Week 5 Picks: Where are the good games?

Standings
1. Schweinfurth    12-4   (3-1 upset)
2. Draper              10-6   (1-3 upset)
3. Hoying              9-7    (2-2 upset)
4. Auer                  6-6     (0-3 upset)

Baylor Bears @ West Virginia Mountaineers
Draper: Baylor has taken a dose of reality after RGIII and most of their receiver talent headed to the greener pastures of the NFL.  Baylor's a nice little team and WVU is a little flaky with insane head coach Holgerson, but Geno Smith is solid.  The Mountaineers high powered offense will simply out score the Bears in their first visit to the backwoods.  BU: 20--WVU: 45
Auer: Not sure this is a real game... but the Morgantown faithful will help the Mountaineers earn their first ever home Big 12 win... relatively easily. BU: 10--WVU: 46
Hoying: There is one reason Baylor snuck into the rankings, and you might have seen him losing to the Bengals last Sunday.  Give credit to the Bears for not pulling an Arkansas against ULM last Saturday, but the lack of defense is troubling.  Meanwhile, West Virginia's Geno Smith may be this year's RGIII, racking up 12 TD's in 12 quarters this year.  This game looks like bad news Bears for Baylor.  BU: 24--WVU: 48
Schweinfurth: The West Virginia offense is humming along against very inferior opponents so far this year.  Baylor is another inferior opponent.  This isn't the RGIII Baylor Bears from last year.  That missing element and the first home Big 12 game for WVU equals a blowout with some points piling up.  BU: 31--WVU: 56
 
Oregon State Beavers @ Arizona Wildcats

Draper:  Rich Rod's offense looked good in weeks 1-3...then they played a real team in Oregon and got shut out.  I'm shocked.  The Beavers are a solid team but not flashy at all.  Oregon State will hope for a boring low scoring game while the Cats want high scoring and flash.  This should be a very good game that flies under the radar.  I think the home field advantage makes the difference.  Zona couldn't get in the endzone on any possessions last week, but I think a few big plays will beat the grind that the Beavers want.  OSU: 17--Zona: 20
Auer: After an ugly loss for the Wildcats last week (getting shutout 49-0 at Oregon), RichRod's troops will be looking to make a statement against the upset specialist of the 2012 season. OSU is 11-2 in their series with Arizona, and have won 5 straight in Tuscon. Arizona is going to put up a great fight, but the Beaver train keeps on rolling OSU: 24--Zona: 21
Hoying: Few teams have a win over a ranked opponent in this young season.  Oregon State has two.  In two games.  Of course, this was before we knew Wisconsin was horrible, but the Beavers were the first to show that the world-beating Montee Ball running game could be stopped.  Shutting down a hot UCLA offense was even more impressive.  Now the famed DickRod offense steps up to the plate after getting horribly embarrassed by the Pac-12 fashion models.  We all remember how DickRod squads perform in these games, right?  Right?  OSU: 21--Ariz: 20
Schweinfurth: The Beaver defense has been sneaky good this year.  The Beaver's D held Wisconsin's (albeit Jim Bollman-esque anemic) offense in check and looked impressive doing so.  The Wildcat's offense is a different animal than UCLA or Wisky.  I don't know much about the players that Arizona is running out there, but I still do not trust in a Rich Rod offense without White and Slaton (see Michigan). Arizona struggles with another team from Oregon. OSU:24--Ariz: 10 

