Tony Pike Update

After missing the last two contests with a broken left arm, Tony Pike got the start for Cincinnati on Saturday against Connecticut. Unfortunately his return didn't last long. After leading Cincy to a 13-10 halftime lead, he lost feeling in his left hand and had to sit out the second half. With Pike out of the lineup, the Huskies home field advantage kicked in and UConn reeled off the final 23 points of the game to secure a 40-16 victory.

The Tony Pike Stat Line
Passing: 10/27 (37%) for 136 yards, 1 td, 1 int
Rushing: 3 attempts for -15 yards

WEEK SIX - Top 25 Preview (Part I: 11-25)

#11 Auburn at #17 Vanderbilt
(Saturday, 5 pm, ESPN)
Vandy quarterback Chris Nickson facing the intimidating Auburn defense should be a fun matchup to watch. Nickson is one of the most dynamic players in the SEC and won’t back down from anybody. Auburn’s defense is flat out one of the best in the nation. There hasn’t been anybody the defensive line couldn’t pressure, and the cornerbacks should easily blanket Vandy’s receivers. On the other side of the ball though Auburn hasn’t been able to score on anybody this year with Tony Franklin’s new spread offense. Ben Tate is woefully misused and quarterback Chris Todd isn’t producing. Todd will struggle again because, surprisingly, the Commodores have one of the better secondaries in the conference. The wild card here will be whether Franklin gives Kodi Burns a shot at quarterback. I don’t have any idea why Burns has been riding the bench all season while Todd struggles. If Burns plays, Auburn wins. If he doesn’t, Vandy wins. I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to the Auburn coaching staff.
J.Pike’s Pick: Auburn 23, Vanderbilt 17

#14 Florida at Arkansas
(Saturday, 11:30 am, Raycom/ESPN360.com)
This one could get ugly. Not only will Florida be looking to redeem themselves after losing AT HOME to Ole Miss a week ago (who’s coaching at Ole Miss now? Hmm…), this also should be the perfect opportunity for Urban Meyer to run up the score as he’s known to do from time to time. Arkansas is arguably the worst team in the SEC because they decided to run off Houston Nutt in favor of Bobby Petrino. I hope you enjoy the cellar, Hog fans.
J.Pike’s Pick: Florida 48, Arkansas 10

#15 Texas Tech at Kansas State
(Saturday, 2:30 pm, ABC)
I definitely don’t have a rooting interest in this game. In fact, if there was a way both teams could lose I would be rooting for that. But unfortunately one of these ugly football teams has to come away with a win in this contest. Kansas State is coming off back to back games in which they gave up over 300 yards rushing to average football teams (Louisville and Louisiana-Lafayette). Mike Leach isn’t smart enough to take advantage of the Wildcats deficiencies against the run, but Michael Crabtree and company will take advantage of K-State’s poor tackling by piling up huge YAC numbers. This will probably be a shootout, but Texas Tech is more stable at this point in the season.
J.Pike’s Pick: Texas Tech 51, Kansas State 37

#16 Kansas at Iowa State
(Saturday, 11:30 am, VERSUS)
Iowa State is a sneaky team that will upset somebody in the Big XII this year, but I don’t think it will be Kansas. Mark Mangino’s squad is too fundamentally sound to give the game away, and that’s exactly what would have to happen. Todd Reesing and the offense might not look as sharp as they did in their non-conference schedule, but they’ll be good enough to keep the feisty Cyclones at arm’s length.
J.Pike’s Pick: Kansas 27, Iowa State13

Westsern Kentucky at #19 Virginia Tech
(Saturday, 12:30 pm)
Taking the redshirt off Tyrod Taylor is the best decision Frank Beamer has made all season. So good in fact that it almost makes up for his decision to put the redshirt on him in the first place. With Taylor at quarterback the Hokies are 4-0; without him they are 0-1. VA Poly’s season officially got back on track last Saturday night with their win in Lincoln and now they appear to be the favorite to win the ACC Coastal division. Before they head into conference play the Hokies get one final tune-up against the Hilltoppers. The only thing I know about WKY is they have the coolest mascot in America.
J.Pike’s Pick: Virginia Tech 33, Western Kentucky 3

