College Football Quick Picks: Week 3

If using these as a guide in terms of real gambling, it would probably be wise to take what I say and run in the other direction. Especially with my track record on this site (see Fighting Irish, Notre Dame). Regardless, here's a look at an intriging slate of games this third week of the season.

Auburn at Clemson (-3.5): In the battle of two teams with the same nickname, I'd have to go with Auburn here. Even with the losses from last year, getting that win against a good Miss St. team  last week shows that they have enough left to still have a solid season. The ACC is down, and Clemson barely beat Wofford last week. (Auburn 35, Clemson 28)

West Virginia at Maryland (E): I was able to taunt my boy who's a WVU alum last week after the first half score read Norfolk St.12, West Virginia 10. The 'Neers then went on a 45-0 run in the second half. Two good QB's in this one with Geno Smith and Danny O'Brien more than likely putting up huge numbers. WVU struggles as they look past the Terps and whatever god-awful unis they bust out, but right the ship in the second half once again. (WVU 45, Maryland 35)


Tennessee at Florida (-9.5): Tennessee has the best QB they've had since this dude named Peyton Manning was around. Tyler Bray put up 400 yards last week against a decent Cincy team, and I'm not sold on Florida, or Florida's defense still trying to replace the booted Janoris Jenkins, and the graduated Ahmad Black out of the secondary. If this game was in Knoxville, I'd have the balls to go with UT here. It's in The Swamp however, so Florida will squeak by after Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps save the day with a combined 3 TD's. (Florida 27, Tennessee 24)

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Michigan State at Notre Dame (-5): It's unbelieveable that this spread is where it is. To quote my little brother: "God Bless all these Midwest Catholics going to Vegas and moving the line." I spoke at length about Notre Dame already on this site. I still believe in them. Michigan State is impressive with WR B.J. Cunningham off to a great start, and a D lead by DT Jerel Worthy. They won't win in South Bend however as Notre Dame finally puts everything together. (Notre Dame 27, Mich St. 17)

Ohio St at Miami (Fla) (-2.5): I'm sure there are plenty of cute little nicknames one could come up with for this one, but I'm barely awake right now. So we'll go with "The Scholarship Reduction Bowl". The NCAA's two favorite teams right now battle it out in Coral Gables, with Miami getting the majority of their suspended playmakers back. Ohio State is still missing their best RB and WR, plus DE Nathan Williams is out with an injury. I look for the U to take advantage of having everybody back. (Miami 24, Ohio St. 14)

Oklahoma at Florida St. (+3): The game of the week and the 2nd top 5 battle in three weeks is the biggest game of Jimbo Fisher's tenure in Tallahassee. After Oklahoma kicked the living shit out of the Noles last year in Norman, I expect things to be different this year. E.J. Manuel has gotten off to a great start throwing the ball to a multitude of dfferent receivers. This one is going to be a track meet even though both squads have decent defenses. I can see it being a very high scoring first half, followed by the D's settling down a little in the 2nd, causing some turnovers. I give Oklahoma the nod because of the combo of Landry Jones and Ryan Broyles (Oklahoma 38. FSU 31)


                                                  Player Rankings:
    I started doing this last year on the LCB website, as I brilliantly dubbed my "Stonebreaker Award" the Defensive Heisman. I didn't think there was an award for Defensive Player of the Year, even though there is. It was informative however tracking the stats each week, as it led me to see the impact players like Nick Fairley on and week to week basis. This year, I'm also looking at Offensive stats, so here's how the rankings play out after the first two weeks of the season.

QB's

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1. Taylor Martinez, Nebraska           
2. Brandon Weedon, Oklahoma St.
3. Geno Smith, WVU
4. Chris Relf, Miss. St.
5. Landry Jones, Oklahoma

RB's
1. Joseph Randle, Oklahoma St.
2. Vic Ballard, Miss St.
3. David Wilson, VT
4. Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina
5. Chris Rainey, Florida

WR's
1. Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma St.
2. Jairus Wright, Arkansas
3. Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma
4. B.J. Cunningham, Michigan St.
5. Robert Woods, USC

Defense

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1. Antonio Allen, South Carolina
2. Tyron Mathieu, LSU
2. Cameron Meredith, Nebraska
4. Andrew Sweat, Ohio St.
4. Chase Thomas, Stanford
6. Markelle Martin, Oklahoma St.
7. Frank Alexander, Oklahoma
8. Michael Clay, Oregon
8. Tony Jerod-Eddie, Texas A&M
10. Shea McClellin, Boise St.

QB's: Martinez and Relf lead the cause of the dual threat signal callers, although Relf will probably fall out of the top 5 after his dealings with LSU on Thursday night. Landry Jones cracks the top 5 even though the Sooners did not play last week.

RB's: I'd never heard of Randle or Ballard until the sesaon started. David Wilson is averaging 150 yards for a Tech team that has struggled to throw the ball so far. Ditto for Rainey as he leads the Gators in both rushing and receiving, with 4 TD's as well.

WR's: Blackmon and Broyles are both early season Heisman candidates who've gotten off to excellent starts, while Wright spearheads a Razorback offense that hasn't missed a beat despite losing Ryan Mallett and Knile Davis.

Defense: There are bigger names on the Gamecocks D, and freshman Jadevon Clowney has been every bit as good as advertised (#14 in my rankings). Allen however has 22 tackles, and Int, 2 Forced fumbles, and 1.5 Tackles for Loss, combined with 2 touchdowns. Mathieu leads an incredible secondary for the Bayou Bengals, while DL's Tony Jerod-Eddie and Frank Alexander make the cut despite only playing one game.