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week NationalChamps.net will be picking several
games to breakdown while predicting against the
point spread. NationalChamps.net does not support
sports betting and is in no way affiliated with
online sports bet organizations including advertising
clients. This is strictly for enjoyment purposes
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WEEK
7
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WEEKLY
BREAKDOWN - Liner Notes
NationalChamps.net owner Todd Helmick
will be on several weekly radio shows this fall.
Check out our Liner Notes for this week's broadcasts.
KSOM out of Iowa every Thursday at 10:30 am.
WKLC out of West Virginia every Friday
Classy 99 out of Spokane: 9:00 am - Sunday
Oklahoma
vs. Texas
Texas Tech at Iowa State
Michigan State at Iowa
Missouri at Nebraska
Florida State at Miami
FL
PICKS
AGAINST THE SPREAD
INSIDE99: (14-13-1 overall)
Boston College +9 over Virginia Tech
Rice -7 over Navy
Duke +13.5 over Wake Forest
Cincinnati -5 over Tulane
Washington State -8 over Stanford
Bowling Green -15 over Central Michigan
Ricky Sixx: (11-14 overall)
Syracuse -4 over Temple
Miami FL -13 over Florida State
Clemson -5.5 over Virginia
Washington State -8 over Stanford
Bowling Green -15 over Central Michigan
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NAGURSKI
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Mississippi senior strong safety
Matt Grier
TEAM
OF THE WEEK:
Mississippi
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MISSISSIPPI'S GRIER NAMED
NAGURSKI PLAYER OF THE WEEK
DALLAS
(FWAA) – Ole Miss senior strong
safety Matt Grier (Smithville, Miss.) is
this week's recipient of the Bronko Nagurski
National Defensive Player of the Week Award
for his performance in the Rebels' 17-14
win over Florida this past Saturday in Oxford.
Grier's two interceptions in the third quarter
directly led to 15 Ole Miss points as the
Rebels erased a 14-2 halftime deficit in
the upset of Florida. His first interception
came on Florida's first possession of the
third quarter, leading to a Vashon Pearson
4-yard touchdown run. A series later, Grier
intercepted another Rex Grossman pass and
returned it 24 yards for what would prove
to be the game-winning score. Grier also
added 7 tackles, of which 2.5 were behind
the line of scrimmage.
A
three-person panel from the Football Writers
Association of America (FWAA) selects the
winner of the weekly award.
The
FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club pick
a National Defensive Player of the Week
each Monday. Grier will be added to the
Watch List for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy
which will be presented on Dec. 9 in Charlotte,
N.C., by the FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown
Club.
2002
Bronko Nagurski Players of the Week
• Sept. 9: Maurice Sikes, Miami
• Sept. 16: Shane Walton, Notre Dame
• Sept. 23: Willie Pile, Virginia Tech
• Sept. 30: R.J. Jones, Missouri
• Oct. 7: Matt Grier, Mississippi
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LINER
NOTES USED ON THE AIR
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OKLAHOMA
VS. TEXAS @DALLAS, TX
The Red River Shootout.
OKLAHOMA
(5-0)
COACH: Bob Stoops
The
Sooners head into this week's Red River Shootout
against Texas having won the last two meetings
with the Longhorns.
So
many good players in Quentin Griffin, Trent Smith,
Fagan, Savage, Tommie Harris, Strait…it
was an easy pick to put them and Miami in Tempe
as I said in July.
The
winner will be on the inside track to the Big
12 championship game.
DB
Andre Woolfolk, who's missed the last three games
with a knee injury, is expected to play against
the Longhorns.
OU's
Nate Hybl, while hardly spectacular, has quietly
compiled a 13-1 record as a starter, the third-best
mark in OU history. All Hybl seems to do is make
accurate throws, sound decisions and clutch plays.
Mobile
quarterbacks tend to give OU's defense problems,
as Missouri's Brad Smith demonstrated last week.
Dropback quarterbacks don't seem to stress the
Sooners as much, which is one reason the defense
can't wait to get another crack at Texas' Chris
Simms.
Oklahoma's
defense, statistically, is not as strong as it
was last season. The Sooners rank No. 22 against
the pass and are allowing 174.8 passing yards
a game.
TEXAS
(5-0)
COACH: Mack Brown
It's
put-up-or-shut-up time for Mack Brown and Chris
Simms. Fair or not, this is the kind of game by
which they will be judged -- and it's the kind
of game they've lost before.
