College Football Picks

Keep your eyes on WR Michael Floyd in this game.

PURDUE BOILERMAKERS @ NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (-10.5)

Scanning through the week 1 college lines, Purdue at +10.5 caught my eye. Although Purdue had a losing record at 5-7, they were a competitive team, losing to Oregon by 2 points, Notre Dame by 3, and Michigan State by 3. Purdue was probably best known for upsetting Ohio State 26-18. They knew how to fight in games against the top competition, which is why I was tempted to take the points here. I also figured that Notre Dame may be facing a major set back with the losses of QB Jimmy Clausen and WR Golden Tate.

Unfortunately for Purdue, the injury bug has hurt the Boilermakers this past spring. Their star RB Ralph Bolden, who finished 3rd in the Big Ten in rushing, tore a ligament in his knee and may miss the entire season. Purdue’s QB Robert Marve, who was recruited by Miami, but left when he wasn’t chosen as Miami’s starter, will be the new face of the team and will have a talented receiver in WR Keith Smith (91 receptions, 1100 yards last season) to throw to.  Marve isn’t anything to write home about though: he threw more INTs (13) than TDs (9) last season at Miami. Purdue had a solid secondary last year, giving up just 203 yards per game, but they’ll have to deal with replacing 4 starters in that group,…

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Andy Dalton hopes to lead his team to an undefeated year if they can get past OSU.

OREGON STATE BEAVERS @ TCU HORNED FROGS (-13)

Coming into this season, TCU is ranked 7th while Oregon State is ranked 23rd. The TCU/OSU spread jumped out at me because Oregon State is a quality team and they’re getting double-digit points here, which had me think about taking a game where you’re starting off with some points. However, with the Horned Frog’s extraordinary offense and rushing attack, TCU may end up beating the Beavers convincingly.

TCU was ranked No. 3 last year going into the Fiesta Bowl ultimately losing 17-10, so my last impression of them was that they’re impressive offense when playing competition in the Mountain West Conference, but when faced with a legitimate defense like BSU’s, they get shut down.

Oregon State closed the regular season losing to the 7th ranked Oregon Ducks in honourable [sic] fashion, 37-33. Oregon State was a 10-point dog in that game and we recommended a teaser taking the Ducks at -3 with the over 55 — a spot on call if there ever was one. Oregon State finished the season 8-5 crushing the likes of California, Washington, and Washington State, and topping quality teams like Stanford and Arizona State, before competing against Oregon at a high level. In that game, they nearly had the Ducks beat. They had the lead going into the half and trailed by just…

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I looked at the College Football Week 1 spreads and there’s 10 games that wet my appetite. I want to provide a thorough analysis of each game, yet can’t make up my mind on which games I should start looking into. Help me out by voting in this poll. Thanks.

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As I await the start of the NFL season like an addict going through withdrawal, I would like to welcome old friends and new acquaintances to THE PASS RUSH. By the looks of our pick ‘em league, it’s good to see some old names show up on the list. THE PASS RUSH’s pick ‘em league is for only the most distinguished gentlemen of this website. By distinguished gentlemen, I mean loyal readers who contribute to the site on a weekly basis to talk football. You may register by checking the info here.

THE PASS RUSH has been in business for four years now, opening up to the interwebs in 2007. In four year’s time, we have handedly taken the books to the woodshed via weekly NFL and NCAA football picks against the spread. Like any season, it’s a roller coaster. There will be highs and lows, ups and downs, thrilling victories, and crushing defeats. There will be injuries, blown calls, turnovers, and ludicrous penalties that will combine to conspire against you, but you must not let them affect you.

During the 2009 football season, we immediately got off to a hot start. My philosophy to start last year was to bet against the reh-tards of the NFL. It was like a bully picking on the kid with down syndrome — completely shameless and without remorse. By betting faithfully against the Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams, Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers week-in and week-out, the first…

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Ryan Williams is one nasty RB.

BOISE STATE BRONCOS @ VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (+2.5)

Scanning through the week 1 college football lines, the game that stands out this week other than Pitt @ Utah is Boise State @ Virginia Tech (+2.5).  Two National Championship contenders, the No. 5 ranked Broncos and the No. 6. Hokies will be squaring off week one, in the Sunday Night Lights. The game is set for Monday, September 6th, on ESPN at 8:00pm. To be completely fair, this one is a toss up and I’m giving a slight nod to Virginia Tech. If I’ve learned one thing over the years, it’s that this team has performed exceptionally well at home in night games. Although they won’t have the advantage of playing on their home turf at Lane Stadium, they’ll still have a distinct home-field advantage playing at FedEx Field in Washington D.C.

With that said, I would be careless and hasty to say that Boise State doesn’t have a shot in this game. Despite VT’s huge home-field advantage, Boise State is 10-3 ATS on the road in their last 13 games. Even better is the fact that Boise State has 23 of the 24 players that started in the Fiesta Bowl returning. If your memory fails you, Boise State defeated No. 3 TCU last year 17-10 in the Fiesta Bowl and remained undefeated.

BSU’s QB Kellen Moore threw for over two miles last season (3,537 yards to be exact) with a…

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Expect bruising RB Allen Bradford to stomp over Hawaii.

With the college football season getting its start on Thursday, September 2, I’m looking to see if there are any good lines to take before we kick into gear with the NFL. Some lines are already out and I’m already doing some homework on them. The primetime game on Thursday will be Pitt (+3) vs. Utah, which I like Pitt in, but it’s not a strong play due to Pitt being on the road with a QB who is making his first start. I’m expecting Pitt’s D and Dion Lewis to get the job done for the Panthers though. Afterwards, we’ll see USC (-19) @ Hawaii on ESPN.

USC TROJANS -19 @ HAWAII WARRIORS

I’m not expecting USC to be as dominating as in year’s past due to the controversy that surrounded their team this past offseason. They’re prohibited from playing in a Bowl game for the next two years and they’re no longer being led by coaching mastermind Pete Carroll. You have to wonder how that will affect the team this season. One player that won’t affect is RB Allen Bradford who said, “the only way we’re going to be able to express ourselves is to win 13 games.”

USC has a history of beating the smack out of Hawaii. The last time they played was in 2005 and USC won 63-17, following their 2003 rout over Hawaii…

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Dion Lewis looks to start the season by running wild on the Utes.

The football season is almost upon us. Training camps are in full-mode — injuries are popping up, rookies are developing, and preseason games are about to get underway. Although I cannot wait for the NFL to begin, we get an early start with college football the week prior to the NFL season kicking off.  Although betting on preseason football games is nothing more than a coin toss, week 1 of college football is when good money can always me made.

We start the season on Thursday, September 2. The game of the day in terms of viewing (as opposed betting on) is the Pittsburgh Panthers (+3.5) @ Utah Utes, which I imagine will be broadcasted on ABC or ESPN at the 8:30 time slot, which will be followed by USC (-19) @ Hawaii on ESPN at 11:00.

Both teams last year were BCS contenders and both teams finished the season with 10-3 records.  Impressive by all means. Pitt finished 17th in the final BCS standings while Utah wound up 24th.  Pitt’s defense was their main strength with the 19th best defense in the league. Utah was best known for their potent offense, which ranked 34th in the nation and averaged 29.8 PPG.

The player to watch in this game is none other than emerging RB Dion Lewis, who was a yard shy of an 1800-yard season last year. Dion piled up 18…

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