Week Eleven NCAA Predictions

By Max Baez
Reporter for Football Reporters Online

Ohio State @ Michigan

Yes, the great rivalry, Ohio State vs. Michigan……oh wait, one of these teams is pretty bad, the other is consistently overrated. Great. Okay, well it’s nice that these two still absolutely hate each other, making this game a whole lot more exciting. Michigan has been absolutely terrible the last month and a half, but they are at home, and the Big House is never easy to play in. However, Ohio State has pretty much owned Michigan over the last decade, and this will be Ohio State’s last opportunity to win a game this season, as they will get blown out by whoever they play in the Rose Bowl. Ohio State wins big, and Rich Rod gets to wonder if he keeps his job.

Ohio State 24, Michigan 7


LSU @ Ole Miss

The third and fourth. Ole Miss has been a disappointment, going from a top 10 team to unranked, with Jevan Snead being the biggest disappointment on the team. LSU has a good record, and wins the games its supposed to, although rarely looks that great doing it. I think this game has upset written all over it. Ole Miss looked pretty good last week in disposing Tennessee, and LSU’s penchant for being “just good enough” will cause them problems in this road game against a talented team. Look for Dexter McCluster to have another massive game in a big win for the Rebels.

Ole Miss 20, LSU 14


Cal @ Stanford

The Big Game! Cal looked good last week against Arizona, well, Arizona blew the game, but at least Cal showed some signs of life. Stanford though, damn! The way they beat USC, absolutely wrecking them and embarrassing them, was incredible. They are clearly a team that gets better every week, and at this point, I think a lot of people will vote for Toby Gerhart for Heisman. The Cardinal are one of the hottest teams in the country and are clicking at the right time, as they should be able to put up a lot of points and rule this rivalry for this season.

Stanford 38, Cal 20

UConn @ Notre Dame

I think at this point, the writing is on the wall for Charlie Weis. He simply hasn’t gotten the job done, and his recruiting victories haven’t meant a whole lot on the field. Notre Dame wants to be among the elite programs in America, and it simply isn’t going to happen under Weis. This is the type of game the Irish have lost under Weis too: home games against smaller programs with decent, but not great, teams. I can’t even count how many times the Irish have lost games like this the past few weeks. Look for a UConn win, and for Weis’ really hot seat to heat up more.

UConn 23, Notre Dame 20

Oregon @ Arizona

I was certainly very wrong about Arizona last week. When making my predictions, I forgot I was talking about Arizona, the team that shows life, but then chokes it away when it matters most. The bad news for Arizona is that they still control their own destiny to go to the Rose Bowl, which surely means that my alma mater will choke away the game this week against the high-octane Oregon offense. This should be an offensive shootout, but Arizona’s defense has struggled at times this year, and my gut instinct just tells me that Arizona will only start winning again when they don’t control their own destiny. After this week, they won’t (which, in turn, means they will beat ASU next week.)

Oregon 41, Arizona 34


Five other games to watch: UNC @ Boston College, Oklahoma @ Texas Tech, Air Force @ BYU, Penn State @ Michigan State, Kansas @ Texas

SEC Wrap Up Week 11

By Rafael Garcia
Sr. Contributing Writer
Southeast Region

Ole Miss 42 Tennessee 17
At kickoff the question would be if the Vols could overcome what had just happened with three players, when they were accused of armed robbery, and the answer was they simply could not. What they ran into was Ole Miss back Dexter McCluster and his school records of 282 yards rushing and 324 all-purpose yards. The Vols had practiced all week on how to bottle him up but could not even tackle him when he was right in front of them. Several Vol players said that he was the best player they had faced all year. He started the scoring four plays in with a 15-yard run to make it 7-0. Tennessee answered right back when Jonathan Crompton tossed a 16-yarder to Jeff Cottam to tie it. The teams traded scores, but when Daniel Lincoln hit a 27-yard field goal to make it 21-17 Rebels, the roof caved in on UT. The field goal was followed by three unanswered touchdowns by Ole Miss and they never looked back. McCluster had a beauty of a 71-yard score to open the fourth. He was able to make his way through the defense and just run away from the defenders that could not catch him. He showed plenty of heart for a kid that weighs all of 170 pounds and plenty more speed. So the Vols answered the question that everyone was asking this week about the three student arrested and how it would affect them. They started out strong but ended with a dud. They are still one win away from being bowl eligible so they have to suck it up and get back to work. They have Vanderbilt at home next week and then go to Kentucky to close the season. Neither of these games is a lock so lets get ready for a photo finish.

