Tag: lsu

Fade Fernando’s Picks from God (12/27/19)

by Jeremy Fernando, posted in Action

Howdy folks and welcome back to this week’s edition of Picks from God. Last week we went 0-4 (-4U) which brings our total to 2-6 (-5U) all time. Yes, you read that right. I did not pick a single game correctly. It was an embarrassing week to say the least. Now before you start calling me names and ready to call your lawyers to sue me for such terrible advice, I want you to read the title of this blog. “Fade Fernando’s Picks From God.” Fade them. You are supposed to go against these picks people. Read the title. Anyways, let’s put the past behind us. In the week of our Lord’s birth, we have been blessed with 4 more picks. Enjoy responsibly.

* Grad School Sports reminds you to please gamble responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, please call 1-800-522-4700.

1. USC vs. Iowa -2.5. This whole season, I have yet to be impressed with this Trojan team. Even their A.D. was less than pleased with the direction of this football program and was reluctant to bring back head coach Clay Helton. However, they do have one of the better offenses in college football led by QB Kedon Slovis and a trio of star receivers in Michael Pittman, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Tyler Vaughns. Meanwhile, the Iowa Hawkeyes will be looking to get to 10 wins on the season and bring with them one of the best defenses in the country. This Iowa team has played great football all season long and has won 3 straight games. Further, their 3 losses were all to teams within the top 25 and were by a combined 14 points. Even though the game is in California, I like the Haweyes to cover thanks to a phenomenal defense and an offense that will make just enough plays to cover the spread.

2. Notre Dame -3.5 vs. Iowa State: Around 2 months ago after their embarrassing loss to Michigan at The Big House, everyone wrote the Irish off. Since then, Notre Dame has reeled off 5 straight wins in which the offense has clicked on all cylinders. QB Ian Book has looked like a completely new player in the 2nd half of the season and should have his way against a Cyclone secondary that has its fair share of holes. Look for WR Chase Claypool to have a big day as well. Defensively, the Irish have looked strong as well since the nightmare in Ann Arbor. Although they are coming off a loss on the road to Kansas State, Iowa State has a very good offense and overall is a very solid team. However, I like the way the Irish have played down the stretch and believe they have the playmakers necessary to cover the spread on Saturday.

3. LSU -13.5 vs. Oklahoma: 13.5 is a massive line, especially for a playoff game. Doesn’t matter to me. This LSU team has done nothing but dominate their competition this year. They absolutely destroyed a Georgia team in what was basically a road game on the same weekend the Sooners struggled immensely against Baylor. Offensively, Joe Burrow and Co. will have their way against a Sooner defense with far too many holes. To make matters worse, they will be without their DE Ronnie Perkins and Safety Delarrin Turner-Yell. Yes, star RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire may not play for the Tigers, but Burrow has so many options to choose from that I believe the injury is indifferent. I think the Tigers defense gets it done against QB Jalen Hurts who they are more than familiar with. Further, their experience covering star-studded receivers like Jerry Jeudy should help when they matchup with CeeDee Lamb, arguably the best receiver in football. I like Coach O and LSU on Saturday. Geaux Tigahs! A full preview of the game can be found here: http://gradschoolsports.net/2019/12/24/college-football-playoffs-1-lsu-vs-4-ou-preview/

4. THE Ohio State University +2 vs. Clemson: And now we finally arrive to the game on everyone’s mind. The biggest game of the year so far between 2 heavyweights should not disappoint. These teams are truly mirror images of each other on paper with stars on both sides of the ball. Clemson being favored is astonishing to the public. The Tigers have been overlooked this whole year due to a multitude of different reasons including poor play early on and a very weak schedule. However, this is relatively the same Clemson team that gave Alabama its biggest loss in the Saban era last January. They can beat you on offense with stars like Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne and defense with Isaiah Simmons. However, they have not faced a team like OSU nor a player as dominating as Chase Young. Contrary to Clemson, OSU has played a challenging schedule and has thoroughly handled their competition. I think the OSU defense makes enough stops and the offense delivers when it counts to get them the win Saturday. I have ridden the Buckeye train the whole year this year and I refuse to abandon ship now. O-H-I-O! For a full preview of the game click here.

Please remember, I am not a professional gambler. So please do yourself a favor and fade me at all costs. In addition, if you do not have the funds or live in an area where gambling is prohibited by law, please do not gamble. As we conclude this week’s picks, lets all remember Jeremiah 29:11. Good luck to everyone this weekend.

CFB Playoffs: #1 LSU vs #4 OU Preview

by colewest86, posted in NCAA Football

It is almost that time of year: The College Football Playoffs. The playoffs start this Saturday at 3:00 CT. The undefeated LSU Tigers take on the 12-1 Oklahoma Sooners in the Chick- Fil- A Peach bowl. This will be the 4th appearance in the playoffs for the Sooners, while this is the first postseason appearance for the Tigers. Regardless, both teams are looking for their first playoff win as the Sooners are 0-3.

The Sooners may be 0-3 in the playoffs, so far but their transfer QB, Jalen Hurts, has nothing but wins and experience. Before transferring to OU in the 2019 season, Hurts played QB at Alabama where he led the Rolling Tide to the playoffs in 2016 and 2017 (he was the backup in the 2018 season). Hurts is 3-1 as a starter in the College Football Playoffs. Hurts also has experience beating the LSU Tigers, beating them two years in a row as a starter. That type of experience can go a long way for the Sooners.

