Many college football fans may see Boise State’s 37-24 victory over Oregon State as the Broncos strengthening their case for a run at a BCS national title game appearance. I see something completely different. Saturday’s 13-point win was anything but impressive. Sure, the main goal in any game is to score more points than the other team. But not when you get just two chances all season long to play on national television attempting to change perception around the country that you belong alongside the major-conference behemoths. Boise State needed to win this game by more than three touchdowns. The Broncos needed to score early and often, and not to let up until the final whistle. That doesn’t mean running up the score on a beaten Oregon State squad in the final seconds. It means winning the game convincingly way before that would even come into play. Boise State needed to beat the Beavers’ brains in with a resounding victory that sends a message to every college football pollster and fan out there that the Broncos are for real. Boise State didn’t come close to that.
Everyone that has read this column past and present knows I want Boise State to play for a national title. I want the BCS to blow up and be invaded by its worst nightmare – a team from a mid-major conference. I’ve been pumping the Broncos up for a couple years now. Heck, I did it before and after this year’s season opener. But it took this one game against Oregon State to make me realize the Broncos aren’t on par with Alabama or Ohio State. I’m not even sure Boise could beat Arkansas, which lost to Alabama Saturday.
Does that mean everyone should abandon the idea of a BCS-buster playing for a national title? No way. I’m backing TCU. I thought Craig Carroll was crazy at the beginning of the season when he said the Boise State love affair was done and that TCU was the new underdog to root for. I didn’t put much thought into it, as I still pulled for Boise State against Virginia Tech and was pumped for the Broncos to make a statement against Oregon State. But I just can’t praise Boise State anymore. There will not be another game on the Broncos’ schedule that garners any true national attention, so this is the memory that will last. TCU does get its chance to impress when it travels to play No. 13 Utah in early November. The Horned Frogs are currently ranked No. 4, so an impressive victory against the Utes, with an upset or two along the way among the major conference teams, could have them ultimately playing for a championship. I, for one, am hoping that happens. It’s just too bad Boise State couldn’t take advantage of its opportunity Saturday night.
Now, on to the breakdown:
My Weekend: 4-3 (spread); 6-1 (overall); 0-0 (upset picks)
My Season: 18-10-1 (spread); 26-3 (overall); 2-0 (upset picks)
My Money: UP $700 (season)
Craig Carroll's Weekend: 5-2 (spread)
Craig Carroll's Season: 17-11-1 (spread)
Craig Carroll's Money: UP $490 (season)
No. 20 Southern Cal -22 at Washington State
My Pick: Southern Cal 45, Washington State 10
Actual Score: Southern Cal 50, Washington 16
Nothing much to write about here, as Southern Cal pulled off the rout to give me an early victory on the day. There was one interesting point in the game; at least I thought it was interesting. In the third quarter, USC scored a touchdown to go up by 21. The Trojans then got the 2-point conversion to push the lead to 23 points. That number, of course, would give me the win against the spread if the score remained the same. Doing this type column always produces some strange moments. This was a great one at the time. Craig also picks up the opening victory.
UCLA +15 at No. 7 Texas
My Pick: Texas 38, UCLA 17
Actual Score: UCLA 34, Texas 12
Texas was nothing short of terrible in this humiliating home loss. The Longhorns were so terrible, in fact, that I believe they should drop from the rankings completely. Look at it this way: Stanford defeated UCLA 35-0 this season. Stanford is currently ranked 16th. If Texas can’t even keep up with that same Bruins team that Stanford destroyed, shouldn’t the Longhorns be ranked several spots below the Cardinal? I say yes. And several spots would be out of the Top 25. Enjoy the fall, Texas. Craig and I both take losses here.
