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Last week may have had more prestigious matchups, where traditionalists were rewarded with recognizable uniform clashes, but this week could prove to be much more significant. Their's only one bout involving two Dirkness ranked teams- (6) Iowa at (16)Arizona- in what seems like a passover Saturday. But, nah-unh, not so fast my friends! Many of the top teams have potential stumbling blocks (some more hidden than others). What do I see a chance for? Upset Saturday (not good for thy Huskers). So I'm gonna lay some of these out for all of you to see, and let you know which of them have the best chance of happening.
I'll be rating them in Not so Fast my Friends's! (This, of course, is in reference to Lee Corso, who became a Dirkness favorite after predicting Nebraska to win the National Championship). The more NsFmF's the greater chance I believe there is to be an upset, with 5 being the greatest. That's a 0-5 scale, low chance-high chance. With me? Let's boogie...
Games (teams ranked according to Dirkness Top 25):
11am- Kent St at Penn St- Hey, don't say I didn't warn you. The Golden Flashes are my surprise team out of the MAC so how could I turn my back on them now? This is more of a testament to how bad Penn St. might be this year (they were never in that game with Alabama). They lost too much from last year, so hopefully JoePoo can grunt out another year. 1.5 NsFmF's.
2:30- Air Force at (4)Oklahoma- Did this one slip by you when looking over this week? Don't let it. Air Force beat BYU who beat Washington who might beat Nebraska who almost beat Texas last year. Think about that. But, seriously, Air Force runs a difficult offense to prepare for and Oklahoma struggled with Utah St in the first game of the year. If they're ready, it won't be close, but if they aren't....3.5 NsFmF's.
2:30- USC at Minnesota- Wait, that's right, USC is no longer relevant. No further comment. 2 NsFmF's.
2:30- (9)Nebraska at Washington- Absolutely terrified of this game. If you noticed my Preseason Predictions I had them losing a non-conference game. It wasn't to Idaho. I can't shake a rainy game nightmare of getting behind 10-14 points on something like a punt return out of my head. Why won't it leave? I'm confident in our guys as long as we don't get behind two scores. That changes everything. What QB do we play? Stick with T-Mart (way better than T-Magic)? Incumbent Zac Lee appears to have no chance of playing this year. Cody Green was very erratic last year. We will have to deal with a deficit at some point this year. But, there is also the chance we beat the Starbucks out of the future first-round bust for the Arizona Cardinals, Jake Locker. I'm predicting Nebraska 21, Washington 20 in a comeback victory. 4 NsFmF's.
2:30- (3)Alabama at Duke- Maybe not, but it is the matchup of the past National Champions in football and basketball. Hopefully, Greg Paulus is playing. Maybe they should bowl to decide the ultimate college champion. Or play Flip Cup. 0 NsFmF's.
3:30- Baylor at (7)TCU- One of these games starting in the afternoon will see an upset on Saturday (or atleast a major scare), so you better find one you like. Upsets always seem to breed other upsets though. Baylor's QB Robert Lee Griffin III appears to be at full strength after missing all of last year. I'm expecting big things from Lil' Baylor this year, and for them to finally break their bowl-less streak This one goes into the 4th quarter. 2.5 NsFmF's.
7- (5)Boise St at Wyoming- I made mention of this at the end of my Article on Boise St. and I meant it. Wyoming gave Texas fits for a half last week. However, if I hear one other person on espn say this before Saturday, the deal is off. It needs privacy like airing it on Fox Sports Mountain Hills will give it. Keep an eye on SM West graduate (poppin' up all over these days) WR David Leonard, who leads them in receptions. 2 NsFmF's.
7- (14)Texas at Texas Tech- The Longhorns have turned in two subpar 1st half's this season. Lil' G.G. Allin (Garrett Gilbert) is the Kevin Kolb of College Football. Everyone assumed he would be a minimized step down from Colt McCoy (Kolb to McNabb), when there was every reason to think it would be a gigantic leap. You're replacing two all-timers. Meanwhile, the Bell Ringin' Red Raiders have averaged 43.5 points so far this season. Maybe Mike Leach's B.O. remained behind. Wait, that's Lubbock's natural smell? 4 NsFmF's.
9:30- (6)Iowa at (16)Arizona- The best game on paper of the weekend. The Hawkeyes beat Arizona 27-17 last year in Iowa City. This time they head to Tuscon. Arizona has a promptly spelled RB named Nic Grigsby. Iowa made my revised National Championship prediction (along with Oregon), which may be more of a kiss of doom than anything. 3 NsFmF's.
Showing posts with label nic grigsby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nic grigsby. Show all posts
Friday, September 17, 2010
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
2009 Holiday Bowl Preview Nebraska vs. Arizona
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I'll start by saying that I love the matchup between Nebraska and Arizona tonight in the Extenze energy drink Holiday Bowl tonight. I've thought Arizona was underrated most of the year and had them ranked higher than any of the major polls throughout the year. I was pretty shocked to see that Arizona started as the favorite(now underdogs), expecting something more along the lines of the 73% of America that picked Nebraska to win via ESPN. Let's take a look at how I see this one playing out.
