Okay, so overall I was 7-3 last week but my predictions that were off, were very off. Iowa and Arizona were close, but the Hawkeyes never wore down the Wildcats front seven. I liked Nevada, but not enough to pick them to win, and I never saw 51 points coming. I also picked against UCLA if Houston played either of their top two quarterbacks. Do I get a mulligan because the Bruins knocked both of them out?

I was one-point off the amount of offense Oregon would score, but undervalued their defense. I had the right feel for the USC, ASU, Washington State and Oregon State games as well, but did not think the we’d see utter dismantlings from Nebraska and Stanford.

Let’s look to week four.

USC at Washington State

USC has failed to impress, but the Cougs are a mess. USC is talented, but unrefined. Maybe we should consider this their fourth preseason game. As for WSU? The Oregon State teams from the 80’s have called to schedule a series because they think they can get some wins. Won’t be pretty, but USC rolls. USC 41, WSU 9

Stanford at Notre Dame

The Irish are not back, but Brian Kelly is doing a nice job. They are just two plays from being 3-0. Stanford has been killing people and they want nothing more than to embarrass the Irish on NBC. Andrew Luck may be college football’s best passer (apologies to Nick Foles and Ryan Mallet) but winning on the road is never easy. Predictions: Stanford win, moving into the national spotlight and Jim Harbaugh does something with a timeout or replay challenge to anger Irish fans.  Stanford 38, Notre Dame 24

UCLA at Texas

UCLA is 1-0 against teams from the Lone Star State but 0-1 this year agains the Big 12. Texas has been mostly unisnpiring, apparently sending the JV team out for the first half of games agaisnt Rice, Wyoming and Texas Tech before turning it on in the second half. The last time UCLA went to Austin they put a 66-3 butt whooping on the Longhorns. That won’t happen again. It will be close at the half, but once Mack Brown’s varsity takes the field in the third quarter, it’s on. Texas 48, UCLA 17

Oregon State at Boise State

My friend Nate hates non-BCS teams. He thinks they do not play enough tough games to warrant inclusion into BCS bowl games and thinks they whine to get in over more deserving BCS teams. Nate has no heart. He likes Duke, hates 16 seeds and I have a sneaky suspicion that he hates puppies and Christmas. One thing he likes is Oregon State. They had a chance to beat both TCU and Boise State. They failed agaist the Horned Frogs, so he is pinning all his hopes on the Beavs this week to upend Boise and re-open a spot in the BCS for a second place team in the SEC or the Big 10. If Oregon State fails, the only hope to keep Boise out of the BCS is Nevada, and even a loss to the Wolf Pack may not be enough. The Beavers are getting better, but this one is still being played in September (never a good month for OSU) and on the “Smurf Turf”, so the edge is still to BSU. Boise State 37, Oregon State 28

Oregon at Arizona State

The Ducks look like they are playing a video game with the “easy” setting left on. They have outscored opponents 189-13 but have yet to face a defense as good as Arizona State’s. After beating up on the Big Sky Conference, the Devils played very well last week in Madison. They probably should have beaten Wisconsin, but mistakes cost them the upset. The question is, what that further proof the Sun Devils are better than the ninth place team we predicted or was it a very good match-up for them? Wisconsin did not look impressive in wins over San Jose State or UNLV either, so we don’t really know much about ASU.

This looks to be a very good measuring stick game for the Sun Devils. I can’t see them winning but if they can hang with the Ducks for awhile I think they might be okay.  Oregon 48, ASU 17

Cal at Arizona

Everyone worried about the Arizona letdown and the Cal defense, but I think both concerns are overblown. Cal is not as bad as they showed last Friday, but there are some concerns. Mentally, I think Arizona is over the hump. If Kevin Riley takes care of the ball, this one is tight late. If Riley is careless with the ball, then the Cats pull away. Arizona 37, Cal 21

Easiest Game To Pick: USC over WSU

Toughest Game To Pick: Oregon State/Boise St.

Last Week: 7-3

Season: 15-3

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