I don't know how many picks he will throw but I am leaning towards them to cover the spread and the under.
Look for UCLA to grind it out with the running game which is also the best way to attack USC's defense. I don't know if they will score but they will run alot of time off the clock. Also, look for USC to be shut out big time by UCLA's defense. I would be surprised to see USC muster more than the high 20's as poorly as they have been playing.
Not an official play yet for me but this is one of my circled games this week.
Look for UCLA to grind it out with the running game which is also the best way to attack USC's defense. I don't know if they will score but they will run alot of time off the clock. Also, look for USC to be shut out big time by UCLA's defense. I would be surprised to see USC muster more than the high 20's as poorly as they have been playing.
Not an official play yet for me but this is one of my circled games this week.
Here's the problem with UCLA is that not only is Kraft like the worst QB in the country, but their OLine is absolute dogshit which gives them ZERO running game. Yes the run is the best way to attack SC, problem is that UCLA has NO running game because their OL sucks major ass. UNder is probably the play if the game has a total higher than 48.
You guys aren't paying attention to UCLA's defense.
Remember DeWayne Walker? Remember that this guy is on a lot of school's short list to become their next HC? Well he's been at UCLA for a while and if there's anything UCLA has it's a pretty good defense thanks to him.
Either you gotta count on Craft to give the game and cover away or you won't win this bet. I bet USC won't score more than 35 points TOPS unless they cash in some pick 6's. Craft is like Jekyll and Hyde. He is often very bad but remember he's the guy that led UCLA to the winning TD vs TN back at the beginnng of the season and that wasn't his only good moment. He can be very accurate when he's not being too harrassed into making bad decisions.
As bad as he's looked, I'd be careful not to assume too much about him. He might not have the kind of day you are counting on. He makes betting any UCLA game a scary thing to do. I'd wait and see how the team practices and how ready for USC they appear to be. Also remember that they do run the ball with some success here and there.
I just get the feeling that this game is going to be a little more trouble for USC than everyone thinks. Call it the fools game. USC does not intimidate the Bruins one iota. After all it is a major rivalry.
Remember DeWayne Walker? Remember that this guy is on a lot of school's short list to become their next HC? Well he's been at UCLA for a while and if there's anything UCLA has it's a pretty good defense thanks to him.
Either you gotta count on Craft to give the game and cover away or you won't win this bet. I bet USC won't score more than 35 points TOPS unless they cash in some pick 6's. Craft is like Jekyll and Hyde. He is often very bad but remember he's the guy that led UCLA to the winning TD vs TN back at the beginnng of the season and that wasn't his only good moment. He can be very accurate when he's not being too harrassed into making bad decisions.
As bad as he's looked, I'd be careful not to assume too much about him. He might not have the kind of day you are counting on. He makes betting any UCLA game a scary thing to do. I'd wait and see how the team practices and how ready for USC they appear to be. Also remember that they do run the ball with some success here and there.
I just get the feeling that this game is going to be a little more trouble for USC than everyone thinks. Call it the fools game. USC does not intimidate the Bruins one iota. After all it is a major rivalry.
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UCLA is garbage this year. I don't care how good their defense is supposed to be, UCLA has not run the ball on anyone this year (averaging 86 yards a game) so they will have to throw to try to advance it passed the first down marker....Craft will have the UCLA defense backed up in their own end the entire game. USC might score 50 points with less than 300 yards of total offense. I rarely lay points, but had no problem laying the 33 against Notre Dame and have less of a problem laying 30.5 against the Bruins.
The defense is legit, it's just that Kraft with his stupid play is going to continously put the defense in bad spots by not advancing the ball or by throwing stupid picks. We have zero run game so they will just tee off on Kraft and he will throw picks.
If Kraft plays mistake free ball and doesn't throw 1 pick, SC will still score like 24 points and I doubt UCLA scores before the 4th quarter. UCLA and the points is the right play, but you're taking a major risk because of Kraft because Kraft can easily throw 4 first half picks to give SC 28 points himself. Hell Kraft gave ASU 21 points himself on friday.
If Kraft plays mistake free ball and doesn't throw 1 pick, SC will still score like 24 points and I doubt UCLA scores before the 4th quarter. UCLA and the points is the right play, but you're taking a major risk because of Kraft because Kraft can easily throw 4 first half picks to give SC 28 points himself. Hell Kraft gave ASU 21 points himself on friday.
What makes you so sure about their running game? Did you check how many yards they gained at the beginning compared to the 2nd half of the season? I doubt you did that. Averages mean nothing of you don't take into account what they have been doing lately compared to what they didn't do at the start. The point is that they will get some first downs and they will eat up clock when they run. That also puts a limit on the number of points USC can score to get a cover during a shortened game. USC does not strike fast. Vs UCLA they won't strike as often either.
Also, anyone that thinks ND is better than UCLA might wish to follow Weiss wherever he goes. Maybe you'll do better next year. Personally I'll take Neuheisel, Chow and Walker. The coaching difference between ND and UCLA is huge. Given time, they stand a good chance of knocking USC off it's perch in the conference. DO NOT underestimate UCLA. The Notre Dame players needed to come out and start pregame fights with USC last week to get up to play them. UCLA is a better team than that. 1/2 the players went to the same high schools as the USC players.
I'd also consider playing this one under depending on how low the oddsmakers figure it to be.
I agree that UCLA has a great coaching staff and should do very well in the years to come. However, today, the team stinks. They ran the ball pretty well against Fresno, fairly well against AZ and ok against WA. The rest of their games the run was completely shut down by some pretty pedestrian PAC-10 defenses. USC is on a whole different level. As far as players knowing one another from high school, ask TX A&M, FL St, Miss St how well that motivation helped them--all are bad teams that were blown out by their local adversary. I am sure Carroll remembers the advertisement that Rick took out in the local newspaper at the beginning of the year, and will be looking to lay a beatdown to remind him of how big a hill UCLA has to climb.
I will agree that the under might be a good play as I don't see UCLA scoring more than 7.
If this is true and there is a line out I would hammer the under. He's not throwing 5 INT's and I'll be the first to say USC has the best team and by far the best defense in the nation. He'll try to be safe with the ball and if he starts to struggle I can see him getting pulled early. I'd say under 4 +105 is an amazing bet.