Florida 24 South Carolina 14
This game would give Steve Spurrier another shot at beating his old school but he would once again come up short. The game was decided by defense when it counted most. AT&Tebow tied the SEC mark for career touchdowns and the Gators won their 20th straight. It was the first time a Florida team has gone undefeated in league play since 1996 when Spurrier was the coach. Tebow was unable to dominate on this day as he was just 14-25 for 199 yards and had 26 yards on 16 carries. He did have a touchdown pass and one rushing but ran into a determined Gamecocks defense. It appeared that they might lose this game as S.C. quarterback Stephen Garcia was driving his team to a potential tying score. He kept the drive alive with a fourth and two conversion but then came the big mistake. As he threw the ball it was tipped and DE Justin Trattou grabbed it and ran 53 yards to set up the game clincher by Tebow four plays later. So now the Gators are perfect in the regular season and have a laugher next week when Florida International visits the Swamp. They will use that one to rest up some players for the big showdown against Alabama for the SEC title. The loser goes home very disappointed while the winner will play for the BCS title.

Georgia 31 Auburn 24
When the game started it looked like Auburn would halt a three game losing streak to Georgia. They got off to a 14-0 lead on their first two possessions and the rout appeared to be on. Then the Dawgz got to work and cut it to 14-7 by halftime. The second half was all Georgia as they scored the first 10 points in the third and running back Caleb King scored twice on runs of 11 and 24 yards. The first touchdown broke a 17-17 tie and then the Tigers answered when Demond Washington ran the ensuing kickoff back 99-yards to tie it again. The second touchdown by King looked to end it but Auburn had other plans. They were driving down the field to set up the game tying score when quarterback Chris Todd’s pass fell into the arms of Mario Fannin at the goal line. Just as he was catching the pass Bacarri Rambo dove at him hitting him so hard it knocked the ball away for an incompletion and knocked Rambo out.
So another SEC team is now bowl eligible and that brings the count to nine. How many will get into one is yet to be determined but that is football in the most powerful conference in the country.

Other scores:

Alabama 31 Mississippi State 3

Kentucky 24 Vanderbilt 13

LSU 24 La. Tech 16

Arkansas 56 Troy 20

  ACC Wrap Up Week 11
 
By Rafael Garcia
Sr. Contributing Writer
Southeast Region
 
Georgia Tech 49 Duke 10
It has been some season in the Coastal division this year and it is ending with the Yellow Jackets as champs and the division representative in the ACC championship game.  They tried to make it interesting when Duke took a 10-0 lead with 1:30 left in the first quarter. On the ensuing kickoff Orwin Smith bobbled the catch, recovered it, and then ran it 83 yards to the Duke 2-yard line. QB Josh Nesbitt ran it in from there and it was 10-7 going into the second quarter. Here the Yellow Jackets would remember what they were playing for and whom they were playing against. It started with a Marcus Wright option run for 16 yards to make it 14-10. Jonathan Dwyer, who ran for 110 yards on 14 carries, ran it in from three and the rout was on. The Yellow Jackets had over 500 yards of offense and the defense held Duke to 25 yards rushing. Nesbitt was just 6-10 passing but had 195 yards including a 75-yard strike to Demarylus Thomas to add insult to injury. Duke has had a promising season but finds itself at 5-5 needing to win their final games to have any hope of making a bowl. Those final two games are at Miami and at home against Wake Forest. Neither will be a push over and the odds are stacked against the Blue Devils.
 
