SnoTap College Football Picks Week 4: Bo Pelini Shakes off the Haters

Some of you might be wondering why I am doing this on Thursday. As you already saw, we had a Badger preview and now our college football picks. The reason is I will be away from my computer for most of the day on Friday meaning I cannot log the same sort of production as I usually do on Fall Fridays. It will be back to normal next Friday. 

Nebraska football is not off to the best start. The Cornhuskers are 2-1, but much of their fanbse is not optimistic about the future of the current team. They gave up 34 points to Wyoming in a win to begin the year and then last week they let UCLA score 38 unanswered points.  This led people to fire up the pitchforks about the status of head coach Bo Pelini whose fell out of flavor with Nebraska fans. Pelini did not help his case on Monday telling the media that Nebraska football did not need Tommie Frazier. That is the last guy to call out as he is an iconic Cornhusker; I doubt Frazier pays for a drink in town.

Things went from bad to worse as Deadspin released audio of Pelini cussing out the fans and his 2011 team. This is unfortunate for all parties involved. It makes Nebraska look bad because someone is holding three-year old audio and only released because the Cornhuskers are struggling a bit. Pelini falls more out of flavor with the fans, but in reality, they should all just take a chill pill . All coaches swear their asses off and Pelini was frustrated at fans leaving early which he should be frustrated about if he is a good coach. Wonder what happens if Nebraska gets to the Rose Bowl...   

Grab Beers & Bros
23. Arizona State at 5. Stanford 6:00 pm FOX - The best matchup of the weak schedule. Stanford played against two quality opponents against San Jose State and Army. Arizona State escaped with a victory against Wisconsin last week. Ball control will be a huge part of this game as it is a complete contrast of styles with the Sun Devil's up-tempo and the Cardinal's pro style. For as vaunted as Arizona State's front seven was talked about, they did not look great against a premier rushing attack. I like Stanford in a good one. STAN 24-20

Tennessee at 19. Florida 2:30 pm CBS - When this is one of our featured games, you know it is a bad week. No disrespect to the two teams, but the Vols got blown out in Eugene with no idea who their quarterback is going to be heading into The Swamp. Florida is still trying to find themselves on offense. This game is closer than expected, but not because it is a rivalry, it will be due to the lack of offense overall. SEC schools have been putting up the points, but not these two, Florida pulls away late. UF 24-13

Michigan State at 22. Notre Dame 2:30 pm NBC - Another matchup that does not do much for me. The Spartans can play defense for damn sure. Michigan State gets after it, and they definitely try to score as much as possible when Sparty forces a turnover.  The reason is not the usual 'scoop and score', it is because their offense is a goddamn disaster. Notre Dame did not play well against Purdue for three quarters, but it appears DaVaris Daniels looks like a stud at wide receiver for the Irish. It will be low scoring, it will be boring but in the end, the Irish keep their streak against the Spartans. ND 16-7

Channel Flip Worthy
Auburn at 6. LSU 6:45 pm ESPN - Anyone realize Auburn is 3-0 this year? They already have matched their win total for the 2012 season.  Their rushing attack of Corey Grant and Tre Mason have been carrying the team thus far. LSU is a real interesting team because they actually have an offense to go with their great defense. Zach Mettenberger looks like an NFL quarterback and Odell Beckman Jr. is making all sorts of play this year already.  This rivalry sparks some fun games and weird things happen yet the Tigers will pull it out with a big fourth quarter. LSU 35-23

SMU at 10. Texas A&M 6:00 pm ESPNU - The Aggies might be without their five-star wide receiver Ricky Seals-Jones as they might give him a medical redshirt, but it should not deter them from taking care of the Mustangs. This game has an O/U of 82, the highest of the year so far according to people who know these things. This will feature a lot of scoring and Johnny Manziel will put up a massive stat line for the third consecutive games. TAMU 52-28

Purdue at 24. Wisconsin 2:30 pm ABC - We have a full preview about the game. I will link when I am not doing the other gig. Feel free to check it out.

