Cy Picks The Winners In Week Six

[Cy the Cyclone]

Week six and the opening of Big 12 conference play! Now, after weeks of pounding sub-par and undersized teams, we can all sit back and relax as the teams in the conference finally begin to fall into their realistic positions within the league standings. As a reminder, Cy is 20-6 in his picks this year…

 

Kansas (3-1) at Iowa State (2-2) – Iowa State begins it’s season long slide to the cellar and Kansas finally gets to pretend it has a running game. ISU doesn’t seem to be able to stop drunken fans from slipping through the defensive line, let alone running backs. Unless they use the “late hit – personal foul” strategy to put Reesing out of the game early...and don't discount that, this one won’t even be close

Kansas (4-1) over ISU (2-3)

 

Baylor (2-2) at Oklahoma (4-0) – As ISU is to the North, Baylor is to the south. Good start against teams featuring the Sta-Puff Marshmellow Man on defense but it’s time for Baylor to wake up and realize the harsh realities of the real world in the Big 12 South. It should come as no surprise that Oklahoma romps both on the ground and in the air.

Oklahoma (5-0) over Baylor (2-3)

 

Texas A&M (2-2) at Oklahoma State (4-0) – There is a new contender for bottom feeder in the Big 12 South…A&M! Apparently some schools still have not learned that a mediocre NFL coach doesn’t automatically equate into a successful BCS Head Coach. OK State has a great ground game and will be pounding the ball over, under and through A&M’s leaky defense all day. I wouldn’t throw the ball at all if I were OK-State...

Oklahoma State (5-0) over Texas A&M (2-3)

 

Texas Tech (4-0) at Kansas State (3-1) – How will the state of Kansas’ premier junior college react to the Texas Tech aerial attack? Quite badly I suspect. The only way K-State has a chance in this game is if they convince Texas Tech that this is actually “Old-Timer” weekend and Tech puts their 1959 team out on the field. Get the bomb shelters stocked and ready K-State fans….

Texas Tech (5-0) over Kansas State (3-2)

 

Texas (4-0) at Colorado (3-1) – Frankly, because of the intangibles, I’m going to give this one to Colorado in an upset. Yeah…I hate Colorado with a passion but still…Texas will be sucking wind at that altitude and Colorado always plays well at home. If the Buffs can ride out the first quarter without getting lit up, they will take the Longhorns down…if only to totally ball up the Big 12 North standings

Colorado (4-1) over Texas (4-1)

 

Missouri (4-0) at Nebraska (3-1) – This one has all the makings of a pretty high scoring affair. Missouri’s offense is good, no doubt, but the defense is still a question mark. Can Ganz get time to pick it apart? Will NU find a way to grind some time off the clock and keep the ball out of Daniel’s hands? If they can, it could be closer than people think. If not, a lack of depth and a pretty porous secondary is going to put a smile on Chase’s face. If it’s close, don’t forget the home field streak and throw in the Pinkel factor but even that might not help...

Missouri (5-0) over Nebraska (3-2)

 

Big 12 Standings – After Week Six

 

North

Missouri 5-0

Kansas 4-1

Colorado 4-1

Nebraska 3-2

Kansas State 3-2

Iowa State 2-3

 

South

Oklahoma 5-0

Oklahoma State 5-0

Texas Tech 5-0

Texas 4-1

Baylor 2-3

Texas A&M 2-3

 

Feel free to display your ignorance of college football by disagreeing with any of my picks

[BOBELIEVER]

i can't believe Texas Tech is only a 7-1/2 point favorite over K State ..... there's something wrong with that

[papersun87]

i can't believe Texas Tech is only a 7-1/2 point favorite over K State ..... there's something wrong with that

Is that all?

