Rare 1A pigskin matchups, Independent style

 No. 22 #Marshall (4-0, 2-0 Conference USA)  scheduled a Nov. 7 home football game against Massachusetts, their first meeting since Marshall(then a MAC member) beat UMass 49-20 in 2001 when the Minutemen competed in the Atlantic 10 (1AA). The Herd should romp over the Minutemen who lost to Georgia Southern 49-0.  UMass  can be classified as a schedule filler.

A more intriguing matchup  is an intrastate Virginia battle between Liberty(5-0), led by Malik Willis, visiting VT(4-2) of the ACC. VT beat Liberty in 2016

And I'd be ignorant if I forgot to mention  BYU and Boise St ,  who were  once in the MWC together for a year or two. 

I like Liberty and BYU to win and give Independents more respect this season

Nov 7

BYU(8-0) demolished Boise St 51-17. Zach Wilson threw for 359 yards and two TDs and rushed for a TD.

Nov 7 afternoon

Wow what a wild ending  to the Liberty game. VT called a time out  with 11 seconds to go negating the  block of a FG attempt and a  return for a TD, then let  the Flames  get a first down and kick a FG. LIB 38 VT 35
Marshall destroyed UMass 51-10. Knox rushed for 118 yards and  two TDs for the Herd. 

Nov 16: I wonder if Sankey's SEC freeze on Freeze is still in effect. Apparently this stopped Bama from hiring Freeze as an ASST a few years ago. So folks may want to relax on all the chatter about HF leaving taking the South Carolina job.

Nov 17

 Army was snakebit by Tulane last week, and I suspect Werts and his Georgia Southern (Sunbelt) mates will carry some venom into West Point and pull off a 19-17 win. Taggart's FAU bunch should have fun with UMass, and BYU will take care of N. Bama.

Hugh Freeze's coaching stock will soar higher with a win over NC St (ACC) behind  Malik Willis: 122-180, 1645 YDS, 15 TD   98 CAR, 700 YDS, 9 TD 

Nov 21

UMAss 's only score was a safety in a 24-2 loss to FAU(CUSA) . The Minutemen have scored 12 points in three games this season.

Nov 22

BYU had no problems with N.Bama, but I was  was wrong on two squeakers. Army roared back to edge  Ga Southern 28-27. Close call by the refs on whether GA SO got the ball spiked in time for a last gasp long FG attempt. NC ST blocked a Liberty FG attempt to survive 15-14.

Nov 26

 Liberty should handle UMass easily tomorrow. I wonder if the Freeze chase has cooled down since the loss to NCST.

Nov 28, 2020

Willis train rolls on for Liberty in a 45-0 shutout of UMass.  He rushed for 63 yards and a TD, and passed for 223 yards and 3 TDs 

Sept 22, 2022

UMass to hold Pride Day when Liberty football visits this week. Coach Freeze will have the Flames O ignited, and they'll get past this crap: UMass to hold Pride Day when Liberty football visits.  BTW, LU's field hockey team played at Northwestern in field hockey on Sept. 9, when the Wildcats set that day as their Pride Game. Do you see a trend?

 

 

Four O5 picks for the Halloween weekend

 AAC-  It's not the marquee matchup, but Tulsa is a team worth watching. After a tough 16-7 loss to OK St , they've had impressive wins over UCF and USF and will stay hot with a 34  -22 win over ECU behind Zach Smith's passing.

CUSA- Don't look now but UTSA(4-3, 2-1 C-USA) has been playing decent with Sincere McCormick(155 CAR, 867 YDS, 7 TD). FAU(1-1, 1-1 C-USA) has been erratic. UTSA 27 FAU 17.

MWC- Boise St  will get enough passing from Bachmeier to survive the Air Force rushing attack  and win 30-29

Sunbelt- Undefeated Coastal Carolina  will stay that way with a 24-22 win over Georgia St. regardless of  McCall being able to start at QB.

Oct 30

I didn't select this game but Kennedy III rushed for two TDs for Georgia Southern in the 4th quarter in a 24-17 win over South Bama.