North Carolina 33 Miami 24
The climb back into the national picture has been some climb for Miami. Now they were faced with a determined Tar Heel team playing in front of its home crowd. The game saw them take advantage of a career-high four picks by Hurricane QB Jacory Harris. Three of those were by Kendric Burney deep in Miami territory. He returned one 77 yards for a touchdown and teammate Melvin Williams returned another 44 yards to make it 30-17 with just over nine minutes left in the game. The play had to be reviewed because Burney made the pick originally. As he crossed into Miami territory he appeared to flip the ball forward to Williams and he ran the rest of the way. Replay upheld the call but Miami answered right back when Harris drove them down the field and hit Jimmy Graham from 14 to make it 30-24. They got the ball back, marched down the field again, and were just about to take the lead when Harris was picked off. A field goal sealed it and the hopes of Hurricane fans for a major bowl went down the drain. It’s the second straight year that the Tar Heels have made a bowl. They also won their fifth straight against a top 25 team and are 3-0 with Butch Davis against his former team. On one last note Burney had an ACC single game and school record of 170 interception return yards in one game.
 
Clemson 43 North Carolina State 23
Once again it was the C.J. Spiller show as the back threw a touchdown pass to Xavier Dye from 17 yards out, had a scoring run from 16 and finished the night off by catching a touchdown pass from 34 yards. It was quite the show from a college player that has spent the season on highlight films everywhere. He had help from his quarterback Kyle Parker (12-18 for 183 yards and two touchdowns) and running mate Jamie Harper (4 carries for 86, including a 69-yarder). The offense piled up 454 yards of offense and they will need that and more when they play Virginia next week. A win there and they are in the ACC title game as the Atlantic Division champs against Georgia Tech. The Wolfpack just could not keep up with Spiller and even though they kicked away from him a couple of times. They did manage 377 of offense and were able to put up points but it was always playing catch up. They did not get any help from receivers dropping passes and drives stalling. So it is all set for next week when they host the Cavaliers for the Atlantic. After that they end their season at South Carolina and could get to nine wins when at first it did not look like they could get there.
 
Virginia Tech 36 Maryland 9
 
Florida State 41 Wake Forest 28
 
Boston College 14 Virginia 10

A view from the stands
  LSU 24 La. Tech. 16

By William Queen
Jr. Contributing Writer
Assisted by Rafael Garcia
Sr. Contributing Writer
Southeast Region