Upset Special
Utah State at USC 2:30 pm ABC - OH YEAH.  Here will be the ultimate freakout of the college football season. Chuckie Keaton knows how to play in big stadiums. He took Wisconsin to the final second at Camp Randall. Did the same at Jordan-Hare Stadium. I realize USC has a good defense, but Keaton can get things done against the Trojans.  This is an upset pick where it is more of a fantasy versus than reality, but as J.P. in Angels in the Outfield once said, 'It could happen.' USU 24-23

A palate cleanser for your Netlix binge watch 
3. Clemson at NC State 6:30 pm ESPN (Thursday) - See what I said in the Tap's Thursday night picks.

Louisiana-Monroe at 20. Baylor 3:00 pm FOX Sports 1 - I am only writing this to show off the picture Baylor football's social media team posted in honor of Duck Dynasty as it takes place in West Monroe, Louisiana. Baylor will not get to 70 this time though.  BAY 52-17

Colorado State at 1. Alabama 6:00 pm ESPN2 - This is one of those weird games that should be in the final category, but the Rams might give them a game for at least a half.  Alabama will likely be sleeping through the first quarter and then hit them hard late. BAMA 31-10

15. Michigan at UConn 7:00 pm ABC - This should be a highly anticipated game for the Huskies as one of the biggest schools is coming to town and it is on primetime. But the team lost to Towson in Week 1 and followed it up by a defeat by Maryland... Welp.  Michigan should shake off the near scare by Akron. MICH 42-14

Sleep off your hangover
Florida A&M at 4. Ohio State 11:00 am Big Ten Network - OSU 59-10
FIU at 7. Louisville 11:00 am ESPN3 - UL 49-14
Bethune-Cookman at 8. Florida State 5:00 pm ESPN3 - FSU 55-3
North Texas at 9. Georgia 11:21 am ESPN3 - UGA 45-10
New Mexico State at 13. UCLA 9:30 pm Pac-12 Network - UCLA 62-0
Savannah State at 16. Miami 6:00 pm ESPN3 - MIA 41-6
Idaho State at 17. Washington 2:00 pm Pac-12 Network - WASH 45-17
Maine at 18. Northwestern 2:30 pm Big Ten Network - NW 49-21
Texas State at 25. Texas Tech 6:00 pm No TV - TTU 38-13

Read More

Tap's College Football Try Week 1

I am trying to gear Sports News on Tap as a one-spot shop for literally everything Wisconsin and nationally-related meaning we had to up our coverage on some things. We already took some steps forward, and I believe this will be another one.  There will be college football games where we have recaps (Michigan-Notre Dame, probably), but every week we will definitely have a dump of thoughts about the college football weekend. They will be out every Monday and hopefully in the morning. It is on Tuesday and being posted in the afternoon because I overslept for the first time in about a year.

Johnny Football pissed everyone off and I loved it -  There are so many HOT TAKES about Johnny Manziel after he went full WWE heel in the second half of the game. It felt like Jim Ross on the mic going 'MY GAWD, IT'S JOHNNY FOOTBALL!'  He literally threw IDGAF's all over the place from showing the scoreboard to faking signing an autograph to making the 'Show me the money' sign after scoring a touchdown.  Every old man is absolutely furious at him. There is a clear generation gap growing with young players in sports and people whom cover it.  Think about all the shit Yasiel Puig, Bryce Harper has taken in the last couple years/months and now Manziel is getting the extreme version of it. He is the most talked about athlete in sports and I hope he beats Alabama and gives the crowd the Stone Cold salute. I love him like people loved Tim Tebow.

Clemson... Maybe this is the year? - The Tigers looked prettay prettay good. They played well against Georgia beating their second straight SEC team. Tajh Boyd played excellent having 270 passing yards and 42 rushing yards with five total touchdowns. He looked great and a player whom can carry the Tigers to the promise land. I am not ready to anoint them the National Champion, but I do believe they might be able to actually finally break through and not pull a 'Clemson.'  Side note, I love that Boyd to Dabo Sweeney know what 'pulling a Clemson' means and honestly, I can relate because I probably 'pull a Clemson' once a weekend.  

Jameis Winston should put fear in ACC opponents eyes - While Clemson looked great, Florida State made a statement too setting up for possibly one of the biggest games of the year in mid-October when the Noles take on the Tigers. Jameis Winston had his first game as a redshirt freshman in a night game at Pittsburgh. This is not the toughest place to play, but at the same time, what Winston did is far more impressive than many players this weekend. He finished the game with completing 25 of 27 passes with 356 yards and four touchdowns. Did people overreact about Winston on Twitter last night? Probably, but the game was literally the only thing on television leading people to romanticize about Jameis.  

