What a Let Down
By Judd Hall
If you like nail biting games in college football, then this past weekend was definitely for you. Two of the bigger battles on the slate weren’t decided until the final minute of the fourth quarter. And another contest saw the No. 5 Cowboys fall apart against Houston after getting a huge lead in the third quarter.
When you have games that go down to the wire or become deflating defeats, there are going to be let downs the following week. Normally you’d think that would be the case for the winning teams, but the losing sides can suffer from a bit of a hangover as well.
My first pick for a hangover would definitely be the Cougars, but they get the benefit of having the week off. Don’t fret as there are still three programs out there primed for a let down this Saturday.
Disappointment by the Lake…
The good news for Ohio State is that they scored more this year against the Trojans than they did in 2008. The bad news is the Buckeyes have nobody to blame but themselves in their 18-15 defeat to Southern California as seven-point home pups.
Despite the last second defeat, the Bucks are getting respect from the sportsbooks this weekend by being listed as 20-point favorites against Toledo from Cleveland Browns Stadium.
If you’re looking at talent level alone, then you’ll certainly side with OSU. However, Toledo is coming off of a 54-38 home victory against the Buffaloes. Aaron Opelt lit up Colorado for 319 passing yards and four touchdowns through the air.
Opelt will no doubt take some home run cuts against the Buckeyes’ secondary. We didn’t see USC force the issue with a deep pass with a freshman quarterback in a hostile stadium. Navy, however, did make a few throws that got behind Ohio State’s last line of defense. And you can bet that the Rockets will use their spread attack to confuse OSU’s secondary to keep them in the game on the shores of Lake Erie.
Beware of the Huskies…
Pete Carroll caught a little flack for letting true freshman QB Matt Barkley start last Saturday at the Horseshoe, but he knew what he was doing in Southern California’s win. Now the Trojans must avoid the let down this weekend against in Seattle against the Huskies.
The betting shops are on the Trojans’ side here, installing them as 21-point road favorites.
There is an 800-pound gorilla in the room for USC is the fact that they went into Corvallis last year after beating the Buckeyes, only to lose outright to the Beavers the next week.
Do I give Washington a cat’s chance in hell to pull of the shocker? Hell no. What I do believe is that the Huskies aren’t nearly as bad under Steve Sarkisian as they were with Ty Willingham running the show.
Sarkisian has an intimate knowledge of how Southern Cal runs its offense. Meanwhile, defensive coordinator Nick Holt knows a thing or two about how the Trojans run things on defense. After all, he was in charge of that unit for the past two seasons. Don’t be surprised if Washington keeps this game with a couple of scores.
Bad Luck of the Irish…
Charlie Weis might normally be an offensive genius, but he was a mental midget at the end of Notre Dame’s 38-34 defeat on the road against the Wolverines.
The Fighting Irish held a 34-31 lead with the ball and just over three minutes left to play last Saturday. Yet they decided to run two straight pass plays that went incomplete. So instead of running the clock out, Notre Dame punted the ball back to Michigan after knocking just over one minute off of the clock. The Wolverines marched down for a game-winning score and left the Irish holding the pieces.
Notre Dame has the benefit this Saturday of being an 11-point home “chalk” against the Spartans. And adding a little more to the good feelings is that Michigan State is coming off of a 29-27 setback against the Chippewas in East Lansing.
Something to worry about is the fact that the Spartans have won their last five trips outright to South Bend. And the recent trend that the road squad is 8-2 against the spread means that Weis could be sprucing up that resume of his this coming Sunday.
vegasinsider.com