by naternet January 7, 2010
Nate's Take - BCS Title Game

Look, this game has been broken down from so many angles that it’s going to be impossible for me to provide any meaningful, original insight into this game. We all know about Colt McCoy being clutch, Texas having no solid running game, Mark Ingram’s anticipated struggles with the Texas run defense and the pressure that is going to be put on Greg McElroy to get the ball to Julio Jones. So, let’s just cut to the chase, shall we?

I think that it’s about damn time that Colt McCoy wins something big, instead of being leap-frogged by anyone and everyone. The kid is a gamer who has been overshadowed by Tim Tebow and Sam Bradford most of his college career. By all accounts, he’s a classy kid who has taken it all in stride, and good for him. But I think he’s hungry for something big. Colt will show up with his “A” game tonight, put the Longhorns on his back and lead them to victory. Hook ‘em.

Texas wins, 27-24.

--Tagged under: college football--

--Tagged under: college football picks--

--Tagged under: picks--

--Tagged under: bowl championship series--

by naternet December 30, 2009
Nate's Take - Holiday & Outback Bowls

This is a bit slapdash and last-minute, but I’m working on about four different deadlines at the moment in two different mediums, so gimmie a break.

Holiday Bowl

Arizona has a tough defense and a capable offense. Nebraska has a great defense and a piss-poor offense. This one’s gonna be ugly, one way or another. I’m not going to pick against Suh, though.

Nebraska wins, 8-7

Outback Bowl

This one’s going to be a bit of a sleeper. Both of these teams fight hard and are full of overachievers. I think it’s going to be very entertaining all the way through. Something tells me not to pick against Mike Kafka and the Wildcats.

Northwestern wins, 34-30

--Tagged under: college football--

--Tagged under: picks--

--Tagged under: college football picks--

--Tagged under: bowls--

by naternet December 23, 2009
Nate's Take - Pontsettia Bowl

Another busy day running around and accomplishing little with the in-laws means that I’m posting this last-minute pick for the Utah-Cal matchup in the Pointsettia Bowl from the backseat of a rental car somewhere in the exurbs of Omaha.

Anyway, both of these teams were very over-hyped to start the season. Utah lost a ton of major contributors from last year’s team. Cal had Jahvid Best and that was about it. Somehow, both of them managed to finished the season with winning records.

Cal was blown out multiple times by conference foes this year, including a season-ending 42-10 loss to Washington.

Utah lost badly to BYU and barely beat laughably bad Utah State.

That said, this matchup of misfits might just be entertaining. Both teams can score. Cal has a capable Shane Vereen to turn to with the dynamic Best out for the rest of the season. Utah still has quality WRs to throw to, if their freshman QB has time to find it.

In the end, though, Cal has the better athletes and more depth, which, if last year’s Sugar Bowl has taught us anything, means that Utah will blow them out of the water.

Utes win, 34-17

--Tagged under: college football--

--Tagged under: bowls--

--Tagged under: picks--

Adam's Take - Maaco/Las Vegas Bowl

This bowl is going to be a hell of a game for sure. Two high powered offenses facing off in the first big matchup of the bowl season.

To be honest, my first inclination is to pick BYU. The Cougars’ passing game is certainly cause for concern, but I don’t think I am giving the Oregon State defense enough credit. Prior to the Civil War game, the Beavers hadn’t given up more than 21 points since their loss to USC. In that same Civil War game, they played exception well against an Oregon team that I believe would shred the BYU defense.

All signs are point towards a very close game. Everyone knows BYU passing game is on point, but it may have escaped the minds of some people that the Cougars do have a 1,000 yard rusher. Harvey Unga is quietly had his third 1,000 yard season on this pass happy team. He’s a 240-pounder who could pose some problems for the Beavers in the same way LaGarrette Blount did when he was inserted into the Civil War game.

On the other sideline is the exceedingly impressive Oregon State offense. Sean Canfield is playing the best football of his life. If you shut down his No. 1 target James Rodgers, there’s always the other Rodgers brother, Jacquizz, to contend with.

Come game time, both defenses will struggle to contend with all the weapons the opposing offenses throw their way. We’re likely to see a lot of lead changes and a fairly high score. In the end the Beavs will have just a little more than BYU.

Oregon State Wins 35-31

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by naternet December 21, 2009
Nate's Take - Las Vegas Bowl

It’s always difficult to pick bowl games. Most teams have been off for almost a month, players have been on the banquet circuit, have been enjoying the holiday season and have been studying for finals. Their attention has been anywhere but on football.

