CFL Week 6

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CFL
In the highly competitive West Division there is little room for error, something both Winnipeg and Saskatchewan are aware of as they do battle this afternoon at Mosaic Stadium. Both teams have amassed 12 points in the standings thanks to six wins, although the Blue Bombers have played one more game than Saskatchewan. Both teams are trailing Edmonton and Calgary which are tied for first in the division with records of 7-1, and they are set to square off in a Monday night game. Sackatchewan won the first meeting of the season on the road, which means the Riders have now taken 6 of the last 7 matchups and 11 of 13 versus the Bombers overall.
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Other football news.............

NFL
Although New England is 13-1 straight up as a double digit favorite the last three years, the Pats are only 5-9 against the spread. They'll keep winning, but it's getting harder and harder for them to cover those high numbers.

NCAA (Record 4-1)
I won on Ohio State, Auburn and Louisiana Tech yesterday to bring this thread's CFB record to 4-1 ATS. Tonight there are two games of note as Tennessee host Utah State and high powered Baylor entertains SMU. I have no play on either game.

Week 1 Outstanding Performances:

Kenny Hill, South Carolina, QB
Hill broke Johnny Manziel's single game passing record with 511 yards Thursday in a win over South Carolina. He completed 44 of 60 passes with 3 touchdowns.

Amari Cooper, Alabama, WR
Had 12 catches for 130 yards in the 33-23 win over West Virginia.

Todd Gurley, Georgia, RB
Ran for 198 yards and 3 touchdowns and returned a kickoff 100 yards for another touchdown in the Bulldogs 45-21 win over Clemson.

Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska, RB
Ran for career high 232 yards and eclipsed 3,000 yards for his career in a 55-7 rout of Florida Atlantic.

Jacobi Owens, Air Force, RB
Ran for 233 yards in his debut to help the Falcons beat Nicholls 44-16.

Anthony Brown, Duke, QB
Matched a career high with 4 touchdown passes helping the Blue Devils beat Elon 52-13.

Patrick Towles, Kentucky, QB
Completed 20 of 29 passes without an interception for 377 yards and a touchdown in win over Tennessee-Martin.

Everett Golson, Notre Dame, QB
Completed 14 of 22 passing for 295 yards and ran for 41 yards on 12 carries in a 48-17 win over Rice.

Clint Trickett, West Virginia, QB
Completed 29 of 45 passes for 365 yards with no interceptions against Alabama in 23-33 loss despite a rushing attack that only generated 28 yards.
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Tip Of The Hat: Penn State's SAM PICKENS kicked 4 field goals including a 34 yard winner with 3 seconds left to beat Central Florida 26-24.

 

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Week 11***************************************************

CFL

West Division Standings

Team.....................W/L.......Home......Away......Streak
Calgary...................8-1........4-1..........4-0.........W4
Saskatchewan..........7-2........4-1..........3-1.........W6
Edmonton................7-2........3-1..........4-1.........L1
Winnipeg.................6-4........3-2..........3-2.........L1
British Columbia.......5-4........2-3..........3-1.........L1

Eastern Division

Team.....................W/L.......Home......Away......Streak
Toronto..................3-7.........2-2.........1-4.........W4
Hamilton................2-6.........1-2..........0-4........W1
Montreal................2-7..........1-3.........0-4.........W1
Ottawa..................1-8..........1-3.........0-4.........L6

Week 11 Schedule:

Fri. 9/5 British Columbia @ Ottawa
Sat. 9/6 Calgary @ Edmonton
Sun. 9/7 Hamilton @ Montreal
Sun. 9/7 Saskatchewan @ Winnipeg
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Other football news.......................

NCAA
There were three games of 500 plus yards passing in FBS through Saturday. There were eight all of last season. This year's list is topped by Brandon Doughty's 569 for Western Kentucky. Conner Halliday had 532 for Washington State and Texas A&M's Kenny Hill had 511. Only Halliday's total was not a school record (he went for 557 last year against Oregon. Washington State was the only loser of the three.

