Weekly picks 9/11/09

Instead of a witty intro (an an attempt at a witty intro) I will use this space to take a moment of silence for the 8th anniversary of 9/11. I still remember being in my Greek Lit class taking a quiz when the whispers started. Then I remember getting on the UGA bus and having the bus driver tell us that our afternoon classes were cancelled. I had a sociology exam that was postponed. I got home to find two of my four roommates glued to the TV and I quickly was glued as well. Then I had the sinking sensation in my stomach when I remembered that my father was in New York, staying at a hotel 8 blocks from the towers. It took about 4 hours, but I finally heard from my cousin who had spoken to him. He was fine. The cab he was in was covered in debris and smoke, but he was fine. He took a train home the next day. I cried when I found out he was OK.

Let's move on to the picks.
Syracuse @ #7 Penn State. Greg Paulus looked alright last week against Minnesota, until he threw that pick in OT. I don't know if that means Da Cuse will be better than everyone thought this season of if Minny will be worse. Paulus gets a reality check against Penn State. Paulus is probably thinking, "Penn State must stink because I cannot remember the last time they made the Big Dance." Ummm Greg, that's because all of their athletes play on the gridiron, not the hardwood.

No.19 UNC @ UConn. UConn lost a bit when Donald Brown left for the NFL. UNC lost more with the WR crew departing, but UNC had more talent and still does. So it is IN Storrs...big whoop. Take Paul Mac's Heels! It's his 30th B-day tomorrow. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BODY!

CMU @ MSU. Central Michigan against Michigan State in a battle for the state championship. Sorry Michigan, but BOTH of these teams are better than you. Go with Sparty at home over Dan LeFevour and the Chippewahs. I loved it when FSN tried to call LeFevour (and the prescription is more cowbell) Tim Tebow-lite. HA!

Stanford @ Wake. Smarty pants vs. Smarty Pants. hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Well maybe Wake isn't that smart of a school. And Baylor just came in and beat them. This game is at Noon, which is 9am Stanford time, but that shouldn't affect the Cardinal since they don't party, they study. Take Stanford to send Riley Skinner to 0-2 in his senior season. (It IS his senior season right? He's been there FOR-EV-ER!)

Fresno State @ Wisco. FrezNO is always good for one upset per season, though I'm not sure this could be considered an upset. Wisco is hurting right now and Bret might be lifted after the season if he doesn't go to a GOOD bowl. Take Pat Hill and CO.

Troy @ No.1 Florida. Way to battle the BIG BOYS there Gators. Good work. You couldn't convince Charleston Southern to come back for a rematch? Gimmie a break. Go Gators in this one. PS, I STILL agree with JCole who says that Tim Tebow drinks Wine Coolers.

#2 Texas @ Wyoming. Let me get this straight, the Longhorns are LEAVING Austin to go to WYOMING? What a let down. Austin is a top 4 city in America and you have to go to Wyoming? Yesh. Gives me the willies. Cold Shiver......Take the Horns to hook the Cowboys. PS, this totally goes against EVERY I believe in in terms of the dominance scale, but a cow will beat a human. If you remember, cows are pretty far down the list on the dominance scale. This would be like if BYU somehow beat OU a Cow Beating a Human. But then remember, I am discussing mascots.

Houston @ #5 Okie State. The Fighting Pierces got the best of the Dawgs last week. Good for them. The Pokes benefitted from Mike Bobo deciding "Hey the running game is WORKING. Let's get away from it!" They also were talented enough to overcome those two INTs that Georgia managed to snare on that one drive. Wait, that's right. Georgia DROPPED BOTH OF THOSE potential INTs only to watch Dez Bryant catch a 49-yd TD pass two plays later. And the three turnovers UGA's offense committed certainly didn't help. I doubt T Boone's stadium is that crowded today, but they won't need all of that emotion. They crush Bobby Labortino's Cougars. And PS, I give Oklahoma State all of the credit. They beat Georgia straight up. I think if they played again, Georgia could win, but last Saturday, The Pokes were the better team inside of the stadium at 3:30-7.

No.18 Notre Dame @ Michigan. Tenuta certainly had that defense cooking last week against Nevada, didn't he? Just remember how good Tenuta was with that GT defense? I mean he NEVER let a true freshman QB take his team down the field in the fourth quarter....but he certainly never let that true frosh convert the two point version.... well he'll certainly have more talent on his side of the ball to go against Michigan and their still learning offense. Sorry Hugh Jackman, but your squad loses to the Irish and I'm sure Lou Holtz will immediately campaign for them to be moved up to No.2.

