WILD WEEKEND WRAP UP

If you noticed, we took a pretty aggressive approach to last Saturday's games, going with several Upset Specials. Sometimes you have to depart from the safe and predictable and follow the old mantra, "no guts, no glory."

Tracking success

Obviously, our results were less than desired but we did hit on three Upset Specials to more than make up for some of the misses. So, you got to feel good about that, right?

And some of our misses came pretty close to being wins (20-17, 23-21). But as we've always said, close only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades.

Anyway, our Nifty Chart™ on the right is still looking pretty good with a lot more football to be played.


The Good

The headliner game was #6 Georgia on the road to Columbia where they fell, as projected, to Spurrier's Gamecocks. When you give the Old Ball Coach a couple of weeks to plan and he has his back to the wall, watch out. That's why we felt pretty good about this Upset Special.

In another Upset Special, Georgia Tech failed to cover the spread and Georgia Southern came pretty darn close to embarrassing the Bees on the Flats. For Paul Johnson's sake, let's hope he fares better in ACC competition. If not, CPJ may be departing Bobby Dodd Stadium sooner than he might like (more on that in our Coaches Hot Seat feature).

When we called the Hogs, they came a running as the Arkansas Razorbacks upset the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 49-28. The Hogs ran wild with 438 rushing yards so it appears that the Arkansas offense is starting to fully adopt Bielema's Wisconsin run philosophy (last week the Hogs rang up 495 rushing yardage).

Duke whipped Kansas 41-3 in another standout win for the ACC over a non-conference foe. Rumor has it that Jayhawk coach Charlie Weis left at halftime for the Shoney's buffet.

The Bad

Coin toss boo boo

The #12 Bruins survived their trip to Texas but possibly lost their talented quarterback, Brett Hundley, for a couple of games with an elbow injury. Key highlight of the game was the botched pre game coin toss when Texas opted to play defense in the first half after UCLA elected to defer. Oops. Make that a big oops since one more possession could have made a difference in this 20-17 game.

We missed on the Tennessee-Oklahoma game when the #4 Sooners covered the spread. Tennessee was no match for Oklahoma's defensive line and Vol quarterback Worley will be spending the next four days in an ice tub courtesy his offensive line. Hopefully he'll be ready to head to Athens in a couple of weeks to take on the mutts.

The Cavaliers upset Louisville 23-21 when they converted a fumbled punt into a winning field goal. But UVA pretty much controlled the flow of this game for most of the day, and the win may quiet the posse that wants to run Mike London out of Charlottesville (another Hot Seat candidate).

The Ugly

Boston College beats #9 Southern Cal. Really?  Oh come on, Men of Troy! Was the cross-country flight really that bad? It must have been since BC rolled up 452 rushing yards to USC's measly 20 yards. You read that right!  Score another big win for the ACC (last week's VT over Ohio State) as this often overlooked conference is building some credibility beyond Florida State.

Have a Winning Week!