Oct 31

Tulsa scored 34  and won , as I predicted, TUL 34 ECU 30. Ahlers , the ECU QB, put up betters stats than Zane Smith of Tulsa, but a late rushing TD by Wilkerson gave  Tulsa the W.

Nov 1

FAU's D held UTSA to three points so  I was got that one wrong.  Sears, not Bachmeir, led BSU to a 49-30 win over AFA. Coastal Carolina 51 GSU 0. WTH happened. Mccall passed for 4 TDs and 280 yards, Georgia St passed for 30 yards. 

CUSA Note: Rice 30 USM 6. Southern Miss is on its third HC this season. #ScottyWalden , the interim HC , left for the job at Austin Peay few days ago

MWC is back and more O5 picks for week ending Oct 24

 Can App St shed the rust  and beat Arkansas St on a Thursday night? Yes, I'll take Zac Thomas, the App St QB, over the Bonner/Hatcher platoon  of Ark St. APP 26 Ark St 20.

Wyoming behind its QB Sean Chambers pulls out a 20-17 road victory at Nevada. 

Cincy travels to SMU in a battle of two top 25 teams. Cincy has enough D to rope in the Mustangs O and win 24-23.

Taggart's Owls won't  slow down the Wells/Knox show in Huntingdon, WVA. Marshall 30 Fau 20 

Oct 23

The rust flew off APP St in a 45-17 victory of Ark St. App St QB, Zac Thomas, tossed four TD passes and ran for one. 

Oct 24

I didn't pick this game but needed to mention that #ChrisSmith ran a kickoff back 100 yards for a ULL(Sunbelt) TD in a 24-20 win over UAB(CUSA).

Oct 25

Heck of  battle in Nevada with  Charlie Strong tossing for 420 yards nd 4 TDs including the game winner in OT. NEV 37 WYO 34. BTW, Chambers, the Wyoming QB, went down early with a bad fibula injury.

SMU's D was weak, as expected , and could not contain Cincy QB, Desmond Ridder who tossed one TD pass and ran for 3TDs while gaining 179 yards on eight carries. Cincy 42 SMU 13.

#herd got it done again. Wells tossed two TD passes and Knox rushed for 101 yards in 20-9 win over FAU.

3-1 this weekend. I was wrong on Wyoming.

Sunbelt shines ,CUSA hopes: week ending October 17

 I missed that the CCU/ULL Sunbelt was last night  and it was quite a battle. McCall to Heligh connection was key  for Coastal Carolina(4-0, 2-0 Sun Belt) in a 30-27 win over ULL(3-1, 2-1 Sun Belt).

TxSt started out the season playing exciting , aggressive football, but they've faded quickly. It won't get much better in this week's visit to South Alabama .  J. Tolbert(15 REC, 327 YDS, 3 TD) will have a big game for  USA in a 30-20 home victory over TX St.

Georgia Southern found an opponent in UMass who reversed it's early decision to cancel  it's 2020 season and will now  be a fill-in for teams who need to fill  their schedules. Unless the Minutemen have another Andy Isabella, I don't think they'll do well  at Georgia Southern. GS 42 UMass 16.

Can Knox and the #herd survive the passing of La Tech QB, Luke Anthony who has tossed ten 10 passes this season. Home field may be just enough for La Tech to pull out a close 24 21 win over Marshall U. 

Oct 16

Tucker Gregg GAST ( 14 CAR, 142 YDS, 1 TD)- He!! of night in a 59-52 loss to Ark St.

Oct 18

3-0 for the weekend. TX St hung tough for most of the game but South Bama had enough in the tank for a 30-20 win, the score I predicted.. Kennedy III and Werts were far too much for Umass to handle. GA Southern 41 UMass 0.  When  the #herd D stopped La Tech at the goal line on the final play of the 2nd quarter to maintain a 14-3 lead,  I thought they'd win.  Wells and Knox had good games  for Marshall in a 35-17 win.

A shout out to undefeated Liberty for a 38-21 win over Syracuse of the ACC. Do you think Auburn misses Willis, the Liberty QB?

