Week 3 College Football Preview: Sooners-Noles Do Battle in Tallahassee

Well I enter the week with an 8-3 record overall and 7-2-1 against the spread so far, so hopefully you guys are paying attention. This week, there are some key match-ups and they get underway before we even get to the weekend. A lot of quality teams could suffer their first loss of the season and it all gets started with Thursday night’s SEC tilt and ends with a battle of top 10 teams in Tallahassee:

LSU @ Mississippi State (-3) (Thursday, 8:00 PM ET ESPN)

LSU faces its first road test of the season and boy it will be a tough one. The Tigers followed up their victory over Oregon with an easy win, while Mississippi State was stuffed at the goal line as time expired in Auburn. Why am I betting against LSU after what they did the first two weeks? Quite simply because Mississippi State is a talented team that is going to be playing desperation football and LSU always lays a clunker at some point. They need this victory much more than LSU does, and Dan Mullen needs to prove he can win a big game so his name will get brought up yet again in off-season coaching searches.

Pick: Mississippi St 24 LSU 20

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BumpAndRun.com’s College Football Top 15 — Week 3

Week 2 of the college football season was fairly predictable as every team that played in our top 15 won their games.  Due to that you’d think there would be no movement in our rankings, but there is a little bit of shuffling that took place. Here are the current top 15 and we expect this to change big time next week as there are some huge games this weekend:

14. TCU (1-1): The Horned Frogs bounced back with an impressive win at Air Force. Their offense seems like it will be pretty good throughout the season. Their defense on the other hand, gave up a lot of yards again but made the plays when it needed to. Next: Louisiana Monroe (Saturday, 2:00 PM ET)

Walking the Waiver Wire – 5 Free Agents to Consider

1. Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB (Bills) – The Harvard grad stunned a rabid Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, going 17 of 25 for 208 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-7 rout of the Chiefs. As funny as it sounds, Fitzpatrick’s comfort level in Chan Gailey’s offense should equal steady fantasy numbers throughout 2011. He’s a nice QB2 and could make an immediate impact in your starting line-up, especially in deeper leagues.

2. Fred Davis, TE (Redskins) – Could there be a changing of the guard at the tight end position in Washington? With Chris Cooley playing through pain in his knee, it was the younger Fred Davis who stepped up for Rex Grossman against the Giants, catching five balls for 105 yards – the first 100-yard game of his career. Davis entered training camp in tremendous shape and has a firm grasp of the Shanahans’ offense. Target Davis as a TE2 with the ability to crack your starting line-up provided the match-up.

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College Football Week 2: Quick Hits

· I found it amusing on Saturday night and Sunday morning that people were putting the Michigan-Notre Dame game in the conversation of greatest games they’ve ever seen. First, being great normally means the teams are playing great football, not slightly above average football. Second, these two teams have been irrelevant for a few years now. Wake me up when people regain their sanity.

· We learned that Virginia Tech isn’t a top 10 team right now.

· I hate to say it, but the football gods must just be permanently placed at Jordan Hare Stadium the last 13 months. Auburn got lucky again.

· I told you TCU would be OK after that Week 1 loss. People still need to respect them and respect even more what Baylor did to them.

· And the Heisman Trophy dark horse was at it this weekend: Case Keenum puts up 458 yards and 5 TD’s.
 
New rankings will be out Wednesday, with picks again on Thursday. Pat’s picks through Week 2: 8-3 straight up and 7-2-1 against the spread.

Fantasy Fives: Cam Shines, Rice Cooks, CJ2K Struggles

Fantasy Aces

1. Cam Newton/Steve Smith, Panthers – Newton wasted no time silencing his critics, going 24 of 37 for 422 yards and three touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) in his rookie debut against the Cardinals. He ended the day with 29 fantasy points and also resuscitated the fantasy value of Steve Smith, who had 176 yards receiving and caught both of Newton’s touchdown passes. The Panthers may have lost the game 28-21, but have to be encouraged with Newton’s performance and his immediate rapport with Smith. It’s only one game, but fantasy owners may have to think about scooping up Newton before someone else does.

2. Mike Tolbert, Chargers – The Bolts’ bruising running back was responsible for all three of San Diego’s touchdowns in its 24-17 win over the Vikings. Both Tolbert and his counterpart in the backfield, Ryan Mathews, carried the ball 12 times each, but Tolbert also led the Chargers in receptions on this day with nine. His 26 fantasy points were a welcome sight to fantasy owners who started him and frustrating for owners who watched him light it up from their bench.