No. 1 Alabama -7 at
No. 10 Arkansas
My Pick: Alabama 35,
Arkansas 27
Actual Score: Alabama 24,
Arkansas 20
It’s funny, but sometimes I can hit something right on the head, but still end up losing. I said on my weekly college football web show (at the top of the website … watch it now!) that this game would come down to experience – as in Alabama’s big-game pedigree would determine the winner. In the fourth quarter, there was no doubt that actually happened. Arkansas, with the lead, fell apart and quarterback Ryan Mallett basically handed Alabama a come-from-behind victory. Mallett, the Heisman candidate, threw two late interceptions. One was returned to the 11 that Mark Ingram eventually punched in for the go-ahead score. One possession later, Mallett threw another interception, this one ending the game. Alabama, down 13 with five minutes to play in the third quarter, never panicked, letting the game play out. Two turnovers later and the Tide escaped with what could be their toughest challenge all season. Mallett, by the way, can be erased from the Heisman list, as he was terrible late. I wrote last week in GameDay Rewind that potential Heisman winning quarterbacks shouldn’t be judged by stats, rather what they do when the game is on the line. Mallett failed miserably in his latest test. He had the ball twice in his hands with the ability to pull off the greatest win in Arkansas football history. Even after the first interception that ended up giving Alabama a 24-20 lead, he got the ball back with the chance to win the game. But that drive ended with another pick. Not Heisman like at all. I don’t care what Mallett does the rest of the season; his end-game performance eliminates him from consideration. How could it not? Anyway, I take the loss with the points to fall to 1-2 on the day. Craig gets the victory to move to 2-1, but his gutsy Arkansas upset pick comes up just short.
No. 16 Stanford -4.5 at Notre Dame
My Pick: Stanford 30, Notre Dame 17
Actual Score: Stanford 37, Notre Dame 14
Even though Stanford led by just 10 at the half, and 13 at the end of three, there was little doubt the Cardinal would have no problem covering. Things got a little crazy at the end with Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh going for 2-point conversions and calling timeouts, despite holding a big lead, and Notre Dame coach Brian Kelley responding with his own timeout late in the game. The only thing that came out of that stuff was some interesting side stories during a boring game. Craig and I both claim victories with Stanford. I’m 2-2, while Craig is 3-1 heading into the night games.
No. 12 South Carolina +3 at
No. 17 Auburn
My Pick: Auburn 23,
South Carolina 17
Actual Score: Auburn 35,
South Carolina 27
This primetime game was everything that Boise State-Oregon State wasn’t. Auburn and South Carolina played a back-and-forth, exciting game that came down to the final moments. And even though that makes for a stressful night for GameDay, I’ll take an exciting game any time, even with some heart palpitations attached. For the second week in a row, Auburn came back to win a game in the fourth quarter. South Carolina led 27-21 at the end of three, but Auburn scored two touchdowns in the fourth, and played stellar defense along the way, to pull out an impressive 8-point victory. I sweated out the victory to improve to 3-2 on the day. Craig did the same to move to 4-1.
No. 24 Oregon State +17 at No. 3 Boise State
My Pick: Boise State 38, Oregon State 14
Actual Score: Boise State 37, Oregon State 24
I won’t go too much into the game here, as I’m sure the opening to College GameDay Rewind was more than enough. The game was boring and luckily South Carolina-Auburn was playing on ESPN opposite, so I didn’t have to suffer too much. Boise State was disappointing to say the least, winning by just 13 points. I take the loss against the spread, falling to 3-3 on the day. Craig also took Boise State minus the points; he drops to 4-2.
No. 22 West Virginia +9 at No. 15 LSU
My Pick: LSU 27, West Virginia 24
Actual Score: LSU 20, West Virginia 14
With LSU leading 17-0 early, I had visions of my first losing week of the season running through my head. As I was coming to grips with that fact, and not happy at all about it, West Virginia scored a touchdown in the final seconds of the second quarter to breathe new life into my prediction. West Virginia added a touchdown in the third quarter, but LSU kicked a field goal early in the fourth to put the game a touchdown away from defeat. But both offenses did nothing after the field goal and just traded punts the rest of the way, which was just fine with me. LSU ultimately ended up running out the clock at the end of the game deep in West Virginia territory to seal another winning week for GameDay. With the win I finish 4-3 against the spread and 6-1 overall. Craig ends with a victory as well, clocking in with a 5-2 mark against the spread. Overall, with the way the games were going Saturday, I’m both happy and relieved to pull out a winning week. I’ll look to keep the winning going next week, which has two big-time SEC matchups waiting. Make sure you check out my college football picks column next week and a brand new web episode of Brad Carroll’s GameDay as well. See you then.
