CFB Week 5 and NFL Week 4 Picks!

Football Fiends-

All the picks will be in this one post because I am about to start a site migration off wordpress.com and onto a private host. Site SHOULD, if all goes well experience absolutely no downtime.

CFB Week 5

USC over Washington

Texas over Oklahoma

NC State over VA Tech

Notre Dame over BC

LSU over TN

Georgia over Colorado

ASU over Oregon State

FSU over UVA

Alabama over Florida

Iowa over Penn State

Nevada over UNLV

Oregon over Stanford

South Florida over Florida Atlantic

UCLA over Washington State

TCU over Colorado State

Mississippi over Kentucky

NFL Week 4 Picks

Atlanta over San Francisco

Jets over Buffalo

Cincinnati over Cleaveland

Green Bay over Detroit

Tennessee over Denver

Seattle over St Louis

New Orleans over Carolina

Pittsburgh over Baltimore

Houston over Oakland

Indy over Jax

Philly over Washington

San Diego over Arizona

Bears over Giants

New England over Miami

The Official Gridiron Goddess CFB Picks: Week 3

Recap: 13-3

Hey Football Fiends-

I am taking the week off from Official NFL Picks. I will however let you know how I fare this week in my pick em league. I’ve been stinking up the joint so far this season so…

But College Football! YAY! Here are my picks for this week. I am rooting for Oregon State to upset Boise State, after all, Oregon State painted their practice field blue to prepare for the Smurf Turf.

Gridiron Goddess Week 3 College Football Picks

USC over Washington State

Texas over UCLA

VA Tech over Boston College

Penn State over Temple

GA Tech over NC State

Florida State over Wake Forest

Georgia over Mississippi State

Alabama over Arkansas

Stanford over Notre Dame

Arizona over California

Nevada over BYU

South Carolina over Auburn

Oregon over ASU

Tennessee over UAB

Florida over Kentucky

Oregon State over Boise State

-Your Gridiron Goddess

NCAA Football Week 3 Recap: This is why I love College Football

Football Fiends!!!

This past Saturday of FOOTBALL GOODNESS encompassed so many examples of why College Football is vastly prefereable to the No Fun League. (And you all know how much I love ALL football!) You just don’t get the passion, the spirit, the excitement, in the NFL that you get on a weekly basis in College Football.

For every Alabama battering Duke (62-13) and Oregon dismantling Portland State (69-0), there was Auburn kicking an OT FG to best Clemson 27-24 or ASU nearly pulling off the big upset in Madison (Wisconsin 20- ASU 19).  No matter what part of the country you live in, or which BCS conference you root for, there was a heart-stopping (quite literally in the case of Michigan State Coach Mark Dantonio) game to tune into.

Michigan State’s controversial last second fake field goal lifted them above Notre Dame 34-31. Notre Dame had to be feeling shades of 2005 USC @ ND with that clock ticking down trickery.

Auburn and Clemson dueled it out the entire game and it took a field goal in overtime for the Tigers to beat the Tigers 27-24. (What is it with all the Tigers in that part of the country, anyway?)

Everyone had Arizona State as the big underdog going into their game at Wisconsin. The Sundevils surprised everyone by nearly pulling off the upset 20-19.  Even UCLA, who started their season 0-2,  pulled off the upset of #23 Houston 31-13.  Speaking of the Pac-10; USC beat Minnesota in highly unimpressive fashion 32-21, Stanford clobbered Wake Forest 68-24 and Oregon State beat Louisville 35-28.

But the biggest game of all of the marquee games in the Pac-10 and, in fact, the country  was Iowa at Arizona. Iowa went into Tucson ranked #9 to Arizona’s #24. People expected it to be a game, but not many thought Arizona would pull off the upset. (Am sure all of AZ’s Pac-10 competitors could have predicted it, though. Let us not forget, The Pac-10 OWNS the Big Ten)

Arizona was up 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. At the end of the 2nd quarter the Wildcats were up 27-7.  In the 3rd quarter Iowa rendered the AZ offense inoffensive and scored 7 to the home team’s 0. 27-14 Arizona heading into the 4th. The Hawkeyes were not going to make this easy as they went on to score 13 in the 4th quarter to even things up.  With 3:57 remaining in the game QB Nick Foles threw a 4 yard pass to William Wright for a touchdown and the Arizona D held the Hawkeyes off for the rest of the game to win it 34-27 in one of the most exciting games of the weekend.

