2009 Week 7 B50 Predictions

Last Week: The Buckeye offense has a lot of room for improvement and hopefully that begins in West Lafayette. There was not too much room for improvement in our Buckeye 50 Staff predictions though. Two went 5-0 and the rest were 4-1. Would it be asking too much to have Pryor achieve those types of percentages with his passing? As we come to the middle of the season for our weekly picks, Brent, Rick and Steven are all sitting at 19-11, but closely behind is Dr. Mark, and Tim with 18-12. Joe-S-U and I are bringing up the rear at 15-15. I certainly hope Joe's Spot Cards have done better than .500 this season. This is the time of the season when the games really begin to count and I have a feeling as a group our predictions will continue to do well.

This Week: Too much has been written and reported this week about the Buckeye offense. I am willing to have the confidence in our coaching staff that they will see the needed adjustments and everything will look much better this week as OSU faces Purdue. Look for the Buckeyes to come out strong, like they did against Toledo coming off the USC loss. After all, to a lot of fans, the Wisconsin game felt almost like a defeat. Our focus this week starts on Thursday night when Cincinnati and South Florida square off in Tampa, both teams coming into this contest undefeated and in control of their own destiny in the Big East. We also bring you our thoughts/projects for the big Big 12 match-up as Texas and Oklahoma square off in the Texas fairgrounds in the Red River Shoot-out. The winner will have the controlling hand in the Big 12 South. For our ACC contest of the week, we look at the two Tech teams, Virginia and Georgia. One may be over-rated and the other may be over-looked as a contender in the conference. Can the Jackets pull the upset? Finally, our picks would not be complete this week without including USC and Notre Dame in South Bend. If the Irish can come out of this one with a win, they may play themselves into a BCS bowl game again, where they are winless in three tries. Other games of interest this weekend would be Iowa a Wisconsin and South Carolina at Alabama. Depending on how things go this weekend, there may be some positions decided in the first BCS standings of the year, scheduled to be released Sunday.

Here we go, Good Luck to All - Gregg

2009

Record

Ohio State @

Purdue

(Gregg: In the last trip to West Lafayette, both teams were undefeated and dreaming of a championship. Things went downhill for the Boilermakers after that and have never improved since. In fact the only hope on campus is their first year coach. The Buckeyes have a solid victory and extend their string of consecutive road wins to 17 games.)

(Pete: Ohio State has three games to correct whatever the heck is wrong with the offense before facing a murderers row of opponents in November. I sick of hearing about the "youth" of the offense. You're halfway through the season and you look to be regressing. Only three games Bucks. If you don't make improvements you will go winless in November. OSU 33 - PU 9)

(Steven: I think we’ll see a back to basics approach in this one. Think the Illinois game without the torrential downpours. Coach will work to establish the run early with Brandon Saine and Jordan Hall. Look for him to limit Pryor’s playbook at least initially. Pounding the run will work to wear down the Boiler’s defensive line and open up the passing game in the second half. OSU wins handily 38-13.)

(Joe-S-U: OSU over Purdue- ESPN stooge Doug Gottlieb was saying Ohio State's in trouble without Herron.

Has he actually seen this team? Mark May hates us, sure, but at least he knows the teams.)

(Rick: This win be another big win for OSU. This will be another great defensive

game for OSU and I think the offensive will score more than it did last week.)

(Brent: Pick: OSU - More ugly offense and another victory)

(Dr. Mark: OSU I hope we open it up on offense)

WINNER : Purdue

Cincinnati @

S Florida

(Steven: This game looks to be one of the tougher tests on Cincinnati’s schedule. The USF Bulls have a habit of pulling upsets in

mid-week games versus ranked competition. Coach Jim Leavitt is great at getting his players up to play the big ones. That

being said, have you seen their non-conference schedule? It looks like worse than their cupcake munching brethren from

Gainesville… Charleston Southern AND Wofford? Yuck. Cinci’s schedule and record shows they’re legit. With the

Bearcats showing their worth against much stronger competition, it looks to me that they should stay unbeaten.

Look for the Bulls to fight like heck to keep it close, though. Cinci 29-27.)

(Pete: I'm still in love with the Big East. Even in a down year, I think this is the most exciting conference in the country.

Unfortunately they are still perceived as a second tier conference in the likeness of the MAC. Nothing could be further

from the truth and Cincinnati is showing the country how good a "second tier" team can be. South Florida lost senior

QB Matt Grothe for the season and didn't bat an eye as freshman B.J. Daniels took the helm and ripped apart Florida

State 17-7. This one will be a great match-up with lots of offense so sit your butts down this Thursday night for a classic.

UC 45 - USF 35)

(Gregg: Bearcats may be the real deal, if Pike has a big game, he may even put himself in the Heisman discussion.

Cincinnati gets another big road win and may be the only Big East team in the top 25 at year end.)