Sidenote: The RX College Football Contest is off to a good start with 66 entries. TheDude24 lead the first week with a perfect 6-0 record. I'm tied in 6th place with a 4-2 record. The contest is first class and is being run by Betallsports and JOH.

NFL
There are seven new coaches leading teams this season. Here's a brief snapshot of each.

Lovie Smith, Tampa Bay
Smith was successful in Chicago, got the Bears to a Super Bowl, and will bring needed open environment to Bucs after difficult Greg Schiano regime.

Mike Zimmer, Minnesota
If nothing else, every Viking player will know where he stands because Zimmer never minces words. He is known as a defensive guru.

Ken Whisenhunt, Tennessee
Any coach who can turn the Arizona Cardinals into a Super Bowl team deserves another shot. But the Titans ownership needs some patience.

Jim Caldwell, Detroit
Lions have plenty of talent on both sides of the ball, but have had little discipline. Caldwell, a disciple of Tony Dungy, won 2009 AFC crown with Colts.

Jay Gruden, Washington
The younger brother of Jon Gruden, Jay's most important mission is getting Robert Griffin on his side immediately or Griffin will pout like he did with the last coach.

Bill O'Brien, Houston
After succeeding the late Joe Paterno at Penn State, no obstacle can be intimidating to O'Brien, considered an offensive wizard.

Mike Pettine, Cleveland
Son of a renowned high school coach, Pettine has a doozy of a challenge with such an under achieving franchise. He also has to develop Johnny Football.
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Tip Of The Hat: North Dakota State has 25 consecutive wins after defeating Iowa State 34-14 on Saturday. The 25 straight is an FCS record.

 

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Dark Wednesday

Got a poker game starting late tonight.....ain't going to be up early tomorrow.

Damn good songs...I'm a big JB fan and will have him blasting tonight.

YouTube: Joe Bonnamassa...Different shades of Blue...Official Music Video.
YouTube: Joe Bonnamassa...Driving toward the Daylight...Official Music Video.

(IT'S NOT HOW YOU DRIVE....IT'S HOW YOU ARRIVE!)

 

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CFL
Week 10 Players of the Week:

Offensive Player of the Week:
John Cornish, RB, Calgary
Cornish rushed for a season high 163 yards and added a touchdown in the Stampeders 28-13 win over the second place Eskimos.

Defensive Player of the Week:
Ricky Foley, DE, Saskatchewan
Foley notched a pair of sacks, added a tackle, and force and recovered a fumble to help the Roughriders to their sixth straight victory.

Special Teams Player of the Week:
Troy Stoudermire, KR/PR, Winnipeg
Stoudermire returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown in the Blue Bombers' 35-30 road loss to Saskatchewan. In the game, he recorded 224 combined return yards.
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Other football news..............

NFL
AFC East Snapshots:

New England: Still the class of AFC East with Tom Brady on hand, but haven't won a Super Bowl since 2004.
Miami: After 2013 bullying scandal, Dolphins had to heal locker room while improving talent level.
NY Jets: Despite offensive additions Michael Vick, Eric Decker and Chris Johnson, defense is Jet's strength.
Buffalo: Bills looking to end sorry playoff drought of 14 years.

NFC East Snapshots:

Philadelphia: Coach Chip Kelly's fast-paced offense was dynamic in his first pro season. Could be even better in 2014.
Dallas: This could be the worst edition of America's Team since Jerry Jones' first team went 1-15 in 1989.
Washington: No duo will be more exciting to watch than RG3 throwing to Desean Jackson.
NY Giants: Lots of preseason injuries make Giants a huge question mark.
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NCAA
Week 2 against the spread notables.

