2019-09-19 06:26

Another not so good pick day for me, thanks to some really bad executed plays.
But that's life I guess.

We are almost through with the non-conference-games-dominated gamedays and will hit the conference games time soon.
I wish this could be organized a bit different, so we don't have so many meaningless games, but most of those games are predefined for seasons.
And with so many teams in the FBS and with the allowance to play also FCS teams, scheduling is a mess.

I wish there would be some sort of relegation and promotion system, under fair circumstances of cause, then we would have a more interesting season.
But the system is as it is.

But ... eventually this will change, somehow.
You might have heard of this, California is on the way to pass a bill, which would allow college students to earn money with their names and so on.
The NCAA and alot of other people are against it, many students of cause do applause to it.

I think it, overdue but does not cover the right field of attention.
I think what will happen is, that some players will make money with this, not all, not most, just a few, the stars.
So this creates some sort of environment, which we have already in the pro leagues.
Super-QBs earn ALOT more than average special teamer, right?
So in the future a 5-star-power-5-QB in college will earn more than a walk-on-non-power-5-player.
Good of bad? Don't know, but it seems only to increase the privilege difference which already exists.

What is not covered is, that the system itself with all the players does create a lot of money and the universities don't know what to do with it.
Right now they spend it for more and more expensive training facilities and coaches.
Coaches do get 10 million a season, while a player gets in trouble when accepting a tattoo for free.

What is not covers is, whether those players are still amateurs of not and whether the teams and the organizations should be treated as those.
Because 1 major thing with all this is, the tax laws and the money which is right now moved from A to B, tax free.

Correct me, if I did miss something here, but I think the last word is not said in this manner.
And since only California did pass that law, this will likely mean, there will be restrictions, for other players and universities.

Regardless, the system is under fire and will have to adapt, somehow.

Let's see, how I went with my picks last week. (spoiler alarm, it went bad)

Here are 3 games as the BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 3

Sat. Sep. 14
#21 Maryland @ Temple
Maryland played bad, started with and interception, miss a field goal (so did Temple) and trailed 2-7 at the half.
The 2nd half was more entertaining, but still did Maryland play band, while Temple did adjust to their level.
At the start of the 4th quarter did Temple score a TD for the 20-15 lead.
Then did Maryland, after some 3-and-out-series, return a punt for 55 yards and started on Temples 4 yard line.
They got the the Temple 1 yard line and missed the 4th and goal punch.
Still almost 5 minutes to play and they have Temple right at their endzone, right?
Temple had to punt and that went only a few yards out of bounce.
Great, another chance!
A few plays later they did again suck again on 4th and goal from the 12 yard line and gave Temple the ball back.
Still over 2 minutes to play.
But Temple does good time management, did even allow a safety with time running out to secure the win.
Well played Temple, congratulation to Maryland for playing so dump.
Oregon of the east? Only in your dreams, young Padawan.
#21 Maryland 17 @ Temple 20 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 4-5

#24 USC @ BYU
Not the best day for USC football.
The 1st half was quite turnover prone and the teams did split with 17 each on the scoreboard.
USC had 2 interceptions until then.
In the 3rd and 4th quarter did both teams play quite equally, USC even did trail at some point, but were able to tie the game, stopped BYU and was unable to score afterwards.
So they went to overtime.
BYU did start and got hold to a field goal.
USC did get the ball, tried 2 runs and on 3rd and something did throw a bad pass, which was touched, somehow, and a BY player caught it.
Over.
A bad throw, period.
USC lost to a good, but not great, playing BYU team.
#24 USC 27 @ BYU 30 (OT) -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 4-6

