"We Don't Even Have To Have A Reason"

Sigs discussing the rules of the "shamble" format

Smack Daddy (and Mrs. Daddy) will be heading to St. Augustine, FL on Friday to participate in the 6th Annual Sigma Chi Golf Outing, to be held this year at the World Golf Hall of Fame.  Over the first five years of the one-day tourney, brothers in our chapter (and honored guests) have helped raise over $40,000 for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's research, and the John Huntsman Foundation for cancer research.  5-day forecast calls for a 50% chance of thunder showers at the "Slammer & Squire" course.  Here's hoping the inclement weather holds off until the four foursomes are able to finish.

Usually Alabama and LSU hook up for a football game during our stay in Florida.  This year the Crimson Tide have a bye week coming to them, much-needed after all the stress of beating up on Tennessee.  But there's lots of other football to be played, though I won't be able to watch much of it.  Here's what I think will happen this weekend in my absence from the TV.

Friday's Games

Oregon State mascot "Justin Beaver"

USC (5-3) at Oregon State (6-2).  Having beaten USC three of the last five meetings, Oregon State is favored to beat USC, and not just by a little.  The game will be played in cozy Corvallis (stadium capacity 45,674) where the Beavers have won five straight from the Trojans.  Yet this will be the second week in a row that OSU has faced a team with an exceptionally strong defense.  They were stymied by Stanford and now must face the PAC-12's #2 rated unit.  The difference is that State usually moves the football with relative ease, behind Sean Mannion (over 3,200 yds., 30 TDs, and only three INTs).  Southern Cal continue to struggle with inconsistency at QB and injuries to the receiving corps.  If the Beavers can stop the USC running game, they have an excellent chance at getting (and keeping) their offense on the field long enough to wear down the Trojan defense.  PICK:  Oregon State.

#3 South Portland vs. #6 Sanford.  Six teams from Western Maine Class A make the playoffs.  Top seed Bonny Eagle and 2nd seed Thornton get a first round bye.  The Riots have a second date with Sanford, having defeated the Spartans 21-10 just four weeks ago.  The red & white should be ready for an early Sanford strike, and are not likely to fall behind as they did during the first meeting between the two.  In the interim, QB Duncan Preston has been on a tear, earning Offensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts against Biddeford.  With Chase Eldredge throwing and Peter Hegarty running, Sanford has an impressive 1-2 punch, but not enough to outpace Preston and RB Joey DiBiase.  The Riots give up an average of 26 points/game to Sanford's 22, but the Spartans have been held to ten or fewer points on four occasions this season.  The rematch should turn out about the same as the original.  PICK:  South Portland.

Rogers (4-4) vs. Puyallup (5-3).  Rams wrap up the regular season with cross-town rival Vikings.  Both teams own wins over Spanaway Lake, Emerald Ridge, and Bethel.  Both teams also lost to Curtis in close matches.  Puyallup beat three teams with wins over Rogers (Beamer, Federal Way, and Graham-Kapowsin).  Both teams score about 37 points a game, but Rogers allows 40 while Puyallup allows 27.  On paper this should be a Viking win (two words which don't appear together very often).  The Rams' best chance at an upset will be for QB Grayson Madland to get off to a torrid start.  Puyallup's will be to overwhelm the Rogers defense, which Ram opponents have been doing much of the year.  PICK:  Puyallup.

Saturday...while I'm on the links

D-III humor:  Hobart or William Smith?

Union (2-5) vs. #7 Hobart (6-0).  Garnet return to Schenectady heartbroken after letting another tough one slip away last week.  Things aren't bound to get much better as they host the undefeated and 7th-ranked Statesman this week.  Hobart is outscoring opponents by an average of 23 points, running about 70% of its plays on the ground, yet QB Patrick Conlan has thrown for nine TDs.  Their leading rusher is Steven Webb with nearly 150 yds./game.  The defense is holding opponents to under 4 yds./rush and has allowed only three TDs through the air. With 13 seniors on the roster, experience will be a key factor against the young Dutchmen.  Oh, and they were dropped from #6 to #7 in last week's D-III rankings.  PICK:  Hobart.

Air Force (1-7) vs. Army (3-5).  No amount of prodding succeeded in generating much trash talk among the service academy grads in my family.  So many reasons to pick Army, so few reasons to pick Air Force.  If only the Falcons weren't using quarterbacks discovered in P. E. classes, they might be able to pick on a Black Knight defense that can't stop the pass.  Army's QB Angel Santiago is questionable with a bad ankle, so their last-in-the-nation aerial attack will be unreliable to say the least.  Their running game is slightly better than Air Force's, but part of that comes from Santiago.  Could we see a game with no passes thrown at all?  Home field (at altitude) will be the deciding factor.  Predicting a strong second half surge for the Falcons, in what may be their final chance at a win this season.  PICK:  Air Force.

Navy (4-3) at Notre Dame (6-2).  Another service academy appears on the pre-holiday menu for the Fighting Irish.  This time it's Navy's triple option, a higher-octane version of that which the Irish contained to 339 yards against Air Force, thank you very much.  But after a scoring a modest 24 points against Pitt, the Middies are due for their offense to put up a big number.  Sorry, it won't happen against Notre Dame, which also held Southern Cal to just 10 points.  Suffering all of its losses on the road doesn't help Navy's cause either.  Long story short, it's a solid W for the Domers.  PICK:  Notre Dame.

BYU (6-2) idle; next 11/9 at Wisconsin.

Hokies in the huddle

Boston College (3-4) vs. Virginia Tech (6-2).  I actually took the time to look up what a Hokie is.  Apparently it was the creation of one O. M. Stull, Class of 1896, a senior when the school was known as the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College.  The name change to Virginia Polytechnic Institute brought with it the need for a mascot and team colors.  Young Mr. Stull came up with the winning "Hokie Cheer" and when asked what was a Hokie, replied that it was the sole product of his imagination.  So too were the colors Chicago maroon and burnt orange, which were unique back in the day.  As for this game, Tech is coming off an upset loss to Duke which dropped them out of the Top 25 after having risen as high as #16.  They are having trouble getting out of the blocks on offense, but their defense is solid.  Extra motivation may come from knowing they're but a half-game behind #7 Miami for the lead in the ACC-Coastal.  With The U taking on #3 Florida State, the Hokies can move into the fast track to a conference championship and possible BCS bowl.  That's all I need to know.  PICK:  Virginia Tech.

#2 Oregon (8-0) idle; next 11/9 at #5 Stanford.

Georgia State (0-8) vs. Western Kentucky (4-4).  Ladies and gentlemen, introducing coach Bobby Petrino.  Yes, that Bobby Petrino, who has the Hilltoppers playing pretty decent ball, especially on the offensive side.  RB Antonio Andrews already has 1,180 yards and 11 TDs rushing.  Xavious Boyd, with 73 tackles, leads the WKU defense which tops the Sun Belt conference.  After all, it's the Sun Belt so I'm afraid that doesn't mean much.  Except against the Panthers, who are experiencing a quarterback conversion after starting the season 0-8.  The only way Georgia State can log its first win is to force Western into a lot of turnovers, which is possible since they're already at a minus-13 in that department.  But the motivation will be with the Hilltoppers, as they still have an outside chance to wind up in a bowl game like they did last year.  PICK:  Western Kentucky.

Just Because I Can...

 

The 2013 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox!