Sunday’s six-pack
Top 6 picks in the Westgate SuperBook NFL handicapping contest (3,123 entries)
1) Bengals +3 (1,218 picked them)
2) Rams -4 (1,052)
3) Ravens -7.5 (907)
4) Vikings -6.5 (854)
5) Texans +6.5 (848)
6) Broncos -3 (807)
Quote of the Day
“I placed my first bet in fifth grade — five bucks on the Super Bowl with my brother. I lost, but what transpired the entire day epitomizes my love for sports betting. The analysis before the bet. The anticipation of the start. The rush of the game. Yes, winning is the ideal result but the range of emotions is what the experience sells.”
Doug Kezirian, ESPN.com
Sunday’s quiz
Which city used to host the Poulan Weed Eater Bowl every New Year’s Eve?
Saturday’s quiz
Green Bay won the first Super Bowl, 35-10 against the Chiefs.
Friday’s quiz
In the football scenes in The Longest Yard, Burt Reynolds’ character Paul Crewe wore number 22, one of the numbers he wore as a running back at Florida State.
Sunday’s List of 13: Wrapping up a college football Saturday
13) Colorado 33, Nebraska 28— Exciting game; Cornhuskers threw a couple passes in the end zone on the last series, after Colorado took the lead on a 40-yard pass to Laviska Shenault with 1:07 left. Shenault is a great player; he caught 10 passes for 177 yards and also carried the ball a couple of times. Reminds me of Tim Brown, the old Raider.
Colorado’s kicker is a 31-year old Australian who played pro soccer for ten years before deciding to go to college and trying football. He missed a 37-yard FG with 9:56 left, when Colorado trailed 28-27. He also made two FG’s and missed another one; he needs to do better.
12) Georgia 41, South Carolina 17— Dawgs looked very fast in this game, dominant performance; right at the start of the game, this kid on Georgia picked off a pass and ran it in for a TD, but he did what one or two kids does every year, and it drives me bleepin’ crazy.
Pet Peeve of the Day: When you’re scoring an uncontested touchdown, do not drop the ball just as you cross the goal line, because many times, YOU HAVEN’T CROSSED THE LINE YET.
Georgia kid did that here, but one of his teammates picked up the ball and saved his friend from being a complete moron, someone who has to be a “cool guy” and show off, but instead gets on SportsCenter as the guy who is so cool he cost his team a touchdown for no reason.
11) Bad Beat of the Day:
Florida Atlantic (-8) 33, Air Force 27— Down 33-20 late in the game, Air Force blocked a punt and ran it in for a TD with 0:50 left, to cover the 8-point spread.
10) Upsets of the Day:
— East Carolina (+16) 41, North Carolina 19
— Eastern Michigan (+15) 20, Purdue 19
— Kentucky (+13.5) 27, Florida 16
— Colorado State (+13.5) 34, Arkansas 27
— Coastal Carolina (+9.5) 47, UAB 24
— Navy (+7) 22, Memphis 21
— Maine (I-AA team) 31, Western Kentucky 28
9) South Florida 49, Georgia Tech 38— USF ran two kickoffs back for TD’s in the first quarter; last team to have two kick return TD’s in the same game? Cal Golden Bears, in 2014. So when you see that Tech outgained the Bulls 602-426, it is misleading, since USF had two fewer possessions, thanks to the kick returns.
8) Oklahoma 49, UCLA 21— It is weird watching the A’s late Saturday afternoon and they flash the Oklahoma score on the screen— Sooners’ QB Kyler Murray was Oakland’s 1st round draft pick back in June, and will be an outfielder in the A’s minor league system starting next year.
Oklahoma has really good receivers, and a lot of them; Murray is like a point guard, getting rid of the ball quickly to one of his very fast friends.
7) Mississippi State 31, Kansas State 10— K-State’s kicker is a kid named Blake Lynch; he is 5-foot-5 and up until a couple months ago, was a custodian in the K-State athletic department. Now he is on full scholarship; good for him.
6) Navy 22, Memphis 21— Tigers outgained Navy by 62 yards, but turned ball over four times (-3) and ran 30 less plays than the Middies. Navy scored the game-winning TD with 2:37 left, and outscored Memphis 13-0 in 4th quarter.
5) Kentucky 27, Florida 16— Last time Kentucky beat Florida in football, I had a full head of curly hair; Wildcats won 10-3 that day, way back in 1986- think I weigh less now, though. Anyway it was a long time ago- Kerwin Bell was the Gators’ QB that day, Galen Hall was the Florida coach. Jerry Claiborne was Kentucky’s coach.
4) Clemson 28, Texas A&M 26— Tigers held on to win in last minute on a rainy night in Texas. Not sure how teams at this level juggle two QB’s, like Clemson is trying to do.
3) Ole Miss 76, Southern Illinois 41— This is a misleading score, since Salukis are a I-AA team, and led 38-35 at halftime. Red Flag for the Rebels here, after their win LW over Texas Tech.
2) Minnesota 21, Fresno State 14— Visiting Bulldogs were on Minnesota 4-yard line with 1:25 to go, tried a halfback option pass, but it was a terrible pass and got picked off in end zone.
1) Kansas 31, Central Michigan 7— Jayhawks snapped a 46-game road losing streak; their last road win was September 12, 2009.