But if there is one team over the last decade that have been able to maintain that razor-sharp focus going into a bowl game, it’s been Mike Riley’s Beavers. Oregon State has gone 6-0 since Riley returned as the head coach, including a brutal 3-0 win over Pitt last year.

As for BYU, after their signature win of the season, an opening game squeaker against Oklahoma, they faltered every time they faced a big-name team until their overtime win over rival Utah to close out the season. The Cougars are usually a solid team on both sides of the ball and should prove to be a challenge for the Beavers.

All in all, the Las Vegas bowl should prove to be the best of the pre-New Years bowls. Two well-coached, ranked teams facing off. My money is on the Beavers, because of their daunting schedule in the Pac-10. The Beavers faced more quality teams and have more quality wins than BYU. Oregon State took Oregon to the wire while BYU was crushed by TCU. Even more damning, BYU was blown out at home by a underachieving Florida State team.

BYU will be up for this game, but Oregon State just has more talent and you know that Coach Riley is going to have them ready for this game.

Oregon State wins 24-20.

--Tagged under: college football--

--Tagged under: bowls--

--Tagged under: beavers--

by naternet December 3, 2009
Our Best Guesses - Championship Weekend Edition

Nate - Once again, the college football regular season has gone by far too fast for my liking. For the regular season, my record rests at a respectable 41-29. It’s Championship and de facto championship weekend, so all of our picks are going to be either title games or games that are essentially title games.

Adam - A 4-1 record last week keeps me in winning form going into the Bowls. Things were looking shaky for my credibility after the first half of the season, but I’m back on track with some great games to play this week.

No. 5 Cincinnati at No. 15 Pittsburgh

Nate - Pitt lost a hard game last week against West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl and now has to face Cincy for what is, in effect, the Big East title game. You can bet that Pitt is going to be looking to lay the wood to the Bearcats after losing to their bitter rival.

Cincinnati, on the other hand, has escaped unscathed in each of their last three games, winning by a total of 12 points. The defense has been exposed as suspect, but the offense, now with more Pike, has been up to the task of simply out-scoring anything and anyone. Don’t think that the rampant rumors that head coach Brian Kelly is headed to South Bend after the season ends isn’t going to play a part here, especially since he hasn’t denied anything and refuses to even talk about the issue to his own players. That can’t be good for team unity.

As much as I like the Bearcats and Brian Kelly, I think Pittsburgh ends their streak right here.

Pitt wins, 38-35

Adam - Last week Pitt stopped a great offensive team in West Virginia but lost the game. This week, they face undefeated Cincinnati who are on their way to a BCS game. I see a similar game with just a few more points being scored.

Bearcats Win 27-24


No. 1 Florida vs. No. 2 Alabama

Nate - Will we finally see the fall of the Tebow child in a big game or will he continue to build on his inexplicable Heisman hype? (seriously, he’s not having that good of a season at all) Mark Ingram is going to try and go for Alabama, but their struggles against an attacking Auburn defense don’t make me hopeful that they can pull out a game against Florida’s defensive juggernaut, Carlos Dunlap or no.

Florida wins, 28-17

Adam - I would love very much for Alabama to spoil the final season of Tim Tebow’s career, but I don’t see that happening. Bama’s defense is great, but they had a tough time with Auburn Last week. I don’t think Florida will score even as much as Auburn, but Tebow and the Florida defense will find a way to win.

Gators Win 20-17


No. 3 Texas vs. No. 22 Nebraska

Nate - The Boy Wonder Colt McCoy vs. Big Suh. That’s essentially what this game grinds down to. The Huskers offense leaves so much to be desired, it’s not even funny. Why they haven’t lined up Suh at TE at least once or twice this year is beyond me. The intimidation factor alone would be worth it.

Texas’ defense was exposed last week against A&M, but I don’t think that Muschamp is going to let that happen again, especially against an offense that is anything but explosive. If Nebraska has any hope of fucking up the BCS, it’s in shutting down Colt McCoy for 60 minutes, like they did with Oklahoma. But McCoy hasn’t been shut down like that all season and I don’t expect it to happen in this game.

Texas wins, 24-14

Adam - Colt McCoy is catching fire at the right time, and that spells trouble for Nebraska. The Cornhuskers’ defense has been solid all year, but Texas can smell the BCS Championship game and there’s no way they’ll lose.

Longhorns Win 31-20


No. 10 Georgia Tech vs. Clemson

Nate - Excitement, thy name is the ACC title game. Both GT and Clemson come limping into this game after getting their butts whupped in rivalry games last week. This game should be frustration revenge meted out in quarter-lengths. Expect a lot of big hits, late hits, breathtaking runs and mouth punches. I don’t think that Clemson is man enough to stop Paul Johnson’s offense, and C.J. Spiller can’t play every position, even if he wanted to.