Arizona- All the talk is about two stingy defenses playing in this game, but I'm not really seeing it. They gave up the following point totals: Iowa(most similar offense to Nebraska-very basic)-27, Oregon St-32, Washington-36, Stanford-38, Oregon-44(2 overtimes at least). I don't see it. The majority of those high scores are running teams similar to Nebraska. They have a better pass defense but who knows if that will even matter much against Nebraska. Their offense is led by their 7 foot quarterback Nick Foles who resembles Matt Jones from Arkansas a few years back (minus the Coke problem hopefully). My biggest fear is running back Nic (finally someone who spells their name right) Grigsby, who is finally healthy after an injury plagued year. Quarterback and overall offense advantage-Arizona. My other biggest worry is the Stoops connection. I'm sure Mike was asking brotha Bob all kinds of questions over Christmas dinner, so lets just hope that Bobby did the honorable thing and refused to gossip.
Nebraska- My first thought is that Ndamukong Suh is under a lot of pressure going into this game. The Big XII Championship is fresh in every one's mind and all eyes will be on him tonight-including Arizona's. I expect him to be as dominant as he has been all year, but to put up paltry stats compared to his last outing. He will go down as the best defensive player in Nebraska history, if not Big XII history(can't think of anyone better), if not NCAA history(too hard to judge).
My next thought is how big a game this is for "The Wildman" Zac Lee. We know he will be amped up for the game for better or worse, lets just hope he hits his peak in the 4th quarter. I think the Wildman is playing for his job going into next year. If he struggles like he did in the Big XII Championship, I think the Cody Green era starts in the first game next year. However, Nebraska has a chance to compete at a very high level next year and might not want to go through the growing pains of a first year starting quarterback. That's why I think if he can play well in this game then he will go into next year as the starter. Green is supposed to see some action tonight as well, but has been unimpressive so far, otherwise the job would probably already be his.
Prediction- I feel very confident about Nebraska winning this game. I think they boast the best defense in the country, and I don't think Arizona will be able to score much unless Grigsby is able to regain his form to the tune of over 300 yards in the first two games this year. I envision Nebraska shutting down the run and then pressuring Matt Jones Lite, who is pretty immobile from what I hear on the streets. I think Zac Lee plays well throwing mostly from playaction along with Helu cracking the 100 yard barrier, and Sexy Rex Burkhead chipping in for 50 yards. Nebraska should be extra motivated after getting screwed against Texas, and I think they take it out on the pretty boys from Arizona.
Nebraska 24, Arizona 9
I'll start by saying that I love the matchup between Nebraska and Arizona tonight in the Extenze energy drink Holiday Bowl tonight. I've thought Arizona was underrated most of the year and had them ranked higher than any of the major polls throughout the year. I was pretty shocked to see that Arizona started as the favorite(now underdogs), expecting something more along the lines of the 73% of America that picked Nebraska to win via ESPN. Let's take a look at how I see this one playing out.
Arizona- All the talk is about two stingy defenses playing in this game, but I'm not really seeing it. They gave up the following point totals: Iowa(most similar offense to Nebraska-very basic)-27, Oregon St-32, Washington-36, Stanford-38, Oregon-44(2 overtimes at least). I don't see it. The majority of those high scores are running teams similar to Nebraska. They have a better pass defense but who knows if that will even matter much against Nebraska. Their offense is led by their 7 foot quarterback Nick Foles who resembles Matt Jones from Arkansas a few years back (minus the Coke problem hopefully). My biggest fear is running back Nic (finally someone who spells their name right) Grigsby, who is finally healthy after an injury plagued year. Quarterback and overall offense advantage-Arizona. My other biggest worry is the Stoops connection. I'm sure Mike was asking brotha Bob all kinds of questions over Christmas dinner, so lets just hope that Bobby did the honorable thing and refused to gossip.
Nebraska- My first thought is that Ndamukong Suh is under a lot of pressure going into this game. The Big XII Championship is fresh in every one's mind and all eyes will be on him tonight-including Arizona's. I expect him to be as dominant as he has been all year, but to put up paltry stats compared to his last outing. He will go down as the best defensive player in Nebraska history, if not Big XII history(can't think of anyone better), if not NCAA history(too hard to judge).
My next thought is how big a game this is for "The Wildman" Zac Lee. We know he will be amped up for the game for better or worse, lets just hope he hits his peak in the 4th quarter. I think the Wildman is playing for his job going into next year. If he struggles like he did in the Big XII Championship, I think the Cody Green era starts in the first game next year. However, Nebraska has a chance to compete at a very high level next year and might not want to go through the growing pains of a first year starting quarterback. That's why I think if he can play well in this game then he will go into next year as the starter. Green is supposed to see some action tonight as well, but has been unimpressive so far, otherwise the job would probably already be his.
Prediction- I feel very confident about Nebraska winning this game. I think they boast the best defense in the country, and I don't think Arizona will be able to score much unless Grigsby is able to regain his form to the tune of over 300 yards in the first two games this year. I envision Nebraska shutting down the run and then pressuring Matt Jones Lite, who is pretty immobile from what I hear on the streets. I think Zac Lee plays well throwing mostly from playaction along with Helu cracking the 100 yard barrier, and Sexy Rex Burkhead chipping in for 50 yards. Nebraska should be extra motivated after getting screwed against Texas, and I think they take it out on the pretty boys from Arizona.
Nebraska 24, Arizona 9
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