Arkansas-Georgia was another great one. Arkansas ran away with the first 3 quarters. The Razorbacks were up on the Bulldogs 24-10 at the end of the third quarter with QB Ryan Mallet firmly inserting himself into the Heisman race. In the 4th quarter UGA came back to tie the game with under 4 minutes to play. Then, when it looked like this game was heading into overtime, Ryan Mallet lobbed a 40 yard pass to Greg Childs for a touchdown with :15 seconds on the clock.

Back in the Pac-10 for all the big and near wins we had, we also had some big losers. Washington State continued its disappointing record against FBS opponents with a 35-21 loss to SMU. California lost a stunner of a game to mid-major Nevada 52-31 and Washington’s 56-21 performance against Nebraska likely put an end to Jake Locker’s Heisman hopes since he went 4 for 20 on the day for an abysmal 71 yards.

My Trojans have the dubious distinction of being the only FBS team in the country to win each week so far and drop two points in the polls each week. We started at #14, beat Hawaii and moved down to #16. We beat UVA and moved to #18.  We beat Minnesota and moved down to #20.  Sure, they haven’t been overly impressive showings by the men of Troy. But we WON. And sure with the sanctions and everything, we’re bowl ineligible. But STILL it feels like a slap in the face and another way for the polls to punish the current USC team who had nothing to do with Reggie Bush’s shenanigans five years ago. But, I am biased and might have a small chip on my cardinal & gold sheathed shoulder.

College Football season truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

-Your Gridiron Goddess

The Official Gridiron Goddess NFL Week 2 Picks

Week 2 abysmal score 7-8

HA HA HA Oh Man did I ever stink up the joint with last week’s picks. WOW. A truly atrocious 8-8 was my Week 1 record. Let’s hope week 2 is better!

Chiefs over Browns

Packers over Buffalo

Ravens over Bengals

Steelers over Titans

Dallas over Chicago

Panthers over Bucs

Cardinals over Falcons

Vikings over Miami

Rams over Raiders

Houston over Washington

Seattle over Denver

Chargers over Jags

NE over Jets

Colts over Giants

Saints over 49ers

The Official Gridiron Goddess CFB Week 3 Picks: USC will be 3-0 but doesn’t look like a 3-0 team

Final Count: 11-5

Hey there Football Fiends,

Are you enjoying the awesome content from Harem member Oh No Romo?

Let’s get to the CFB Week 3 picks:

The Official Gridiron Goddess CFB Week 3 picks:

USC over Minnesota

Georgia over Arkansas

WVU over Maryland

Ohio State over Ohio

VA Tech over ECU

Mizzou over SDSU

Hawaii over Colorado

BYU over Florida State

Florida over Tennessee

Wazzou over SMU

Wisconsin over ASU

Nebraska over Washington

TCU over Baylor

UCF over Buffalo

Texas over Texas Tech

Houston over the hapless Bruins from UCLA

Week 2 Pac-10 Wrap up: Oregon & Stanford lead the way

Football Fiends,

It was an interesting weekend for the Pac-10.  With the exception of Stanford @ UCLA, the Pac-10 went undefeated against four different conferences, including future Pac-12 member Colorado.  Let’s take a look:

USC vs UVA : – 17-14 USC. Where did last week’s offense go? We sputtered offensively and GOD you know I love my Trojan football but when you’re heading into the 2nd quarter and the score is still 0-0,  AND you’re sitting up in Row 90 with fog rolling in… well its not all that exciting. The good news is our defense looked much better this week. The bad news is it was against a mediocre at best ACC team.  USC was up 14-7 at the half,  17-7 near the end of the 4th, and then the defense allowed a late TD from the Cavaliers.  Winning 17-7 is one thing. Winning 17-14 is another and it is very strange to win and feel like you lost. I am very worried for the start of Pac-10 play. With USC @ Minnesota next week and @ Washington State the following week we should head into the meat of our schedule 4-0 but have no real clear indicator of whether this team is good, out of shape, or just plain bad.  Our next home game is vs. Washington and GULP–Steve Sarkisian and Jake Locker scare me.