Georgia Tech wins, 31-20

Adam - Tech beat Clemson early on this season by just a field goal, and now they face off in the ACC title game. Clemson’s defense has looked vulnerable lately, and after their loss to South Carolina, I think the Tech rushing game is going to have a nice day. Clemson is going to need big plays on defense and special teams to keep this game close.

Georgia Tech Wins 35-24


No. 16 Oregon State at No. 7 Oregon

Nate -  Autzen Stadium at night. The Rose Bowl on the line. The Civil War. Retina-burning uniform colors. Micro-brew drunk fans. I can’t imagine a better game to kick off championship weekend than this.

We have two high-powered offenses coming in at full strength. Two capable defenses who play opportunistic football but are not shut-down caliber. With the bitter rivalry angle, everything is lined up for a big time shootout. Do not be surprised to see sluggo LaGarrette Blount make a surprise appearance at some point and run over a few Beaver defenders. Chip Kelly has shown that he is nothing if not innovative and that would be one hell of a wrinkle to pull out in a game like this. In the end, I think that Oregon has just too much firepower to lose this game.

Oregon wins, 48-45

Adam - I’m gonna call this one like most of the recent Oregon games. Their defense will surrender plenty of points to the Beavers, especially with the way the Oregon State offense is playing, but the offense of the Ducks is just too damn good. Add to that, that Oregon is playing at home and you have a trip to the Rose Bowl.

Ducks Win 45-41

--Tagged under: picks--

--Tagged under: college football--

by adamrc October 4, 2009
NFL Week 4: Favre's Revenge

I’m 9-1 so far this year, showing that I am much more credible when it comes to NFL picks. These are a little late, but the early games aren’t over yet. I assure you I wrote these yesterday, but just forgot to post them.

Detroit at Chicago There’s not much to write about this, except to say that I am the official Chicago Bears homer of Fourth and Blog. The Bears are heavily favored at home with the Lions coming off their first win in 19 games. Matt Forte is still having trouble getting going and the receivers have yet to make a big difference in the offensive attack. The good news for the Bears is that the defense is playing great in the absence of Brian Urlacher, and Jay Cutler has proved in the last two weeks that he is the type of leader that the team has been missing for so many years. This should be an easy win for them. Chicago Wins 31-17

Baltimore at New England The Ravens are undefeated so far, riding the strength of their defense and the solid play of second year quarterback Joe Flacco. New England is struggling a bit, but they finally incorporated Fred Taylor into the offense last week, and they will certainly need to do that again in order to beat Baltimore. Tom Brady and Randy Moss have yet to find their rhythm, and Brady still looks tentative in the pocket. This Baltimore defense is not who you want to be going up against when you are not feeling sure about yourself. Brady will get pressured early and often. The Ravens should have a balanced offensive attack against the New England defense, which just isn’t the same with out Richard Seymour. Ravens Win 22-17

NY Jets at New Orleans This is the game of the week in my opinion, with the No. 1 ranked defense of the Jets going against the high powered passing game of the Saints. If there is any aspect of the Jets defense to exploit it’s the secondary. It’s not that the d-backs are bad, it’s just the the front seven is their strength and the Saints passing offense is so damn explosive. The pass rush just might be the only thing that can save the Jets. I think they’ll slow the Saints down, but still won’t be able to score enough to win. _Saints Win 35-24 _

San Diego at Pittsburgh Another great matchup pits the Chargers and Phillip Rivers against the defending Super Bowl Champion Steelers. Without Troy Polamalu, the Pittsburgh defense isn’t quite as stellar as it could be. LaDanian Tomlinson could be back, which is huge for the Chargers because Darren Sproles is most definitely not capable of shouldering the load of a starting running back. Phillip Rivers and Antonio Gates are playing great, but without Tomlinson, they won’t beat the Steelers. That being said, LT will certainly have some rust to knock off. Pittsburgh is a veteran team that understands how important for them to win this game. It’s going to be tight the entire way, but the Steelers will edge out San Diego. Steelers Win 17-13

Green Bay at Minnesota Aaron Rodgers and the Pack come to town in Brett Favre’s first game against Green Bay since leaving the team two seasons ago. Favre showed last week that he still has some heroics left in him, orchestrating a come from behind win. Both teams have excellent defenses, so I don’t think either will be a difference maker. Aaron Rodgers and Adrian Peterson are everything to their respective teams, and AP is due for a huge game. The Packers’ passing game is better than Minnesota’s, but the system of intermediate passes and screens mixed with AP is a formula that will get them the win at home. Vikings Win 34-27

NFL Games of the Week

I’m back with NFL picks after taking a week off due to an impromptu drunken camping trip. I was 5-0 with my week one picks, although sometimes the most interesting games aren’t so tough to call.

