I'm P.O'd. If Ricky Stanzi hadn't of thrown a last-second touchdown to beat Michigan State, I would have correctly picked both of my upsets correctly yesterday. Nonetheless, it was another good week, as I also correctly took the Clemson Tigers over Miami on the road.
It is not the most exciting day in college football; heck, College Gameday is at a Mountain West game. However, this is shaping up to be a week with some of the closest games we've seen all year, and don't be surprised if a few upsets sprout up across the country as the day passes.
I'll be in Richmond today for the Massachusetts-Richmond game, to see my good friend Tyler Holmes suit up at linebacker, and Caleb Violette at kicker for the Minutemen. I'll be following the games best I can, and will have a recap of the day late tonight. Thanks for reading.
GEORGIA TECH 35, Virginia 20
· If Virginia Tech can’t stop the Jackets’ offense, what makes anyone think Virginia can?
OHIO STATE 20, Minnesota 17
· Terrelle Pryor has had the week from Hell; if this game was in Minneapolis I might give the Gophers the nod
PITTSBURGH 30, South Florida 23
· Dion Lewis is closing in on becoming a household name in the Steel City
MISSISSIPPI 34, Arkansas 28
· Houston Nutt circles the wagons for a season-salvaging win.
ALABAMA 23, Tennessee 10
· If this were in Knoxville, I’d give the Vols a chance with Monte Kiffin calling the shots on defense
CLEMSON 27, Miami 21
· C.J. Spiller and the rest of the Tigers finally woke up last week against Wake Forest; they would love nothing more than to take hold of the Atlantic Division with a big win today.
OREGON 38, Washington 28
· Jeremiah Masoli is back and will be too much for the Huskies’ defense to handle
MICHIGAN 24, Penn State 22
· The Nittany Lions are far more talented on paper, but the truth is the Wolverines have just looked better on a weekly basis
OKLAHOMA 38, Kansas 24
· The Sooners are a good team, even without Sam Bradford. They still have a chance at the Big 12 title if they run the table, and some pieces of the puzzle fall just right.
NOTRE DAME 42, Boston College 24
· The Eagles have been nothing short of pathetic on the road this year, and that continues today. If Tyrod Taylor can light up that secondary, who knows what Jimmy Clausen will do?
MICHIGAN STATE 24, Iowa 20
· It took a half before Iowa woke up last week; the Spartans are playing well and have the home-field advantage for this night game.
FLORIDA 44, Mississippi State 14
· Bulldogs’ coach Dan Mullen knows first-hand just how much better the Gators are than his team. This will not be a Washington-USC repeat, where Steve Sarkisian beat former boss Pete Carroll.
TCU 30, BYU 24
· Offensive power versus defensive dominance: I’m going with the defense.
LSU 30, Auburn 23
· Auburn keeps it close, but LSU doesn’t lose at home…unless it’s to Florida
TEXAS 28, Missouri 27
· The Tigers miss a couple field goals that would have beat the Longhorns, who just don’t have that explosion on offense like in 2008.
USC 33, Oregon State 25
· Jacquizz Rodgers lit up the Trojans for 180 yards last season. He’ll have a good day, but don’t expect a repeat performance in 2009.
Last Week: 11-4
Overall 32-13 (71%)
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Everything in the universe goes by indirection. There are no straight lines.”
Emerson must have known a thing or two about the 2009 Heisman Trophy race. There is not a single player on a straight path towards the award this season.
Trying to project which player will take home the hardware on Dec. 12 is about as easy as picking tomorrow’s lottery numbers. There simply is not a single player worthy of such high esteem to this point.
Prior to the season, great things were expected in 2009. It was only the second time in history that the top three Heisman finalists from the previous season were back again.
Beyond that, all three of those players were record-setting quarterbacks who quite possibly could be the greatest to ever play at their respective schools.
Sam Bradford, the defending winner from Oklahoma, was the first to drop out of the race. With one swift yet crushing hit in the second quarter of the Sooners’ first game, Bradford sprained his shoulder and lost his chances at a repeat.
Just down the road in Austin, Tex., Colt McCoy looked to have a great opportunity to capture the award many thought he had earned last season. In 2008 he completed 77 percent of his passes and 3,859 yards. He threw only eight interceptions the entire season. It was one of the most statistically dominant seasons in college football history.