Texas Longhorns @ Oklahoma State Cowboys
Draper: Texas is undefeated and no one is talking about them (see what happens when you take a year off and aren't in the SEC?).  David Ash has played extremely well.  Look for a big performance on the road vs. a weak Cowboy defense.  Wes Hunt, the true freshman QB for the Pokes, will not be prepared for the big home stage and the Longhorns will take the shootout.  UT: 45--OSU: 38
Auer: After countless comeback wins by the Longhorns over the Pokes, the Fightin' T. Boone Pickens' have a battle on their hands. OSU is coming off a bye and waiting to head on another, while Texas is waiting to face-off against West Virginia and Oklahoma. The deciding factor could be that OSU is breaking in a new QB, JW Walsh in lieu of injured Wes Lunt, but the extra prep time could make the difference. Going for the OSU winning trifecta. UT: 31--OSU: 34
Hoying: The Cowboys have put up ridiculous numbers against the poor, poor defenses they've played so far, but DickRod's Destroyers managed to fight back and hang 59 on them in Tucson two weeks ago.  Will the Texas offense have similar success?  QB David Ash seems to be getting comfortable handling the Texas attack, directing the Longhorns to a great victory over Ole Miss of the mighty SEC, and he should continue to improve in this matchup.  Oklahoma State has had Texas's number lately, but a total lack of defense will be their downfall.  UT: 41--OSU: 35
Schweinfurth: Mike Gundy is known for his offense, and has had the perfect storm the last few years with Weeden and Blackmon running the offense.  This year is a major offensive rebuild for the Cowboys.  This Texas team is very under the radar this year.  The Longhorns are quietly undefeated and are not getting the press like the flashy teams (FSU, Alabama, LSU) are.  I expect lots of points and Texas pulls away late.  UT: 45--OSU: 35

THE Ohio State Buckeyes @ Michigan State Spartans
Draper: After watching the atrocity in the Shoe this weekend, I feared that this was the first time I'd have to pick against the Bucks...then I went home and watched the MSU game.  Woof.  The B1G is so bad that we honestly could win all of our games....and that's sad.  Le'Veon Bell is an absolute beast but the one-dimensional nature of the Green and White will fail to exploit the Buckeye's weak secondary.  Bell will get his, but the safeties and corners will be able to cheat up and limit his effectiveness.  On the other side, Braxton needs to be Braxton.  We've seen what can happen, now we just need to make that the norm.  Good news is the tough running Hyde should be back to balance the offensive threats.  I like the Bucks to steal a close one on the road by limiting the Spartan attack.  OSU: 24--MSU: 20
Auer: Well, we realized our team isn't quite what they are. The defense is average at best (not a surprise when you hire a defensive coordinator because you want to be nice), and Urban doesn't want to set Braxton loose like he should. This game is setting up perfectly for a defensive struggle, but the first meeting between Meyer and Dantonio should bring out the best in both coaches. This game has to be about making statements on both sides, both for the remainder of the season and for the ensuing recruiting battles into the future. Urban gets the wake-up call and turns Braxton loose and relaunches his Heisman campaign. OSU: 35--MSU: 20
Hoying: Buckeye Nation is collectively vomiting after another poor showing against a hapless opponent.  But lost in all the postgame doom and gloom was the equally poor showing Michigan State put on against...Eastern Michigan.  The Spartans, despite the outstanding effort of Le'Veon Bell, have no offense, which is good news for our Silver Slugs (the slimy kind, not the bullet kind).  Braxton is more than enough to counter Bell all by himself.  It's simple: if Braxton carries the ball and doesn't die, the Buckeyes win.  Next question.  OSU: 20--MSU: 17
Schweinfurth: Everyone is talking about the match up between OSU offense and the MSU defense (I'll get to that in a sec).  The real match up is OSU's D and MSU's offense.  If the Buckeyes can stuff Le'Veon Bell and force Andrew Maxwell to throw the ball, the Bucks will be in this game until the end.  The corners need to get in the receiver's faces and give the pass rush some time to get to Maxwell.  On the other side of the ball, the Spartan defensive front seven is very, very good.  The secondary can be beat deep and Devin Smith can stretch the field.  If the OSU coaches stop scripting the first however many plays and take the running "handcuffs" off Miller, this offense can be explosive.  I don't expect the 10-7, defensive slugfest we saw last year but this won't be a barn burner either.  The OSUMB will be there and, as Woody said, they are good for three points on the road.  OSU: 24--MSU: 21

Upset Special
Draper: Washington over Stanford
Auer: Wisconsin over Nebraska
Hoying: Tennessee over Georgia
Schweinfurth: South Florida over Florida State 
 

Top 25 Votes

Our bloggers would like to put our top 25 ballots out for consumption.  Enjoy!