Air Force is 0-5 last 5 playing Wyoming.
Akron is 1-3 last 4 games against Penn State.
BYU is 4-0 last 4 games versus Texas.
Central Michigan is 1-3 last 4 playing at Purdue.
Cincinnati is 5-0 last 5 at home against Miami, Ohio.
East Carolina is 3-1 last 4 at South Carolina.
Fresno State is 0-3 last 3 at Utah.
Georgia is 1-6 last 7 games against South Carolina.
Idaho is 1-3 last 4 games playing La-Monroe.
Iowa State is 1-3-1 last 5 against Kansas State.
Michigan State is 0-3 last 3 playing Oregon.
Ole Miss is 1-3 last 4 playing Vanderbilt.
Mississippi State is 1-4 last 5 against UAB.
Navy is 0-3 last 3 games versus Temple.
Notre Dame is 5-2 last 7 at home against Michigan.
Oklahoma is 4-0 last 4 playing Tulsa.
Rice is 3-0 last 3 games against Texas A&M.
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Tip Of The Hat: ST. LOUIS RAMS for cutting media "darling" Michael Sam.

 

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Forgot to mention, playing Seattle tonight. Played them early at -5.5 as documented in the Tracker Forum.

Line now -4.5.

No games here partners...........

 

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CFL
One game on tab tonight as British Columbia travels to Ottawa. The Lions had a bye this past week and they have a real opportunity to show what they can do against a weak RedBlacks team. Things can't get much worse for Ottawa this season. Their 1-9 record may not indicate how bad they really are. The line is BC -7.5 to 8.5. I have them winning by 14.
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Other football news..................

NFL (1-0)
AFC North Snapshots

Cincinnati: After three straight firs round exits, time for Bengals to make playoffs and then advance.
Pittsburgh: Steelers need to rebuild what was an elite defense and rediscover powerful running game.
Baltimore: Dynamic WR Steve Smith could be the boost Ravens need to get back to Super Bowl contention.
Cleveland: Rookie media-magnet Johnny Manziel starts the season as the backup but there is already talk of a dual QB system.

NFC North Snapshots

Detroit: New coach Jim Caldwell must bring discipline to the Lions, because Detroit already has lots of skill.
Chicago: Rebuilt defense makes Bears a threat to dethrone archrival Packers.
Green Bay: When QB Aaron Rodgers is healthy, Packers are championship caliber. They need to protect their jewel.
Minnesota: Poor Adrian Peterson. League's best running back could be wasted with Vikings.

Sidenote: Got our first NFL win with Seattle last night. Word of wisdom...don't bet against the Seahawks at home.
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NCAA (4-1)
College football's highest paid coaches (minimum $4 million.)

Nick Saban, Alabama, $7.3 million
Bob Stoops, Oklahoma, $5.25
Charlie Strong, Texas, $5.0
Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M, $5.0
Urban Meyer, Ohio State, $4.8
Les Miles, LSU, $4.5
Brady Hoke, Michigan, $4.3
Art Bryles, Baylor, $4.25
Steve Sarkisian, USC, $4.25
Kirk Ferentz, Iowa, $4.0
Gus Malzahn, Auburn, $4.0
James Franklin, Penn State, $4.0
Brian Kelly, Notre Dame, $4.0
Steve Spurrier, South Carolina, $4.0
Jimbo Fisher, FSU, $4.0

Sidenote: Two games tonight with one of interest to me. I'm playing Pittsburgh -4.5 against Boston College. Both schools had easy wins game 1 and have not played each other in ten years. Believe the Panthers are the better overall team.
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Tip Of The Hat: Life without Johnny Manziel has begun and KEVIN SUMLIN had the Aggies' offense in mid-season form in their opener against South Carolina. Sumlin has reeled in two consecutive top 10 recruiting classes and should have staying power in the SEC.

 

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CFL
British Columbia got by Ottawa 7-5 last night on a pair of field goals by Paul McCallum. The RedBlacks (1-9) kept the Lions out of the end zone all night, but struggled again on offense getting only a field goal.

Today's game features Calgary (8-1) traveling to face Edmonton (7-2).
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Other football news......................

NFL (1-0)
Week one home DOGS with an Over/Under line of 44 points or more have gone an amazing 3-18 O/U since 2002 and there are two games that fit the bill this weekend. I'm playing Atlanta UNDER 51.5 and Miami Under 46.5 on Sunday.
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NCAA (5-1)
Won on Pittsburgh last night bring this thread's record to 5-1 on the season. Below are games I am playing today.
312 North Texas -2.5 (SMU)
333 Colorado -17 (UMass)
340 Stanford -3 (USC)
345 Eastern Michigan +38 (Florida)
359 Arizona State -23.5 (New Mexico)

I lean toward (368) Tulane and (385) Colorado State. Again, all my plays are documented in the RX Tracker Forum.
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Tip Of The Hat: Pittsburgh RB JAMES CONNER ran for 213 yards on 35 carries to lead the Panthers to a 30-20 win over Boston College.

