College Football Week 5

[Tinfish]

Will update my record on next post


Tuesday:

SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI GOLDEN EAGLES @ UCF GOLDEN KNIGHTS

Southern Mississippi (2-1, 0-1 away) at UCF (1-2, 1-1 home) @ 7:30 PM. EST. *ESPN2

FACTS & STATS: Site: Florida Citrus Bowl (65,438) -- Orlando, Florida. Television: ESPN2. Home Record: USM 2-0, UCF 1-1. Away Record: USM 0-1, UCF 0-1. Neutral Record: USM 0-0, UCF 0-0. Conference Record: USM 0-0, UCF 0-0. Series Record: Southern Mississippi leads, 1-0.

GAME NOTES: A couple of teams kicking off the Conference USA portion of their schedules hook up in Orlando for a Tuesday night affair, as the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles challenge the UCF Golden Knights. The Eagles enter the contest with some momentum, as they have won two straight games following a season-opening loss to nationally-ranked Florida (34-7). The team was last in action on September 16th, when it downed ACC member North Carolina State by a score of 37-17. USM now turns its attention to C-USA play where it has posted a 5-3 record in each of the past two seasons. As for UCF, it has had little success of late, dropping back-to-back games following a 35-16 victory over Division I-AA foe Villanova in its opener. The Knights last took the field on September 16th, dropping a tough 24-17 decision to instate rival South Florida. On a positive note, UCF now heads into C-USA action, where it posted a 7-2 ledger last year, including an appearance in the league title game, in its first season in the conference. However, one of those two losses last season came against Southern Miss, 52-31, in the two school's first-ever meeting on the gridiron.

Both teams are expected to compete for the C-USA title this season, although UCF has yet to get things going. It should be a close game all the way through, with the Golden Eagles' ground attack being the difference in the end but by less than the spread

UCF +6.5

[Tinfish]

YTD Record (19-16-1)

Thursday night:
Auburn vs. South Carolina

Its a thursday night SEC showdown. Auburn is out to prove to the country that they are the best team while South Carolina is out to spoil all hopes Auburn has. South Carolina will have a packed out stadium with 85,000 plus doing everything they can do to help their gamecocks. Auburn comes into this game ranked #2 in the country and looking to improve to 5-0 on the year and 3-0 in the SEC. South Carolina is looking to move to 4-1 and avoid falling to 1-2 in the SEC. After shutting out Mississippi State on opening night on national tv, South Carolina has fallen on hard times. They were shut out against Georgia and in that game totaled only 35 yards rushing while gaining 220 through the air. The following weak they got a win against Wofford but it was anything but impressive 27-20. They got back on track last weekend by pounding Florida Atlantic 45-6. Against Mississippi State(which is the game everyone remembers) the USC defense looked like world beaters. They looked fantastic. But the Harsh reality was they were facing a Mississippi State offense that is one of the worst in the Country. The following week South Carolina gave up 18 points to UGA and in that game UGA rushed for 198 yards. Wofford rushed for 292 yards. Flordia Atlantic had 138. For South Carolina, its not about who is playing quarterback, its about establishing a running game. They're averageing 120 yards a game on the season. Will they be able to get that running game going against an Auburn defense that is only allowing 2.7 yards per carry and 83 yards per game?

Auburns offense is led by Kenny Irons at running back. The guy is one of the most powerful running backs in the country. Brandon Cox is a guy at quarterback thats is more than capable of winning games, but his job is to not lose them. He manages the offense, stretches the defense when need be and avoides making turnovers. The Auburn offense doesnt ask Cox to do anything special, they leave that up to Kenny Irons. And what can you say about the Auburn defense, man they are tough. You can look at stats until your blue in the face and everywhich way you look at them, your going to see 2 key things. #1 auburn can run the ball and #2 auburn can stop the run. If South Carolina can not establish the run they will get run out of their own house in a hurry. Auburn defensive Coordinator Will Muschamp is a Nick Saban prodigy and his M.O. is to shut down the run, disguise coverages, and bring constant pressure and force the opposing quarterback into making quick decisions. If the opposing quarterback can do this, then hats off to ya. For Auburn, the stage is set. The National spotlight is on them. They are out to prove that they can dominate inside their own conference and that they can dominate a team coached by one of the all time greatest. Bottom line here is that South Carolina is going to have to get every bounce to got their way to be competitive in this game. They are too young and do not have the horses to keep up with Auburn. I got on this line sunday at 9.5 it is now all they way up 14. If Auburn plays the way they are capable of playing they will be able cover the 14. BUT, with the homefield advantage and high emotions on the South Carolina side, I believe that South Carolina will keep this one close in the first half. But when the fourth quarter rolls around Auburn will have too much.

Auburn -14 (I got it at 9.5)

[coffee-guy]

Helluva game so far - I don't have any fingernails left that's for sure - 4 minutes to go...

[Tinfish]

YTD (19-17-1)

Friday Night:
Rutgers @ South Florida


Last year in the first ever meeting between these two teams, South Florida capitalized off of 6 Rutger turnovers to win the game 45-31. South Florida jumped out to a 21-0 lead in that game. Both teams went to bowl games last year and both teams had high hopes for this season. Rutgers is an experienced team and they are ranked in the top 25 for the first time in 30 years. South Florida is not the same team that they were last year. 6 players for South Florida were suspended from the team due to violation of the drug policy and 9 others were lost because of academics. So far this year, South Florida is 3-1 and suffered their first loss last week at Kansas 14-7. South Florida has had to come from behind in their first 3 wins. Rutgers opened the season as a road dog at North Carolina and they were able to win that game and have cruised ever since. Rutgers defense is ranked statistically as one of the best in the country only giving up 67 yards rushing and 135 passing. They will be tested tonight, South Florida redshirt freshman QB Matt Grothe is a dual threat QB that can hurt you with his feet and his arm. The South Florida defense will also be tested as the Rutgers rushing game is one of the tops in the country. They are led by Ray Rice who has rushed for 605 yards on the season averaging 5.7 yards per carry. He is 5th in the country at 151 yards per game. His yards will be tough to come by tonight, the South Florida defense is only giving up 91 yards on the ground this year.

This will both teams toughest test to date. South Floridas wins against DIV-1 opponents have been less than impressive while Rutgers wins have been impressive to the point that they are now ranked in the top 25. The past couple of Rutgers has been a good dog to bet on, now we have to see how they can play not only as a favorite but a road favorite against a conference team. Statistically, Rutgers has the edge and based on this years performance Rutgers has a bigger edge. Their are lots of question marks surrounding South Florida, but the one thing you better count on is Jim Leavett having his team prepared to play on the big stage tonight. I have seen Rutgers play this year and have not seen South Florida. Based on everything I have read about South Florida and what I have seen from Rutgers, Someone is going to have to prove that they can stop the Rutgers rushing attack before I bet against them. They play very motivated football and like to jump on teams early. They have proved they could win on the road, opening up with a win at North Carolina. Now they will have to prove they can win as a road favorite. With the question marks surrounding both teams my play will be a small. Im on Rutgers

Rutgers -4.5