Draper Top 25

1. Bama
2. Florida State
3. Oregon
4. LSU
5. Kansas State
6. Georgia
7. Stanford
8. South Carolina
9. Notre Dame
10. West Virginia
11. USC
12. Florida
13. Texas
14. Ohio State
15. Oregon State
16. Louisville
17. Northwestern
18. Oklahoma
19. Clemson
20. TCU
21. Rutgers
22. Nebraska
23. Michigan State
24. Ohio
25. Mississippi State

Hoying Top 25

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Florida State
4. Georgia
5. Notre Dame
6. Kansas State
7. Stanford
8. Oregon State
9. Florida
10. LSU
11. South Carolina
12. Texas
13. Rutgers
14. TCU
15. Texas Tech
16. Louisville
17. Mississippi State
18. Northwestern
19. West Virginia
20. Ohio State
21. UCLA
22. Ohio
23. Minnesota
24. Iowa State
25. Louisiana Tech

Schweinfurth Top 25

1. Alabama
2. Florida State
3. Oregon
4. Georgia
5. LSU
6. South Carolina
7. Stanford
8. Kansas State
9. Florida
10. West Virginia
11. Texas
12. Notre Dame
13. Clemson
14. USC
15. Oklahoma
16. Ohio State
17. TCU
18. Louisville
19. Oregon State
20. Northwestern
21. Michigan State
22. Rutgers
23. Mississippi State
24. Nebraska
25. Ohio

Grading the Bucks--Week 4: UAB

This was not a good game.  Yes, we won, but UAB is AWFUL.  The good news is that the B1G has become a total dumpster fire and we still have a chance.  Let's hit it.

Offense: C-
 Ok. Braxton one of the most explosive players in the country, but he looks scared.  He (or the coaches) has decided not to run him unless absolutely needed.  When needed (end of the half), we carved the Blazers up for  2 quick TDs, yet were anemic the rest of the game.  Jordan Hall has a very quiet nice game, but the WRs are going backwards.  I still notice beautiful downfield blocking (which begs the question why we don't run more screens/options) but the ability to catch the ball has disappeared.  Yes, they're young, but this is basic.  Oh yeah, did I mention it was UAB! This team is unbelievably awful and we let them hang around.  This offense should have been running and throwing over around and through this team...and UAB looked more like the bully.  Lack of football maturity is apparent.

Defense: D
Hard to bang a D for not giving up a TD, but, did I say this? It was UAB!!! They exploited our weak corners and nullified our pass rush with their swing/screen plays that they ran every play (hmmmm...maybe we could learn something).  Travis Howard is still a mess and the lack of Bradley Roby was very noticeable (thankfully, he should be back this week).  Sabino whiffed on WAY too many tackles (as did the rest of the team).  Tackling fundamentals are still very weak.  I notice a major lack of intensity on defense as well.  We have more talent, but it appears the team is going through the motions.  I'm not seeing the killer instinct needed to be a top team.  The stupid penalties (especially the personal foul on Bryant) are unacceptable.  Leveon Bell is a beast and will certainly be a handful next week even though we've been pretty good against the run.  Bell is a different animal.

Special Teams: D-
This unit better thank Ben Buchanan for keeping them out of the F----- grade.  Buchanan was very very good placing a couple punts inside the 5.  Other than that, I've never seen a unit more clueless.  The first 4 plays on special teams were: 1) running into the kicker giving a first down, 2) giving up a blocked punt (before it hit the foot), 3) blocked PAT (Yay!) and 4) muffed kickoff return to the 12.  Also, they gave up a return to midfield and tacked on a stupid foul onto the end.  For all the import Urban says he places on special teams, I don't see it.  This unit has to shore up every part of their game.  I saw the seas part for that blocked punt and it was just embarrassing (he wasn't touched and nearly took the snap!). 

Coaching:D+
You can't fix stupid....but you're supposed to be able to coach it.  The dumb penalties are not going away and this is a coaching issue.  Miller seems to be in handcuffs in the pocket and the odd playcalling starting with 3 passes followed by 15 or so runs are confusing to say the least.  On defense, I don't know why there appeared to be no adjustments to the swing /screen. 0 sacks against this team that is in the tops in the country giving up sacks? No excuses.

Overall: D
UAB sucks....we suck.  There are so many things to fix.  I could see the team looking ahead, and I'm hoping that's what it was...otherwise, this will be a long season.  Thankfully, we enter Big Ten play and we miss the juggernauts of Northwestern and Minnesota!