College Football Hodgepodge Week 9

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Basically, Lee Corso cannot touch me. I went 5-0 three weeks ago with my picks, and although I would have taken a beating if I was betting against the spread, and of course if gambling was permitted here in the great U.S of A, I take solace in the fact that i'm essentially on fire right now. I stay humbled by the fact that I was more than a little off base with my Notre Dame homerism, but still let me give this another spin with this weeks best matchups, followed by an update of my player rankings.

Michigan St. (6-1) at Nebraska (6-1): Michigan St. has run the gauntlet of Ohio St, Michigan, and Wisconsin, coming away with wins in all three. Their defense led by DE Denicos Allen and LB Max Bullough has been arguably the best in the nation. Nebraska has been throwing the ball better, but still is built on the run with Rex Burkhead and Taylor Martinez. In a low scoring game, I look for Sparty to keep rolling here. For Vegas purposes, take the under. Kirk Cousins controlling the game, and the Spartans D holding serve will help Michigan State prevail. (MSU 14-10).

Oklahoma (6-1) at Kansas St. (7-0): Kansas St. has been a nice little story, but even though they're playing this one at home, the fairy tale ends today. There's a reason Oklahoma was the preseason number one team in the country. And they will be plenty pissed off after losing last week. Colin Klein has been arguably the best running QB outside of Taylor Martinez and Denard Robinson, but the pressure of studs Frrank Alexander (11.5 sacks) and Ronnell Lewis (9.5) will be too much to handle. Oklahoma will win big. (Oklahoma 45, Kansas St. 24).

Illinois (6-2) at Penn St. (6-1): Snow football is back in various points on the map this weekend, and they're calling for low 30's temperatures and some white stuff in Happy Valley. Penn St. is another Big 10 squad with a nasty D, but Illinois has gotten a huge year from DE Whitney Mercilus. I think the difference will be the combo of QB Nathan Scheelhaase and WR A.J. Jenkins for the Illini, which is better than anything Penn St. has on that side of the ball. (Illinois 21-17).

Baylor (4-2) at Oklahoma St. (7-0): RG3's Heisman campaign has lost a little bit of its shine as the Bears have fallen out of the top 25. They still will put points on the board in this one, but OSU might have the best set of "triplets" in the nation with Brandon Weedon, Joseph Randle, and Justin Blackmon all up near the top in my offensive rankings. The Oklahoma St. defense will give up some points, but they also will create turnovers with 15 interceptions and 11 forced fumbles on the season. Oklahoma St. stays undefeated in a scoring bonanza (Ok. St. 55-38).

Stanford (7-0) at USC (6-1): The Trojans are somehow 6-1 despite the fact that Lane Kiffin is their coach. Matt Barkley and Robert Woods might be too much for Stanford to handle. That being said, Stanford has Andrew Luck, Andrew Luck's neck beard, and a stable of about 58 RB's to tote the rock. They will wear down the USC D, take advantage of Kiffin doing something stupid like committing a recruiting violation during the game, and come away with a close win in LaLa land. (Stanford 28-23).
Added up to the Minute Bonus: The Stanford band was just playing "Reptila" by the Strokes. They just got infinitely cooler in my book. Gotta love watching College Gameday while writing this half-asleep.

Player Rankings: Here's my up to the minute WR and DB rankings. Interesting to note: This isn't necessarily a Mel Kiper/Todd McShay type list looking at NFL projections. It merely looks at on field production. There's some "system" type people on the list because they play in a spread that puts up heavy numbers. Feel free to argue and enjoy.

WR's
1. Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma (67 catches, 899 yards, 9 td's)
2. Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma St. (61-662-7)
3. B.J.Cunningham, Michigan St. (48-723-3)
4. Stedmon Bailey, WVU (41-764-6)
5. Ryan Swope, Texas A&M (44-659-6)
6. Tavon Austin, WVU (48-624-2)
7. Jairus Wright, Arkansas (34-574-6)
8. Marquis Maze, Alabama (39-482-1)
9. Ivan McCartney, West Virginia (35-464-3)
10. Kendall Wright, Baylor (55-757-9)

The disclaimer about system WR's was basically my justification for having 3 people from WVU on the list. Ryan Swope has the best white boy WR title belt right now, but VT's Danny Coale is closing fast. Maze has been having a quietly efficient year for a team that is built on running the ball, and with a new QB. Broyles and Blackmon have been just as good as everyone predicted as soon as they decided to come back to school last spring.