Shaky four picks week in O5 games

 Tulane (2-1) visits Houston(0-0) tonight in an AAC matchup. Tulane bench their starting QB Howard for Pratt in a win against S.Miss. I'm guessing the home team wins a game filled with field goals. HOU 19 TUL 12

Herd's run game will prevail in a 24-16 CUSA win over WKU , whose QB Pigrome is far from accurate.

In the Sunbelt, I'm going with the high powered TX St Bobcats to roll over Troy 38-22. Bobcats hung tough with SMU and  BC in OOC play this season.

I'll circle back to the CUSA and say Taggart's FAU bunch wins again. This week they'll find a way to slow down the USM  offense and prevail 22-20

Oct 9

Houston pick was correct, but I was way off on the score. Houston 49 Tulane 31. Green Wave D scored two TDs and Houston returned kickoff for a TD.

Oct 11

FAU game was canceled, and I split on the other two picks. Knox 15 CAR, 107 YDS, 3 TD led a solid Marshall U rushing attack in a 38-14 win over WKU. . I'm not sure if Troy finally woke up,but TX St has suddenly fallen asleep.

Gunnar Watson  ( 33-46, 338 YDS, 4 TD) found Kaylon Geiger  ( 7 REC, 121 YDS, 1 TD) , and Kimani Vidal  12 CAR, 106 YDS  led the Troy rushing attack in a 37-17 victory TX ST.

Force four O5 picks for Oct 3

 I'm unsure as to how Air Force gets to start it's season against Navy(AAC) when it's conference, the MWC, doesn't start  play until Oct 24 and hasn't produced a schedule. Navy should win by 10 against the rusty Falcons.

 Arkansas St  lost to Memphis and beat Iowa St(Big12) while CCU beat Kansas(Big12) this season. Jamal Jones will rush for a 100 + in a 24 19 Ark St win over CCU in Sunbelt action.

Can any team slow down UAB RB Spencer Brown? I don;'t think UTSA will this week in a CUSA matchup. UAB 34 UTSA 22

App St gave Charlotte a reality check two weeks ago and will rely on Chris Reynolds, their QB, to shift into high gear against Taggart's crew at FAU in a CUSA matchup. This will be the Owls first game this season. CHAR 24 FAU 16

Oct 4

UAB win over UTSA was my sole correct pick.  Navy was the rusty military crew and were held to under a 100 yards rushing by Air Force. McCall(20/29 for 322 yards and 4 TDs) had a great game at QB for CCU in a 52-23 win over Ark St. Nick Tronti rushed for a TD and tossed two TD passes in third quarter for FAU in a 21 -17 win over Charlotte.

I didn't pick the game or see it coming but props to Tulsa for a huge AAC victory over UCF.

O5 clashes with the Independents on Sept 26, then TXST game

 Army brings a strong a rushing attack to Cincy(AAC), but the Bearcats have a decent rushing attack led by by Gerrid Doaks and will pull out a 26-25 squeaker.

Troy carries the Sunbelt flag to Provo to face BYU in what looks like a battle of two solid QB .Gunnar Watson may tosses more  passes than Zach Wilson in this matchup, but the BYU rushing game will push Wilson and the BYU squad to a 30-27 win.

Liberty's D looked shaky in the second half in its win last week over WKY , and FIU (CUSA) hasn't played a game. Willis , the ex-Auburn QB, will do just enough to get Liberty a home W. LIB 30 FIU 19.

Then there's a matchup you'd never consider . TX St(Sunbelt)  visits BC(ACC) in Chestnut Hill, MA. The Vitt to Haydel connection will give BC he!!, but the home teams pulls it out in the end. BC 34 TXSt 29

Sept 27

I was 4-0 but I thought Troy would have given BYU a tougher game. Wilson threw for 392 yards and 2 TDs, and was more of the gunner than Gunnar Watson who threw for 162 yards for Troy. FIU ran the opening kickoff back for  TD and Norton rushed for 148 yards and two TD for FIU, but their D couldn't stop Willis, Mack, and Stubbs who led Liberty to the win.Army/Cincy was a defensive game until late in the 2nd quarter when Ridder got Cincy in gear and led them to a 24-10 win.

BC rallied  from 14-points down  to tame the Texas State Bearcats 24-21