College Football Pick'em Week 8

Welcome to week 8 of the college football season. We have reached the midway point, and by now your teams chances of a national title are alive and well; , . They are fading but still plenty of time left to rally, , , , or you are just waiting for the 09 season, Clemson. Here at Walker-Sports we are hoping to salvage the second half of the college football season by making some clutch picks and it all starts with this week’s edition of the College Football Pick’em.

For the second week in a row the big game on the weekend will feature two Big 12 teams. This week we have the Missouri Tigers traveling south to take on the undefeated Texas Longhorns in what will surely be an exciting game.

is coming off their first lost of the season. They suffered an upset at home at the hands of Mike Gundy and his Oklahoma State Cowboys. That being said, Mizzu did not play poorly last Saturday, they just matched up against a team that is far more talented than most of us gave them credit for. Chase Daniels is still one of the great QB’s in the country. More importantly Mizzu’s version of the spread offense will do more to protect Daniels than ’s spread did to protect Sam Bradford. Chase takes the majority of his snaps out of the shotgun. Instead of taking the typical five step drop that most QB’s are in when they take a snap out the shotgun, Daniels appears to be about 7 maybe 8 steps behind his center. This gives him more time to look over his linemen, scan the field and make a play. In addition to the deep drop he takes, the offensive linemen take abnormally wide splits. At first glance it appears you can drive a Mack truck through some of the games the Mizzu O-Line takes. These games give Daniels in company more room to run when they are coming through the line, so they do not have to be a power back attempting to blow through a hole. However, more importantly the wide splits means the defensive ends on opposing teams are even farther away from the quarterback. A D-end will lineup outside of the tackle if that tackle is an addition yard or two yards away from the center due to the wide splits, it means the defensive end is now wider out and will have more ground to cover to get to the quarterback. This could be key for the Missouri Tigers as they will need to do everything possible to slow the Texas Longhorns pass rush. The pass rush destroyed the Sooners last week, and cannot allow that to happen to them.

The Texas Longhorns once again proved they own Bob Stoops and the Red River Shootout that has been the trend for the last five years. Now they need to put Saturday’s big win behind them and get ready for the rest of the Big 12. There is no time to celebrate and pat themselves on the back, because if they do they will end up just like OU, hoping they can scratch their way back into the BCS Championship. may have the best playing in the country on their roster right now, and that is saying a lot considering the amount of talent floating around the NCAA. Colt McCoy has matured into one of the best all around quarterbacks the has ever seen. However, if he wants to go down in the ranks of Vince Young and not Chris Simms he will need to continue performing at this blistering pace. The Texas Longhorns are a much better team than I anticipated going into the season. If their defense can generate a solid pass rush like they did last Saturday against , then they will be able to disrupt the Mizzu passing game.

This is a tough game to call. is a five point favorite, and they have an awful lot of momentum going with them as well. is a great team, and it’s hard to imagine those losing two in a row, however, life on the road can be tough and you can believe that the crowd will be rocking in Saturday night. I like to win and cover, but bet the over as well cause there will be points in this game.

Now on to the other big games this weekend.

OSU vs. : The Buckeyes just keep hanging around and are waiting for their showdown with . is in the middle of one of their best runs in history and they have a beast at running back. Sadly they don’t have many other options on offense past Ringer. knows this and their All American linebacking core will be keying on the run all day. is a three point favorite and I think they can cover that spread.

vs. : The Kansas Jayhawks are trying to recapture the magic of last seasons BCS run. Too bad they are running into an team that just lost the Red River Shootout and is looking for blood. Bob Stoops will have his boys fired up and ready to go. There is a massive 20 point spread in this game which scares me a little bit. Nonetheless, I’m going out on a limb and saying take the Sooners to cover and take the over because if they cover there will be lots of points on the board.

vs. Vanderbilt: There is no doubt that Vanderbilt is in the midst of their best season in school history. They have been in the top 25 for consecutive weeks for the first time in school history. Sadly that streak will end after Saturday’s game against . The Georgia Bulldogs are looming and waiting for their chance to win the SEC. They are a 14 point favorite, and unlike the other SEC teams Vandy has knocked off, can score points. wins this game and covers.

Virginia Tech vs. : This could be the worse game to put in primetime ever. Both teams are unexciting to watch, and if you want the kids to go to bed early then let them watch this rematch of last years ACC championship game, which was boring. Virginia Tech has done everything right since an early season lost to ECU. They will continue on that streak with strong defense and a plotting offense. Virginia Tech is a 3 point dog, and I like them for the upset.

vs. : The South’s Oldest Rivalry is prepared to embark on yet another edition, and there is plenty of juice behind this years clash. UNC is in the middle of a Butch Davis rebuilding project and they are 18^th in the country. The Virginia Cavaliers were left for dead just a few weeks ago, but now are riding a two game wining streak on the arm of Marc Verica. History has UVA dominating this rivalry and they have not lost to UNC at home since the George Bush Sr. was in office. UNC is a four point favorite going into Saturday’s game. And I did institute the never bet UVA rule after the debacle at Duke earlier this season. I’m going out on a limb on this one, (and probably jinxing the Cavs) but bet UVA to cover, but make it a moderate play.