Game 12: Louisville

Need to make this quick.

You know what's on the line tonight. It's the defacto Big East championship game. Winner goes to a BCS bowl.

Rutgers on Offense
They need to trust Gary Nova and stop being so conservative. Jawan Jamison should be fully healthy today, and he and Huggins should both get double digit carries against Louisville's poor run defense. It would be nice to come out throwing early to get a lead and then run latter, but who knows what mode Brock will be in tonight.

Rutgers on Defense
The Scarlet Knights need to get pressure on Bridgewater. He has a bum ankle, so force him out of the pocket, where he shouldn't be as effective. Louisville runs the ball up the gut well, so they need to hold double teams on the line and allow the linebackers to make plays.

It's also worth mentioning that Louisville doesn't exactly play great special teams so Rutgers should take advantage of that.

Prediction Louisville 13 Rutgers 17
The stars are aligned for a Rutgers win. No excuses, just do it!

Know Your Opponent: Louisville

Louisville visits Piscataway today, in what is the Scarlet Knights' biggest home game since the Thursday night thriller in November 2006 that saw Rutgers upend the #3 Cardinals 28-25 in dramatic, come back fashion. This 2012 Louisville team has a lot of similarities as the 2006 team. Teddy Bridgewater is the hot shot quarterback, just like Brian Brohm, Charlie Strong is their highly regarded head coach who will have some job offers come his way after the season, similar to Bobby Petrino, and the team is trying to overcome the loss of their starting running back, Senorise Perry, who went down with a season ending leg injury, similar to when the Cards lost Michael Bush. Where this team differs though, is in their youth. Their roster is full of juniors and sophomores, and that could be a problem for them this week. Not only do they have to deal with the typical road game things, they must deal with a number of outside distractions as well. The school just announced that it will join the ACC in two years yesterday, and they will also have to deal with the rumors that their head coach's name is being brought up for other jobs. Once they put the pads on and enter the field though, these distractions might go away. But hopefully they will continue to follow the 2006 team's path and lose a Thursday night game On the Banks.   

Louisville So Far
The Cardinals are coming off consecutive losses to Syracuse and Connecticut. Prior to that, they won their first nine games of the regular season, beating arch rival Kentucky, Missouri State, North Carolina, Florida International, Southern Miss, Pittsburgh, South Florida, Cincinnati, and Temple along the way to becoming the 9th ranked team in the country prior to those losses. 

Coaching
Louisville was the school that finally gave Charlie Strong a chance. After being passed over for numerous head coaching opportunities in the past, Strong had finally landed a coveted head job for the Cardinals. It was quite confusing as to why it took so long (some people think race played a factor), since he had such an impressive resume. Strong had coached under Lou Holtz at Notre Dame and South Carolina (where he invented the 3-3-5 defense), and he was also the defensive coordinator for two national championships teams at Florida under Urban Meyer. Since taking over at Louisville, he has made people regret not hiring him. Strong got the Cardinals' program back on track after some lean years, going 23-14 in his almost three full seasons, while also building strong recruiting ties for the school in Florida. He has also proved to be well organized and always well prepared, while still doing a good job coaching the defense. SEC schools may come after him when the year is over, but whether or not he will jump ship remains to be seen. I personally think he will stay at Louisville.

Offense 40th in PPG, 90th yards per carry, 16th in pass efficiency, 34th in yards per play
Teddy Bridgewater is the toal package at the quarterback position, and he has been by far the best offensive player in the Big East this year. He has nice size, a big time arm, impressive accuracy, and is athletic enough to be effective out of the pocket as both a passer and a runner. However, he comes into this game with a broken left wrist and sprained ankle, so it remains to be seen if his health will be an issue tonight. Upfront, Louisville is led by center Mario Benavides, who is very nimble and light on his feet and a very good all around blocker despite possessing average size. The rest of the offensive line is pretty much the polar opposite of him. They are very big and strong, but do not move very well at all. The Cardinals' o-line is capable of delivering punishing straight ahead blocks in the run game, but their lack of athleticism hampers them in pass protection, and Bridgewater has been his a lot this year, last week in particular. Top tail back Senorise Perry suffered a season ending injury earlier this month against Syracuse, and power back Jeremy Wright has taken over as the work horse since then. DeVante Parker is the big play threat at receiver, beating teams as a vertical threat, and three other receivers have at least 27 receptions.