#19 Iowa @ Iowa State
And this game ... was a horror from my point of view.
Not because of the quality of the game itself, but the circumstances.
They started, Iowa made a Field Goal and because of Lightnings it was delayed during the 1st Cyclones drive.
After 49 minutes they did continue, but early in the 2nd quarter the Lightnings did strike again and this time it did stay for longer.
After another 2 hours and 6 minutes the game did continue until the end.
In the time the players got sandwiches and had to sit it out, as the fans. Many did not return for the rest of the game.
Both teams did play as good as they could, unfortune was that at the end a bad executed punt coverage team (and in particular one player) did lead to a muffed punt by the Cyclones, which was recovered by the Hawkeyes and which did destroy the last chance to make some plays to eventually win the game.
Instead did Iowa win by 1 point.
That poor player will hopefully get the support by his teammates, since this can happen to everyone and anytime, only that such errors in crucial situations are more painful. (I have my share of such errors during my time playing football in Germany, too).
#19 Iowa 18 @ Iowa State 17 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 4-7

Other interesting games:

Fri. Sep. 13
North Carolina @ Wake Forest
Wake Forest did lead 21-0 at the half, but the Tar Heels did not give up.
With 6 minutes to play the Heels scored a TD to cut the Wake Forest lead to 3.
The Demon Deacons did come alive again and made at least a long drive to cap it with a field goal, so UNC had to go for a TD with a bit more than 1 minutes to play.
They tried, but Wake Forest did secure the win, 24-18.
I think UNC will be an opponent you don't want to play this season, and next season, who knows.
Mack Browns did brings some kind for stubbornness into the team and we might see some more nice games from them.
Jacks interesting games Score: 6-4

Sat. Sep. 14
NC State @ West Virginia
The game was tied at the half at 21, but in the 2nd half did the Mountaineers play a bit better than NC State and did slowly cruise away with a big win.
Not sure they will play as good the next few games, but at least this one is in the pocket, winning 44-27.
NC State did not look good on offense and defense, it will be interesting to see, whether they can play spoiler inside their division again, or not.
Jacks interesting games Score: 7-4

Florida State @ #25 Virginia
Florida State did play a good 1st half, or maybe Virginia a bad one, not sure.
Anyway, FSU did lead 14-10 at the half and then it fell apart.
They did try to secure the win, but failed to keep the Cavaliers in check and at the end they needed a TD to tie the game and were 4 yards away from the endzone, but failed to convert the last play when time ran out and lost 24-31.
Right now is Virginia the best chance to win their division as it seems, but I think they are miles away from Clemsons strength.
Jacks interesting games Score: 8-4

Other interesting results:
Kansas has beaten Boston College 48-24. So Les Miles has his 1st signature win, if you want to. Kansas was 20.0 point underdog. UPSET OF THE WEEK!
UCF did beat Stanford 45-27. Impressive win by the Knights.
Arizona State won against Michigan State 10-7. Until the 4th quarter the score was 3-0 Sun Devils. ASU did get the lead late in the 4th back and MSU did miss a 47 yarder to tie the game with time running out.
Kansas State won against Mississippi State 31-24. Nice win for the team under a new coach.
Eastern Michigan won against Illinois 34-31. Tough win for the Eagles.
The Citadel (FCS) won against Georgia Tech 27-24. Yellow Jackets do look bad this season.
Air Force won against Colorado 30-23 in OT. Falcons did score on their 1st play in OT and keep the Buffaloes out of the endzone.
Liberty won against Buffalo 35-17. Liberty got their 1st win that way.

And we continue with the preview for week 4.