 

*places bet*

[hskrfan4life]

Texas Tech is going to tear apart KSU

[CENTEXHUSKER]

I like the Colorado over UT pick, McCoy is good for at least on bad game a year and with the trend in CFB the past year and a half, I could see UT being on of the top ten teams to fall this week. Yes I know FSU spanked them last week, but this game is in Boulder and Hawkins will have them ready.

[HuskerTrucker]

Texas Tech is going to tear apart KSU

[HuskerTrucker]

I like the Colorado over UT pick, McCoy is good for at least on bad game a year and with the trend in CFB the past year and a half, I could see UT being on of the top ten teams to fall this week. Yes I know FSU spanked them last week, but this game is in Boulder and Hawkins will have them ready.

I think this game could go either way, though I really believe that UT has more talent. Colorado is just one of those teams you never know how they will show up. If Colorado wins it will be by no more than 7 points, but if UT wins, expect at least a 14 point spread. Seems like when Colorado implodes it does it in a big way...kind of like NU lately.

[holvy83]

The Buffs over Texas is quite possible... but why are they picked but we aren't??? We can be optimistic about CU but not our own Although Cy has been pretty accurate i will question this one!

[huskerpilot]

We're gonna beat missouri. I've made my mind up now.

[CENTEXHUSKER]

Meh...... I can already tell, there's gonna be a witch hunt for everyone that doubts our chances against Missouri if we win on Saturday.

[holvy83]

i'll bring the matches

[HuskerTrucker]

With this team, you never know...they are so inconsistent. If we show up to play, and have a good game, and can put pressure on Chase Daniels so he don't pick us apart, I can see us winning. But that is a lot of "ifs".

[Ohio Pete]

We're gonna beat missouri. I've made my mind up now.

 

That's a relief. I was starting to get worried about that game.

[Cy the Cyclone]

I picked Missouri but that doesn't mean that it's not realistic to think Nebraska can win the game. If the Huskers can do a couple of things consistently through the game there's a good chance they can pull it off. BUT...they need to:

 

Defensively -

 

Get some penetration and pressure from the D-Line. If the defense has to rely on pulling LBs or DBs out of coverage and blitzing them, Daniels is going to find the open spots.

 

Maintain outside containment on Daniels. Tayor went for at least 8 every time he scrambled to the outside and we had to rely on DBs coming up to put the hit on him. DE's and LB's need to turn Daniels inside and give the middle of the defense a chance to knock him down.

 

We need lock down coverage from the DBs. They have to pick their guys up and stick with them. They can't bite and break off coverage on scrambles and they better all know what their assignments are when MU overloads a side or sends two guys through a zone. MU has a lot of goofy passing looks but they are all variations of basic plays. Don't get fooled. Anyone who has watched MU this year can tell you that when Daniels scrambles now, he's looking to pass first and get yards second. Don't break coverage to try to put a hit on him.

 

Offensively

 

Keep the defense off the field. The Huskers have to grind out yards...3, 4 yards a pop...to keep the ball out of MU's hands and to give the defense some rest. Pound it up the middle and keep pounding it. Good clock management can win this ball game

 

Take advantage of the skill receivers you have. Swift and Peterson are excellent in intermediate routes through the center of the field. Throw it there. Don't go slinging it down field just for the sake of slinging it there. Slow and steady.

 

If Ganz is going to run...run! There were a couple times against V-Tech when Ganz could have picked up 5-10 more yards with his feet if he would have just tucked the ball and taken off instead of looking downfield. The Huskers need those yards so take em.

 

Keep the crowd in it. It's the biggest advantage NU has...always has been. If you have momentum going, avoid killing it with stupid little mistakes like a delay of game penalty. Nothing will take a crowd out of a game faster than shooting yourself in the foot.

 

Do those things and add better special teams play to keep MU on the long side of the field and there's a good chance Nebraska comes out on top. I don't know if they can do all those things throughout the game...young team, new system. I hope they can pull it all together but the smart money, and my pick, still goes with Missouri.

[holvy83]

Nice work Cy I was beginning to wonder...