Oregon @ Tennessee – 48-13, Oregon. The Ducks are a force to be reckoned with. They went down to Rocky Top and hung 48 points on the Volunteers.  Oh and by the way, those 48 points are the most allowed @ Tennessee since Washington State scored 52 points in 1988. With Oregon now ranked #6 in the Coaches poll, they are within striking distance of being a national title contender.

Stanford @ UCLA – 35-0, Stanford. I said in my 2010 Pac-10 Preview (Part One) that I wasn’t sure Stanford would be able to match last season’s 8 wins. I have changed my mind. Stanford is the main challenger to Oregon for the Pac-10 title. The Cardinal went into Pasadena and shut out Coach Neuheisel’s Bruins. Stanford being so strong is not that much of a suprise. Andrew Luck is one hell of an efficient passer, runner and clock manager. What is shocking, even to this Trojan is how bad UCLA is. Stanford was 9-16 on 3rd down conversions to UCLA’s 1-9. UCLA turned the ball over 4 times, Stanford never did. Kevin Prince threw 2 interceptions to Luck’s zero. UCLA fumbled twice, Stanford never did. Jim Harbaugh went in and decimated the Bruins.   Oh, and by the way, Stanford pitched that shutout on the road without two of their best players – LB Shayne Skov and WR Chris Owusu.  It will be interesting to see how Stanford’s season plays out. UCLA – well, they might finish ahead of Washington State, but right now it’s hard to imagine them really competing in the top half of the conference.

Cal vs Colorado – 52-7 Cal.  Colorado is no powerhouse, but they may be nervous about their 2012 date to join the Pac-12 after being totally dominated by the Golden Bears in Berkeley. Cal’s new defense was remarkably efficient in dominating the line of scrimmage. Colorado turned over the ball five times, lost two fumbles and QB Tyler Hansen threw three interceptions.

Washington  vs Syracuse -41-20, Washington. It is clear that this Washington team is on the rise. Sure, they absolutely SHOULD have beaten Syracuse, but 2-3 years ago this game would not have been a gimme.  QB Jake Lockers connected with WR Jermaine Kearse for three teams en route to their convincing victory over the “Cuse.  After getting off to a slow first quarter start, the Huskies rolled with Locker completing 22 of 33 and hitting seven different receivers. Washington’s offense was expected to be one of the best in the conference with Locker under center. Last week against BYU, the Huskies faltered. By the second quarter Saturday night, they hit their stride.

Washington State vs Montana State -23-22 Wazzou. Well hey, lookie there the Cougars won a game. Never mind that it took a herculean 4th quarter effort to make it happen. The crowds were rejoicing in Pullman Saturday night.  Oh and that effort was required against an FCS opponent. I’m worried about my Trojans in Pac-10 play, but I am terrified for Wazzou. This program needs wins to gain the confidence to keep winning. And I am not sure they have quite the firepower for that yet.

Arizona State vs Northern Arizona -41-20 ASU. Looks impressive, right? It really isn’t. NAU is another FCS school that the perennial Pac-10  pre-season contender (until they implode) ASU should have beat without breaking a sweat.  The game was 17-10 at the half and 27-20 at the end of three. Only QB Steven Threet’s two 4th quarter passes put the game out of reach for the NAU Lumberjacks.

Arizona vs Citadel –52-6 Arizona. This was just a good old-fashioned rout of another outmatched FCS team down in Tucson.  I mean, do we really gain anything beating up on non-FBS conference teams. Sure Nic Grisby rushed for three touchdowns including one that was 62 yards. Sure QB Nick Foles completed 17 0f 22 passes in three quarters, but do we really know how this team will stack up against Oregon and Stanford? That is the problem I have with these cupcake out of conference schedules. Arizona is good, but Pac-10 play is brutal and it will determine just how good these Wildcats are.

-Your Gridiron Goddess

Gridiron Goddess’ Week 2 CFB Picks

Final Stats 13-3

Football Fiends!!