Third-ranked Texas already has two shutouts, and
is second nationally in total defense going into
Saturday's game against No. 2 Oklahoma (5-0).
The key: they have gotten faster.
WR Roy Williams, hampered by a hamstring injury
since the Sept. 21 game against Houston, expects
to be close to 100 percent for the game.
The Sooners are Chris Simms' nightmare. In two
games against OU, he has thrown five interceptions
and no touchdowns. He's been quietly efficient
this season as Texas has plugged away against
lesser opponents.
Texas has to get the running game going. Oklahoma
held Texas to 27 yards rushing a year ago, although
it should be noted that Benson did not play due
to a coach's decision.
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TEXAS
TECH AT IOWA STATE (HOMECOMING IN AMES)
Texas Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury vs. Iowa
State's Seneca Wallace. Heisman Trophy candidate
vs. Heisman Trophy candidate.
TEXAS
TECH (4-2)
COACH: Mike Leach
Kingsbury
comes into the game leading the nation in touchdown
passes (22) and completions per game (33).
Against
Texas A&M, Wes Welker caught 10 passes for
120 yards and returned six punts for 166 yards
and a touchdown.
Texas
Tech has scored 40 points or more in each of its
past four games, Tech has scored 48, 49 and 48
points in the past three games, and has averaged
544 yards.
The
Red Raiders are allowing opposing offenses to
convert third downs into first downs almost 50
percent of the time. That's the most yielded by
a Big 12 defense this season.
Iowa
State QB Seneca Wallace surely will make for some
sleepless nights for Tech's defensive staff. Texas
A&M quarterback Dustin Long threw for 367
yards and seven touchdowns against Tech's defense.
Wallace is a much more dangerous threat than Long
... or any of the other quarterbacks the Red Raiders
have faced this season.
IOWA
STATE (5-1)
COACH: Dan McCarney
If
the Cyclones have an edge heading into this one,
it's on the defensive side. Iowa State is coming
off an impressive effort in the win over Nebraska
when it held the Huskers to 81 yards rushing.
WR
Jack Whitver. Whitver's on-field accomplishments
are impressive -- he's gone from walk-on to being
the second-leading receiver with 23 catches for
352 yards.
I
can continue to talk about Seneca Wallace, but
what more can be said. He is one heckuva QB. But
I think defensively, this will be the Cyclones
biggest test.
Saturday's
game against high-scoring Texas Tech is the start
of what might rank as the most difficult stretch
any school in the country will face this season.
Iowa State plays at No. 2 Oklahoma and at No.
3 Texas the next two weeks . After a home game
against Missouri, the Cyclones then face road
games at Kansas State and at Colorado.
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| MICHIGAN
STATE AT IOWA
MICHIGAN
STATE (3-2)
COACH: Bobby Williams
The
Spartans are wearing their white jerseys at Iowa
this Saturday. Based on recent history, the Spartans
have little chance at winning. They are 1-7 on
the road in the Big Ten during the last two seasons
and Iowa is among the hottest teams in the Big
Ten.
QB
Jeff Smoker needs to get off quickly. The Spartans'
slow starts have largely been a result of his
inability to find his receivers in the early going.
The Spartans also need a solid game from RB Dawan
Moss, who has been hot and cold this season..
The
Spartan defense is led by OLB Mike Labinjo. That
unit needs to have its best game against Iowa's
talented and multi-faceted offense if the Spartans
are going to survive on the road.
Michigan State (3-2, 1-1) was expected to have
a season to remember. However, Michigan State
has been among the league's biggest disappointments
in the first half of the year.
Charles Rogers set an NCAA record by catching
a touchdown pass in his 13th straight regular-season
game as Michigan State defeated Northwestern 39-24
Saturday.
Jeff
Smoker 141-80-7 239 yards per game on the season.
IOWA
(5-1)
COACH: Kirk Ferentz
Banks
engineered an 87-yard scoring drive with 2:16
remaining and no timeouts, capped by a 7-yard
TD pass to TE Dallas Clark on fourth-and-goal
to lead the 24th-ranked Hawkeyes past Purdue 31-28.
The
Hawkeyes can produce through the air and on the
ground and should be able to move the ball well
against Michigan State this week. The Spartan
defense has been ordinary.
