Rutgers Scarlet Knights

RUTGERS SCARLETT KNIGHTS -3 @ LOUISVILLE CARDINALS

We start football today at 11:00 and the game that I’ve been eying up all week is Rutgers -3. The spread is so low, it made me question whether this is a trap game. The spread is low because their stud WR Tim Brown is questionable and their kicker is also out (could affect some field goals and field position, which is kind of a big deal).

Rutgers also lost last week to a weak Syracuse team 31-13. As Lucky Lester likes to point out, the theme of the year is that solid teams usually bounce back after a poor performance.  I have faith in Tom Savage and that Rutgers running attack against a 4-7 team that gives up an average of 25.5 PPG and scores just 18.5 PPG.

Rutgers blanked South Florida 31-0 prior to the Syracuse loss, they beat a solid UCONN team, they beat up on Maryland, and they hung in their with #10 Pittsburgh.  Louisville isn’t even close to good.  They haven’t beaten any quality teams and their sole division win comes by a 10-9 victory over Syracuse. The Louisville D has a hard time stopping anyone.  They gave up 34 to South Florida, 41 to Cincinnatti, 35 to Pittsburgh, and 38 to UCONN.  Their offense hasn’t really shown up either.

If WR Tim Brown is out, I expect this one to be fairly close throughout the game, but I’m on board with Rutgers.  I would bank on a rebound by Rutgers and I look to take advantage of a low spread.

Prediction: Rutgers 24 – Louisville 17

Free Pick: Rutgers -3 (Confidence: 2.5/5) (W)…

PITTSBURGH PANTHERS (5-1) -6 @ RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS (4-1)

Tonight’s college football action features a pretty decent game for a Friday night.  Pittsburgh will be traveling to take on the Rutgers.  After Rutgers was embarrassed in week one by Cincinnati, a lot of people wrote off Rutgers as a terrible team, but we didn’t realize just how good of a team Cincinnati truly is.  Despite rattling off four straight wins, Rutgers hasn’t beaten anyone impressive.  They destroyed Texas Southern last week 42-0 and beat Maryland 34-13 the week before.

Pittsburgh is coming off a last-minute win against UCONN at home last week.  Pittsburgh has an edge at the QB position.  Bill Stull is completing 67% of his passes, has passed for 13 TDs with just 3 INTs, and has 1256 yards.  That’s almost double Rutgers’ QB Tom Savage’s output, who is only completing 55% of his passes.

What’s impressed me with Rutgers lately is their defense and play against the run.  In Rutger’s last 3 games, they’ve completely shut down the run, allowing just 0.6 yards per attempt.  On the year, they’re allowing just 2.3 yards per attempt.  In all other stats, these teams match up pretty well.  Both score an average of 31-34 points while the defenses allow 16-18 points.

With Pittsburgh’s QB, that gives Pittsburgh a tremendous edge, but I’m really impressed with how Rutgers has been able to completely shut down the run the last few games.

10/16 experts like Pittsburgh to cover the spread and Pittsburgh has 67% of the consensus vote.  I’m going against the grain here.  I think Pittsburgh may have done a little too much partying last week after the UCONN win and comes out with a lack of focus.

I’ll take the …

There are some big “must watch” college games this Saturday and that’s what I want to cover. These are really tough to call, but here are my two cents. I actually like the Maryland and Pittsburgh picks more than the high-profile matchups below.

#8 OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS @ #1 TEXAS LONGHORNS -12.5

I was a bit surprised the line was this high. I love Texas to win this one. Oklahoma St. is playing at a high level. Both teams are 7-0 and averaging more than 45 PPG. Both teams are perfect against the spread this year. Texas has the edge at QB with Colt McCoy who is the frontrunner to win the Hiesman and Texas has the better defense. With the home field, I see them winning this one, but will they run away with the game just like the Missouri game? That’s difficult to say. I don’t like the high spread for a game that should be an offensive showdown. This one is too close to call with the spread. I love Texas to win outright, but I don’t like giving up 12.5 in what should be a close game. I’m not indicating to take the points by the prediction as I can also see a Texas beat down just like the Missouri game. It’s just your best bet to avoid this spread or tease it to Texas -5.5 with another game.

Prediction — Texas 38 – Oklahoma State 28

#9 GEORGIA BULLDOGS @ #11 LSU TIGERS -1.5

I like the Bulldogs in this one. They have a much better QB in Matthew Staffard than LSU and have more playmakers with WRs JR Green and Mohamed Massaquoi and RB Knowshon Moreno (6.0 YPC, 11 TDs). Both teams are averaging …

If you’re looking for my week 7 NFL picks, you can can follow the link to get to those.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 7 REACTION:

This year has been crazy for college football, which is why I’ll stay away from betting on college football and stick with the NFL because that’s what I know best.  Too much crazy stuff happens in college football and it seems that turnovers and special teams plays happen more often in college and completely change the course of a game.

Last week I was between taking Boston College -13.5 over Notre Dame and South Flordia -10.5 over Central Florida.  I thought South Florida was legit, but I was dissuaded because everyone kept talking about what a phenomenal back Central Florida has.  I then thought Boston College was a sure pick over Notre Dame, who can’t do anything on offense.  Well I took Boston College big and ended up losing by half a point, which was from an missed extra point after their first touchdown of the game.  Then 7 of Notre Dame’s 14 points came by the way of an interception return.  I’m still not over that game; it still bugs the hell out of me.  But the NFL weekend made up for it thanks to the Patriots and Giants.

FREE SOUTH FLORIDA-RUTGERS PREVIEW/PICK:

South Florida (6-0) -2.5 @ Rutgers (4-2)

On Thursday night ESPN will feature a great Thursday Night game — South Florida will visit Rutgers.  At first I thought South Florida would be favored by 6, but then I saw that the spread was South Florida -2.5 and I couldn’t believe it.  I would have taken South Florida at -6 if I had to, so I love them at -2.5.  Last week …