San Jose State Spartans at New Mexico State Aggies
My prediction was San Jose State wins 24 to 17
Final score: Aggies 29, Spartans 27
As you can see, this game was a close one. However, nobody watched it. This is plainly obvious when you look at what si.com has for the final score and what espn.com is showing. Pretty funny! After searching around I discovered that indeed New Mexico State won the game. The point is nobody watched the game and so there is no need to talk much about it.Congratulations to the Aggies for securing what will turn out to be their only WAC win.
Utah State Aggies at Nevada Wolfpack
My prediction was Nevada wins 51 to 17
Final score: Wolfpack 56, Aggies 42
Nevada completely dominated the first half of this game, taking a 35-0 lead into the locker room. But then something happened. Utah State decided that they were not going to not throw away their season quite yet and at least try and put up a fight. So they proceeded to drop 42 points on the Wolfpack in the second half and began playing defense, limiting the Pack to a mere 21 points. Lucky for Nevada they got those points or the Aggies would have pulled a monumental upset. This shows us two things; Utah State has the potential to be very dangerous, when they show up, and Nevada gets complacent sometimes. "Bird Leg" Kaepernick rebounded well after a poor performance on the islands to get his team the win. It appears that a banged up Vai Taua sat this one out to heal up. Next up for the Aggies is a home date with the other set of Aggies from New Mexico State while Nevada heads up to the Kibbie Dome to destroy the Vandals.
Idaho Vandals at Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors
My prediction was Hawai'i wins 45 to 35
Final score: Rainbow Warriors 45, Vandals 10
It would appear that along with their high-flying offense, that Hawai'i has found a little bit of defense as well. That and Idaho sucks anyway. The Vandals scored first with a field goal but did not get back on the board until very late in garbage time. This biggest problem for Idaho was yet again their starting quarterback Nathan Enderle, who can gain pretty decent yardage, but can also throw the ball to the other team. He gained 207 yards through the air, but also threw 2 interceptions and no touchdowns. Back up Brian Reader led the lone touchdown drive and finished it with an 18 yard pass to Taylor Elmo. Bryant Moniz yet again went off going 27 for 38 for 326 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Running back Alex Green had a decent night rushing for 74 yards on 10 carries and scoring 1 touchdown. It appears that Hawai'i has gone away from the running game that they had so much success with against Utah State last week. They use it just enough to keep the opposing defense honest. Next week Idaho hosts the Nevada Wolfpack and the Rainbow Warriors travel to Bronco Stadium for the defacto WAC Championship showdown with Boise State. I am getting tickets for that one tomorrow. Do not miss it!
California Golden Bears at Oregon State Beavers
My prediction was Oregon State wins 35 to 31
Final score: Beavers 35, Golden Bears 7
Oregon State completely dominated this game. Just like Idaho, Cal's only touchdown came in garbage time late in the fourth quarter. The story here was the defense. The Beavers held the Bears to 206 total yards, only 23 or which came on the ground. Oh yeah, that and Cal committed every penalty in the book it seemed like. How does 12 penalties for 103 yards sound. Jacquizz Rodgers had a fantastic game amassing 119 yards on 22 carries. California literally could not get anything going and that is why you see three straight quarters without scoring a point. In other words, the Beavers played much better than they did against Washington last week in an overtime loss. As Bronco fans, let's hope and pray that Oregon State can take their 3-1 Pac-10 record and continue winning (especially against the Ducks on December 4th. They can keep it going next week as they take on UCLA in Los Angeles. Cal goes to Pullman to beat up on lowly Washington State.
Oregon Ducks at USC Trojans
My prediction was Oregon wins 42 to 38
Final score: Ducks 53, Trojans 38
USC gave a valiant effort but fell way short of toppling the Ducks from Eugene, Oregon. Trojan quarterback Matt Barkley finished the game 26 for 49 for 264 yards and a touchdown. His problem was the amount of times he tried to force a ball into tight coverage (or just threw it really poorly) and ended up with 2 interceptions. There should have been at least a couple more. However, him and his fellow men of Troy had plenty of success against a suspect Oregon defense, but it was not enough. You have to outscore the Ducks if you have a defense like USC, and they could not. At one point they had even taken the lead in the third quarter, only to see it disappear moments later. Darron Thomas and LaMichael James lit up USC and the offense totaled 599 yards. The Duck "O" is for real. I looked up the current NCAA defensive ranks and found where Oregon's vanquished opponents are ranked. Out of 120 FBS teams,this is where they are; New Mexico-118th, Tennessee-87th, Portland State-FCS school, Arizona State-38th, Stanford-30th, Washington State-120th, UCLA-94th, and USC-98th. Portland State is a Division-1AA school, and using them as another 120th ranked defense, the Ducks' opponents rank an average of 88th best in the nation. Of the top defenses they have played (Arizona State and Stanford), the Sun Devils held them to 42 points (which is still quite a bit, but below their average) and they scored 52 on Stanford at home. So yes, their offense is amazing, but they have still yet to be challenged by anybody decent on the road, and the one time at home does not go very far to defeating my argument. Oregon should stay atop the polls and hold steady in the BCS Rankings. Next week they are at home against Washington (100th ranked defense) and USC takes on Arizona State, also at home.
Michigan State Spartans at Iowa Hawkeyes
UPSET SPECIAL FULFILLED!!!!
My prediction was Iowa wins 34 to 24
Final score: Hawkeyes 37, Spartans 6
I had thought for weeks that Michigan State was not as good as the number 5 ranking that they had received. This game shows how big of a fraud they indeed were. Iowa completely dominated this game. Just like Idaho and Cal, the Spartans did not score until very late in the game when the outcome was already decided. So another one bites the dust. Better luck in 2012 when Boise State comes to East Lansing to take on the Spartans!
Previous record: 33-10
This week's record: 5-1
Total: 38-11
Having looked at Oregon's opponents and their defensive numbers, I decided to do the same for Boise State. I hate when arguments are one sided and as a prospective journalist, I want to make sure that I am being fair. So, for the Broncos: Virginia Tech-33rd, Wyoming-111th, Oregon State-94th, New Mexico State-114th, Toledo-56th, San Jose State-107th, and Louisiana Tech-114th. That averages out to just under 91. So the Ducks have actually faced slightly better defenses than the Broncos. It is really close. But for their own defenses, they rank Boise State-3rd at 13.4 and Oregon-17th at 17.9. So these two teams are quite similar. I can only hope that they run into each other in a bowl game, preferably the National Championship!
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