**WEEK 12'S WINNERS & WRITEUPS**

YTD 19-13

WEDNESDAY

CENTRAL MICHIGAN -14

Is this a joke?? This line movement going down is definately trying to get people to think there is something fishy with this game well I'm here to tell u it is not. CMU will lay the beat down here and I dont see Ball St getting out of single digits. CMU is a complete football team top to bottom and this will prove to be too much for the Cardinals of Ball St. LeFevour should have a million places to throw the football to, as Ball St ranks 108 in pass defense efficiency. Against good passing team Ball St has been shredded. Giving up almost 450 yds to Toledo and 380 to Bowling Green. Combine this info with the fact that CMU has a defense and you have your blowout. I see a 31-7 type ball game here.

FRIDAY

AKRON +13

What can I say Akron got rocked by Temple last week!! Temple was just by far the superior football team in that game. Taking advantage of Akron's weakness against the run. Now against Bowling Green however I think Akron can hold their own and keep this game interesting. Akron has a pretty good defense, ranking 60th in the nation in that category. The problem for this team however is their offense after the loss of their 2 QB's this team has really struggled to find offense. However their QB Patrick Nicely has shown some signs of life. He did struggle against Temple last week but lets be honest Temple is an awesome defensive team for the MAC. When playing Bowling Green you need to have a good pass defense and Akron does a decent job against the pass ranking 29th in yards allowed and 60th in pass efficiency against. I think the Zips will do just enogh on offense as Bowling Green ranks 78th in the nation on defense and 108 against the run.

SATURDAY

NOTRE DAME -6

The Irish need this game big time and I think at home this week they will get it done. UCONN all year has been overachieving and this week against Notre Dame they should lose handily. Uconn ranks 96th in the nation in passing efficiency defense and against the nations number 5 passing attack Notre Dame will be able to take full advantage of them. Jimmy should pass for 400 yds and 3 touchdowns as the Irish will roll in this game.

MARSHALL -3.5

SMU this year has had a very favorable schedule, the majority of the teams the Mustangs have faced are terrible against the pass and that is why this team has had the year they have had. Well this week against Marshall they will have a hard time as the Thundering Herd rank 43rd in pass efficiency defense. Marshall will have success on offense as SMU is terrible in this aspect of their game ranking 91st in the nation. Marshall should win this game in decisive fashion on Saturday.

BYU -10

BYU just simply overmatches Air Force in this game. Air Force is too 1 dimentional to be able to beat this BYU team who against the run ranks 18th in the nation in stopping it. The secret in beating BYU is to have a balnced offense and to have the ability to make plays threw the air, well Air Force cant do that as this is an option team. Air Force does rank #1 against the pass but BYU can beat you many ways and I think this is where BYU will flex their muscle at home.

WASHINGTON ST +33

I think this is just way too many points for Oregon ST to cover with the vulnerability they have on defense. I'm not saying Washington St will have an offensive explosion but they should have some success chucking the football around against the 102nd ranked pass defense in the land. I expect Wazzu to have two touchdowns this week and keep this thing within the number.

GONNA ADD A FEW MORE AS THE WEEK GOES ON

STILL LOOKING AT

KENT ST

MARYLAND

ARKY ST

BOSTON COLLEGE

YEAH I SEE THAT.....HMMMMM

KEEP THINKING THAT

"Senior tight end Cody Slate, team captain and the Thundering Herd's leading receiver, will miss the remainder of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Slate, an All-American and John Mackey Award semifinalist, suffered the injury during last week's game against Southern Miss.

A helmet-to-knee hit ended Slate's college career early against Southern Miss.

Marshall's other top offensive playmaker, tailback Darius Marshall, also suffered a leg injury against Southern Miss. The two-time 1,000-yard rusher was sidelined with an ankle sprain; his status for Saturday's game will be determined later this week."

This team was shaky prior to losing the offensive juggernauts of the team. I bet we drop both final games and don't go to a bowl. I am hoping that if we become provisional bowl selected with a 1-1 record final two that we do not get selected. We will ge killed in a bowl game. Our Coach should be fired after this season. He has the worst 5 year record of any head football coach.

C M U ! love it...

LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTON IF THE LINESMAKERS WERE CONCERNED ABOUT THESE INJURIES DONT YOU THINK SMU WOULD BE FAVORED???

Not if they would want to entice bettors to think Marshall is the favorite here. I am telling you we will drop at least one of the last two games.

Marshall is a shell of a team that they once were. Local support is sparse. They stadium was virtually empty last week. Harmen forecast has the game 34-27 Marshall. I just don't see us putting up that many points without Cody Slate or Darius Marshall. However, I do see SMU being able to put up 27 or more.

Associated Press

Line: Marshall by 4.