On the other side is the LSU Tigers who have stormed through the regular season. Posting wins against Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Auburn, it is no question that LSU has looked like the best team in the country. Now the Tigers are looking for their first win in the College Football Playoffs to send them to the national championship.

The biggest story this past week regarding these teams is the news that Oklahoma will be playing without three of their players. Oklahoma’s DE- Ronnie Perkins, RB- Rhamondre Stevenson, and WR- Trejan Bridges are suspended for the Peach Bowl. While it is still unclear what provoked the suspension, The Athletic’s, Jason Kersey, reported it as a “rules violation.” The biggest loss is DE, Ronnie Perkins. Perkins is considered the Sooners best pass rusher with six sacks, and 38 total tackles. This is now a major disadvantage for the Sooners as they try to stop Heisman winner, Joe Burrow, and his high-powered offense

The LSU Tigers have some bad news as well as running back Clyde Edwards- Helaire suffered a hamstring injury during practice last week. Edwards- Helaire is LSU’s leading rusher with 1,290 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. LSU coach, Ed Orgeron, said Edwards- Helaire is questionable for the Peach Bowl. However if anyone knows hamstring injuries, they know how hard they are to recover from in football. If Edwards- Helaire does not play, running backs, Tyrion Davis-Price, John Emery Jr., and Chris Curry would assume the workload. Those three running backs have a combine 118 attempts and nine rushing touchdowns on the season. The replacements have some experience; however, it would still be a major blow if the Tigers were without their starting running back.

Keys to the Game

Oklahoma

1.Run the Football

This is arguably the most important factor for the Sooners on Saturday: the ability to run the football. OU comes into this football game 11th in the nation in rushing yards per game with over 240 yards a game. This would be huge for OU as it wears down the LSU defense, open up the passing game, and keep LSU’s high-powered offense off the field.

2. Win the Turnover Battle

Oklahoma comes into the game as 13.5 point underdogs. Something underdogs cannot do in a football game if they want to win is have turnovers; therefore, OU needs to win the turnover battle. Jalen Hurts has shown this season that he struggles to hold on to the football. That cannot be the case Saturday, or else LSU will take advantage and make OU pay for it. If OU’s defense can force turnovers, that will give the OU defense a lot of confidence, momentum, and maybe some points on the board for OU.

LSU

1.Convert on 3rd Downs

One of the keys to the game for LSU is to convert on 3rd downs. LSU currently converts on 3rd downs 49.67% of the time which ranks 7th in the nation. Converting on 3rd downs will allow LSU’s offense to stay on the field and wear and tear the OU defense. This will allow receivers such as JaMarr Chase and Justin Jefferson to get involved early as well as boost the confidence for the LSU offense. OU’s defense currently is 48th in the country on opponents points per game with allowing 25.4 points per game. For LSU’s offense who averages 46.3 points per game (ranked 3rd), they should be more than capable converting on 3rd downs to put up points on the scoreboard.

2. Stop/Limit the Run

I mentioned this earlier, but LSU must be able to stop or limit the run for the Sooners. The Sooners average over 240 rushing yards a game. They run a power-style run offense that can wear down defenses. OU can run it with Jalen Hurts who has 1,255 rushing yards or RB, Kennedy Brooks, who has 976 yards on the season. This is worst case scenario for LSU: that Oklahoma is able to run all over the LSU defense to extend drives, and more importantly keep Joe Burrow and LSU off the field.

This will be a big opportunity for OU and the Big-12 to make a statement if they were to pull off the upset because the College Football Playoff committee has traditionally not shown as much respect to Big-12 teams over the years compared to teams in the SEC or Big-10.

The SEC and Big-12 champions will meet in Atlanta on December, 28th at 3:00 CT on ESPN. Both teams will be competing for a chance to play in the national championship.

Top 10 of 2019: #10

by colewest86, posted in 2019, Top 10

10. Joe Burrow Mania

Coming in at #10 on sports moments of 2019 is Joe Burrow’s dominance in college football this season. Not only has his performance on the field been nothing short of spectacular, but he also has an incredible story to how he got to be the Heisman QB for the undefeated LSU Tigers.

Joe Burrow, the 3-star recruit out of Ohio, attended Ohio State University. It was there where he sat on the bench his first three seasons behind quarterbacks JT Barrett, and Cardale Jones. Burrow even got the nickname, “John Burrow,” out of mockery from his other teammates since JT’s first name was Joe. In his fourth year, Burrow lost the starting job to freshman, Dwayne Haskins. That is when Burrow transferred to LSU under Coach Orgeron. Burrow immediately became the starter and lead LSU to 10-3 and 13-0 records back to back years.

2019 was history in the making for quarterback Joe Burrow. Burrow lead to LSU Tigers to an undefeated season, and a #1 seed in the College Football Playoffs. He also won the Heisman trophy after being 15,000-1 odds for the award in the preseason. Burrow’s Heisman victory featured the largest margin of victor ever. Burrow also threw for 4,715 yards (ranked 2nd), 48 touchdowns (1st), and completed 77.9% of his passes (1st). In addition, Burrow won

  • Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Year Award
  • Maxwell Player of the Year Award
  • Walter Camp Player of the Year Award
  • AP All-American Quartback