How INSANE was that Boise State-Virginia Tech game?! It exemplified all the reasons I LOVE College Football so much!!!!

Anyway, for week 1 I went 15-1!!!! Who fucked it all up for me? Those damn bRuins from Westwood, of course!!! I should have known!! Damn my Pac-10 loyalty!!!

The Gridiron Goddess Official CFB Week 2 Picks:

USC over UVA

WVU over Marshall

GA Tech Over Kansas

UGA over So Carolina

Wake Forest over Duke

Florida over South Florida

LSU over Vanderbilt

Iowa over Iowa State

Cal over Colorado

Oklahoma over Florida State

Notre Dame over Michigan

Ohio State over Miami (FL)

Oregon over Tennessee

Washington over Syracuse

Alabama over Penn State

Stanford over UCLA

-Your Gridiron Goddess

Gridiron Goddess’ NFL Week 1 Picks!

WOO HOO Football Fiends!!!

Football season is finally, completely here. As of Thursday both College and the NFL will be in action. I will be IN New Orleans for the NFL Kick-Off because, well, that is how I roll. So, picks are going up early this week and I’ll check back in on Sunday. (Cause Saturday night is USC’s home opener and well, you know how that goes…)

The Official Gridiron Goddess NFL Week 1 Picks

Saints over Vikings

Giants over Panthers

Atlanta over Pittsburgh

Cleveland over Tampa

Denver over Jax

Indy over Houston (the new home of my future husband Matt Leinart)

Miami over Buffalo

Chicago over Detroit

Titans over Raiders

New England over Cincy

Arizona over St. Louis

San Francisco over Seattle (sorry Pete Carroll)

Green Bay over  Philly

Dallas over Washington

Jets over Ravens

San Diego over Kansas City

Be sure to watch the NFL Kick-Off Pre-game show with Dave Matthews Band. You just might see me in a Chargers t-shirt and my friend ‘Nole Chick rocking a Bucs jersey. We’re part of the pre-selected audience!

Happy Return of the NFL Weekend!

-Your Gridiron Goddess

To the Hawai’i fans present at Aloha Stadium: A Clarification

Dear Hawai’i fan holding the sign U Suck Cheaters,

Gee how creative you are. Jumping on the bandwagon of people lambasting a team that had nothing to do with the Reggie Bush-Lloyd Lake fiasco of 2004-2006. You do realize that in 2004 Matt Barkley was in 8th grade, right? That he and his fellow teammates were not members of the USC Football Team yet and wouldn’t be for many years?

You also do realize that Reggie Bush’s family getting all those shady benefits from the super shady Lloyd Lake had nothing to do with the Trojan football team’s on field success, right? You do realize that Reggie’s parents living in a house in San Diego that they didn’t pay for didn’t have any bearing on all the passes Matt Leinart completed, all the runs Lendale White had, all the catches Patrick Turner pulled down, right?  None of it had any bearing on Reggie Bush’s on-field performance, either.

In fact, an argument could probably be made that with all the shady shit going down in Reggie’s family at the time, he was distracted. Maybe without all of that, he’d have been even better. Maybe if all of that hadn’t been going on he would not have tossed that pass off to someone who’d never carried a ball before in the 2006 Rose Bowl National Championship Game vs Texas. Maybe, but we’ll never know.

NCAA rules say a player must complete three years before becoming eligible for the NFL draft. So Reggie would have been at USC, would have been the truly breathtaking player he was, and we still would have won all those games — whether or not Reggie and his family violated NCAA rules by taking money from Lloyd Lake.

So let me just spell it out for you, misguided Rainbow Warrior: USC did not cheat. Reggie Bush cheated. Reggie Bush’s step-father cheated. And unfortunately, kids that were in 7th grade, 8th grade, 9th grade when all of that happened are paying the price.

If you want to point a finger somewhere, I suggest you go to a New Orleans Saints game and heckle Reggie Bush. Legions of Trojan fans would love you forever if you did that.

Smooches,
Gridiron Goddess

Watch This Space…

I have a rant I need to post about the Hawai’i fans AND a rant to SC fans who are whining about our (inexperienced) defense but both will have to wait until after work. It’s a WIN people, be happy.

Be HAPPY.

More later–