It was Homecoming weekend for the Bayou Bengals and the tailgating scene was crazy. Tiger fans stretched for miles around campus, preparing for the 100th homecoming game in LSU history. Thousands of fans lined up on North Stadium Road, hoping to get a glimpse of the players and band marching towards the stadium. Cheers came for head coach Les Miles, all the players, the band, and the cheerleaders. However, the refs didn’t get the royal treatment. An explosion of boo’s and taunts were directed towards the refs as they entered Tiger Stadium. Though the atmosphere was incredible, the game wasn’t sold out. Due to LSU’s unexpected struggles, it was rather quiet. Déjà vu? I think so. Last year at about this time, LSU was coming off a stunning overtime loss to top ranked Alabama and had to pull off a 28-point comeback to overcome Tulane the week after. It just so happened that this game wasn’t an easy one either. Trailing La. Tech 13-10 at the half, the Tigers appeared to be hung-over from the Alabama game. Going 0-3 on third downs, being out-gained 229-138 offensively, and having already allowed 131 yards on the ground, the Tigers needed to make some serious half-time adjustments if they want to keep their season alive. This was about the time that the blame shifted over to starting quarterback Jarrett Lee. Lee started most the 2008 season for the Tigers and threw 16 interceptions, including six returned for touchdowns, so he already had a bad wrap. However, the bayou Bengals were playing without starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson and starting running back Charles Scott, so you can’t blame him; they were playing with a different cast of players. A certain feel that the fan base gave him is not proper. “That's not the way it should be," LSU coach Les Miles, said concerning Lee. "He's not perfect and dang it, we didn't play well. It wasn't his entire fault. It just seems like we are ready to jump on him and I'm not ready to”. Holding the Bulldogs to two field goals and just one touchdown, the LSU defense did a pretty good job of bending but not breaking. Besides, the only touchdown they allowed was when the quarterback went in motion and the ball was snapped to the running back, who then did a Tim Tebow-like pass over the line; all this occurring on the last play of the half. Now all of Tiger Stadium knew the chances of that happening again were once in a Blue Moon. So needless to say that, though the Tigers were losing, LSU had the upper hand coming into the second half of the ballgame. The fourth kick-off of the game for the Bulldogs was, once again, kicked short in attempt to avoid the ball from getting in the hands of Trindon Holliday; the fastest player to ever put on shoulder pads. The Tigers stalled their first drive, but after forcing a quick three-and-out, came back on offense and executed a nine-play, 58-yard drive; capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by Keiland Williams. At this point, leading 17-10, the Tigers looked to be back in business. Led by junior safety Chad Jones, the LSU defense stiffened in the third quarter, squandering every one of Tech’s drives short of a score. Fighting for their 25th straight victory vs. non-conference opponents, the Tigers defense did not take a play off the rest of the night. Now perhaps another reason for LSU’s offensive freeze this game was because they hadn’t been on the field much. The Bulldogs had the ball in their possession for 36 minutes and 20 seconds of the game, keeping the dynamic Tigers offense off the field. However, this was not an excuse in the second half. The defense did their part, the offense responded in the form of senior running back Keiland Williams. Running for 116 yards off 16 carries and two second half touchdowns, Williams unwaveringly took over injured starter Charles Scott’s role. “It definitely gives you more confidence when you are out there knowing that you are not going to be pulled after one or two carries," Williams said, who moved to number one on the depth chart due to Scott’s injury against Alabama. Williams scampered away from tackles and scored his second touchdown on a nine-yard touchdown with only 7:01 to go in the fourth quarter, practically suffocating the Bulldogs hopes of pulling off the upset.  Earlier that drive, true freshman quarterback Russell Shepard enjoyed what was perhaps the loudest roar of the night as he jogged out on the field to take the next snap. A designed quarterback run, Sheppard enjoyed even more applause as he ran for 14 yards that play and then an additional three yards the play after. Then, right on cue, the crowd felt as if they’d been tricked, as Jarrett Lee jogged back on the field to finish off the drive. Trailing 24-13, the Bulldogs only hopes were two quick scores. Yet, after one first down, they stalled and turned the ball over on their own side of the field. Giving LSU good field position at the 41, the Tigers looked to run the clock down. When the game looked to be out of reach, LSU’s game-icing drive ended in a fumbled field goal snap, giving the Bulldogs the ball and perhaps another chance at pulling off the upset. Louisiana Tech freshman kicker Matt Nelson finished the drive with a 49-yard field goal, setting up an onside kick and a chance at beating the Tigers for the first time in over a century. Predictably, LSU recovered the onside try and kneeled on it for the win. Throughout the game, you could tell that the Tigers were holding something back, especially on offense. Though this game was a close one, don’t be surprised to see the Tigers come out firing against SEC rivals Ole Miss next weekend. After the game, some players sneakily worked their way out the stadium, trying to avoid the rush, while others paused and signed autographs. You only get to play one homecoming game; the senior’s last. And when these players were talking to fans, signing autographs, and taking pictures, you could get the sense that they knew when to turn it on. LSU is still one of the best teams in the country.

