College Football Week 4: What We Learned

            Two Thursdays ago, the entire sports betting world saw the Miami Hurricanes absolutely dominate the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in a 33-17 blowout victory.  Then the following Saturday everyone saw Virginia Tech struggle mightily on the offensive side of the ball against Nebraska at home.  When last week?s line came out, the betting public was all over the Hurricanes after what they witnessed from the previous week?s performances by both teams.  The public moved the line from a pick to Miami -3 but on Saturday the wise guys swooped in and took the added value on Virginia Tech +3.  Once again the sharps were right and the public?s ability to focus only on one what they saw in one game padded the profits of bookmakers in Las Vegas and offshore.  I know Lane Stadium is one of the toughest places to play in the country but Miami was completely outplayed on both sides of the ball.  Jacory Harris didn?t look like the Heisman candidate that everyone was building him up to be as went just 9 of 25 for 150 yards and an interception.  Virginia Tech out gained Miami by 161 yards and pounded the ball down the Miami defense?s throat for 272 yards rushing.  The Hokies were superior in all three phases of the game and proved Miami is not ready to be considered an elite team.  They looked unmotivated, intimidated, and didn?t play with any type of swagger that you would expect a Top 10 team to play with in such a big game.  It?s apparent that the Hurricanes are maybe a year away from contending for a national title due to their inexperience.  Remember this is a team made up almost entirely of freshman and sophomores.  Miami is still talented but not as good as everyone hyped them up to be.

            The Penn State Nittany Lions were seeking revenge from Iowa?s upset victory last year that ruined the Nittany Lions? chances at a national title.  The stage was set for a big win for Penn State playing in front of over 100,000 screaming fans dressed in white to white out the Hawkeyes.  Yet Iowa was able to come away with the victory.  Iowa?s defense was extremely impressive holding the Penn State offense to just 10 points and 307 yards rushing.  With the win, Iowa moved to 4-0 straight up and 3-0 against the spread.  Happy Valley is an extremely difficult place to play and when you can go on the road at night and come away with an 11 point victory that says a lot about your team.  Iowa is built around defense and running the football, the two areas that propelled them passed the Nittany Lions.  Iowa rushed for 163 yards on 37 carries.  Richard Stanzi threw two interceptions but the exceptional defense was able to hold its own.  If Stanzi can improve, the Hawkeyes could be a team to watch in the Big 10.  The two biggest challenges for them will be games at home against Michigan and then a road trip to Columbus to play the Buckeyes.  I like this Hawkeye team but I don?t think they?ll be able to get past the Buckeyes in Ohio Stadium but then again no one expected them to prevail in Happy Valley.

            This past weekend was full of upsets and both Cal and Ole Miss were unable to prove that they were worthy of being ranked in the Top 5 in the country.  First on Thursday night, Ole Miss got its first real challenge of the season against a very impressive South Carolina team.  The ole ball coach, Steve Spurrier had his troops ready to play and the Gamecocks were able to win outright as 4? point underdogs.  What was most impressive about South Carolina was the way their defense played against a very potent Mississippi offense.  They gave up just 10 points and held Ole Miss to just 248 yards TOTAL!  The heralded quarterback Jevan Snead was completely bottled up as he went just 7 for 21 and 107 yards passing.  South Carolina is now a wallet stuffing 4-0 ATS putting them amongst the most profitable teams to bet on thus far this season.

            Cal on the other hand got absolutely embarrassed by Oregon in Eugene on Saturday afternoon.  California were 5? point favorites but lost by a whopping margin of 42-3.  I had a little concern about the California defense heading into this game as they were exposed a bit against Minnesota but they got demolished by the Ducks? offense yielding 524 yards.  The Golden Bears gave up 236 yards rushing and were only able rush for just 77 yards themselves.  Heisman trophy candidate Jahvid Best was held to 55 yards on just 16 carries.  The Oregon defense looked very impressive and now Oregon has knocked off two straight ranked opponents in the last two weeks.  After struggling in their first two games, they bounce back to 2-2 ATS and 3-1 SU.  Cal meanwhile is 2-1-1 ATS and 3-1 SU.

Be sure to check back for Rocky's College Football action this weekend.  Rocky has won 12 of 13 years in College Football in his history and is now 5-0 100% with his TOP CFB plays this year!