By Orthell Jones
College Football Game of the Week
Wk 11: No. 7 Oregon vs. No. 4 Stanford 8:00 PM ET (ABC)

There are only six unbeaten teams left in college football. On Saturday night, the Oregon Ducks enter Stanford Stadium looking to whittle that number down to five. This is a critical game for both teams. Oregon looks to secure a spot in the Pac-12 Championship game, where they would then have the chance to advance to the Rose Bowl. Stanford, on the other hand, hopes to remain undefeated and strengthen their case as to why they should be in the BCS National Championship game at season’s end. Two weeks ago, Stanford won a thrilling triple overtime game against USC to remain undefeated, Although it seemed that USC would pull off the major upset following an Andrew Luck “pick-six” late in the fourth quarter, Stanford was able to regroup and comeback to win the game. This week, they face another team that can put a lot of points on the board. The Oregon Ducks average 46.0 points per game, and between the opponents they have faced this season, only LSU was able to hold them to under thirty points. That being said, it is safe to say that Oregon will put up over thirty points Saturday night, because Stanford does not have as good a defense as LSU has.

Stanford fans might not agree with that previous statement, since its college is ranked 11th in the nation in points allowed with 16.6 points. However, when reviewing their schedule, their defense has not been challenged for the majority of the season. Of the nine opponents Stanford has faced, only two have a positive record heading in to Saturday’s games. The combine record of their previous opponents is not impressive; they have combined to win only 32 out of 83 games. Moreover, only three opponents average over thirty points per game. When Stanford faced those three teams, their defense gave up an average of 27.7 points, which has to concern Stanford, because if USC was able to put up 48 points against them, Oregon will be able to as well.

In the Pac-12’s marquee matchup of the weekend, Vegas.com has Stanford favored by 3.5 points. This is an easy way to bet since Stanford has potential Heisman Trophy winner Andrew Luck as their quarterback, not to mention that Stanford is ranked higher than Oregon in the AP Top 25. However, Oregon has the 5th best rushing game in the nation, averaging just less than 300 yards per game. While most teams may have one running back with over 600 rushing yards this season, Oregon has two running backs with over 600 rushing yards. Also, if Oregon had not lost to now #1 LSU to begin their season, Oregon would be ranked above Stanford in the AP Top 25. Thus, giving the points in this game is as tough a decision as taking them.

This is a toss-up game like LSU vs. Alabama was last week, However, unlike LSU vs. Alabama, this game will likely be a shootout, in which the first team to 50 points wins the game. Last year, Oregon defeated Stanford 52-31, and the year prior to that, Stanford defeated Oregon 51-42. The outcome in this game will likely mimic one of these scores. Recent history has Oregon as the winner of this game. Since 2002, Stanford has beaten Oregon only one time. Therefore, people should take the points in this contest, as Stanford’s “luck” is about to run out.
Final Score: Oregon 52 – Stanford 31

By William Bahl
The Oakland Raiders square off against the San Diego Chargers in this Week 10 Thursday Evening Prime Time Matchup. This is going to be the second Thursday Evening Game of the season after the opening daytime Thursday Game between the Saints and the Packers back in September that kicked off the season. The Packers were five point favorites in that match up and ended up winning it 42-34. In this week’s Thursday Evening Game, the Chargers are showing up as seven point resident favorites.

The San Diego Chargers as well as Oakland Raiders are both struggling as well as confronting significant concerns regarding their quarterbacks.

They will not enjoy the luxury of time to resolve their issues.

Unless the Raiders get healthy quick it is hard to see them placing all together a strong effort. 11 players failed to participate in Tuesday’s practice. Just about all of them are starters.

The AFC West rivals do combat Thursday night in San Diego, with the winner guaranteed at least a share of the lead in the NFL’s weakest division.

San Diego as well as Oakland are both 4-4 to tie Kansas City for the West lead, by having Denver one game back in the league’s only division where no group currently holds a winning record. The Chargers have lost three straight and the Raiders have dropped two in a row.