The Cardinals run a mostly pro style offense with some spread concepts mixed in. They primarily try to run the ball right at you, down hill out of power formations and some pistol sets. Through the air, Louisville runs a ton of play action, getting Bridgewater out of the pocket on boot legs, and also taking numerous shots down field. At times, they have also spread some defenses out and beat them with the short passing game.They shift around a lot and send a lot of guys in motion, so you need to be prepared for that and know if or how moving guys affects your assignment. With Bridgewater's broken wrist, he will not be able to take snaps from under center, so they may run less play action as a result, and he could also have trouble handing the ball off on runs to the right.

Defense 44th in PPG, 75th in yards per carry, 48th in pass efficiency, 40th in yards per play
Louisville runs a 4-3 defense with a single high free safety, and they like to blitz. A lot. They play mostly zone coverages behind the blitzes, and will sometimes even drop guys from the line back into coverage. Their top defender is strong safety Hakeem Smith, who is a hard hitting safety that plays down in the box to stop the run and play underneath coverages. Their linebacking corp. is led by Preston Brown, who leads the team in tackles, and these guys bring a lot of pressure both up the middle and off the edge. They have a defensive line that is big up the middle and quick on the edges, and end Lorenzo Mauldin leads the team in sacks. Louisville is not very good at stopping the run, though. They are fooled by misdirection plays, and they get knocked off the ball too easily when teams run up the gut. If you run the ball well against them like Cincinnati did, you can frustrate them, and when they are frustrated, they give up big plays, especially on deep balls. When they play cover 3, the intermediate middle area of the field is often left open, and teams exploit that with skinny post patterns. The unit has been very inconsistent all year, and had near melt downs in the final minutes against both USF and North Carolina. This defense has posted solid overall numbers, but they appear to be a bit of a paper tiger. Syracuse really embarrassed this group a few weeks ago, and the book on how to beat them appears to be out.

Conclusion
Louisville has a great offense and a mediocre defense that is capable of playing great or playing poorly, led by their defensive minded head coach, who has done a great job preparing his team. The Cardinals are a young, hungry team who has a had a great year, but they know there's still a lot on the line for them.This is the most talented team Rutgers will face in the regular season, but the Cards' lack of senior leadership could be a problem this week, as they are on the road and have numerous outside distractions to deal with.

Break Down of the Week: Rutgers Goes Old School to Stop Cincy

Rutgers has been a defense first time for quite a few years now. Greg Schiano was one of the top defensive minds in college football, and he used his fast, attacking style of defense to stifle opponents on his way to building Rutgers into a respectable program. He has moved on to the NFL, but the Scarlet Knights have kept that style of defense in place under Kyle Flood and new defensive coordinator Robb Smith. During Saturday's telecast of the Pitt game, analyst Joey Galloway mentioned one particular tactic they utilize to attack offensive fronts, defensive line slanting.

Before we go in depth with this slant technique  let's cover the basics. All defenses, no matter the front, assign a player to defend a gap. Some defenses ask their defensive lineman to defend 2 gaps, but most of the time, every lineman and linebacker is assigned to one specific gap. The area between the center and guard is the "A gap" on both sides. The gap between the guard and tackle is the "B gap" on both sides, and the gap between the tackle and tight end is the "C gap." The area outside of the tight end is the "D gap". In a base 4-3 defense like the one Rutgers plays, you will normally see the nose tackle play one of the A gaps with the middle linebacker playing the other, the three technique tackle in one B gap with an outside linebacker in the other B gap, and the defensive ends playing in the C gap on one side and the D gap on the other, and an OLB guarding the other C gap to the tight end side. It looks something like this:

Against Cincinnati two weeks ago, Rutgers played an outstanding game defensively. They shut the Bearcats down most of the day, but early in the third quarter, Cincy marched down the field to Rutgers' 6 yard line, where they were faced with a 4th and 1. Butch Jones decided to go for it, and Robb Smith dialed up something a bit different to confuse the Bearcats. He called for a throw back defense that that was prominent in '60's and 70's, the 5-2 monster with a defensive line slant. (Click to enlarge)

On the 4th down play, Cincinnati brings their 12 personnel onto the field (1 RB 2 TE), and Rutgers counters with their base (4-3) personnel. Cincy lines up with both TE's to the left out of their shot gun set and the Scarlet Knight defensive line shifts to the weak side of the formation. In the obvious run situation near the end zone, Rutgers brings both safeties up into the box, with Duron Harmon lining up in an outside shade of the tight end, assigned to the D gap and serving as the 5th defensive lineman for all intents and purposes. Lorenzo Waters is down in the box as an extra run supporter as well, playing on the weak side. Jamal Merrell is also lined up to weak side, acting as the monster in this front to the outside. Scott Vallone appears to be assigned to the play side A gap, while Steve Beauharnais is over the weak side A gap. Darius Hamilton (weak side) and Khaseem Greene (strong side) are over the B gaps. Marcus Thompson (weak) and Ka'Lial Glaud (strong) are over the C gaps, while Harmon is over the D gap, and Merrell and Waters are roaming free on the weak side. With this defensive alignment, Cincinnati thinks they have numbers to the strong side (left side in this case) of their formation, with 5 blockers (2 TE, 3 OL) against only 4 Rutgers defenders. They decide to run to the strong side of the formation, and they think if they are able to get a hat on a hat and a double team at the point of attack, they will easily pick up the first down with the basic inside zone run they call.

Rutgers Stumbles in Loss to Pitt 27-6

This game always had a weird vibe to it. Some people even thought this game was meaningless. It just seemed like a forgone conclusion that the winner of the Louisville- Rutgers game that was scheduled just a few days after this one would decide who earns the Big East's BCS bid. Louisville would take care of UConn, and the result of this game against Pitt would not matter at all. But as it is often the case in the Big East 2.0, things do not go as planned, and the Cardinals lost to the bottom feeding Huskies in triple overtime, and Rutgers blew their chances of securing an Orange Bowl berth if they would have simply just taken care of  a mediocre Pittsburgh team. They of course did not do that, and they got tripped up in another trap game, as they have so many times in the past. They came out flat, played about as poorly as they could of in all three phases of the game, and were thoroughly out played and out coached in a 27-6 loss to Pitt. Simply put, it was just another bad loss for a program that has become accustomed to such losses.

Rutgers was totally inept on the offensive side of the ball in this game. The play calling was just as conservative as it has been all year, and the players didn't exactly help matters with poor execution and penalties. Rutgers had some early success running the ball, getting some 4 and 5 yard carries, but Pitt started to load up to stop the run, and once that happened, Rutgers could not muster anything. Savon Huggins and Jawan Jamison had nowhere to run, and Dave Brock kept stubbornly pounding the rock up the middle, including on multiple third and longs. It seemed like they weren't really trying to score points and were just content to punt all the time, even when they had pretty good field position. They refused to put the game in Gary Nova's hands at all for some reason and on one of Nova's rare throws in the first half, he was slammed on his head and shoulder and had to miss a series. All in all, Rutgers had the ball 8 times in the first half and they punted it away all 8 times. They had 6 three and outs and a grand total of 48 yards going into the lock room at the half.

Trailing 21-0 a tht estart of the third, Rutgers finally decided to open things up a little bit. Nova was throwing the ball out of shot gun over the middle and he completed passes to Tim Wright and Paul Carrezola for a couple first downs. Huggins had just picked up another first down in Pitt territory on a 3rd and 2, but that run was called back on an Andre Civil holding penalty, and the drive ended with another punt. They continued throwing on their next drive, and Nova was hitting Tim Wright and Quoron Pratt over the middle for first downs, advancing into Pitt territory. Mark Harrison then caught a pass on an out route to set the Knights up on the goal line. Jamison burst into the endzone, but DC Jefferson was called for a hold (it was a good block and did not warrant a flag), negating the score. A pass interference penalty in the endzone got RU a new set of downs, and Brandon Coleman caught a touchdown toss from Nova on a post pattern from 11 yards out to make it 24-6. Kyle Flood decided to go for 2 to make it a 2 possession game, but the try failed. I did not like his decision, as the odds of making 3 straight 2 point tries are not very good, and you just need to take the point there. Dick Vermeil's chart agrees with me. It would end up not mattering though, because Rutgers couldn't do anything else on offense. Nova threw a bad interception on the next drive, and they just packed it in after that.