#20 Maryland at Virginia
(Saturday, 6 pm, ESPN U)
Maryland hasn’t exactly been the most consistent team this season. They have gone from losing to Middle Tennessee and barely slipping by Delaware to beating Cal and Clemson so far this season. Luckily it probably won’t matter which Maryland team shows up for this game because Virginia has been flat out bad.
J.Pike’s Pick: Maryland 27, Virginia 13

Arizona State at #21 California
(Saturday, 2:30 pm, ABC)
I’m going to call for a rare road upset here. Arizona State’s defense is actually not too bad and Cal will be playing without their most dangerous weapon, RB Jahvid Best. On top of that, Jeff Tedford also opened up the quarterback job in practice again which means there is a chance Nate Longspare could see the field. Yikes! Meanwhile, Rudy Carpenter and Keegan Herring (back from injury) are rested coming off the bye week, so they’ll be ready to give Cal yet another early-in-the-day wake-up call.
J.Pike’s Pick: Arizona State 30, California 24

#23 Illinois at Michigan
(Saturday, 2:30 pm, ABC/ESPN 2)
Michigan is riding high after their big second half comeback to beat Wisconsin a week ago. They’re going to have to put together a full game if they want to beat Illinois though. The explosive duo of Juice Williams to Arrelious Benn can put points on the board at a rate Michigan is incapable of matching. The Michigan defense will have to play a great game just to keep the Wolverines in this one.
J.Pike’s Pick: Illinois 27, Michigan 21

#24 Connecticut at North Carolina
(Saturday, 6 pm, ESPN 2)
This is an interesting matchup in that both teams will be playing without their injured starting quarterbacks. North Carolina had the benefit of breaking in Cam Sexton last week against Miami and he passed with flying colors. UConn isn’t quite as certain what they’ll get from Zach Frazier. One thing you can expect is Donald Brown to get the ball about 30 times. UConn’s tailback is one of the more underrated players in the nation (averaging 149 yards per game), but he’ll face a tough test against Marvin Austin and that Tar Heel D-Line. UConn always plays smart and tough, so they’ll keep this one close to the end, but North Carolina and Butch Davis will notch the win at home.
J.Pike’s Pick: North Carolina 28, Connecticut 24

Rice at #25 Tulsa
(Saturday, 7 pm, CBS College Sports)
If you like shootouts you should find out if you have CBS College Sports channel. When Rice and Tulsa get together on Saturday night there is a very real possibility that they could actually blow up the scoreboard. Last week alone, Tulsa scored 62 points and Rice scored 77! The two teams combined are averaging 96 points per game, so this should be an entertaining game to watch. Hopefully it will go into overtime and both teams will score triple digits.
J.Pike’s Pick: Tulsa 61, Rice 54

News & Notes

*Just when you thought Georgia’s injury situation couldn't get any worse, there's this. Running back Knowshon Moreno suffered a severely bruised elbow against Alabama and might have to miss the game against Tennessee in two weeks.

Tight end Tripp Chandler is also doubtful for the Tennessee game due to an aggravating shoulder problem. He also has an aggravating habit of dropping passes, but that’s another story. Backup tight end Bruce Figgins didn’t play against Alabama thanks to a separated shoulder that will likely require surgery. That leaves redshirt freshman Aron White and converted tackle Kiante Tripp to man the position in their absence.

If that isn’t enough, stud linebacker Dannell Ellerbe injured his knee in the first quarter against Alabama. Mark Richt said he “has an outside shot to play in the next game,” but he won’t be 100%.

*Cal running back Jahvid Best dislocated his elbow in the third quarter against Colorado State so he’ll be out of this week’s game against Arizona State. His 215.5 all-purpose yards per game (#3 nationally) will be missed, especially now that Jeff Tedford is giving Nate Longspare another chance to win the starting quarterback job.

