Vic Duke

Hoosiers/UCLA 7:30: Hoosiers should give the Bruins an unruly welcome to the Big 10 tonight. Bruins laid an egg in Hawaii with poor offensive line play resulting in a sluggish run game (3.6 YPC) forcing QB Garbers (2 INTs) to win it with his feet and arm. Fortunately for the Bruins, they squeaked by in a 16-13 come from behind win but failed to cover the 13' point spread. Sure, they had an extra week of prep to get it together but I'm not sure it's enough time. Indiana, with new Coach Cignetti, calling the shots, could be a contender in the Big 10 almost immediately. Cignetti led former FCS powerhouse James Madison to a successful season in its inaugural season in the FBS going 10-1 SU in the Sun Belt Division. And the Hoosiers' former HC Tom Allen kept the cupboard stocked with 21 returning starters and solid returning production. Cignetti nabbed a rock-solid QB in 5th year man Kurtis Roarke (Ohio U transfer) to lead a potent offensive attack. Hoosiers blew out their two lightweight opponents and should give UCLA a tough time. Hoosiers' defense line - alone- collected 11 sacks in the first two games. We'll lay a field goal with the better constructed and coached team - Indiana. 

Coastal Carolina/Temple 2:00: These teams heading the opposite direction. Coastal Carolina continues its recent history of success at 2-0 out of the gate. Tim Beck, in his second year with CC, continued their winning ways after highly successful Coach Chadwell left. Meanwhile, Temple continues to stumble (0-2). Owls were last in the NCAA in turnover margin last season at minus 20. This season, they already last four fumbles and QB Brock threw 4 interceptions. Sure, Oklahoma was no easy task, but the Sooners could have hung 80 on them. CC is an amazing 18-1 in Games 2 through 4 over the last 7 seasons. QB Vasko is no marksman - hitting targets at roughly 50%; however, the Chanticleers can run the rock. Temple defense will once again eventually cave in. CC usually puts these kinds of teams away. They're 6-0-1 ATS vs .250 or less opponents. CC the call. 

Tulane/Oklahoma 3:30: New Tulane HC Sumrall, who a school record 23 games in two seasons with Troy, takes the baton from highly successful Willie Fritz who turned the near moribund Green Wave back to being a winner. Sumrall was left with 14 returning starters and did a good job attacking the recruiting trail, including landing some blue-chip skill personnel. QB Mensah can air it out and he's got a ground game in RB Hughes to help him out. OU, on the other hand, looks like they took a step back from last year. They had to replace their entire offensive line and had a difficult time establishing a run game (2.8 YPC) vs a mediocre Houston defense; consequently, it put pressure on QB Arnold. The Green Wave almost took out a solid Kansas State team last week and they're not intimidated. Sooners a money burning 3-16 ATS in third straight home game. Take the points. 

Oregon/Oregon State 3:30: Seems like a lot of points to lay considering the long history of this intra-state rivalry. And both teams are 2-0 with the Beavers overachieving and the Ducks underachieving (0-2 ATS). Former Beavers' HC Jonathon Smith, who brought Oregon State back to respectability over the last three seasons, bolted to Michigan State. He left the cupboard bare for new HC Trent Bray who has very little returning production. He nabbed a solid quarterback Gevani McCoy from Idaho. He doesn't have a whole lot of support on both - line and skill; however, the Beavers were fortunate to play two defenseless teams and a establish a run game. Oregon, which has six returning defensive starters and a Top 5 recruiting class, won't allow the run game to ignite under defensive minded Dan Lanning. On the offensive end, Heisman candidate Dillon Gabriel should ramp up production with the help of a better run game which fumbled three times already. Too much explosive personnel - Tez Johns, Ferguson, RB Jordan James - to put up the mediocre numbers of the first two games. Oregon wants to control the recruiting trail in their home state and should step it up here. They also have two weeks before starting Big 10 Conference play at UCLA on the 28th. With a complete talent disparity here, we'll lay the wood.