This offense has shown flashes of brilliance this year, and that makes the overly conservative play calling and penalties even more frustrating. They are capable of doing so much more, but they look like an FCS offense sometimes. You would think the coaches would realize that their stubborn offensive game plans are hurting the team, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The offense is pretty young, but the coaches need to put more faith in them at some point. You have to remember too that Kyle Flood is a rookie head coach, so hopefully he figures out what he's doing wrong with this offense, learn from it, and fix it.

The Scarlet Knight defense certainly did not play their best game either. They dominated in the first quarter, but were embarrassed in the second, so I guess it added up to a mediocre performance overall. On the opening series of the game, they appeared to set the tone with Scott Vallone and Jamil Merrell bringing Pitt tailback Ray Graham down in the backfield to force a punt. They yielded a first down reception to Mike Shanahan on the next series, but they were able to hold Graham in check, and they forced another punt. The secondary was locking things down as well, and Pitt couldn't convert any third downs in the opening quarter, and had three 3 and outs as a result. Things started rolling out of control in the second quarter, however. Tino Sunseri started attacking the flats with the Scarlet Knights bringing heavy pressure, and they were able to march down field with Shanahan finishing the drive off with a TD reception after Brandon Jones was fooled by a double move. Pitt moved the ball effectively on their next drive as well, but Marcus Cooper was able to stop a screen pass that almost went for a touchdown and Jamil Merrell recorded a sack when Sunseri held onto the ball too long to force Pitt out of field goal range.

Pitt was set up in great field position on their next possession, and they were able to advance the ball to the Rutgers two. Fortunately for the Knights though, the Panthers botched a snap exchange, and Logan Ryan was able to recover the loose ball. The offense could not flip field position at all, so the defense would be faced with bad field position again, and that problem was compounded by the fact that Khaseem Greene was flagged for targeting while covering the punt, on what looked like a clean hit to me. I think he led with his shoulder, but you can judge for yourself:

After another questionable penalty, this time Marvin Booker was called for roughing the passer when it appeared he let up before making contact, Graham was able to punch the ball in for a one yard score. Pitt got the ball back again with just over a minute left in the half, and they had a quick, efficient scoring drive that made the Knights look helpless. Ed Tinker caught a TD pass, and it looked like Rutgers' DB defending him could have knocked the pass down if he turned around. If he was able to do so, the Panthers would have been limited to a field goal. Instead, the Scarlet Knights went into the locker room down 21-0.

Rutgers could not stop the run early in the second half, and it led to a Pitt field goal that extend the deficit. Vallone made another big stuff on 3rd and run to force a punt at the end of the third quarter, and he came up with another big stop by getting a tackle for loss following Nova's interception early in the 4th. He was really Rutgers' lone bright spot on the day. They allowed Pitt to make another tack on field goal towards the end of the game.

It was a mediocre game overall for the defense. They dealt with poor field position all day, but they did not perform up to the lofty standards they have set for themselves. They were not awful, holding Pitt to less than 6 yards per pass attempt, while picking up some sacks, and doing ok against the run (despite giving up 3 or 4 long runs), but it was just not good enough. They only forced one turnover, and they had an abysmal second quarter. The defensive line played pretty well, but everyone else was...meh.

