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We won two and we lost two last week, not exactly where the column wants to be but not a bad spot overall.
There was something for everyone in that 2-2 mark. We had Army as the sure thing, never a doubt that they would cover in a beatdown of Rice.
Oklahoma State was a bad read, Ollie Gordon and the Cowboys had absolutely nothing going against Utah. On Sunday, the Saints lost as road favorites at the very end of the game, a tough pill to swallow.
And then the Chiefs came and bailed me out after they were bailed out by the Falcons’ questionable play-calling on fourth-and-short with the game on the line.
What an adventure. I’d much rather just win everything comfortably this week, so let’s see what we could do to get there.
Indiana -7 vs. Maryland
Saturday, 12 p.m., BTN
It’s getting harder not to take note of what Curt Cignetti is doing in Bloomington in his first year at Indiana, and I’m ready to buy in.
Cignetti, famously, led James Madison through the school’s transition to FBS and had the Dukes ranked in both of their first two seasons at the FBS level, including an 11-win season a year ago.
It’s still early, but he’s got Indiana sitting at 4-0 with four beatdown victories to his credit so far. The closest of those wins was 24 points, back in Week 1 — the Hoosiers have only gotten stronger since then.
Kurtis Rourke has been excellent to start the year, throwing for over 1,000 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions in those four wins. He’s completed over 75 percent of his passes and, as you could see, rarely turns the ball over.
Maryland is 3-1, the lone loss coming at home against Michigan State. They’ve looked pretty good, Billy Edwards has the same amount of passing touchdowns and more passing yards than Rourke, but he’s also thrown two picks.
The Terps have not seen a defense as strong as Indiana’s yet, though — the Hoosiers are allowing under 10 points per game, and they’re third in the nation in yards allowed per game behind just Tennessee and Ohio State.
This is a good test for Indiana, and I think they ace it.
S. Alabama +21.5 vs. LSU
Saturday, 7:45 p.m., SEC Network
In their last two games, both victories, South Alabama scored a combined 135 points. That’s a lot.
Granted, one of those was an 87-10 shellacking of FCS Northwestern State, a game that was played with shortened second-half quarters to provide some mercy for the losing side. But going to Appalachian State and leaving with a 48-14 win is worth paying attention to.
The Jags aren’t going to beat LSU (but man, wouldn’t it be awesome if they did?) But I don’t have very much faith in LSU being able to run away from this team.
LSU has bounced back from an opening-weekend loss to USC, winning three straight. The Tigers are still 0-4 against the spread, and I think Brian Kelly and his guys are going to be susceptible here on the defensive side.
South Alabama has two runners that could really gash defenses: running back Fluff Bothwell, and quarterback Gio Lopez.
Bothwell has run for 100 yards in back-to-back games, and he’s averaging 9.7 yards per carry this year with six touchdowns to boot. Lopez ran for 105 yards against App State, and having that ability will make it tough for LSU to scheme for him.
The talent disparity here leans LSU obviously, but how many times has Brian Kelly played down to his competition? This seems like a prime candidate for a game that stays too close for comfort for far too long if you’re an LSU fan.
NFL
Jets -7.5 vs. Broncos
Sunday, 1 p.m.
We’ve had a few baffling results in the NFL’s early going, maybe none more so than the Broncos cooking Tampa Bay last week.
After two weeks of Denver looking like possibly the worst team in the league, the Broncos got in the win column and hung the first loss of the year on the Buccaneers.
I think that game will tell us more about the Bucs than it will the Broncos over time, and I think the Jets will bring Denver crashing down to Earth here.
How ’bout those Jets? After a shaky start in San Francisco, the Jets are 2-1 and looked really good last week in a win over the Patriots. The Patriots aren’t good, but to see a Jets offense humming and clicking the way it did, that’s something the league hasn’t seen in over a decade.
Denver’s defense is pretty decent, but so was New England’s. Aaron Rodgers isn’t going to beat you with explosive plays and highlight-reel moments, he chops you down and takes everything a defense gives him.
Bo Nix might make a few plays with his legs, but he’s going to have a nightmare day trying to throw against this New York secondary.
Jets roll here.
Dolphins -1 vs. Titans
Monday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
We’re all just going to have to hold our noses on this one, folks. Talk about a primetime stinker.
You might have to be a sicko to bet the Dolphins in this current iteration — Tua on the shelf and Skylar Thompson looking putrid — but that’s exactly what I’m doing.
Thompson took a huge hit and hurt his ribs last week, and as a result, it might be Tyler Huntley or even Tim Boyle getting the ball. I’d imagine it would be Huntley, since they went out and signed him for presumably this exact reason.
Well-wishes to Thompson, but Huntley seems much better equipped to at least hold the reins and guide the Dolphins. They still have great weapons all over the field, and I’m sure all of those weapons are just itching at the chance to find some success.
The Titans are one of only two 0-3 teams in the NFL, and they look like they belong in the cellar. Will Levis is building a highlight reel of unconscionably bad turnovers one week at a time, and there’s really not much else to get excited about in Tennessee.
Look for Devon Achane to get going here; the Titans’ run defense has allowed the most 20+ yard run plays in the league. Miami’s defense should be good enough to pin down Levis, Tony Pollard and the rest of the gang, and the Dolphins should win what might go down as the worst Monday Night Football game ever played.