I selected these 3 games as the BLOCK OF GRANITE GAMES FOR WEEK 4

Sat. Sep. 21
#7 Notre Dame @ #3 Georgia
The teams did play that game in 2017 at South Bend and Georgia won 20-19, Georgia did later win the SEC and lost the National Championship game against Alabama. Notre Dame did lose 2 more time in that season and won a bowl game against LSU.
Last season there was no game between both teams, but Notre Dame went unbeaten to the Playoff-Semi-finals, where they lost 30-3 to later National Champion Clemson, while Georgia did go 11-3 over the whole season, by losing just once in the SEC in regular season, lost against Alabama in the SEC Championship game and lost also their bowl game against Texas.
Before the Alabama game the team was ranked 4th and dropped to 5th after the loss, but did still feel they did belong into the semis, not Notre Dame.
Could be, but the committee did think different.
Now we have Georgia and Notre Dame facing off against each other again in Athens and this means, Georgia is highly favored.
It's 14.5 points, which is really a lot.
Notre Dame won so far 2 games, Louisville and New Mexico, which both were OK, but not really a proof of strength, while Georgia did beat Vanderbilt, Murray State (FCS) and Arkansas State. Also not very impressive.
So, in theory this can go either way, regardless the betting line.
Both have experienced QBs, but have good coaches.
College gameday will be present, so expect a media circus.
What will make likely the difference is the lack of a running game on Notre Dames side, and their QB will have to compensate this by doing it by himself.
On a perfect day, this might be enough and Notre Dame can survive this, on any other day this will lead to some sort of error(s) and Georgia will prey on that.
I'm not confident to see an upset here.
Bulldogs win.

#8 Auburn @ #17 Texas A&M
And SEC battle which will shape up the SEC West.
Auburn wins? They will be in the mix (at least for a while) to hunt Alabama.
A&M wins? They will be suddenly the spoiler team nobody wants to play.
A&M is favored by 3.5 points, so everyone does expect a close game.
Auburn has Oregon, Tulane and Kent State as wins in their list, Texas A&M won against Texas State, Lamar (FCS) and lost by 14 points against Clemson on the road.
I guess that Clemson game does give A&M some sort of reputation.
Both coaches do know such games, I do trust Fisher more than Malzahn, so I lean for A&M here.
Aggies win.

#11 Michigan @ #13 Wisconsin
Maybe the most fun game this weekend, having Michigan traveling to Madison, Wisconsin and getting a big dose of BIG10 football.
The Badgers are 3.5 point favorite and will play against A Wolverines team, which did struggle against supposed-to-be-less-strong-opponents.
They needed some effort to win against Middle Tennessee and even more to win against Army at home in OT.
Wisconsin on the other side did destroy South Florida and Central Michigan by allowing ZERO points in both games.
Both teams are not very strong, but this did for sure made some impressions.
Honestly I don't think Michigan will be a big factor they were the past few seasons.
Something is missing and of cause they might find it and then they can play catchup in their division, or they do lack something deeper and will play mid-level-football.
I think it is the later one.
Wisconsin is favored to win their division and right now they do look legit.
Playing at home does add to that, so I go with the Badgers.
Badgers win.

Other interesting games:

Fri. Sep. 20
#10 Utah @ USC
Utah is right now favored to win the PAC12 South so if USC wants to have a say in that division title race, they better win this, at home.
Unfortunately they did play not so well so far, lost last week against BYU on the road, while Utah did beat their state-rival on the 1st gameday also on the road.
Can USC recover or not, that is the question.
I don't think this is done game, USC will fight, especially at home.
Utah will also fight and they are favored to win, by 4.0 points.
I can not believe USC will let this slip, so I stick with them to upset Utah at home.
Trojans win.

Sat. Sep. 21
Oklahoma State @ #12 Texas
Texas is favored by 6.0 points here, even while they are 2-1, while OSU is 3-0.
OSU had played so far no real signature game, Texas did, and lost against LSU at home.
Can both teams win here, sure.
Oklahoma State can score 50+ points, if all goes right.
But can they hold Texas from scoring also 50+ points?
Not sure.
In the past the Cowboys were a bit soft on defense, and I think Texas will score a bit more than OSU, hence ...
Longhorns win.

#16 Oregon @ Stanford
I was not sure to take this game, but it is a good match and it might have deep consequences for the PAC12 North, so I took it.
Both teams did so far not deliver what was advertised.
Oregon lost to Auburn on season opener (and won 2 cupcake games afterwards) and Stanford did lose 2 in a road on the last 2 weekends, UCF and USC.
Oregon is favored by 10.0 points and that might become true.
I do trust the Stanford coaches to turn things around to the better, but so fast and so good?
No. I guess Oregon will be too fast and too good at this time.
Ducks win.

Don't forget your Pick'em picks.

'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

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