I’m sure Keith is feeling pretty good about himself today, going 4-2 in the final week of the regular season to win the inaugural Pick Six challenge. But the Bowl Season isn’t over year, and there’s 34 games left to pick that will propel me to the top of the standings. Until then, here’s how we finished off the year.
Ball State 24 Buffalo 42
Line: Ball State -14.5
• Phil: Ball State
• Keith: Buffalo
Well, this game really sucked. Ball State took a perfect record into the MAC championship game but got absolutely run over by the Buffalo Bulls in the second half. This game looked like Ball State was in control throughout the first half, but Turner Gill made some half time adjustments and Ball State decided that they forgot how to hold the ball. A 92-yard fumble return for a touchdown followed up by a 74-yard fumble return for a touchdown on the very next drive gave Buffalo the lead for good and the MAC Championship. Turner Gill has done a great job turning around a horrible MAC team and is now rumored to be on the short list for the position at Auburn. It’s a little easier winning in the MAC than in the SEC, but good luck to Coach Gill. Even with all the praise I heaped on Gill before the game I didn’t buy in fully and picked Ball State, while wise older brother hopped on the Buffalo bandwagon. He is so smart.
Boston College 12 Virginia Tech 30
Line: Boston College -1
• Phil: Boston College
• Keith: Virginia Tech
What happens when you make predictions in Week 12 of the season is that if they have a remote chance of coming through you stick with your original pick. I thought BC would win the ACC a few weeks ago and stuck with them in the Pick Six, but they let me down. Virginia Tech’s defense looked fast and forced turnovers, and quarterback Tyrod Taylor gave the vaunted BC defense fits all day. Still, the Eagles only surrendered 234 total yards and held the Hokies to just 84 yards through the air. BC makes their money in rush defense though, and got gashed for 150 yards, about 70 yards more than they average. For the second straight year Virginia Tech knocked off Boston College in the ACC Championship game. Beamer and the Hokies did a good job salvaging a BCS bowl out of a season that started with a loss to East Carolina.
USC 28 UCLA 7
Line: USC -30
• Phil: USC
• Keith: USC
Not too long ago USC was in the midst of an eight-game losing streak to UCLA in the battle for the Victory Bell. The programs have flip-flopped status in recent years and USC has now won the Victory Bell eight times in the last nine years. With the closer than expected win USC made it seven straight Pac-10 titles and clinched spot in their fourth straight Rose Bowl game. UCLA struck first, jumping out to a 7-0 lead on a 21 yard double pass from Dominque Johnson. That was all the scoring the Bruins would see for the day, as USC held UCLA to just 157 total yards and lowered their points per game allowed on the season to 7.8. No team has allowed fewer than eight points through an entire season since Auburn did it in 1988.
Missouri 21 Oklahoma 62
Line: Oklahoma -16.5
• Phil: Oklahoma
• Keith: Oklahoma
If there was ever any doubt about whether Oklahoma deserved to be in the Big 12 Championship game, those critics have been silenced. Oklahoma dropped 60 points for the fifth straight game (and scored 58 the game before) and three of those games were against then No. 2 Texas Tech, No. 12 Oklahoma State, and No. 20 Missouri. The Sooner offense has been prolific all year long and scored 702 points this season, breaking Hawaii’s single-season scoring record of 656 and still have a bowl game to play. That bowl game will be the BCS National Championship game against Florida, where SEC fans will find out if all their smack talk about how the Big 12 doesn’t play defense will be put to the test. Missouri and Chase Daniel haven’t looked the same since the thumping RTGD witnessed them taking in Austin.
Florida 31 Alabama 20
Line: Florida -10
• Phil: Florida
• Keith: Alabama
The most anticipated match up of the SEC season lived up to the hype. In a battle of two supremely talented teams (though Florida was the more talented of the to) Tim Tebow just wasn’t going to let the Gators lose. Whenever a big play needed to be made you could count on Tebow to deliver. Alabama took a 20-17 lead into the fourth quarter but Tebow guided the Gator offense down the field, leading to a go-ahead touchdown run by Jeffrey Demps and the clinching touchdown pass to Riley Cooper to put the game out of reach. For all of the complaints about the BCS, it looks like the system got the National Championship game match up correct, although USC fans would argue that one. The bottom line is Oklahoma has had the most impressive regular season in the country, followed up by Florida.
South Florida 7 West Virginia 13
Line: WVU -7
• Phil: WVU
Apparently my inside tip about Mountaineer fans hucking batteries at USF players didn’t come through, as both teams looked pretty lame and West Virginia held on to a 6 point win, one point away from giving me at least a push. Neither of these teams had anything to play for, which makes picking the game highly unpredictable. USF outgained West Virginia 356-280, but neither offense could get in rhythm. A field goad by Pat McAfee as time expired in the first half put WVU up 10-7, which would be enough for the win. McAfee hit in the third quarter to make it 13-7 and the defenses took over. Mountaineer quarterback Pat White finished his final regular season game in Morgantown and ends his outstanding career with 53 passing touchdowns and 47 rushing touchdowns.
Navy 34 Army 0
Line: Navy -11
• Keith: Navy
Keith calling me Un-American is like calling Uncle Sam Un-American. Nobody loves America more than me. I just am not interested in a terrible Army-Navy game. I get that it’s a great atmosphere and what these kids live for, but a 34-0 beat down that looked like advanced high school football doesn’t really do it for me. I will admit that President Bush flipping the coin and Army coming out in camouflage uniforms was pretty awesome. The game wasn’t competitive as Navy won their seventh straight win over Army.
THIS WEEK’S RESULTS:
PHIL: 2-4
KEITH: 4-2
SEASON RESULTS:
PHIL: 35-48-1
KEITH: 39-45
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