*Undefeated UConn will be without their starting quarterback for at least the next 6 weeks. Tyler Lorenzen broke his foot against Louisville and will be replaced in the lineup by Zach Frazier. That means you can expect running back Donald Brown to continue getting the ball 30 times a game for the next several weeks. Tight end Steve Brouse is also expected to miss the next 6-8 weeks due to a broken leg.

*Thanks to Jonathan Crompton’s awful play so far this season, Phil Fulmer has opened up the quarterback job at Tennessee. Crompton was 8/23 for 67 yards against Auburn last week, and has only thrown 2 touchdown passes all season (both against lowly UAB). Nick Stephens will get more opportunities in practice and will probably see significant action against Northern Illinois in the hopes that one of the quarterbacks will step up in time to lead the offense against Georgia in two weeks.

*Cincinnati Heisman candidate and Pikes Picks favorite Tony Pike broke his left (non-throwing) forearm against Akron. Luckily he will probably only miss the next two games, which means redshirt freshmen Zach Collaros and Chazz Anderson only have to hold down the fort against Marshall and Rutgers until Pike gets back for the matchup with UConn at the end of October.

*Colorado lost starting offensive tackle Ryan Miller for the season. Miller suffered a broken left fibula in the loss to Florida State and will apply for a medical redshirt for this season. That doesn’t leave Colorado in good shape up front against a Texas team that racked up 7 sacks a week ago.

*Washington quarterback Jake Locker suffered a broken right thumb against Stanford and will probably miss the next 6-8 weeks recovering. Ronnie Fouch will start in his place as Washington looks to avoid their first 0-5 start in 39 years. One interesting note: Locker has expressed interest in playing another position once he has a cast for his right (throwing) hand if it will help out the team. You can’t question the guy’s heart, that’s for sure.

Friday Game

The games are fast and furious from Wednesday on from now on so lets get the Pick.

Baylor @ UCONN -13

Give me the Huskies, they make their first appearence on the BPJP25, so they will be eager to show they belong. Baylor will not like the cold and this is there first trip up east in a long time. Also Randy Edsell always has them pumped up there! The Big East gets one on this night.

WEEK FOUR - Top 25 Preview (Part I: 11-25)

#12 Alabama at Arkansas

(Saturday, 11:30 am, ESPN360.com)
Arkansas has needed big fourth quarter comebacks to beat Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe. Alabama on the other hand already has a dominating performance over preseason #6 Clemson on their resume. This one will be closer than you expect, but if John Parker Wilson plays well the outcome will never be in doubt.
J.Pike’s Pick: Alabama 24, Arkansas 14

#13 South Florida at Florida International
(Saturday, 4 pm, ESPN U)
FIU gives up 41 points per game and has scored only 10 points all year. USF averages 41 points scored per game and averages 2.5 times as many offensive yards per game as FIU. You get the idea – this one won’t be close.
J.Pike’s Pick: South Florida 48, Florida International 6

Boise State at #14 Oregon
(Saturday, 2:30 pm)
Two high powered offenses meet up in this matchup, but they will be facing two underrated defensive units. Oregon’s secondary is one of the best in the nation and Boise has only allowed 14 points so far this year. The difference is Oregon has cut their teeth against Washington and Purdue, while Boise has only faced Bowling Green and Idaho State.
J.Pike’s Pick: Oregon 27, Boise State 17

Massachusetts at #15 Texas Tech
(Saturday, 6 pm)
Is Texas Tech applying for 1-AA status? You’d think so by looking at their schedule.
J.Pike’s Pick: Texas Tech 51, UMass 17

South Carolina State at #16 Clemson
(Saturday, noon, ESPN360.com)
Ditto for Clemson. No wonder they played like crap against Alabama – they aren’t used to playing anybody decent this early in the season. And seriously, get that running game going.
J.Pike’s Pick: Clemson 44, S.C. State 10