However, 2009 has taken another path, leading towards lackluster wins and frequent interceptions. McCoy has already been intercepted seven times, and is on pace for fourteen by season’s end. His quarterback rating of 137.85 is a career-low, and the Longhorns’ offense has sputtered out of the gate on more than a couple occasions.
Colt had a chance to re-establish himself at the forefront of the award race last Saturday against the Sooners. Instead, he endured one of the worst games of his career completing 21 passes for only 127 yards, averaging a paltry six yards per completion.
Of course, no Heisman talk is complete without mentioning Tebow, the golden boy of college football. While he has done nothing wrong this season, he simply does not have the weapons around him like years’ past.
Many times, Heisman winners that return to school have the problem of needing to top their previous success. Considering Tebow is coming off two of the best years any quarterback has ever had, did anyone really expect him to better his resume in 2009?
The biggest asset in Tebow’s favor is his Florida Gators are rolling towards a potential undefeated season atop the BCS rankings. If Florida runs the table and wins the SEC, Tebow will be a finalist for the third time in his career, and might even steal the award for a second time.
Rising fast on everyone’s Heisman board is Mark Ingram, the running back from Alabama. He is now third in the nation in rushing with 905 yards, and is the biggest reason the Tide’s offense has been so tough in the first half of the season.
Ingram kicked the season off with a bang, rushing for 150 yards and a touchdown while catching another in the Tide’s 34-24 win over Virginia Tech. He did not reach the 100-yard mark again until October.
He has put that weak first month in the past, and without any doubt. In the last three games, he has carried the ball 74 times for 558 yards and four touchdowns. That’s nearly a season’s worth of numbers from some backs who face SEC defenses weekly.
Similar to Tebow, should Alabama be the team to come out of the SEC unscathed, and Ingram continues his scorching play, don’t be surprised if he comes out of nowhere to lay claim to the trophy.
Here are some other players who could find themselves in New York thanks to a watered-down selection this season:
Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska
· Tell me the last time a defensive tackle led his team in tackles. Suh is doing just that for the Huskers with 36. He continues to leave a lasting impression on every quarterback he faces
Dion Lewis, RB, Pittsburgh
· He may be a freshmen, but heck, in a year like this why can’t he win? Lewis is second in the nation with 918 rushing yards. For Lewis to enter the inner circle of Heisman elite, he needs the Panthers to win the Big East, and he probably needs another couple 200-yard performances.
Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame
· Everyone who was not watching the Irish’s clash with USC last weekend has surely heard about it by now. Clausen nearly led a magical fourth-quarter comeback from a 20-point deficit, only to fall short from inside the five-yard line. Had he delivered a touchdown on that drive, and then led the Irish to win the game in overtime, he would be the clear-cut favorite at this point. Instead, he has a hardy challenge ahead of him.
Thankfully there is still a month and a half of football yet to play, because we will need every last week to find a true favorite, or else they just might cancel the award altogether.
1. Alabama
A few weeks ago, the Crimson Tide were nipping on the heels of their conference rival Florida. Now, they are pulling away from the Gators, and quickly. Another dominating performance by Mark Ingram, in which he ran for over 250 yards against South Carolina, has many people hopping on the ‘Bama bandwagon.
What puzzles me is why Ingram has not received any more national attention to this point. He’s now third in the nation in rushing with 905 yards, and is single-handedly carrying the Tide offense through the conference season.
It’s funny to think, that at the beginning of the season, all the talk surrounding the Alabama program was about Julio Jones on offense and gargantuan nose tackle Terrance Cody on defense. However, the stars of this team so far have been Ingram and quarterback Greg McElroy offensively, and middle linebacker Rolando McClain on defense.
That’s why the play the game.
2. Florida
For Gator fans, what’s scarier than seeing Tim Tebow lay motionless on the turf for several minutes? Seeing Tebow and his fellow teammates having to scratch and claw for a home win against Arkansas. The Razorbacks did everything they could in that game to upset the defending national champions, but still came up short.
Ryan Mallet, the sophomore transfer quarterback from Michigan, tore apart the vaunted Florida defense, leading several long drives for scores. He took care of his job all day long. His only shortcoming was leaving two drives up to Alex Tejada, who missed two field goals that would have been enough for the win.
Tejada’s miss on the go-ahead field goal with three minutes to go will linger in the minds of Razorback fans for years to come.
However, every national champion always had one close call every year, where they needed a little luck and a gutsy effort to pull out a win. This was the Gators’, and now that they have had their wake-up call, expect Urban Meyer to re-focus his group and set them on a crash course for Atlanta to face the Crimson Tide this December.
