Another week...another full schedule of important games. Also, another opportunity for the Irish to pull out a victory. They've had two very close games the past two weeks, but they've resulted in two heartbreaking losses. But, despite that, I had another 3-1 week last week. So, without further ado...
Note: Rankings this week use the AP Top 25 poll.
California @ #14 Arizona
Did you just see that? If you didn't, let me repeat that...#14 Arizona. A ranking that high hasn't been seen in Tucson in over a decade! After a gutsy win over Iowa last week, Arizona is full of momentum going into the Pac-10 schedule. Cal, on the other hand, was embarrassed by Nevada last week, and it looking to get back on track to make a run at Pasadena. Unfortunately for them, that road starts in Arizona Stadium, which is still buzzing after last week.
Prediction: The Wildcats tame the Golden Bears of Berkeley.
#16 Stanford @ Notre Dame
The Irish have had two tough losses the past two weeks, and face a Stanford team that is considerably more talented than either Michigan or Michigan State. The upside...Stanford doesn't have the ground game that either Michigan or Michigan State has. If the Irish secondary can hold up against Stanford, the Irish will have a fighter's chance against the Tree.
Prediction: In a battle of nicknames that don't end in 'S', the Cardinal hold on to out fight the Fighting Irish.
Temple @ #23 Penn State
The Nittany Lions got back on the right track after a shutout victory over Kent State last week. This momentum will continue as they face in-state rival Temple. The Owls just aren't on the same level as Penn State, and it will be evident Saturday afternoon.
Prediction: Penn State pitches another shutout against the Owls of Temple.
Army @ Duke
It's not often you talk about Duke Football, so I thought I'd show them a little bit of love and give them a quick mention. That's all they'll get, though, as the Black Knights will outclass the Blue Devils in all aspects of the game. Stick the Basketball, Dukies.
Prediction: Army goes rolling along over the Dukies.
Last Week: 3-1 Season: 10-2
Thus Sayeth Your Haus
The Protection of Saint Dogbert
24 September 2010
18 September 2010
College Football 2010 - Week 3
So, I went 3-1 last week, with the Irish falling late against Michigan. But, 'The Shirt 2010' has finally arrived in the Sperlein home, so this week will be a bit better.
Here are this week's game. The breakdowns will be short, as I'm writing this very late in the week.
Note: Rankings this week are using the AP Top-25 poll.
Kent @ #22 Penn State
Yeah...after a bad loss to Alabama last week, Penn State is going to look to right the ship this week. And, they can do that easily against Kent.
Prediction: Penn State...big!
Notre Dame @ Michigan State
The Irish have come off a heartbreaking loss to Michigan, and now they face their first road test of the season.
Prediction: The Irish pull it out, but it's a close one.
#9 Iowa @ #24 Arizona
These two teams played last year at Iowa, and that game saw the beginning of the Nick Foles era at Arizona. While Arizona does have a different offensive line, I believe that they will be able to find a way to stop the Iowa defense enough to put some points up on the board. On the other side of the ball, Iowa has the 4th ranked passing offense in the nation. Arizona has the 4th ranked passing defense in the nation. This is where the game will be decided. The X-Factor: Arizona Stadium has proved to be the place where BCS dreams go to die.
Prediction: Arizona pulls out another Top-10 upset at home and edges out the Hawkeyes.
BYU @ Florida State
After a big loss to Oklahoma last week, Florida State is going to look to get back into the win column against a BYU teams that lost on the beginning of it's MWC Farewell tour against Air Force.
Prediction: Really? Do you have to ask? FSU won last year @ BYU, they'll win this year at home. Seminoles over the Cougars by 14.
Last Week: 3-1 Season: 7-1
Thus Sayeth Your Haus
Here are this week's game. The breakdowns will be short, as I'm writing this very late in the week.
Note: Rankings this week are using the AP Top-25 poll.
Kent @ #22 Penn State
Yeah...after a bad loss to Alabama last week, Penn State is going to look to right the ship this week. And, they can do that easily against Kent.
Prediction: Penn State...big!
Notre Dame @ Michigan State
The Irish have come off a heartbreaking loss to Michigan, and now they face their first road test of the season.
Prediction: The Irish pull it out, but it's a close one.
#9 Iowa @ #24 Arizona
These two teams played last year at Iowa, and that game saw the beginning of the Nick Foles era at Arizona. While Arizona does have a different offensive line, I believe that they will be able to find a way to stop the Iowa defense enough to put some points up on the board. On the other side of the ball, Iowa has the 4th ranked passing offense in the nation. Arizona has the 4th ranked passing defense in the nation. This is where the game will be decided. The X-Factor: Arizona Stadium has proved to be the place where BCS dreams go to die.
