sacked in OU territory with under seven minutes left. And D.J. Woods helped the Sooners seal the deal with their final touchdown off of his fumbling of their punt on the Cincinnati seven-yard-line.
The primetime card didn’t disappoint with some close games that a few folks might have fallen asleep before they completed.
All eyes were on Boise State as they took on the Beavers in its final major test before entering the WAC portion of its schedule. The Broncos were pushed up to 18-point home favorites for this game, which seemed awfully high considered Oregon State’s early test against the Horned Frogs. The gamblers that sides with OSU were handsomely rewarded as Boise State held on for a 37-24 victory to stay perfect. BSU looked flawed in this game with a pair of fumbles, losing one of them to the Beavs. And the Broncos were penalized eight times in this contest, which is not very usual for them.
Out in the desert, Oregon found itself in for a fight against the Sun Devils as they opened up Pac-10 play. Arizona State looked like they might play the spoiler in this contest by going up 24-14 with just under four minutes remaining in the second quarter. That’s when Darron Thomas threw for one touchdown and ran for another to claim a 28-24 advantage at the half. ASU actually outgained the Ducks 597-405 in this contest but still lost 42-31 to cover as a 12 ½-point home pup. Things might have been different for the Sun Devils in this contest had it not been for their seven turnovers. The win for Oregon sets up a great battle next Saturday at home against the Cardinal in what could be an early fight for the conference crown.
If there ever seemed to be a team primed for a letdown this week, it was Arizona in hosting the Golden Bears as a six-point home “chalk.” The Wildcats picked up a huge win against Iowa the weekend before when everyone on the East Coast was fast asleep. The lack of eyes on the game might have been a good thing for the Wildcats as they barely won 10-9 to remain perfect. Nick Foles and company picked up just 311 yards on offense (366 vs. Hawkeyes last week) and had four drives where they punted after just five plays. This could serve as the slap in the face that they need to get ready for an Oregon State side that is looking to beat up on usual suspects after some close defeats against Top 5 talent.
vegasinsider.com