Friday Preview Week 3

There are a pair of games on the 1-A slate for Friday night.Let's break them down.

Kansas @ Southern Mississippi
Vegas Line: Southern Miss -5.5
Kansas has been the poster child of the enigmatic state in 2010. How does a team play so horribly in a 6-3 loss to North Dakota State (a 1-AA squad) and then turn around and defeat Georgia Tech, a nationally ranked and respected team the next week? Of course, it's all relative, as who was Georgia Tech? They had only beaten South Carolina State, and had not been tested, and therefore they had not been ranked in the PRS.
Kansas simply made some changes that made sense. They ditched Kaleb Pick (horrbile name for a QB) for Jordan Webb, and were rewared with a 3 TD performance and the win. This will be KU's first taste of the road this season.

Southern Miss is trying to avenge a 7 point loss in Lawrence last season. The Golden Eagles are lacking a definitive ID, as they were blasted by South Carolina, and then took down Prairie View from the SWAC. QB Austin Davis has a 1-2 TD to pick ratio, and has not found a groove yet, and WR DeAndre Brown has not worked very hard for him. The Eagles are going to look to Kendrick Harvey to run the ball effectively, with VJ Floyd getting a fair share of carries as well. Southern Miss used a total of 4 backs and rushed for 253 yards against Prairie View.

I pick: Kansas in the upset on the road. USM hasn't shown that they have what it takes to bring down the Hawks.

California at Nevada
Vegas Line: Cal -3
The Golden Bears make their first trip to Reno in 95 years tomorrow night. This is going to be the something's gotta give bowl, because Cal's defense has been  a wall in 2010 thus far, as the Bears have outscored UC-Davis and Colorado 104-10. The defense is ferocious...they fly to the ball and force mistakes. Mike Mohamed returned a pick for a score. On offense, Kevin Riley is finally playing like the QB that Cal has expected him to be, albeit against less than stingy competition. Freshman Keenan Allen is on my early list for potential freshman AA honors, while RB Shane Vereen has already visited the end zone 5 times.

On the other side, Nevada has been averaging 50 points per game in 2010, but again, it has not come against stellar comptetition. I do give credit where credit is due, and Eastern Washington did bring some flair for the offense. Colin Kaepernick can beat you with his arms and his legs, as he is averaging 384 yards in total offense per game, and he has also visited the end zone 8 times in the first two games. Don't forget Vai Taua, as he has scored 3 times.

I pick: I'll go with Vegas and take Cal, but Nevada would not shock me if they pulled one out at Mackey Stadium.