Prediction: Arizona pulls out another Top-10 upset at home and edges out the Hawkeyes.
BYU @ Florida State
After a big loss to Oklahoma last week, Florida State is going to look to get back into the win column against a BYU teams that lost on the beginning of it's MWC Farewell tour against Air Force.
Prediction: Really? Do you have to ask? FSU won last year @ BYU, they'll win this year at home. Seminoles over the Cougars by 14.
Last Week: 3-1 Season: 7-1
Thus Sayeth Your Haus
09 September 2010
College Football 2010 - Week 2
Last week was a great week for College Football fans across the country. A new season started, carrying with it all of the hopes of hard hits, great catches, and breathtaking bursts of speed, and the week didn't disappoint.
Last week was also a great week for my prediction abilities...a perfect 4-0 in the mentioned games last week. Now, onto Week 2!
Note: All rankings this week come from the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Citadel @ #23 Arizona
Did you just see that! Week 2, and there's a number next to Arizona's name! Anyway...after an impressive season opener on the road, the Wildcats come home to Arizona Stadium to meet their annual D 1-AA...I mean FCS...cupcake, Citadel. While the 'Cats cannot just put it in cruise control for this game (we all remember App State @ Michigan), they should be able to put the Citadel away early and give their backups some valuable playing time in the second half (much like they did at Toledo). Also, giving this new defense two confidence-building games in a row will be needed before facing the first real test of the season next week.
Prediction: Arizona wins big in front of the home crowd and downs the Bulldogs of Citadel.
Michigan @ Notre Dame
One of the oldest rivalries in College Football will have it's latest chapter written on Saturday afternoon at Notre Dame Stadium. Both teams come into this game 1-0, having won their respective openers at home. Now, the Irish look to win again in the friendly confines of home with a win over archrival Michigan. The Wolverine thin secondary took a hit with the announced transfer of Sophomore Safety Vladimir Emilien. The Irish come into this game off of a solid performance over a good Purdue squad. Michigan hits the road after a solid performance of their own over UConn. This game will come down to which team is able to impose their will over the other.
Prediction: The Irish are at home, and will be able to impose their will better than Michigan. Plus, the 'Kelly' Green clad students will help will the Irish to a victory over their bitter rivals from Ann Arbor!
#14 Penn State @ #1 Alabama
Penn State travels to Tuscaloosa to take on the defending National Champions, but Alabama will be without reigning Heisman winner Mark Ingram (Junior RB). Both teams have stingy run defenses, so the defensive battles will be decided in the secondary. Both teams dispatched their Week 1 cupcakes, and this is truly the first test for both teams this season. The Nittany Lions are starting a true Freshman at QB, while the Tide have most of their offensive starters returning. As much as it pains me to say this, Alabama has the advantage on offense, while the two teams are fairly evenly matched on defense.
Prediction: This will be one of the classic games this season, but Alabama finds a way to ride that Crimson Tide over the Nittany Lions.
#18 Florida State @ #10 Oklahoma
You thought I was going to pick another Top-25 showdown, didn't you? Well, the U and the Sweater can have their fun, I'm more interested in this showdown. This is a big game in the new Jimbo Fisher era at FSU. Can he bring FSU back from the slump they have been in over the past few years and into the national spotlight again? Well, a win on the road in Norman, OK would do the trick. OU, on the other hand, is looking to keep things going in the right direction, and make sure they're in a good position heading into the rest of their schedule. OU owns the longest home winning streak in College Football today (remember...the Texas game is played at a neutral site), and they will be looking to extend that streak to 35.
Prediction: This will be another classic game of the season, and OU will find a way to pull this one out at home, and put the Seminoles in a bad mood (and that bad mood will come at just the right time, as I'll explain next week). Boomer Sooner!
Last Week: 4-0 Season: 4-0
Thus Sayeth Your Haus
Last week was also a great week for my prediction abilities...a perfect 4-0 in the mentioned games last week. Now, onto Week 2!
Note: All rankings this week come from the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Citadel @ #23 Arizona
Did you just see that! Week 2, and there's a number next to Arizona's name! Anyway...after an impressive season opener on the road, the Wildcats come home to Arizona Stadium to meet their annual D 1-AA...I mean FCS...cupcake, Citadel. While the 'Cats cannot just put it in cruise control for this game (we all remember App State @ Michigan), they should be able to put the Citadel away early and give their backups some valuable playing time in the second half (much like they did at Toledo). Also, giving this new defense two confidence-building games in a row will be needed before facing the first real test of the season next week.