Atlanta at New England I was guilty of predicting that the Patriots would return to pre-Brady Rule form this season, but Tom, The Hoody, and the rest of the boys aren’t looking so super-human after all. Making matters worse for an offense that has failed to meet expectations, Wes Welker and Randy Moss are listed as Questionable. Let us also not forget that the Pats have no real running back. Pick a guy and go with him!

Atlanta is looking like a serious contender. I see no glaring weakness on offense with Matt Ryan totally living up to expectations, Michael Turner being the beast that he is and Tony Gonzalez complementing two already great receivers. The defense has been great up to this point and the only other team in the division that this team needs to worry about is New Orleans. Falcons get a big win in Foxboro. Falcons Win 27-17

Tennessee at NY Jets Rex Ryan has walked into New York and made the Jets the top defense through the first two games of the season. It’s not a big surprise considering his pedigree, but Mark Sanchez has been impressive and Thomas Jones is supposed to be acting much older than he is playing.

Tennessee is a disappointing 0-2 and face another tough matchup in the Jets. Kerry Collins is a fine QB, but Vince Young needs to be in there. The running game is about the only thing that doesn’t need fixing. The Meadowlands was rocking last weekend and it is likely to happen again as fans sense they have a contender on their hands. Jets Win 20-13

Kansas City at Philadelphia The story in this game is obviously the injury to Donovan McNabb and the return of Michael Vick. Vick won’t be backing up Kevin Kolb, but he will play and that is exciting news for Philadelphia fans, with news that Brian Westbrook might not play.

The Chiefs look like they may not be all that better than they were a year ago. They shockingly put up 24 points in a loss to Baltimore in week one, but promptly turned around and lost to the Raiders last week. Matt Cassell and the running game are struggling, and until the offense gets going this team is dead in the water. Eagles Win 35-17

New Orleans at Buffalo The Saints offense is crazy friggin’ good. Reggie Bush and Lance Moore haven’t even been that involved in the offense up to this point. Dropping 45 on Detroit is no surprise, but when you come out and put up 48 against the Eagles that is impressive. It’s amazing how little people talk about Drew Brees. After his six touchdown performance in week one writers and fans barely batted an eye.

Buffalo regrouped after that tough loss to New England with a win against Tampa. Fred Jackson is playing well in the absence of Marshawn Lynch, but T.O. is still dropping too many passes; taking away opportunities from Lee Evans, who can actually catch the ball. The secondary for the Bills is pretty good, but nothing can stop the Saints passing game. Saints Win 41-24

Chicago at Seattle Jay Cutler settled down in week two and led the Bears to a big win against the defending Super Bowl champs. The wide receivers are still developing and Matt Forte has yet to do anything this season. The offensive line really needs to play better if the running game is ever going to get going. The linebackers are hurting big time, but the Bears defense will be fine as long as they can get decent play from the secondary.

It’s looking more and more like Matt Hasselbeck is not going to play this week and that is great news for the Bears defense. Seneca Wallace is elusive, but is not even half the passer as Hasselbeck. The Seattle defense also has some injury problems, so it’s looking like home field advantage is going to be the ‘Hawks best weapon. They lose to a rejuvenated Bears team. Bears Win 24-13

--Tagged under: nfl--

--Tagged under: football--

by naternet August 7, 2009
College Football Preseason Top 25 / Hello Tumbleverse

It’s been a long 7 months, but it’s finally upon us; the 2009 College Football season is just weeks away. I can feel the tingling starting in my toes. By the time that fall camp is in full swing, I’ll barely be able to control myself. Fall is already my favorite time of the year. The colorful leaves, the crisp air, nostalgia abounds. But to add the start of the college football season to that, it’s magical. I can’t really describe how happy it makes me. I’m smiling just thinking about it. Honest.

In any case, this post is the start of my newest blog, which is a continuation of a thread of college football pick ‘em posts that I’ve been writing every week of the last few seasons on an old blog (a link to the archived posts will be to your left). I’ve noticed that there aren’t a heck of a lot of sports blogs on Tumblr. But, maybe I’ll find an audience among the hipster denizens and funny link-posters.