(Joe-S-U: Cincy over South Florida- Calm down, folks, there's room for two top ten teams in this state)

(Rick: This will be the 1st real test for Cincy, as South Florida does have one win against

a “Quality” team in FSU. I think this will be a 3 point Cincy win with a late field goal.)

(Dr. Mark: Cincy has got to win these type of games to prove they belong)

(Brent: Pick: So. Fla - Cincy finally in the loss column)

WINNER : Cincinnati

Texas vs

Oklahoma

(Steven: This one will be a tough test for Bradford since the Longhorns defense probably has the best front seven he’ll face all year.

I expect he’ll be scrambling a lot more, and we might even see some roll-outs designed to protect him from the rush. This tactic unfortunately does not play to the Sooners strength, which is Bradford standing in the pocket and picking the defense apart. On

the other side of the ball, Texas will unleash a balanced attack with Colt McCoy and the twin rushing attack of Tre Newton and

Vondrell McGee, each who average over 5 yards per carry. Both are dinged up, but expect one, if not both to be healthy by

game time. If the Sooners can contain Texas wide out Jordan Shipley, they may have a chance of slowing the Longhorns

down. In the end, they won’t be able to stop everyone. Too many options on offense and too much depth on defense

will be the deciding factor as Texas wins the Red River Shootout… and don’t PC it down to call it the “Rivalry”. Wimps.

Texas wins 37-28.)

(Gregg: Texas is better than Oklahoma and should win. Stoops has had a lot of trouble in the big games

lately, sound familiar? Colt has a big day and makes himself the leading candidate for the Heisman.)

(Rick: Texas will be all over the Sooners to set the mark for its Big 12 Championship season.

This will not even be a good game to watch, unless you like the Longhorns.)

(Dr. Mark: Oklahoma, picking the upset - probably the game of the year for Bradford)

(Joe-S-U: Texas over Oklahoma- Colt McCoy, who should have won the

Heisman last year, pulls ahead of the field with a big day in Dallas)

(Pete: QB Sam Bradford is back but the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner

Colt McCoy will take the Sooners down in Austin. UT 24 - OU 17)

(Brent: Pick: Texas - Flip a coin)

WINNER : Texas

Va. Tech @

Ga. Tech

(Rick: I am not sure about this one. I still don't think that Va Tech is that good of a team and think the Ga Tech will win this game by 7.)

(Steven: This may be the only legitimate shot that Va. Tech has to stumble until their season wraps up with Virginia. It also may be

the stage where the Hokies prove they belong in the BCS National Championship conversation. Even so, I see this as a trap game

for them. On paper, the game could be a toss-up. I give GT a little more play since they are at home and it is a night game. Look

for the Jackets to be really up for this one. Against my better judgment, I’m picking the upset. There has to be at least one

this week, and this might as well be it. Ga. Tech 24-17.)

(Joe-S-U: Va Tech over Ga Tech- You mean this game's actually in Atlanta? Va Tech is like Duke in hoops, it always

seems every big game they're in is at home. That being said, even being in the A-T-L, Hokies prevail)

(Pete: Both teams are running hot and cold this season. Va Tech is due to drop one. G-Tec 14 - V-Tec 10)

(Gregg: I want the Jackets to win, but I think the Hokies prevail. Here is hoping I am wrong!)

(Brent: Pick: Va Tech - Hokies a bit overrated, but get by Jackets)

(Dr. Mark: Virginia Tech)

WINNER : Georgia Tech

USC @

Notre Dame

(Rick: Which USC team is going to show here? As well as, why is Notre Dame in the top 25? I think this will be a USC blow out win.)

(Steven: Charlie’s career as a talking head and the latest Nutrisystem spokesman begins to take shape this week. I think Weis could

be a stellar booth guy. He’s a heck of a lot more entertaining than the last ND coaches that went into broadcasting, (Davie and

Holtz). Home field advantage will have to be spectacular for the Irish to upset the Trojans. Don’t expect Notre Dame’s

defense to be able to hold USC. Jimmy Clausen will need to play out of his mind to put up enough points to cover for his

over-matched defense. This is not to say that none of this can happen, it just won’t. USC chugs along in South Bend - 31-24.)

(Gregg: USC knows hwy need to win out and get style points, this week they do both of those things. In

five of their last seven wins over the Irish, USC has outscored them more than 30 points a game.)

(Joe-S-U: USC over Notre Dame- I hope the Trojans cover the 12 points about 5 times over)

(Pete: How the HECK did an idle Notre Dame sneak into the Top 25? Whomever

votes in these polls are idiots. USC wins BIG. USC 45 - ND 6)

(Dr. Mark: USC I think Carroll will want to punish Notre Dame)

(Brent: Pick: USC - Trojans big)

WINNER : USC

(For Entertainment Purposes Only!)

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Brent

19 - 11

Joe-S-U

15 - 15

Gregg

15 - 15

Tim

18 - 12

Pete

17 - 13

Dr Mark

18 - 12

Buckeye 50 Yard Line

Weekly Picks - Week 7

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Steven

19 - 11

Rick

19 - 11