NCAA Football Week 8 Running Thread: The Brian Greasy Edition

A full slate of fun.

Starting Saturday.

Stinkers til then.

Friday--West by God @ Broadcaster U.

Saturday--

Auburn @ LSU

Wisky @ Michigan St.

Kansas St. @ Kansas---trap game deluxe. Are the kitties looking too forward to next week at home vs. OU?

Oklahoma St. @ Missouri

Texas Tech @ Oklahoma: (Cripes; If Tech is giving up 40+ every week to average offenses, Landry Jones will be giddy about this.)

Washington @ Stanford should be the game of the weekend.

 

Kansas can't trap anybody. Except maybe Iowa State.

 

I'm going to the USC-Notre Dame game, taking my large, angry brother-in-law along for company. Although it's not quite as "marquee" a matchup as it was a couple of years ago, both teams are pretty good, it's still a great rivalry & should still be a good one. First night game at ND in a couple of decades, so there will be plenty of drunks on both sides, fighting over who's the most entitled & self important. Good times!!

 

Two games I care about are:

#6 Wisconsin [6-0] at #16 Michigan State [5-1]
With their win on Saturday, Michigan State has now beaten Michigan four consecutive times for the first time since 1959-1962. But that streak would hold little weight in 2011 if the Spartans fall to Wisconsin in East Lansing Saturday night.

MSU currently leads the Big Ten's Legends Division by a half game over Nebraska, Michigan and Iowa, while the Badgers remain undefeated after trouncing Indiana 59-7.

Wisconsin is quietly making a strong run at the BCS National Championship. They lead FBS schools in scoring (50.1 points per game) and have scored at least 35 points in every single game. Their two-headed monsters in the running game, Montee Ball and James White, have already rushed for over 1,000 yards and 20 touchdowns. Then there is the all-transfer team president, Russell Wilson, who is completing nearly 75 percent of his passes with over 1,500 yards passing and 14 touchdowns.

It's that runaway locomotive of an offense that Michigan State hosts this Saturday. The Spartans' defense has led them to their 5-1 start as their offensive output lingers in the middle of the FBS pack. They rank first in pass defense (119.1 yards per game), third in rush defense (186.1 yards per game) and fourth in scoring defense (10.8 points per game).

Wisconsin wins 36-24.

#25 Washington [5-1] at #8 Stanford [6-0]
Certain NFL fan bases have adopted "Suck for Luck" campaigns, hoping to snag the services of Andrew Luck in the 2012 NFL Draft, but Stanford's quarterback remains focused as he's led the Cardinal to a nation-best 14-game win streak. Their latest victory was a 30-point shellacking of Washington State. They return home for a Week 8 meeting with the 25th-ranked Huskies Saturday night.

Stanford currently ranks fifth in both scoring offense (45.8 points per game) and defense (11.2 ppg). Luck is completing 71.3 percent of his passes for more than 1,700 yards with 18 touchdowns and only three interceptions. A potpourri of running backs have accounted for 5.1 yards per rush and 15 touchdowns.

Washington's quarterback, Keith Price, is no slouch as he is third in the nation with 21 passing touchdowns. Outside of that, the Huskies' stats are far from inspiring heading into a road contest against Luck. They rank 45th in passing offense and 48th on the ground. What hurts the most and that needs to improve Saturday night are the 28.5 points per game (77th in FBS) Washington is surrendering each time they take the field.

Stanford wins 37-22.

 

Good weekend for CFB. Well, unless you're a Vols fan. The coming loss to the Gumps could be Biblical, as the wrath of Saban is brought down on the BCS computer, via a Vols sacrifice.

Mizzou has its last chance to turn its season around.

 

Andrew Luck = Peyton Manning's eventual replacement!

 

Auburn at LSU will be interesting. I keep thinking every week will be the one that the wheels finally run off for Auburn (though I guess you could say they did against Arkansas), but they seem to keep playing as greater than the sum of their parts.

LSU might dominate this game, but if so, I see it more as a 17-3 type score than 41-14.

 

Bama and LSU continue the dueling-ass-kickings routine. I mean, Auburn has to stop pulling these out, right?

 

Happy hate week TigerVols!

 

Is Auburn capable of holding a decent offense to 17? As much attention as there is to AU's quarterback change, the defense is 10th in the SEC across the board.

This one can get ugly, unless this is the week where LSU finally plays a bad game. LSU's turnover margin is unbelievable (they've only turned it over three times and Honey Badger has forced more opponent turnovers than that by himself), but it's probably not a sustainable percentage. There's going to be a week where a pass gets tipped and picked or somebody fumbles and they are minus-1 in TO margin. On that day, they may finally have to work for one.

LSU fans are just hoping that day isn't Nov. 5, the one game on the schedule they can't afford it.

 

Is "Griese" misspelled on purpose?

 

Let's hope so ...