DB's
1. Tyrann Mathieu, LSU (42 tackles, 2 ints, 4 forced fumbles, 5 pass breakups)
2. Dre Kirkpatrick, Alabama( 2 forced fumbles, 8 pass breakups)
3. Markelle Martin, Oklahoma St. (43 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 6 breakups)
4. Daimion Stafford, Nebraska (48 tackles, 4 breakups)
5. Daytawion Lowe, Oklahoma St. (47 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 forced fumbles)
6. Carrington Byndum, Texas
7. Tharold Simon, LSU
8. Jay'ron Hosley, VT
9. Broderick Brown, Oklahoma St.
10. Quandre Diggs, Texas

The exploits of Mathieu have been chronicled both nationally and on this blog (one in the same basically with my credibility). Like I said in the game predictions, Oklahoma St gets a lot of turnovers, and gets a lot of them from their DB's. Martin, Lowe, Brown, and Justin Gilbert have been huge for the undefeated Cowboys. Stafford has come on after playing in junior college last year having a huge impact, much like Lavonte David did last season. Simon has been a part of and LSU pass defense that has more depth than anyone in the country.

College Football Hodgepodge: Week 6

I think I went 5-1 last time with my picks, so let's just start there this week before I get into some player rankings, BCS predictions, and my choice for the Heisman and Defensive POY.

Oklahoma-Texas: I know Texas has won 3 out of the last 4, and that both teams are in the top 15, but I don't see this being much of a contest. I don't like Texas' QB situation, even though it's a challenging matchup to have to account for two different types of players that literally have two different playbooks. OU has too much on offense, and despite the fact that the Longhorns young secondary has played well, Ryan Broyles is going to have a field day (Oklahoma 34, Texas 17)

Florida-LSU: Another top 25 game that won't be close. LSU's defense will tee off on Frosh Jeff Driskell, who is a backup to a terrible QB, so probably isn't very good himself. I see Charlie Weis crying and calling Tom Brady on his cell midgame, asking to come back as Wes Welker's man servant while crushing bags of Dorito's. I also see the "Honey Badger" (Tyrann Mathieu) rising to number one in my defensive player rankings with a 12 tackle, 2 sack, 1 Int, 4 PBU type of game. (LSU 45, Florida 14)

Arkansas-Auburn: I'd say this one would be more of an even game, but with Auburn's top two WR's out, I'm going with the Hogs. Jairus Wright and Tyler Wilson went off against a decent defense last week against A&M, and Nick Fairley will be busy putting Jay Cutler in the hospital on Monday night, after knocking out Ryan Mallett in last year's game. Arkansas has holes on D, but Auburn won't be balanced enough to punish them, even though Michael Dyer will have a big day. (Arkansas 35, Auburn 24)

Ohio St.-Nebraska: This one has lost some of its luster with both teams playing like garbage in their Big Ten openers. Ohio State's offense is terrible, and they still don't get Dan Herron or Devier Posey back. Nebraska can at least run the ball, with Rex Burkhead ( think Danny Woodhead college version), and dual threat Taylor Martinez. I still like the Husker Defense, with 3 players in my top 25 rankings, plus preseason All-Americans Alfonzo Dennard and Jared Crick. (Nebraska 24, Ohio St. 17)

Miami-Virginia Tech: I'd love to take the verbal cattle prod to the VT people, as probably half of those that read this are probably Tech alums. I won't do it this week however. After coming out flat against a suprising Clemson team last week, the Hokies will bounce back this week. David Wilson is still a sleeper Heisman candidate, and the defense has played well. I see Jayron Hosely picking off a pass or two, and the Hokies doing something Hokie-like on special teams, coming away with the win. (VT 27, Miami 14).

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Player Rankings:
( This is my unscientific, non-biased look at how players stack up going into Week 6. With apologies to Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, and others that don't have the numbers since their teams beat the shit out of everyone each week, here's how my rankings look so far.

