Free Picks
Free College Football Picks, Week Eight
By The Guy Next Door
Oct 27, 2006, 13:43

Northern Illinois (+16½) at Iowa (12:00est/ESPNU)

Where did Iowa buy their ticket to the rollercoaster ride they've been on this year? Back in August this was figured to be Kirk Ferentz's best team yet. Senior quarterback Drew Tate's name was mentioned in many Heisman conversations. High hopes and dreams have sunk in quicksand, taking their bettors money with them.

Back in week #2 they got lucky beating Syracuse in overtime. A game they were a 19 point favorite in. Wearing the favorite's hat has been a disappointment for the Hawkeyes ever since. They are just 1-4 ATS as chalk this year and just 1-6 ATS overall. OUCH! To their credit, they gave their all last week at Michigan. They had lost outright at Indiana the week before and they could have just cashed in their chips for the '06 season, but they didn't. They were down 3-0 at halftime last week in Ann Arbor, but as we all saw they were just outmatched. The question is, now what?

The last four weeks, Iowa has given up an average of 390 yards per game including 165 on the ground. Coming to town this Saturday as 16½ point 'Dogs are the Northern Illinois Huskies. The Huskies centerpiece is the country's leading rusher, Garret Wolfe, who churns out over 140 yards a game. Running the offense is a fifth year senior quarterback, Phil Horvath. As we have now seen for years, Mid Major teams with these combinations give BCS conference teams all they can handle and more! Since the late 90's when MAC quarterbacks replaced the bread slicer as the best thing going, "The MAC" has more than held it's own against the big schools. This is a horrible spot for the Hawkeyes. They've already played their yearly rival Iowa St., they already had homecoming, they had the "Big To-Do" on that Saturday night at home to Ohio St., and last week they took their last "Get Up Pill" against Michigan.

Right about now it should be mentioned that quarterback Drew Tate is OUT for this game with a sprained thumb. Northern Illinois, on the other hand, has been waiting for weeks to play this game. It's a rare television game for them and they will take their first bottle of "Get Up Pills" on Saturday morning.

Where's the Money? Folks, the skies couldn't look any darker for the Hawkeyes this week. Though they're the favorites, it seems that everything is against them. Let's buy the half in this game and we'll feel awfully confident with two touchdowns and a field goal worth of "Get Up Pills" of our own.

#20 Nebraska (-6) at Oklahoma St. (3:30est/ABC)

The Big Red, fresh off their heartbreaker last week when they scared the BCS daylights out of Texas and their alumni, travel to Stillwater for the first time since '02. The Huskers, an eight point favorite that day, were upset on the field 24-21.

In a year where home conference 'Dogs are covering in all four corners of the country, the Cowboys look really juicy here, in a classic look ahead game for Nebraska. There's better value to be had in this game. The over/under that the lines makers have hung out for us to swing at is 51.

The over is a must play! Okla. St. Quarterback Bobby Reid leads the nation in yards per attempt, and in fact, he's the only quarterback who averages over 10 yards per completion. He is 13th in the country in touchdowns with 17, while only throwing six INT's. If his coach was Pete Carroll or Charlie Weis you'd hear his name every day. The Cowboys put up 421 yards of offense per game, good for 12th nationally, while scoring an average of 37 points each Saturday. Not too bad for a team we overlook every week.

The team with the letter N on their helmets that will be occupying the visitor's locker room, comes in with many weapons of their own. Nebraska is ranked #11 in overall offense averaging 34 points a game themselves. They roll up over 430 yards a game, good for 6th nationally and #1 in the Big 12. I've already stated that Reid ranks #1 in yards per attempt, well Nebraska's Zac Taylor is fifth at just over nine.

Where's the Money? Since game six of last season, the last 13 times Okla. St. has taken the field, the game has gone over 51 in 10 of them. The team they kickoff against on Saturday has averaged 41 points this year against non ranked teams. The Cowboys, with their no huddle spread, will do their part to put this one over!

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