#17 Utah at Air Force
(Friday, 3 pm, Versus)
These two Mountain West rivals have a history of great games. Over the last 20 years the margin of victory in this series has been 7 points or less 13 times! This season both teams enter the game with perfect 3-0 records, so you can expect more of the same. In the end Brian Johnson will make the difference. Air Force, which averages only 30 passing yards per game, will struggle to score when they need to late in the game against Utah’s stout defense.
J.Pike’s Pick: Utah 23, Air Force 20

#18 East Carolina at N.C. State
(Saturday, 11 am, ESPN)
Believe me - N.C. State will be ready to play. This rivalry has grown especially intense ever since East Carolina fans stormed N.C. State’s field and tore down their goalposts after a win in 1987. Just two years ago N.C. State officials removed the goal posts with 14 seconds left in the game because they thought the rowdy ECU fans in attendance might do it again! On the field, East Carolina seems to be doing everything right so far this year in bursting out to a 3-0 start and beating preseason top 25 teams Virginia Tech and West Virginia. But there are chinks in the armor. Patrick Pinkney is a really good quarterback, but for some reason the offense struggles to score points at times. And the defense lost one of its best players, linebacker Quentin Cotton, to injury last week. I think quarterback Russell Wilson will pace a steady Wolfpack offense to the upset win at home.
J.Pike’s Pick: N.C. State 24, East Carolina 20

Sam Houston State at #19 Kansas
(Saturday, 6 pm, FCS-Central)
We have a Rhett Bomar sighting! The former Oklahoma ball hog has landed in Huntsville, TX, where he leads the Bearkats of Sam Houston State. He’s no match for Joe Mortensen and the Kansas defense though. Todd Reesing and a deep stable of receivers has been dicing up opposing defenses, so this shouldn’t be much of a contest.
J.Pike’s Pick: Kansas 45, Sam Houston State 13

Wyoming at #20 BYU
(Saturday, 2 pm, the mtn.)
Despite only scoring 40 points so far this season, Wyoming is 2-1. BYU on the other hand scored 42 points IN THE FIRST HALF against UCLA a week ago. BYU rolls over Dax Crum and the Cowboys for an easy win.
J.Pike’s Pick: BYU 31, Wyoming 13

#21 Illinois is Idle

#22 Nebraska is Idle

Baylor @ #25 Connecticut
(Friday, 7 pm, ESPN 2)
I’ll call this recommended viewing if you’re at home Friday night with nothing better to do. It probably won’t be a very close game, but there is one very good reason to check it out. His name is Robert Griffin. If you haven’t seen Baylor’s freshman quarterback play yet, do yourself a favor and tune in. He’s easily the best athlete Baylor has had in a decade, and he’ll make a couple highlight reel plays. This game will be all UConn though. Running back Donald Brown will probably eclipse the 200 yard mark for the third straight week and UConn will shut down everybody not named Griffin. But Baylor won’t be an easy win for much longer.
J.Pike’s Pick: Connecticut 34, Baylor 21

Big East - RB Rankings

1. LeSean McCoy, Pittsburgh
If you don't know who LeSean McCoy is yet, you will soon. The sophomore running back is one of the best in the land with an excellent combination of speed, agility, and vision. There isn't anything he can't do.

2. Noel Devine, West Virginia
Noel Devine grabbed all the headlines with his high school highlight reel, but he proved those were no flukes by providing highlight reel runs as a freshman at West Virginia last season. His rare speed and agility seems to be unmatched on the college level right now, and he'll be an upgrade over the departed Steve Slaton - who was possibly the most overrated college player of the last decade.

3. Donald Brown/Andre Dixon, UConn
These two split time and are both solid backs.

KEEP AN EYE ON
* Kordell Young/Mason Robinson, Rutgers - Just because Ray Rice is gone doesn't mean Rutgers isn't going to run the football any more. Both of these backs will have the opportunity to fill his shoes this season.
* Curtis Brinkley/Delone Carter, Syracuse - These two highly touted backs have missed most of their careers so far because of constant injuries. If one or both can stay healthy, they'll have the opportunity to save coach Greg Robinson's job by providing the offense with at least the threat of a weapon.