 

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CFL
Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchel (SMU, Eastern Washington) rushed for two touchdowns and passed for two more as Calgary (9-1) continued their dominance over their provincial rival Edmonton, winning their fifth game in a row with a 41-34 victory on Saturday. It was the 11th consecutive win over the Eskimos dating back to 2011 for the Stampeders.

Two games today: Hamilton (2-6) invades struggling Montreal (2-7) and Saskatchewan (7-2) travels to battle Winnipeg (6-4).
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NFL
In addition to two totals already posted, I'm playing a large number of sides simply because they fit into my system. Don't like to play this many games but it is what it is.
463 New Orleans -3
468 Pittsburgh -6.5
472 NY Jets -5
476 Chicago -6.5
480 Kansas City -3
482 Miami +4
484 Tampa Bay -2.5
486 Dallas +4
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NCAA (6-4)
I lost three out of five yesterday to bring the thread record to 6-4. My goal for the season is 58 to 65 percent. "It's not how you drive...it's how you arrive."

Auburn rolled yesterday but still has some work to do. There was no stunner in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday. San Jose State proved to be like the rest of the other lower-tier conference opponents for SEC teams in the second week of the season: not even a good scrimmage foe. The Tigers took care of business early, jumping to a 35-7 lead midway through the second quarter and eventually winning 59-13. Two weeks in, the Tigers are where everyone expected them to be, sitting at 2-0. Although it rolled to a lopsided win, Auburn still showed they have some work to do before a September 18 Thursday night game at Kansas State.

The week two SEC schedule was embarrassing and I'm speaking as a long time SEC loyalist.
Alabama 41 Florida Atlantic 0
Missouri 49 Toledo 24
Tennessee 34 Arkansas State 19
Mississippi St. 47 UAB 34
Kentucky 20 Ohio 3
Florida 65 Eastern Michigan 0
Arkansas 73 Nicholls State 7
LSU 56 Sam Houston St. 0
Texas A&M Lamar
Auburn 59 San Jose 13
South Carolina 33 East Carolina 23
Ole Miss 41 Vanderbilt 3 (only conf. game)

The SEC teams outscored their nonconference foes 477 -126.
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Tip Of The Hat: Alabama wide receiver AMARI COOPER tied a school record with 13 receptions against Florida Atlantic. Cooper now has 25 catches in two games.

 

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CFL Week 12*********************************************************

West Division Standings

Team.......................W/L.........Home..........Away..........Streak
Calgary....................9-1...........4-1.............5-0..............W5
Saskatchewan...........8-2...........4-1.............4-1..............W7
Edmonton.................7-3...........3-2.............4-1..............L2
British Columbia........6-4...........2-3.............4-1..............W1
Winnipeg..................6-5...........3-3.............3-2..............L2

East Division Standings

Team......................W/L...........Home..........Away...........Streak
Toronto...................3-7.............2-2.............1-5..............L3
Montreal..................3-7.............3-3.............0-4..............W2
Hamilton..................2-7.............2-2.............0-5..............L1
Ottawa....................1-9.............1-4.............0-5..............L7

Week 12 Schedule

Fri. 9/12 Montreal @ Edmonton
Sat. 9/13 Toronto @ Calgary
Sat. 9/13 Winnipeg @ British Columbia
Sun. 9/14 Saskatchewan @ Hamilton
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Other football news.......................

NFL (2-9)
I got beat up pretty good yesterday winning only one of ten games. I've been humbled before in this tough ass business and I'm sure I will be again down the road. I'm playing a new system I developed that averaged 60% the past 3 years. After week one the system is 2-7 (22%) a far cry from the 60% three year average. I will stay the course...at least until I hit my loss limit.