FCS ain't coming just for a pay check - College football schedules usually feature some cupcakes here and there. For example, the Wisconsin Badgers are playing Tennessee Tech on Saturday and clearly, it is for Tech to get some major money plus Wisconsin gets the majority of the revenue.  Now some of these teams play tougher opponents and they made them pay over the weekend. North Dakota State and Eastern Washington are two of the best FCS teams in the country and knocked off two of the better programs lately, Kansas State and Oregon State. Towson and McNeese State also won games this weekend while Southern Illinois and William & Mary gave their opponents games to the very end.  Really impressive weekend for the FCS meaning the separation between the two is not that great.

Temper your excitement Badger fans - Wisconsin had a great debut as they beat UMass, 45-0, getting the shutout and covering the spread of 44.5 points (Vegas is always impressive).  James White, Melvin Gordon and Corey Clement all rushed for over 100 yards with the team having 393 total yards of rushing. The Badgers averaged 8.9 yards a carry. All of these numbers are great, but we need to remember UMass has barely been in the FCS with the Badgers having a great size advantage over them up front. Although I will say this, the way their offensive linemen were pulling was impressive.  The jury is still out until Arizona State on September 14th.

SnoTap Upsets - Nailed it: Washington Blew it: Mississippi State - I called my shots for two upsets. I am 1-1 as Mississippi State took a giant dump comparable to this woman in Boston over the Labor Day weekend as they only had three points against OKLAHOMA STATE from the Big 12. I could sense Boise State was overrated plus Washington playing their first home game in their upgraded digs, but I did not expect a 32 point win from the Milwaukee Bucks in college football. Impressive start for Washington.

 I am in love with Vodka Sam - Pretty mad she deleted her Twitter account, but Vodka Samm became an overnight celebrity as she had over 12,000 Twitter followers by Monday. She wandered onto the field at Kinnick Stadium blowing a .341. She clearly enjoys boozing just like the normal college kid (Yes .341 is not normal, but many people in college have been there.) and she likes to brag about it on social media.  As being the number one party school, that is an impressive way to make your presence felt. If you do not believe the folks in Iowa City know how to party, I tell my story in our last podcast about my time in Iowa City about 10 minutes in.

 Ronnie Lott and chairs do not mix. - By far, the funniest thing to happen in college football was Ronnie Lott talking at the end of the Pac-12 Network games and falling out of his chair. If the GIF of it does not make you laugh, I do not know if we can be friends.  Here's the video if you want that too.

The story of Michigan State and their unknown quarterbacks - The Michigan State Spartans beat Western Michigan, 26-13, with them getting their two touchdowns by returning a fumble and interception. Once again, their quarterbacks are a complete dumpster fire. Andrew Maxwell and Connor Cook completed only 17 combined passes out of 37 for an average of 3.1 and 116 passing yards. Thankfully for these players, they had a defense because the Spartans would have lost this football game. They play South Florida next week who lost to McNeese State, but right now, Sparty's quarterback play is so damn bad that you just never know.

Somehow Alabama had a lackluster 25 point win. - Let me explain this one because it is true. Virginia Tech's defense for the most part played really well especially their defensive line. Alabama's offensive line clearly showed some immaturity which should be expected losing three starters from last year's team. The Crimson Tide had two touchdowns on special teams with Christian Jones being an absolute beast out there, and they had a defensive touchdown as well. This means the offense beat the Hokies, 14-10. I do not know if we underestimated the Tide, but I do think this team will need a couple games to round into form.

I need a name for this so if you have one, send it along to my Twitter account or shoot me an email, snotap12@gmail.com

Charlie.

Read More

SnoTap College Football Preview: B1G Legends

Finally, the college football previews are beginning on SnoTap. We are trying something new looking at divisions/conferences as a whole versus breaking down every team. We look at the power six conferences, Notre Dame and independents and mid-majors. 

After multiple years of still writing out Big Ten, I finally have succumbed to using B1G for all my posts moving forward. This is a conference wanting a seat at the biggest of big boys table, but they are still some paces away from truly being there. Ohio State and Michigan will probably not leave the top 15 all year, but there is not that third and fourth team who can bet there with them.  Hence there is the problem with the league as a whole.