Prediction: Arizona wins big in front of the home crowd and downs the Bulldogs of Citadel.
Michigan @ Notre Dame
One of the oldest rivalries in College Football will have it's latest chapter written on Saturday afternoon at Notre Dame Stadium. Both teams come into this game 1-0, having won their respective openers at home. Now, the Irish look to win again in the friendly confines of home with a win over archrival Michigan. The Wolverine thin secondary took a hit with the announced transfer of Sophomore Safety Vladimir Emilien. The Irish come into this game off of a solid performance over a good Purdue squad. Michigan hits the road after a solid performance of their own over UConn. This game will come down to which team is able to impose their will over the other.
Prediction: The Irish are at home, and will be able to impose their will better than Michigan. Plus, the 'Kelly' Green clad students will help will the Irish to a victory over their bitter rivals from Ann Arbor!
#14 Penn State @ #1 Alabama
Penn State travels to Tuscaloosa to take on the defending National Champions, but Alabama will be without reigning Heisman winner Mark Ingram (Junior RB). Both teams have stingy run defenses, so the defensive battles will be decided in the secondary. Both teams dispatched their Week 1 cupcakes, and this is truly the first test for both teams this season. The Nittany Lions are starting a true Freshman at QB, while the Tide have most of their offensive starters returning. As much as it pains me to say this, Alabama has the advantage on offense, while the two teams are fairly evenly matched on defense.
Prediction: This will be one of the classic games this season, but Alabama finds a way to ride that Crimson Tide over the Nittany Lions.
#18 Florida State @ #10 Oklahoma
You thought I was going to pick another Top-25 showdown, didn't you? Well, the U and the Sweater can have their fun, I'm more interested in this showdown. This is a big game in the new Jimbo Fisher era at FSU. Can he bring FSU back from the slump they have been in over the past few years and into the national spotlight again? Well, a win on the road in Norman, OK would do the trick. OU, on the other hand, is looking to keep things going in the right direction, and make sure they're in a good position heading into the rest of their schedule. OU owns the longest home winning streak in College Football today (remember...the Texas game is played at a neutral site), and they will be looking to extend that streak to 35.
Prediction: This will be another classic game of the season, and OU will find a way to pull this one out at home, and put the Seminoles in a bad mood (and that bad mood will come at just the right time, as I'll explain next week). Boomer Sooner!
Last Week: 4-0 Season: 4-0
Thus Sayeth Your Haus
02 September 2010
College Football 2010 - Week 1
A new season is upon us! Today is the official start of the college football season, and the first game will kick off in an hour or so. As such, I feel it my duty to post a few thoughts about some of this week's games. As I did last year, I'll follow Arizona, Notre Dame, Penn State, and then throw in a bonus game.
Disclaimer: I'm not as up on things as I usually am this time of year. After all, instead of following rumor mills and fan forums all summer, I was helping to plan a wedding (with a fiance that lived over 400 miles away). I shall, nonetheless, do my best to sound like I know what I'm talking about.
Arizona @ Toledo (Friday Night)
After coming off a 2nd place finish in the Pac-10 last year, Arizona is looking to end a streak of Rose Bowl futility, and to end it before competition stiffens up with the expansion of the conference next year. Beginning the 2010 campaign on the road gives them the opportunity to test a new linebacking corps against a formidable (but overmatched) offense. A national audience is also a good way to open up a season full of high hopes for the Wildcats.
Prediction: The Wildcats will blow the Rockets out of the sky!
Purdue @ Notre Dame (The Battle for the Shillelagh Trophy)
The Fighting Irish are coming off a disappointing 6-6 campaign, have a new head coach in Brian Kelly, and have a new starting QB in Dayne Crist, and will have to make up for the departure of Biletkinoff Winner Golden Tate at WR. Nonetheless, the institution of the no-huddle offense should keep many defenses on their toes. This will be tested against a Boilermaker team that went 4-8 last year, and was one of four Big 10 teams not to appear in a bowl game last year.
Prediction: The Shillelagh Trophy will remain in South Bend as the Irish start the season on a positive note and get by the Boilermakers.
Youngstown State @ #19 Penn State
As JoePa's 45th campaign on the Nittany Lions' sideline begins, he will see a first in his tenure...a true freshman starting a QB (Robert Bolden). Young Bolden should be grateful for this glorified scrimage against Youngstown State as his first exposure to college football, because a trip to Tuscaloosa is in store for him next week.