Fourth-quarter
defense remains an issue for Kirk Ferentz. The
Hawkeyes allowed Purdue to rally from a 10-point
deficit and take a fourth-quarter lead and we
all know about the remarkable fourth quarter comeback
by PSU.
QB
Brad Banks is one of the least talked about quarterbacks
in the nation, but he continues to get the job
done -- especially in crunch time. Banks seems
to excel when the game is on the line.
TE Dallas Clark was named the Big Ten's offensive
player of the week. In addition to the game-winning
score, he also caught a 95-yard TD pass from Banks
in the third quarter.
Brad Banks: 137-82-2, 205 yards per game average
on the season.
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MISSOURI
AT NEBRASKA
MISSOURI
(3-2)
COACH: Gary Pinkel
The
Tigers would be tough if the game was in Columbia.
But this one is in Lincoln. A huge benefit for
the Huskers in a game like this.
WR
Justin Gage. The Big 12's top receiver.
RB
Tyrone Roberson expects to return after suffering
a concussion and a seizure during the Tigers'
Sept. 28 win over Troy State.
The
Tigers fell behind OU by 16 points in the second
half, but rallied to take a one-point lead behind
the dynamic play of freshman QB Brad Smith.
Mizzou comes to Memorial Stadium this week, seeking
their first win over Nebraska since 1978.
Smith amassed 391 yards of offense in the Tigers'
near-upset of No. 2 Oklahoma. Smith ran for 213
yards, becoming the first player to top 200 yards
against the Sooners in the past 37 games.
NEBRASKA
(4-2)
COACH: Frank Solich
A week after briefly getting benched in a loss
to Iowa State, Lord set Nebraska records for total
offense and rushing yards by a quarterback in
a 38-14 win over Division I-AA McNeese State on
Saturday. His performance said plenty, however.
He ran 17 times for 218 yards and three touchdowns,
breaking the school's single-game rushing mark
of 199 yards, set by Tommie Frazier in the 1996
Fiesta Bowl against Florida. Lord also completed
12 of 18 passes for 151 yards with a touchdown
and an interception.
RE Chris Kelsay played only nine snaps against
McNeese State before injuring his hamstring.
WHAT A JOKE: The Huskers had four new starters
in the lineup for the McNeese State game. Coach
Frank Solich has some angry I-backs on his hands
following the coaching staff's decisions to take
true freshman David Horne out of a redshirt season
and put him in the No. 2 slot behind Dahrran Diedrick.
Horne ran for 81 yards in his Husker debut against
McNeese State, which delighted NU fans but did
little for the other five scholarship I-backs.
None of the Huskers were getting giddy over knocking
of a Division I-AA opponent, but after back-to-back
regular-season losses for the first time since
1976, the NU nation was in need of something good.
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STATE AT MIAMI
FLORIDA
STATE (5-1)
COACH: Bobby Bowden
Two
major reasons why FSU is struggling, because let
me first say that there is talent everywhere in
the Seminole lineup, that is how they got to be
#4 in the preseason. This isn’t the same
problem Joe Paterno has had at Penn State the
last few seasons...there is talent.
Two
reasons why FSU is struggling: #1 is Coaching
and #2 is Pass defense and nothing more.
Bowden doesn’t call the X’s and O’s,
he has lost most all of his assistants from 12
years ago and replaced them with men who are loyal,
not the right man for the job.
Mark
it down; if big 250-pound tailback Greg Jones
does not rush for over 100 yards this Saturday,
the Noles get blasted. QB Chris Rix is taking
way too much blame; it is all about the horrible
FSU pass coverage.
MIAMI
(5-0)
COACH: Larry Coker
There is Miami and everyone else. In
a nutshell they run, they pass, and they have
the best front seven on defense in America. Every
single starter on the defensive front will be
in the NFL, no doubt in my mind.
Willis
McGahee can make a Heisman name for himself this
week, but you know, the Noles don’t play
a bad run defense, then again they haven’t
faced anything like Miami yet.
There
are two keys to this game IMHO…
- Can the big All-Senior OL at Florida State pass
block and run block against that Miami front seven?
- Can the extremely young Miami DB’s play
well against the best receivers they will face
all year?
Do
not be surprised if FSU makes this a game in the
4th quarter. They have the talent and speed to
match up with a few breaks. Final word: Miami
wins with more depth/talent, less weaknesses,
and way better coaching.
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