This was a typical trap game where Rutgers came out totally flat and lost to an opponent that they should have beaten (even though Pitt has talent and played a great game), as  they were probably looking ahead to their next game.The offense was downright terrible in every way, and the defense could not bail them out, as they merely turned in a mediocre performance and only forced one turn over. The coaches did a poor job in game planing and making in game decisions and adjustments, and the team looked very bad as a result. It was just an all around terrible game. Rutgers must pick themselves up and put in the necessary work to get ready for Louisville in the defacto conference championship game on short week and at home.

Additional Notes
-Jawan Jamison became the first Rutgers player to rush for over 1000 yards since Ray Rice did so in 2007. Congrats to him and his offensive line, that's a big accomplishment.

-With Connecticut's win over Louisville in triple overtime, Rutgers clinched at least a share of the Big East title, but the conference's BCS bid will still be up for grabs on Thursday. This is a big accomplishment, as the Scarlet Knights have never won the conference before, but it really won't feel like they won the conference unless they go to a BCS game. Think of it this way: if they have to share their crown with SYRACUSE, that lessens the accomplishment.

Game 11: Pitt

Rutgers comes into Heinz Field today, leading the Big East standings and only one win away from at least a share of a conference title. Kyle Flood has kept his team focused all year on "going 1-0 this week" and that focus will certainly be put to test this week, as there are numerous distractions the team has to deal with. The Big 10 news is certainly exciting, and what could be the biggest game in school history is just a few days away, but Rutgers needs to have tunnel vision and focus on a Pitt team that is just as capable of playing great as they are capable of playing like crap. The conditions are probably going to be poor, and there were 4 high school games played at Heinz Field on Friday, so Rutgers big advantage over Pitt, speed, could be neutralized a bit in this one.

Rutgers On Offense
Rutgers played pretty well last week against Cincy, (despite only scoring 10 points) after scuffling a bit in the middle portion of the season. Jawan Jamison is supposedly 100%, but with the conditions the way they are and based on how Savon Huggins played last week, Huggins could see the majority of the carries, pounding the rock inside. Jamison will certainly get his touches too, hopefully in space, but if the field is torn up, he could have problems cutting, especially with the ankle injury. The offensive line will need to play like they did last week, dominating in the run game and protecting the quarterback. Antwan Lowery has a big size advantage over Pitt's defensive line and he should bury people. Pitt's secondary gets torched often by big plays through the air, so if the Scarlet Knights can run effectively, Gary Nova should be able to connect with his receivers on some deep balls off play action. Miles Shuler should see some targets. Pitt's defense is very slow, so RU will hopefully use their superior speed to their advantage, even with the poor conditions.

Rutgers On Defense
Rutgers' defense has been dominant all year, and they need to keep it up after turning in the best effort they have in years last week against Cincinnati. First and foremost, Rutgers needs to stop the runs up the middle. Ray Graham has been pounding opposing defenses (including Notre Dame) into submission, and they need to hold him in check like they did last year. Khaseem Greene is going to need to shut down his brother. Rutgers should try to get one of their bigger defensive line groupings on the field, as Pitt has a massive offensive line, but if they are do not, they need to out quick them. Pitt can not protect the passer, so it is vital the Knights get a pass rush from their front 4. That would also allow them to drop more guys in coverage over the middle, where Tino Sunseri likes to throw to his big possession receivers. As Pitt does not have much of a vertical passing game, I would expect the safeties to play closer to the line than they normally do to stop the run and take away the intermediate passes. Sunseri has been good this year, but I think the defense can rattle him if they hit him and intercept a pass early on.

Injuries
Jamison is said to be a full go, and Andre Civil should play after missing last week. Kicker Kyle Federico is still out with a hip injury.

Prediction Rutgers 24 Pitt 17
I think Rutgers will have a very good day running the ball and will hit on a couple deep balls. My main concern is how the defense will stop the run. Graham may have some success running against them, and if that's the case, they must rattle Sunseri to make the Panthers one dimensional. The weather will not help the Knights, but their focus and senior leadership will be too strong to lose this game with so much on the line.

