The sun is shining much more brightly this morning that it was this time last week. Instead of a last second escape, Mizzou grabbed the lead 8 seconds into the game when Carl Gettis returned a fumble 19 yards on the games first play. Where the Tiger abandoned the run last week, Saturday they rushed the ball 38 times for 236 yards. Blaine Gabbert was solid if not spectacular. It was a good win for the Tigers who now get to take a week off as they prepare for the conference opener on October 9th when the Colorado Buffalos come to Columbia.
Another tough week for me as far as picking the point spreads. I was 7-1 straight up but once again below .500 as I went 2-4 against the spread. For the year I'm 37-5 straight up but 16-19 if I were a betting man. One of my wins came down in Houston where Baylor rebounded from the previous weeks pounding at the hands of TCU. I'd picked them to cover the 7 1/2 point spread by beating the Owls 38-13. The final score was Baylor 30-Rice 13. Combine that with my pick for Mizzou to cover as 19 point point favorites over Miami, which they did and we have my 2 lone wins for this week.
There were 2 games this week that had no lines for them. Winless South Dakota State traveled to Lincoln to face the undefeated Huskers, who I, along with others, had possibly prematurely annointed as the favorites in the north division and possibly the Big XII conference. I'd picked the hicks to win this game 52-6. However, this was a game until the end as corn nation escaped with a 17-3 win that left head coach Bo Pelini "embarrassed" after the game. Nebraska is now off until October 7th, when they open conference play with a Thursday night game in Manhattan against the Kansas State Wildcats. That's got the possibility of being a very good game which could go a long way toward determining who wins the division. You can't say it's must win for either team but the loser is absolutely going to be in a hole. The other game with no line this week was in Ames, where the Cyclones hosted Northern Iowa. I had the 'Clones winning 31-13 and the final was 27-0. Seriously though, who gives a shit?
Speaking of Kansas State, they opened as 6 1/2 point favorites at home over the Central Florida Golden Knights. The game was played in a driving rainstorm and also stopped for close to an hour due to lightning. I had the Cats winning this one comfortably 35-21 but they were forced to rally in the 4th quarter for 2 touchdowns to come from behind for a 17-13 win. They now will be able to concentrate on that Thursday night matchup against the Huskers. The question is, if you have 11 days to prepare for a game, who would you prefer to have game planning. Bill Snyder or Bo Pelini? hmmmmm
In lawrence, the jayhawks opened as 22 1/2 point favorites over hapless New Mexico State. I'd seen nothing yet to convince me that the beaks would be able to score 23 points, let alone win by that many. However, ku mounted another big game to keep the Aggies winless, pulling away to a 42-16 win. Next Saturday the hawks take their show on the road to Waco with a match up against Baylor.
I had a feeling that Texas would drop this year, but I confess I don't know what to think about them. They opened as a 16 1/2 point favorite at home against the Bruins of UCLA. I think that Rick Neuheisel is just a terrible coach and that the whorns would be wanting to show that it wasn't time to be gifting the south title to Oklahoma just yet. However, UT fell flat on their collective faces as the Bruins pounded them 34-12. Next week it's the annual Red River Shootout as they meet the Sooners in Dallas for the annual contest to decide the south division.
Speaking of the Sooners, they traveled to Cincinnati as 16 point favorites over the Bearcats who have watched the progress they made the last few years leave with the departure of coach Brian Kelly, who has to be wondering why the hell he wanted to go coach at Notre Dame today. This was by far the best effort Cincy has given this year, at least against Division 1 competition as they took the Sooners to the wire before OU escaped with a 31-29 win. I assume that the team was looking ahead to the match up next week in Dallas, but really, who can be sure. OU has had 3 lackluster victories in 4 games, but they just keep winning.
That's all I have for this week. Since we have a Thursday night game this week as A&M travels north to Stillwater, I'll try to get my picks out by Thursday morning. It's a crisp day in KC, and autumn is definitely in the air. Hope your week gets off to a good start and I'll see you later.
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