3. Kenny Britt, Titans – Those who spent a late-round pick on Kenny Britt in their fantasy draft look to be in for quite the season. On a day where the Titans got virtually nothing from Chris Johnson (more on that in a bit), Britt picked up the slack against the Jags, catching five balls for 136 yards and two touchdowns – 25 fantasy points, albeit in a 16-14 loss. Once Johnson gets acclimated to playing football at a high level again, we suspect that Britt could be even more dangerous.

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BumpAndRun.com Play Sheet – Week 1

Football is back and so is the BumpAndRun.com Play Sheet! Download your FREE Play Sheet and get fantasy rankings, weekly picks and survivor pool solutions all on one printable page.

As you prepare your Week 1 fantasy line-up, finalize your weekly picks or decide which team to select in your survivor pool, BumpAndRun.com will serve as your “second opinion.”

Click Here to Download Your Week 1 Play Sheet!

BumpAndRun.com’s 2011 NFL Season Predictions

What would an NFL season be without predictions? As we countdown to a beauty of a game tonight at Lambeau Field, the BumpAndRun.com staffers revealed our individual award winners, division winners, wild card teams, and Super Bowl champion. One of us sees Philip Rivers bringing the Lombardi Trophy to the 619 for the first time in franchise history, while the other predicts Brady and Belichick will win their fourth Super Bowl together and cement their respective legacies as the best to ever do it. Without further ado, our 2011 NFL season predictions: … Continue Reading

Week 2 College Football Preview: SEC Showdown in Athens

In Week 1 I went 4-2 overall straight up and 3-2 against the spread. I’ll try to improve on that for you this week as we now know a little more about the teams. Some are better than I thought, some aren’t as good as I thought and some are basically what I thought. So let’s have a look at a five games in Week 2:

Arizona @ Oklahoma State (-13 ½) (Thursday, 8 PM ET)

ESPN gets a prime-time game featuring two of the better QB’s in the country in Arizona’s Nick Foles and Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden.  Both teams rolled in Week 1, but Arizona is a one-dimensional offense that the Cowboys defense should be able to slow down just enough to win by 2 TD’s. The only way it doesn’t happen is if Weeden throws 3 INT’s. My bet is you see the Weeden to Blackmon connection an awful lot on Thursday.

Pick: Oklahoma St 49 Arizona 24

Oregon State @ Wisconsin (-20 ½) (Saturday, 12 PM ET)

Oregon State loses to Sacramento State, Wisconsin steam rolls UNLV. Use your logic, do the math, look at the talent and try to tell me Wisconsin doesn’t blow them out.

Pick: Wisconsin 56 Oregon State 20

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BumpAndRun.com’s College Football Top 15 — Week 2

15. TCU (0-1): You will probably see the Horned Frogs drop down or out of most rankings you look at, but something tells me that Baylor is a lot better than people think. Next: @ Air Force (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET)

14. Virginia Tech (1-0): Tech marched to an easy victory over Appalachian State. They now head to the road for a team that can be tough to play against. Next: @ East Carolina (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET)

13. Baylor (1-0): RG III led the explosive attack against TCU’s defense and they earned the biggest victory perhaps in Baylor football history. With a little bit of luck they can do big things, but the schedule is a monster. Next: Stephen F. Austin (Saturday, September 17th)

12. Oregon (0-1): The Ducks just got physically beat up and beat themselves with turnovers. You can stuff their offense if given time to prepare, and the defense isn’t where it was last year. But it was only game 1. Next: Nevada (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET)

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College Football Week 1: Quick Hits

· Robert Griffin III and Baylor proved they are going to be a legit team this year.

· The Oregon Ducks offense can be stopped relatively easy when you have plenty of time to prepare for it and have guys that can make tackles in the open field.

· How good is LSU? Better than I thought, but not as good as everyone else thinks after the Oregon game.

· The soon to be defunct Big 12 is at least going to go out with a bang….Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, and Baylor…might be 4 of the best offenses in the country.

· Wisconsin opened up the season on Thursday night and looked dominant.

· Houston QB Case Keenum is back and appears healthy. Could he lead Houston to a possible BCS busting type of season?

· If I hear anyone question whether Boise State can play with the big boys ever again, I am just going to ignore your opinion on sports forever.

The new rankings will come out Wednesday, and there will obviously be some shuffling. This week’s picks will be out Thursday.