Being that the sure to be glorious 2009 season is just around the corner and that the Preseason Coaches Poll was released this morning, I figured that it’s time for me to roll out my own Preseason Top 25. Here goes:

  1. Florida - Their defense gets a year older and a year faster, they still have Tebow and their cadre of quarkbacks. Where else would they be but #1? Spurrier probably left them off his ballot in favor of Duke, though.
  2. Texas -  Sure, Sooners fans are going to be pissed that I put Texas over them, but I still think that Texas should have been in the National Title game last year.
  3. Oregon - Whoa!! Yes, Oregon. They have a new coach, some new receivers and a few new faces on the O-line, but trust me, they’re more explosive than even their space-age uniforms would suggest. I think that they have a shot at knocking off perennial Pac-10 champ USC this year. There, I said it.
  4. Oklahoma - They don’t lose much, but I think that the road will be a little more rocky for them this year. I’m not convinced that Sam Bradford won’t have trouble behind a relatively new offensive line.
  5. USC - Yes, USC. They round out the Top 5 because they simply have too much talent at every position not to. But they are breaking in a new QB, so there’s hope for the rest of college football yet.
  6. LSU - Les Miles will have his troops in Baton Rouge back on top of the SEC West again this year, Crimson Tide be damned.
  7. Penn State - Even though they have to replace the most talented threesome of WR’s in school history, I think that the Nittany Lions will get back to the Rose Bowl, at least. The Big Ten doesn’t look that impressive this year.
  8. Utah - They lose QB Brian Johnson, but not much else. Can Kyle Wittingham lead them to another BCS-busting 13-0?
  9. Ole Miss - Houston Nutt manages to make things work in a giggity giggity fantastic way every place he lands. In Oxford, he has more talent across the board than he did at Arkansas. Let’s see what he can do with it.
  10. Alabama - It’s not that I don’t like Nick Saban enough to put him higher, it’s just that I don’t like Nick Saban enough to put him higher.
  11. Oklahoma State - Mike Gundy’s team is going to surprise someone this year. It might be Texas, it might be Oklahoma, but they’re going to ruin someone’s season, you watch.
  12. Boise State - They return many of their starters from last year, including QB Kellen Moore. Their season opener with Oregon will tell us a lot about the kind of season they will have.
  13. Ohio State - Tyrelle Prior has had another offseason to get better. That’s not a good thing for the Buckeyes opponents. But I think that they still run into a few hiccups along the way.
  14. Oregon State - The Beavers have proved to be a tough, hard-nosed team for the past few years. Just ask USC.
  15. TCU - The Horned Frogs played Oklahoma tough last year and has a pretty easy non-conference schedule this year. Might be another undefeated season.
  16. Georgia - They have to replace Matt Stafford and Knowshon Moreno, so the first few games might be a bit rough. They’ll knock someone down a few pegs later on in the season, though.
  17. Cincinnati - Brian Kelley seems to be able to make chocolate cake out of dogshit for the Bearcats. They went through six QBs last year and still won the Big East. Imagine what he can do with a healthy QB for an entire season.
  18. Georgia Tech - The triple-option is back in major college football. I, for one, am happy with this development. The Yellow Jackets are going to annoy the shit out of a few teams and roll right over others this year.
  19. Notre Dame - They have the talent at every specialty position (Jimmy Clausen at QB, three talented RBs, Michael Floyd and Golden Tate at WR and Kyle Rudolph at TE), their defense is young and deep, the schedule is pretty vanilla, this is all going to come down to whether or not their offensive line decides to show up.
  20. Texas Tech -  Mike Leach will plug another unheralded QB into his system and come out with the most potent passing offense in the land, again.
  21. Iowa - The Hawkeyes pounded their way through the Big Ten last year with decent results. They knocked off high-flying Penn State, even. If they can find another big, bruising RB to hand off to, watch out.
  22. BYU - Lightweight conference + veteran QB + power running game = success.
  23. Nebraska - Big Red is slowly but surely crawling back into relevance in the Big 12. Look for them to represent the North in the title game come December.
  24. North Carolina - Butch Davis has talent and now that they’ve had a couple of years to mature and gel, this will be a team to be reckoned with.
  25. Miami - The Hurricanes are being rebuilt the right way, with hard work and talent. They might be one more year away from competing on a Top 10 level, but they’ll surprise some people this year.

So, there it is. I’ll be back periodically before the season starts to weigh in on this and that. I’ll also be sharing links and other points of interest that I run across. Enjoy!

--Tagged under: top 25,--

--Tagged under: college football--

--Tagged under: lists--

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