END OF AN ERA as the legends and leaders are dead after next year along with a new realignment. For whatever it's worth, we did not do any cross divisional games in the ACC and that was probably a mistake. We make up for it here a bit.

FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH
RB Vernric Mark (Northwestern) - One of the many that can be classified as an underrated player in college football.  Mark rushed for over 1,300 yards last season and him with Kevin Colter ran the zone-read option as good as a college football team can do. Mark is also a dynamic returner who can easily change the game on Special Teams as well. Mark might be a player who ends up on award ballots by December. Mark is a truly forgotten player because people tend to forget about Northwestern

QB Devin Gardner (Michigan) - Another player just like Mark getting slept on by the national media. It is hard to believe a Michigan quarterback is slept on, but Gardner is not nearly as sexy as Denard Robinson meaning the media does not seem to care about him as much. Funny enough, Gardner is easily a better quarterback. Gardner can run at times, but he is more of a passer than anything else. He only has one starting receiver coming back, but Devin Funchess seemed like a go-to receiver by the end of last season. Dead serious if Gardner has a big year, he could be a Heisman candidate and a surefire first-round draft pick if he comes out.

RB Ameer Abdullah (Nebraska) - Another sophomore who had a breakout season last year for the Cornhuskers. Abdullah rushed for over 1,100 yards with eight touchdowns and nine games where he rushed over 70 yards. I would not say he had an inconsistent year, but he definitely disappeared at some points of the season like Ohio State and Georgia.  Although, I contend this is more of the fault of the Nebraska's offensive coordinator as he did not get the same carries as he did in other games. Abdullah should have a big year for the Huskers.

LB Max Bullough (Michigan State) - Penn State always called themselves 'Linebacker U' and it probably still holds true today yet the Michigan State Spartans seem to be making a run at the crown in the B1G. Every year they seem to have one linebacker that stands out compared to the other teams in the B1G, and Bullough is the next one. He played a large part in making Michigan State one of the best defenses in the nation last season. Bullough had 111 tackles last season with 12.5 Tackles For Losses and 2.5 sacks.

OT Taylor Lewan (Michigan)  - It is hard to talk about an offensive lineman and their impact to a team, but Lewan might be the best offensive lineman in college football. People will talk about Lewan as the guy who held his own for the most part against Jadevon Clowney.  He will anchor the Michigan line protecting Gardner and creating lanes for Fitzgerald Touissant, a Van Wilder team member. Lewan should be a top five if not top three draft pick next season.

FIVE GAMES TO WATCH (Six, OSU-Michigan is too important but the Leaders division is stacked in B1G terms)

Saturday October 5th- Ohio State at Northwestern - Looking at back on what I said about Ohio State, I am starting to wonder if I overvalued them a bit. Sometimes when you start writing about a team, you invest too much stock in them. I also think I might be doing the same thing with the Northwestern Wildcats. I will explain in a second here, but I feel this could be a fascinating, high-scoring matchup of two of the B1G's best.  

Saturday October 26th - Nebraska at Minnesota - Upset alert for the Cornhuskers. The Gophers figure to be an alright team again this year and could make some traction yet they will probably need to win most of their games at home. Nebraska will get some fan assistance as Big Red travels extremely well, but the Gophers could be rounding into form right around this time.

Saturday November 2nd - Michigan at Michigan State - This is becoming the second-best rivalry in the B1G. Both of the teams clearly have no love lost for each other and they tend to play some classics even if one team tends to win multiple games in a row. Michigan broke State's four-game winning streak last year in a defensive struggle in Ann Arbor.  The Wolverines have not won in East Lansing since 2007 and the Michigan offense v. Michigan State defense will be the main focus once again.

Saturday November 9th - Nebraska at Michigan - Tough break for the Wolverines as they come home to face Nebraska. People always make a big deal about this matchup because it is two of the most iconic programs in history of college football. The Cornhuskers clamped the vice on Michigan last year holding them to nine points in Lincoln last season. This game could have Big Ten Championship implications being this late in the season.

Saturday November 23rd - Michigan State at Northwestern - These two teams tend to play some wild games. Look up the head-to-head and you will find they always play down to the wire classics. Northwestern and Michigan State will likely be contending for the second spot in the B1G or if the all the cards fall into place, one of these teams could be looking at the top spot in the Leaders division.

