Week 8 - Early Looks 

*All lines current as of 10/16/05 at 9:55pm PST. 

Five plays this week:  

Southern Miss at UAB (Over 47.5) - Game #305-306 - Friday - 5:00pm Pacific
UAB got off to a very slow start last week at Marshall as standout senior QB Darrell Hackney threw for only 39 yards in the first half but he picked things up big time in the second half to finish with 245.  The Blazers are averaging 422 yards of offense per game and can do much better than their current scoring average of 27.2ppg.  Defensively, UAB is allowing 21.0ppg but all five of their I-A opponents (Tennessee, Troy, Rice, SMU, Marshall) thus far rank 89th or worse nationally in scoring offense.  Southern Miss is coming off a game in which a total of 83 points were scored.  USM games are averaging a total of 54.6ppg this season which is reason enough to play this game.  USM has not ran the ball well and are passing over 50% of the time, up from 42.5% last year.  Senior QB Dustin Almond has looked sharp other than a disastrous game vs Tulsa two weeks ago, but he bounced back nicely last week tying a school record with 5 TD passes.  The only negative I see here is that USM leading receiver Antwon Courington left last game with a knee injury.  He is expected to have an MRI on Monday and is currently listed as questionable.  The USM defense was a disappointment last season and thus far does not appear to be much improved.  They have allowed 24.4ppg and 384 yards per game despite a mediocre schedule.  Their one performance that looks good on paper, holding ECU to 7 points, is misleading as the Pirates lost 4 fumbles, two deep in USM territory.  Last year's meeting finished with 47 points but the two senior QB's should see to it that this one gets over 50. 

Early Look: Over 47.5  1/2 UNIT 

Rutgers (+1.5) at UConn - Noon Pacific - Game #349-350
Rutgers dominated Syracuse last week in a 31-9 road win and look to be in a good position to make it two straight.  The Scarlet Knights are now 4-2 overall and every game from here on out will be critical for their hopes to reach a bowl game for the first time in 27 years.  Redshirt freshman QB Mike Teel unexpectedly earned his first career start last week over senior Ryan Hart.  As to be expected he had an up and down performance but got the job done while flashing his great potential.  Teel should be even more comfortable and confident this week.  He has a slew of talented skill position players around him with all conference caliber talent at WR, TE, and FB.  Speedy freshman RB Ray Rice has emerged in recent games to give a jolt to the running game.  Rutgers isn't going to win games with their defense but they have improved in head coach Schiano's first year as defensive coordinator.  They are allowing 72 yards less and 13.4 points less per game than last season.  UConn's rank of #4 in the nation in total defense is clearly misleading.  Of the five I-A opponents they have faced, only Cincinnati (79th) and Georgia Tech (70th) were not ranked 100th or worse natonally in total offense!  The Huskies gave up 28.0ppg vs those two opponents and lost both games.  Offensively, they will be starting backup QB DJ Hernandez for the second straight week due to an injury to their starter.  Hernandez went 19-for-43 for only 191 yards and was sacked 6 times against a suspect Cinci defense in his first start last week.  UConn also had three key defensive starters leave the game with injuries and two others who sat out with injuries.  All five are listed no better than questionable for next week.  Make no mistake, UConn was beaten soundly by the underdog Bearcats.  A veteran Rutgers squad will be looking to avenge three straight close losses in this series. 

Early Look: Rutgers +1.5  1/2 UNIT 

Marshall at UTEP (-13) - 6:00pm Pacific - Game #395-396
This may be the last time UTEP is at a decent number this season.  This is a very dangerous team that may have finally hit stride.  A debacle at Memphis that included six turnovers and some questionable officiating cost UTEP their only loss three weeks ago.  After a BYE week they came out firing at Tulane last week in an impressive 45-21 win.  Ball security was a high priority during the off week and the Miners responded with zero interceptions and zero fumbles.  UTEP suffered a blow losing starting DT Chris Mineo (1st team WAC last year) to injury for the season two weeks ago, but starting DT Zach West and starting DE Joe Ward are just now returning to the starting lineup after suffering injuries in the season opener so the loss is minimized.  This will be UTEP's first home game in almost a month.  It is also homecoming week and the Miners are 6-1 ATS in their last seven homecoming appearances.  UTEP is 5-2 ATS at home under Mike Price.  Marshall is coming off an extremely lucky win over UAB last week.  They were outgained by 181 total yards but thanks to two bad punt snaps and a third punt that was shanked for only 10 yards, Marshall was able to score all three of their touchdowns on short fields and escape with a 1 point win.  It was the first time all season that Marshall reached the 20 point mark vs a I-A opponent.  One of the Herd's leading tacklers, strong safety Curtis Keyes missed the game with a shoulder injury.  He is listed as questionable for this week.  He would be a big loss to a young defense that is trying to hold it together after giving up 400+ yards in back to back weeks.  This is Marshall's longest road trip of the season and they are 10-23 ATS (0-2 this year) in away games since 2000.  UTEP should win this very comfortably.