UCLA @ Tennessee. So Lane is 1-0. Good for him. Hey, remember last year with Rickyboy did moreorless the same thing to Pistol Pete at USC with the billboard and the newspaper ad....What Ricky did is JUST what Lane did. So now we get to see two egos go at it with very little talent. Hmmmmm Ricky has Norm Chow but Lane has his dad. WOW. Let's go with Tennessee at home, just so Lane has a smile on his face when Urban cuts his balls off.

Miss State @ Auburn. Last year this game was 3-2. Snore. No WONDER both coaches were shown the door. Auburn has more talent so they'll win but I might really be interested in this one because it could secretly be entertaining with the two spread offenses. Too bad Chris Todd is running one and a freshman is running the other. Look out for this one in two years.

Northern Arizona @ Zona. A quick story about Northern Arizona University. I was in Flagstaff over the summer walking around the campus and I came to a student parking lot which had a friendly reminder to "Buckle Up, NAU!" Clearly NAU is Northern Arizona University, but all I could think of is how is also reads as NOW. I repeated Buckle up NAU! about 30 times over the next ten minutes, running ANY potential comedy into the ground (hey, it's what I do). Wifey got a chuckle out of it. My work here is done. Take the Cats.

SPECIAL PICKS
LOCK OF THE WEEK... #3 USC @ #8 Ohio State. Jim Tressel in big games is turrbull. He cannot win it unless the officials conspire to let him win. USC meanwhile is excellent in the big games...unless Vince Young is on the field. While TPryor is good, he is NO VINCE YOUNG. USC wins in that "hostile environment" up at the Shoe. I wonder how soon the Sweatervestclones turn on the team when the Men of Troy start laying it on thick? 3rd quarter when USC is up 21? 4th when USC is up 31? Hmmmmmmmm.

Upset of the week. #16 TCU @ UVa. Daddio told me that UVA was terrible last week and that "hotshot Corner they have should be nicknamed TOAST." He wasn't impressed with any of the three QBs. yesh. But My entire family went there and I say they pull out this one to go 1-1 after two home games, which is what I thought they'd do....only with the results being in the opposite game (a win over W&M and a loss to the Horny Toads.)

The Pro Game.
Miami @ ATL. The Falcons open up the season LOADED on offense and YOUNG on defense. Not that last season's defense was a great unit, but this unit is just young. They'll make youthful mistakes, but I think they pick up the win over Miami because Matty Ice doesn't lose at home. The Dolphins will put pressure on Ryan with Jason Taylor and Joey Porter, but No.2 can get it done with his weapons. 31-27 victory for the Falcons as a belated B-Day present to Paul Mac.

Loco local interest.
GT beats Klimpsen. I must say that Dabo's comments on 680 the Fan make him my favorite coach in the ACC. Spiller ran the opening kick back against MTSU and then the next offensive series Spiller wasn't in the game b/c he was winded, Dabo said that he was overhyped and the situation could up with him and he couldn't catch his breath.
Oliver said, "Coach what do you do there? Hand him a paper bag?"
Dabo responded, "I just yelled at him for a while!"
Meanwhile, Paul Mac said of the game, No Tommy B coached team ever came back like that from such a crushing start. It looks like Clemson's talent is beginning to gel on defense. I'm not sure I understand why they were so angry with Kyle Parker early when butterfingers 89 was the guy that caused the interception. GT got the big lead, blew it, but rallied. Good for them. I'm not sure they make it thru the next few weeks unscathed, but they'll be an entertaining team to watch.

SoCar @ #21 Georgia. I don't think Georgia should even be ranked. Let me start by saying that. But, the team does have talent. If Georgia is going to win against the Gamecocks, the OLine will have to gel in a hurry with Vance in at LT and Cordy Glenn switching over to LG. The GA coaches have done it before and they'll do it again, ie patching up the line. Hopefully Dick Samuel can keep his feet against SoCar and the receivers can snag the ball (Charles and Aron White, I'm talking to you!) TKing is good (told ya so) and Moore looked strong last week. I'm not worried about the defense, but the offense needs to get better, go back to what was working on that first drive in Stillwater. Run hard and eliminate the turnovers and Georgia can win this game.

Tune in to www.gpb.org/football tonight to see this guy out at Woodstock as the Wolverines host the McEachern Indians. Also remember, Score Atlanta Sunday returns this Sunday from 1-4. Tune in to 790 the Zone!