QB
1. Brandon Weedon, Sr. Oklahoma St.
2. Geno Smith, Jr. West Virginia
3. Landry Jones, Jr. Oklahoma
4. Tyler Wilson, Jr. Arkansas
5. B.J. Daniels, Jr. USF

Dual-Threat
1. Taylor Martinez, Soph. Nebraska
(Weedon and Smith are largely putting up numbers because of the systems they play in, but both play for teams that are a combined 9-1. Martinez is Vick-like in his running abilities, but has to be ranked separately because he's barely completing 50 percent of his passes).
RB
1. Trent Richardson, Jr. Alabama
2. Marcus Lattimore, Soph. S.Carolina
3. Joseph Randle, Soph. Oklahoma St.
4. David Wilson, Jr. VT
5. Chris Rainey, Sr. Florida
( Richardson would get my vote for Heisman if I actually had the credibility that would give me a Heisman vote. Lattimore is one of maybe 5 or 6 Gamecocks that will be in the Pro Bowl in 5 years. Randle gives the Cowboys three dynamic playmakers on a potential BCS sleeper).
WR
1. Ryan Broyles, Sr. Oklahoma
2. Justin Blackmon, Jr. Oklahoma St.
3. B.J. Cunningham, Sr. Michigan St.
4. Jairus Wright, Sr. Arkansas
5. Tavon Austin Jr. West Virginia
( Broyles and Blackmon are well-known, but B.J. Cunningham from Michigan St. has quietly put together a reccord-breaking career and hasn't slowed down in his senior year).

Defense
1. Antonio Allen, Sr. South Carolina
2. Tyrann Mathieu, Soph. LSU
3. Chase Thomas, Jr. Stanford
4. Jadevon Clowney Frosh. South Carolina
5. Emmanuel Acho, Sr. Texas
6. Markellle Martin, Sr. Oklahoma St.
7. Melvin Ingram, Sr. South Carolina
8. Dre Kirkpatrick, Jr. Alabama
9. Cameron Meredith, Jr. Nebraska
10. Sean Porter, Jr. Texas A&M
( South Caroliina stands out with 3 in the top 10. Allen has been a monster with 49 tackles, 3 Interceptions, 3 Forced Fumbles, and 4.5 Tackles for Loss. Clowney has more than lived up to the hype of being the number one player in his class. And Ingram has the unlikely combo of 5.5 sacks, and 3 touchdowns from his spot on the D-Line. Mathieu has been all over the field for the Tigers, and Chase Thomas has stepped up for the Cardinal after they lost arguable their best defender (Shayne Skov) to injury).

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11. Tharold Simon, Soph. LSU
12. Chris Borland, Soph. Wisconsin
13. Damion Staffford, Jr. Nebraska
14. Carrington Byndum, Soph. Texas
15. Chris Smith, Soph. Arkansas
16. Lavonte David, Sr. Nebraska
17. Quandre Diggs, Frosh. Texas
18. Kyle Fuller, Soph. VT
18. Andrew Sweat, Sr. Ohio St.
20. James Thomas, Sr. Oklahoma St.
21. Tony Jerod-Eddie, Sr. Texas A&M
22. Frank Alexander, Sr. Oklahoma
23. Daytawion Lowe, Soph. Oklahoma St.
24. Bjorn Werner, Soph. Florida St.
25. Michael Clay, Jr. Oregon

BCS Predictions:

I know it's early, and hopefully I'll be able to put Notre Dame in my next batch of predictions, just for the haters out there. But here's how I see it right now.

National Championship: Alabama-Boise St
Rose Bowl: Oregon-Wisconsin
Orange Bowl: VT-West Virginia
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma-Stanford
Sugar Bowl: LSU-Oklahoma St.

Heisman Leaderboard
1. Trent Richardson
2. Andrew Luck
3. Kellen Moore
4. Ryan Broyles
5. Marcus Lattimore
(Also Receiving Votes: Russell Wilson, Landry Jones, Brandon Weedon, Justin Blackmon, Joseph Randle, David Wilson, Dayne Crist)

Defensive POY
1. Tyrann Mathieu
2. Chase Thomas
3. Emannuel Acho
4. Markelle Martin
5. Dre Kirkpatrick