Know Your Opponent: Pittsburgh

Rutgers and Pitt are eerily intertwined in their recent histories. Former Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt was one of former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano's mentors, going back to their Chicago Bear days, when Schiano was Wanny's secondary coach. When Pitt fired Wannstedt, Rutgers was able to pick up three assistants from his coaching staff, and one of those assistants, Frank Cignetti,  was able to rebuiled Rutgers' broken offense and he, Brian Angelichio and Jeff Hafley were able to assemble two very good recruiting classes before all departing for the NFL. Gary Nova was originally committed to Pitt before flipping to Rutgers not long before signing day, and there's of course former Scarlet Knight QB Tom Savage, who transferred to Pitt this year, and is sitting out as he awaits the opportunity to compete for the starting QB job next year. Rutgers' star linebacker's brother, running back Ray Graham, stars for the Panthers and the two will square off for the fourth and final time of their collegiate careers. These two teams will face off Saturday for what will likely be the last time for the foreseeable future, as both programs are set to move on to greener pastures in the ACC and Big 10.

Pitt So Far
The Panthers are 4-6 this season, and they have been a streaky bunch. They were beaten by FCS foe Youngstown State in their opener, and they were promptly blown out by Cincinnati five days later. They rebounded by beating Virginia Tech and Gardner Webb, before going on another two game streak, dropping contests to Syracuse and Louisville. They ended the 2 game losing streak with another hot streak, topping Buffalo and Temple, and nearly knocking off Notre Dame, who is currently the number one team in the land, on the road in overtime. Pittsburgh was off last week after a Friday night loss to Connecticut.

Coaching Staff
Paul Chryst is Pitt's 3rd head coach since Wannstedt was fired after the 2010 season, and he is 4-6 so far as a head coach. Chryst was previously the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Wisconsin, and he has also coached under Mike Riley during two stints at Oregon State and with the San Diego Chargers as well. Chryst runs a physical, pro style offense, and he has one intention as a play caller: to run it down your throat. Despite being a run oriented coach, Chryst has been successful developing quarterbacks. He has done a nice job  resurrecting Tino Sunseri's career this year, and he also coached Russell Wilson, Scott Tolzien, and Derek Anderson. He has assembled a nice 2013 recruiting class so far, and he seems to be invested in Pitt for the long run, so he could have a bright future at the school.

Joe Rudolph is the offensive coordinator, and he was named to the position after Bob Bostad joined Greg Schiano's staff with the Buccaneers. Rudolph was an assistant with the Badgers along with Chryst, and he also coaches tight ends. Dave "Heathcliff''* Huxtable is the defensive coordinator, and he was also a former Badger assistant, coaching the linebackers. He runs a 4-3 defense with the Panthers.

*His middle name is not really Heathcliff, I just made that up.

Offense 71st in PPG, 95th in yards per carry, 8th in passer rating, 35th in yards per play
Pitt leans heavily on their rushing attack, and they can beat you with the play action pass if you sell out against the run. They come at you with a lot of two tight end sets, and power it right at you up the middle. They run mostly inside zone and power plays, with some counters and sweeps thrown in. They have two very good backs in Ray Graham and Rushel Shell. Graham is the best back in the Big East, and he has been on fire lately, as he appears to be fully recovered from the knee injury he suffered last year, after looking hesitant early in the season. Shell is a true freshman who had a monster game against Virginia Tech, but he has seen his carries diminish with Graham returning to form. Upfront, Pitt has a massive offensive line. They are very strong and can rush people around, but they aren't exactly the quickest group. Despite their run blocking prowess, they are amongst the worst in the nation at protecting the passer, and that's why their yards per carry rank is so bad. Tino Sunseri doesn't help matters, holding onto the ball for too long, but he has improved this year by leaps and bounds, and is one of the most efficient passers in the nation. Pitt throws mostly intermediate routes, and Sunseri has some solid weapons. Devin Street is his primary target, and he is a big, tough possession receiver. Mike Shanahan has a similar skill set as Street, but he is more of a big play threat. Pitt is also a very good screen team, with Graham running well in space.