The Northwest Report-Week 11 Rewind
By Nick Haswell for Football Reporters Online

Week 11 of the college football season provided little excitement from the Northwest teams in action. The biggest story was Idaho State finally winning its first game of the 2009 season by defeating Portland State 41-34 a week after the Bengals lost a 12-10 heartbreaker to Montana on a field goal as time expired. It was the final game for both the Bengals and the Portland State Vikings in 2009. It was also the final game for Jerry Glanville as the Vikings head coach, as he resigned on Tuesday from his position. Glanville finished with a disappointing 9-24 record in three seasons at PSU, failing to deliver the victories that his hiring as head coach was expected to achieve.

Elsewhere, it was a slow week in the Northwest college football action, as all the favored teams won comfortably. Here are the recaps of each game:

Game of the Week-Idaho at Boise State: The sixth ranked Boise State Broncos(11-0) made quick work of the Idaho Vandals(7-4) in their 62-25 victory in the annual rivalry game. The Broncos jumped out to a 42-17 halftime lead after a 100 yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Titus Young with just 14 seconds left in the first half, after the Vandals had shortened BSU’s lead to 35-17. Kellen Moore continued to showcase himself for the Heisman trophy with 299 yards passing and 5 touchdowns in a little more than a half of work. Idaho did gain 514 yards of total offense on the Bronco defense, but turned the ball over seven times.

UCLA at Washington State: The Washington State Cougars (1-9) suffered another blowout loss in the 2009 season in losing to the UCLA Bruins 43-7. The Cougars offense could only muster 181 yards of total offense, and the defense allowed 556 yards to the Bruin offense. Only a 46 yard pass from Kevin Lopina to Jeffrey Solomon in the third quarter avoided a shutout for Wazzu.

Washington at Oregon State: The 23rd ranked Beavers (7-3) raced out to a 20-0 lead and were never really threatened by the Huskies (3-7) in their 48-21 win. Sean Canfield threw for four touchdowns, two of them to James Rodgers, and Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Husky RB Chris Polk, enjoyed his second consecutive 100 yard rushing performance with 116 yards rushing. But Jake Locker struggled against Oregon State’s pressure, throwing for just 153 yards in the loss as the Huskies saw their bowl dreams vanish with the loss.

Arizona State at Oregon: After a tough defeat on the road to the surging Stanford Cardinal last week, the Oregon Ducks (8-2) came home to defeat the Arizona State Sun Devils (4-6) 44-21. The 13th ranked Ducks were led by LaMichael James’ 150 yards rushing and three touchdowns. The Ducks defense limited the ASU offense to just 211 yards of total offense on the night.

Eastern Washington at Southern Utah: The EWU Eagles (7-3) kept their postseason hopes alive by beating the SUU Thunderbirds 41-28. Matt Nichols threw for 380 yards and 4 touchdowns on the afternoon. He also ran for 75 yards and a touchdown. The Eagles must beat Northern Arizona on the road on Saturday to have any hope for an at-large bid in the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs.

Portland State at Idaho State: In the season finale for both squads, the Idaho State Bengals (1-10) avoided a winless season by defeating the Vikings (2-9) 41-34. Russel Hill threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns, all to Kelvin Krosch , for the Bengals. PSU’s Justin Engstrom threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, but also threw four interceptions in the loss.
Northern Colorado at Montana: With their 38-10 win over Northern Colorado (3-8), the Montana Grizzlies (10-0) clinched their 12th consecutive Big Sky Conference title outright. Chase Reynolds broke a close game open with two long touchdown runs (54 and 37 yards) early in the third quarter. Reynolds finished with 151 yards rushing and three touchdowns. The Grizzlies are just a victory over rival Montana State away from their second perfect regular season in three years.

Sacramento State at Montana State: The Bobcats (7-3) kept their playoff dreams alive by beating the Sacramento State Hornets (4-6) 27-17. MSU will have to defeat their hated in-state rivals and the 3rd ranked Montana Grizzlies at home on Saturday to have a chance at an at-large bid in the FCS playoffs. Bobcat QB Cody Kempt completed an efficient 20 of 29 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the victory over the Hornets.