Prediction: Do I really need to say it? JoePa could beat Youngstown State by himself! Nittany Lions big over the Penguins before running into the Tide next week!
#3 Boise State @ #10 Virginia Tech (in Landover, MD on Monday Night)
Boise State has made a lot of waves over the past few months. They finished another undefeated season, finished in the BCS top 10, announced plans to leave the WAC for the Mountain West beginning in the 2011 season, and revealed a schedule that has a number of BCS faithful crying foul (they'll run the table and then play for a National Championship...that's not fair). To those cry babies, I have but three words...Shut Your Mouths! Boise State has produced quality football year in and year out for the better part of a decade, and they've done it on that Smurf Turf, with very few high profile home games, and while living in the middle of a potato field. Now that they're getting the respect they deserve, whiners need to shut their mouths while the rest of us rational people watch this team play on a national stage. And, really, what better way to start off a new season than by wearing the new Pro Combat uniforms that Nike made them in a neutral-site game against Virginia Tech (who will also be wearing the Nike Pro Combat uniforms, which look like a third-grader drew them). Virginia Tech is known for it's own brand of football: Beamer Ball. I expect at least one punt to be blocked and returned for a touchdown in this game.
Prediction: Boise State, in the biggest game of their season, finds a way to overcome Beamer Ball and begin their march to Glendale (and not for the Fiesta Bowl this time).
Last Season: 21-7
Thus Sayeth Your Haus
Disclaimer: I'm not as up on things as I usually am this time of year. After all, instead of following rumor mills and fan forums all summer, I was helping to plan a wedding (with a fiance that lived over 400 miles away). I shall, nonetheless, do my best to sound like I know what I'm talking about.
Arizona @ Toledo (Friday Night)
After coming off a 2nd place finish in the Pac-10 last year, Arizona is looking to end a streak of Rose Bowl futility, and to end it before competition stiffens up with the expansion of the conference next year. Beginning the 2010 campaign on the road gives them the opportunity to test a new linebacking corps against a formidable (but overmatched) offense. A national audience is also a good way to open up a season full of high hopes for the Wildcats.
Prediction: The Wildcats will blow the Rockets out of the sky!
Purdue @ Notre Dame (The Battle for the Shillelagh Trophy)
The Fighting Irish are coming off a disappointing 6-6 campaign, have a new head coach in Brian Kelly, and have a new starting QB in Dayne Crist, and will have to make up for the departure of Biletkinoff Winner Golden Tate at WR. Nonetheless, the institution of the no-huddle offense should keep many defenses on their toes. This will be tested against a Boilermaker team that went 4-8 last year, and was one of four Big 10 teams not to appear in a bowl game last year.
Prediction: The Shillelagh Trophy will remain in South Bend as the Irish start the season on a positive note and get by the Boilermakers.
Youngstown State @ #19 Penn State
As JoePa's 45th campaign on the Nittany Lions' sideline begins, he will see a first in his tenure...a true freshman starting a QB (Robert Bolden). Young Bolden should be grateful for this glorified scrimage against Youngstown State as his first exposure to college football, because a trip to Tuscaloosa is in store for him next week.
Prediction: Do I really need to say it? JoePa could beat Youngstown State by himself! Nittany Lions big over the Penguins before running into the Tide next week!
#3 Boise State @ #10 Virginia Tech (in Landover, MD on Monday Night)
Boise State has made a lot of waves over the past few months. They finished another undefeated season, finished in the BCS top 10, announced plans to leave the WAC for the Mountain West beginning in the 2011 season, and revealed a schedule that has a number of BCS faithful crying foul (they'll run the table and then play for a National Championship...that's not fair). To those cry babies, I have but three words...Shut Your Mouths! Boise State has produced quality football year in and year out for the better part of a decade, and they've done it on that Smurf Turf, with very few high profile home games, and while living in the middle of a potato field. Now that they're getting the respect they deserve, whiners need to shut their mouths while the rest of us rational people watch this team play on a national stage. And, really, what better way to start off a new season than by wearing the new Pro Combat uniforms that Nike made them in a neutral-site game against Virginia Tech (who will also be wearing the Nike Pro Combat uniforms, which look like a third-grader drew them). Virginia Tech is known for it's own brand of football: Beamer Ball. I expect at least one punt to be blocked and returned for a touchdown in this game.
Prediction: Boise State, in the biggest game of their season, finds a way to overcome Beamer Ball and begin their march to Glendale (and not for the Fiesta Bowl this time).
Last Season: 21-7
Thus Sayeth Your Haus
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