Saturday November 30th - Ohio State at Michigan - Am I the only one whom wishes this would be played in late October. I realize the pageantry that comes with The Big Game being played at 11 am on ABC. It has been going on since I can remember watching college football, but with the Big Ten Championship the following week, it is very possible we will get a repeat game of these two teams.  Personally, I feel like this could dent Ohio State's chances at going undefeated for the season more than anything else on their schedule.

FIVE QUESTIONS TO PONDER
Might Michigan be a sneaky National Championship contender? - How the hell is Michigan ranked number 17? I realize preseason rankings do not mean much, but the Wolverines seem to have what it takes to be a top team in college football. They have the quarterback, offensive line, running back and a defense which are all the major parts of having a very successful team. Looking at their schedule, they do have some tough road games against Penn State, Michigan State and Northwestern, but their two toughest opponents, Notre Dame and Ohio State, come to Ann Arbor.

Could Northwestern make a BCS Bowl? - Remember how I said doing these previews could make you fall in love with a team quickly... Um it's happening with Northwestern. The Cats bring back 15 total starters, eight on offense and seven on defense.  The only concern might be they only bring back one starter on the offensive line.  They host both Ohio State and Michigan and I would be stunned if they do not win one of those games.  Ryan Field can be an extremely tough atmosphere when the Wildcats are a good football team. Pat Fitzgerald's next step is getting this team to a BCS Bowl and if everything breaks right, he might get there.

How important is this year for Bo Pelini? - I am going to answer my own question and say very important. The Cornhuskers have had good seasons under Pelini, but it is not to Nebraska standards. In a weird way, Nebraska is like the UCLA basketball where the expectations are SKY HIGH. Pelini has yet to be in a BCS bowl and if Nebraska does not get there with a senior quarterback and Abdullah coming back, the natives could get extremely restless. Quick hot take on Nebraska: They only bring back four starters on an average defense, I would be extremely concerned if I was a Cornhusker fan.

What's Andrew Maxwell or other Michigan State's quarterbacks ceiling? - Weirdly enough, Michigan State tends to pump out pretty good quarterbacks like Kirk Cousins, Jeff Smoker, Drew Stanton alike and Maxwell did not come close to these players last season. People overvalued Michigan State last August thinking Maxwell would be Cousins in his first year of starting at quarterback. Now Maxwell lost his job during the season and there is a four player race for quarterback for the 2013 season. The biggest game for Maxwell or the other competing will probably be the road trip to Notre Dame on the 21st of September.

Minnesota going bowling for the second straight year? - I would keep an eye on the Gophers for another year. Sure they have to face both Michigan schools on the road, but a lot of their tougher games are at TCF Bank Stadium. Truth be told, the Gophers need a signature win at home this season that Jerry Kill can build on for the coming years.  They have Penn State, Nebraska and Wisconsin at home, all three could be major wins for the program.

PROJECTED FINISH
1.) Michigan
2.) Northwestern
3.) Michigan State
4.) Nebraska
5.) Minnesota
6.) Iowa

Yes I think Nebraska is overrated to start the year and I feel like Northwestern will make a push this season. But Michigan is the team to beat this season in the Leaders Division.

Charlie.

Read More

SnoTap Buzz: Wednesday August 7th

Marquette said they might have a special announcement this week and we may have found it out as Madison Square Garden will add two college games before the Miami Heat-New York Knicks on Super Bowl weekend. Those games will be Michigan State-Georgetown and Marquette-St. John's. We know what happened last time MU played a regular season game at MSG.... (MLive.com) 

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Greg Jennings now taking aim at Green Bay in general calling it a 'Brainwashing.'  He just needs to shut up. Full Hollywood Hogan heel turn. (Pro Football Talk) 

Speaking of Green Bay, three fights broke out in training camp and one involving Jermichael Finley where hit another player in the helmet. Personally, I love the passion although others are not pleased he punched it. (Deadspin) 

Auburn journalism professor questions ESPN's Joe Schad's report on Johnny Manziel. If you're in journalism or interested in it, this is a must-read. (Al.com) 

Ohio State believes they have SEC speed and they are looking for 'freaks' to contribute on the lines. The Buckeyes will be a heavy favorite to go to the National Championship game. (CBS Sports) 

Read More