Tonight I'm playing San Diego +3.
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NCAA

Week 2 Outstanding Performances
Travis Wison, QB, Utah: Threw a career high 5 touchdowns to power the Utes over Fresno State 59-27.
David Cobb, RB, Minnesota: Ran for a career high 220 yards and 2 TDs as the Gophers beat MTSU 35-24.
Herb Walker, RB, Morgan St.: Ran for a career high 271 yards in a 29-26 loss to Holy Cross.
Sefo Liufau, QB, Colorado: Threw for 318 yards and 3 TDs leading the Buffs over UMass 41-38.
Maty Mauk, QB, Missouri: Threw for 325 yards and 5 TDs in a 49-24 win over Toledo.
Bo Wallace, QB, Ole Miss: Threw for 320 yards and a TD as the Rebs trounced Vanderbilt 41-3
Dak Prescott, QB, Miss State: Accounted for 322 total yards and 5 TDs in a 47-34 win over UAB.
Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama: Had 189 receiving yards with 13 catches as Bama manhandled FIU.
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Tip Of The Hat: Eastern Washington quarterback VERNON ADAMS threw for 475 yards and 7 touchdowns in a 59-52 loss to Washington.

 

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CFL
Saskatchewan starting quarterback Darian Durant (North Carolina) will miss this week's game against the Hamilton TigerCats due to an injured right elbow. Durant suffered the injury in Sunday's 30-24 win over Winnipeg. Second year quarterback Tino Sunseri (Pittsburgh) will start for the 8-2 Roughriders when they visit the Ticats on Sunday. Sunseri has completed 27 of 43 for 319 yards and 1 touchdown during his professional career.
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Other football news..........................

NFL (3-9)
Got a needed cover last night as San Diego stayed within the three in a 18-17 loss to Arizona. The Chargers probably should have won the game straight up but some late game blunders did them in. After my Sunday debacle....good to get a win.

The New York Giants proved last night they are continuing their 2013 ways during a 35-14 blowout loss to Detroit. Turnovers, lack of protection, blown coverages, lack of pressure, poor execution, and on and on. The Giants are a mess right now and may just be the worst team in the league...yes, including Jacksonville.
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NCAA
Great news for Penn State! The NCAA has restored Penn State's postseason eligibility. The NCAA decided to drop the postseason ban and restore a full compliment of scholarships for 2015. The school still must pay a $60 million fine, and forfeit 111 games under Joe Paterno. With James Franklin on board, look out for the Lions in the future. The guy can recruit and coach. He proved that at Vanderbilt.

SMU's June Jones has resigned as head football coach after only two games this season. He cited personal reasons so I'm sure the Ponies only scoring one touchdown in two losses had nothing to do with his decision. Jones was 36-43 at the Dallas school after spending nine successful seasons at Hawaii (76-41). SMU has an off week to try and figure things out.
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Tip Of The Hat: Detroit Lions quarterback MATTHEW STAFFORD completed 22 of 32 for 346 yards and 2 touchdowns leading the Lions to a 35-14 win over the Giants.

 

[indiana]

C/L...........was with you on S.D. +3...also tried some ML (thank you Rivers....LOL).........last week end was a rough one for me also..........looking ahead.....BOL with your action this week.............indy

 

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You are a loyal trooper Indy....because of that, if you follow my CFB and NFL picks in JOH's RX Tracker Forum and you lose in either. I will send you a cashier's check for $500. I have nine old bastards depending on me...now you my friend. You're a nice guy...these other old turd friends will bury me....but every one of the SOB's will come to my funeral.

Damn I love this gaming stuff!

 

[indiana]

C/L........thank you for the thought, however not necessary.......I have followed you for years and i'm happy with the results........I know you spend time and efforts with these plays and your a solid capper............we'll get'em this week end.......indy

 

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Card laid is a card played Indy..............class act from you.

Had some health issues early this season and hopefully that's behind me. I have never welshed on a play in my life. Won't with you either my friend.

Thanks Partner, my crowd would buy you a beer anytime...and they are selective!