There are 3 teams deadlocked in the division as well as Denver spotting us all a game according to Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. They’re right there in the thick of it. All 4 groups are alive. We still have eight to go. “We will see what happens,” Rivers said.

Rivers has only added to the Chargers’ woes. He has already tossed an NFL-high 14 interceptions – one more than he had all of last season as well as one shy of his career high. Although Rivers’ 2,469 passing yards are the league’s fifth-most, his blunders have been crucial.

Rivers knows he must work harder to make better reads in the pocket and reduce interceptions.

It looks like there is a lot for new Oakland quarterback Carson Palmer to improve performance on as well. Palmer has six interceptions in 2 losses since joining the Raiders to spell a hurt Jason Campbell, and he has dropped nine straight road starts to AFC foes entering this rumble.

“I am looking forward to getting an opportunity to go out and demonstrate better play on the field and just go out and be effective,” said Palmer. His learning is on the job and fast as he must develop a quick understanding of the new playbook.

There could be a heavy burden on Palmer and the Raiders’ passing game because premier rusher Darren McFadden will fail to see a second straight game due to a sprained ankle. McFadden is sixth in the league with a 5.4 yard per-carry average.

Palmer will struggle without a balanced running game to complement his inconsistent passing game.

Take the moneyline bet on this game by having the Chargers eventually winning this game at the end of sixty minutes.

By William Bahl
Rounding out week nine in the 2011 NFL season is a match up of Chicago’s thirteenth ranked offense against Philadelphia’s ninth ranked offense. Philadelphia scores 25.6 points per game while Chicago scores 24.3 points per game. Both defenses allow just over 21 points per game.

The real differences come in how individual players have performed. Michael Vick, love him or hate him, has the tenth highest passer rating in the NFL. Since the beginning of the 2011 season the Eagles success or failure really has rested on the Vick’s decisions and moods, sometimes inspiring and sometimes ugly. He must have forgot that QB’s who run around a lot get hit a lot. That explains all the early season complaining.

Jay Cutler plays more of a balanced role supporting star running back Matt Forte who leads his team in both rushing and receiving. Leading in both of these categories can be a sign of two things…awesome athleticism, which Forte definitely has, and an offense that lacks options of attack, which Chicago does. For Chicago to have any decent long-term shot Cutler has to find additional pass options consistently.

In addition to having the tenth best quarterback in the NFL (in terms of passer rating), Philadelphia also has the second leading rusher in LeSean McCoy. McCoy will likely pass up Adrian Peterson for the number one spot on Monday Night Football.

This game will be a slug fest as both teams are coming off wins as they face each other and both also believe they are better than their record suggests. doesn’t every team believe that? The combination of Vick’s air attack and McCoy’s ground and pound will in the end prove overwhelming for Chicago. Take the straight money line bet on Philly. Chicago will go home nursing a loss on Monday.

Well week three in the season cleared a few things up. Desperate teams are still the best bet week to week. It is hard to believe there is desperation so early in the season but Dallas needed to win big, not to let the game come down to the last minute and the did just that. This was my pick of the weekend. The Pats defense can not get any separation for the offense so when they do make a stop the offense must respond as the did this past week but 14 points was to much, i had Buffalo. The Chiefs are improving but the 49ers gave themselves to many reasons to lose so the did. I had KC plus the points. 3 and 0 my first week. I had called the picks in to Diamond Deny but he did not post them. Well it was the first week for me and it is intimidating to post game against The Genius.

Well here is my week 4 picks

INDY GIVES 7 TO JACKSONVILLE

Manning is just hitting his stride. Give me Indy

ATLANTA GIVES 7 TO SAN FRANCISCO

Atlanta’s defense is a little soft. Singletary will explode give me SF plus the points.

GIANTS GIVES 4 TO CHICAGO

Chicago is not that good but the Giants are weary of Coach Tom. Give me The Bears +3

HOUSTON GIVES 3 TO OAKLAND

Houston has play makers on both sides of the ball give me Houston -3