Series: Tied 1-1.

Last meeting: 2006, SMU 31-21.

What's at Stake

SMU grabbed sole possession of the Conference USA West lead with a win over UTEP last weekend. The Mustangs are bowl eligible and are on the verge of breaking a 25-year postseason drought. Marshall can post its first winning season since 2003 by sweeping its remaining games. The Thundering Herd will be without TE Cody Slate (knee), who leads the team with 50 receptions.

Key Matchup

SMUs offense vs. Marshalls defense. With Kyle Padron starting the past three games, the Mustangs are second in the conference in passing. Marshalls defense has intercepted 10 passes this season.

Players to Watch

SMU: DE Margus Hunt has blocked seven kicks this season, one short of the NCAA record. In his first of year of playing football, the 6-foot-8 freshman knocked down a field goal attempt in SMUs 35-31 victory over UTEP.

Marshall: QB Brian Anderson has thrown for 889 yards and four touchdowns the past three weeks.

Some more tidbits found....

KEYS TO THE GAME: If there was ever a time for the SMU defense to win a game, it’s this week. Making a depleted Marshall offense one-dimensional will be the key for a ball-hawking Mustangs defense. If RB Darius Marshall (ankle injury) is ineffective, the Ponies can tee off on QB Brian Anderson. SMU DE Taylor Thompson, who had two sacks last week, could feast on an offensive line that is ranked 71st nationally in sacks allowed. 

Players To Watch:  

WR Emmanuel Sanders—Caught seven passes for 134 yards and two scores last week against UTEP. He now has 14 career 100-yard games, one shy of the C-USA record held by three players. He ties the record this week.

RB Shawnbrey McNeal—Had 18 carries for a career-high 169 yards and a touchdown in the win over UTEP. He has 896 yards this season, almost twice as many as SMU rushed for as a team in 2008.

LB Chase Kessemer—Recorded his seventh double-figure tackle game of the season with 11 stops against UTEP, giving him 104 for the season. 

DE Margus Hunt—Set a new SMU record with his seventh blocked kick of the season against UTEP and is within one of the NCAA single-season record held by three players. He will get at least one blocked field goal or XP kick.

Also, June Jones will certainly out coash Snyder. As stated above Snyder holds the worst record of any 5 year active head coach.

From the Charleston Gazette:

Snyder’s tenure as Thundering Herd coach probably went south when, on fourth-and-15 at

Sorry full copy did not post.

Here it is:

Snyder’s tenure as Thundering Herd coach probably went south when, on fourth-and-15 at game end, his quarterback, Brian Anderson, was chased, cut loose of a pass and watched Southern Miss safety Justin Wilson intercept the ball. Snyder’s team is 5-5. His overall record is 21-36. He’s almost through his fifth season. And last, it seems, at his alma mater. Call Saturday’s loss what you will in regard to the coach. The last straw. The final nail. It was also, though, an opportunity. It was an opportunity to keep MU afloat in the C-USA East Division. It was an opportunity to redeem after an awful loss to Central Florida. It was an opportunity, perhaps, to save a job. The opportunities, though, along with the game and, more importantly, the fans, are lost. If Snyder keeps his job now, it will be an upset like that of Appalachian State over Michigan

I HEAR WHAT YOUR SAYING AND YOU DO MAKE SOME VALID POINTS. HOWEVER I THINK THE BETTER DEFENSE PREVAILS IN THIS ONE AND I THINK ANDERSON WHO HAS BEEN HOT RECENTLY DOES ENOUGH TO GIVE THE HERD THE WIN AND COVER. SMU IS 99TH IN PROTECTING THEIR QB AND MARSHALL DOES A PRETTY GOOD JOB IN DEFENDING THE PASS RANKING 47TH IN PASS DEFENSE EFFICIENCY. SMU ON DEFENSE IS NOT GOOD AT ANYTHING AND I THINK AT HOME ANDERSON HAS A GOOD GAME. LISTEN SOUTHERN MISS AND CENTRAL FLORIDA ARE GOOD FOOTBALL TEAMS THAT MARSHALL LOST TO AND THE HERD PLAYED EM TOUGH.

How is Notre Dame a bad pick??? Please give me some background besides talking about the coaching situation. These players are out there to win games. This is senior day for the Irish and their offense has proven all year how good it is. Their young defense has been getting better and against UCONN who like I said is terrible against the pass ranking 96th in pass efficiency defense they will lay the smackdown. I dont see anyway of UCONN winning this game or even keeping it close. The players of Notre Dame are mad and they will take it out on an overachieving Huskies team.

2 More games that have really caught my eye.....LSU +4.5 and ZONA +6. Both of these games I feel the wrong team is favored. Gonna take a closer look at the matchups....