Defense 31st in PPG, 58th in yards per carry, 35th in passer rating, 41st in yards per play
On defense, Pitt runs a 4-3 with a single high safety, and they do not blitz a whole lot. The unit is pretty slow as a whole and they lack experience, but they have turned in some impressive efforts, most notably against Notre Dame. Their best play is three technique tackle Aaron Donald, who is a bit undersized, but very quick. He can rush the passer from inside, and he can get around tackles to stop the run as well. The defensive line can get pushed around at times (like against UConn), and give up big chunks of yardage against the run. At linebacker, Pitt really does not have a stand out player. Their top linebacker is Eric Williams, and he is only 4th on the team in tackles with 44. Pitt's secondary is not very good either, giving up a lot of big plays. They've been torn up several times this year, and they are not helped at all by a pass rush. K'Waun Williams has displayed flashes of brilliance, but he is very inconsistent and red shirt freshman Lafayette Pitts is a talented player who has seen the field more of late. Schematically, Pitt does not do much. They play some man and some zone coverages, and usually bring the strong safety up to stop the run. The free safety stays back and plays center field at all times. This is not a very good defense, and Rutgers could tear them up.

Conclusion
Pitt is one of the most inconsistent teams in the nation, and you never know how they will play on a particular day. They could be the dominant team that beat Virginia Tech, or the awful one that was beaten badly by Connecticut. They have a very strong offense that can run and throw, but you can get pressure on Sunseri and keep the offense off schedule. Defensively, the Panthers have one stand out player in Donald, but a poor group overall. They lack speed on this side of the ball, and they can not rush the passer. This team has played much better at home than they have on the road, and they are coming off a bye, but this team should not be favored over Rutgers, and it would be an upset if they won.

Thanksgiving Weekend Picks

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Hope you have a great day.

1. Ohio State 2. Notre Dame 3. Alabama 4. Oregon 5. Georgia 6. Florida 7. Kansas State 8. LSU 9. Texas A&M 10. Stanford 11. South Carolina 12. Florida State 13. Oklahoma 14. Rutgers 15. Louisville 16. Clemson 17. Oregon State 18. Texas 19. UCLA 20. Kent State 21. Northern Illinois 22. Oklahoma State 23. Nebraska 24. Boise State 25. Mississippi State

Hamilton West 21 Steinert 14
The Hornets do not lose to the Spartans, and it certainly ill not happen two years in a row.

TCU 24 Texas 31
If your not in a food coma, it's better than watching the Jets.

Syracuse 34 Temple 20
The Owls have a poor defense, and nobody seems to be able to stop Alec Lemon (other than RU of course). Montel Harris is coming off a career day, and he needs to have another big game to keep Temple close.

LSU 30 Arkansas28
The Hogs end their disappointing season in a rivalry game. Tyler Wilson could have one last big game, but LSU's offense has been playing much better of late.

Ohio 24 Kent State 32
The Golden Flash have already clinched the MAC East.

West Virginia 50 Iowa State 44
Tavon Austin is coming off a huge game against Oklahoma, and the Cyclones won't be able to keep up with him or Geno Smith.

USF 10 Cincinnati 34
Cincy will take out their frustrations on Skip Holtz's wounded squad.

Arizona State 30 Arizona 41
Two well like former Big East coaches square off. (sarcasm)

Georgia Tech 17 Georgia 34
Big rivalry game, but both teams have conference championship games next week.

Connecticut 20 Louisville 35
UConn's not stopping Teddy Bridgewater.

Michigan 17 Ohio State 21
The Buckeyes have a long shot of winning the AP title if they win this one.

Baylor 49 Texas Tech 42
The Bears need a win coming off their upset victory over K-State to be bowl eligible.

Oregon 49 Oregon State 34
Why is this game not on national TV? Both teams are in the top 15.

Florida 12 Florida State 17
The Gators' offense has been struggling.

Oklahoma State 50 Oklahoma 53
Bedlam.

Stanford 20 UCLA 24
They will play again next Friday if Stanford wins.

South Carolina 23 Clemson 30
Clemson will probably go to a BCS game if they win.

Notre Dame 24 USC 21
Sadly the Irish will go to the National Championship game. If Matt Barkley were playing, I think the Trojans would pull off the upset. Help me Marqise Lee, you're my only hope.