3. Boise State
Up until now, the consensus opinion among college football experts is the Broncos just don’t have the meat on their schedule to warrant a spot in the national championship.
Week by week, however, other teams keep failing to impress, and one can’t help but think the Broncos might be that team.
I don’t put much stock in the seven-point win over Tulsa, despite the fact the Golden Hurricanes were blasted 45-0 to a Sam Bradford-less Oklahoma team. Just like Florida, the Broncos had their one allotted scare for the season.
While they are still on the outside looking in, Chris Peterson’s team is doing all they can do right now, and that is win football games. If USC, Texas, Cincinnati, and Iowa all fall (who says that can’t happen?), then it is going to be hard to deny the boys from Boise.
4. Texas
This is how bad Texas looked against Oklahoma: they won, and got jumped by a WAC team that beat Tulsa by seven. I am simply not impressed with what I have seen out of Texas so far this season.
Outside of Jordan Shipley, Colt McCoy has no reliable options in the passing game. Gerald McCoy and the rest of the Sooners’ defensive line had a field day against what should be a physical Longhorns offense.
Even though McCoy is the star of this team, even he looked out of sync on Saturday. Brett Venables, the Oklahoma defensive coordinator, threw multiple looks at McCoy that kept him off balance every step of the way.
Had Sam Bradford not been lost for the game on the second drive, Oklahoma would have won this game going away. Landry Jones played decently as his replacement, but threw several questionable passes, including two bad interceptions in the fourth quarter.
Texas has a lot of work to do to prove to me they are a top-notch team.
5. (a) Cincinnati
I was very impressed with the intensity and execution the Bearcats played with Thursday night in Tampa. They dominated the Bulls both offensively and defensively in a 34-17 win.
Bulls quarterback B.J. Daniels spent half the game running for his life in the backfield, looking for open receivers. Cincinnati applied great pressure to Daniels while also locking up all of his options downfield.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Brian Kelly is the most underrated coach in college football. Truth be told, I’d put him in my list of top five coaches in America. He lost star quarterback Tony Pike at halftime with a seven-point lead, and proceeds to plug in backup Zach Collaros, who actually played better than Pike in this game.
The Bearcats desperately need South Florida to win as much as possible the rest of the way, as well as West Virginia and Pittsburgh for that matter, so that if they run the table in the Big East it is impressive enough to vault them into the national championship game.
5. (b) Iowa
As ugly as Big Ten football is, they have a darn good team in Iowa who’s rising fast. After trailing 10-0 on the road against Wisconsin, the Hawkeyes completely shut down the Badgers in the second half to come back and win the game, keeping their unbeaten season alive.
Ricky Stanzi is a serviceable quarterback, but he has a complete team around him. There are no Heisman candidates or superstars on this team, but they beat their opponents with sound, tough football.
With Ohio State’s embarrassing loss at Purdue this past week, the Hawkeyes are now the clear-cut favorite in the Big Ten, and would love nothing more than a January trip to Pasadena. They might even get to a week later than normal if they play their cards right.
6. USC
After three quarters of football in South Bend last Saturday, the buzz was beginning to grow about the Trojans and their revived dominating form. After that, they proceeded to nearly collapse, coming within three yards of having to play overtime with the Fighting Irish.
Had they closed out that game with authority, rather than by letting Notre Dame nearly pull off its biggest win in recent memory, USC would probably be third in the rankings right now. Instead, there is still uncertainty surrounding the true identity of Pete Carroll’s team.
They still have a few big games left to sway the country’s mind, but they are running out of time.
7. Miami
It was a ho-hum week for the ‘Canes in Coral Gables, but it was an illustrious week for them in Atlanta. After Georgia Tech’s upset of Virginia Tech, Miami’s ACC title hopes took a serious upswing. They now sit in a tie with the Jackets and Hokies for second in the Coastal division, with the Virginia Cavaliers on top.
That won’t last long. The Wahoos will fall in the coming weeks, while the aforementioned triumvirate of the Coastal should win out.
If that happens, it would be Miami playing for the conference title and in all likelihood, an Orange Bowl bid. That in of itself would mark a huge step in the right direction for Randy Shannon’s program.
8. Georgia Tech
I will admit it: I was wrong about the Jackets’ offense. I thought that teams had figured out how to defend their triple option attack, and Josh Nesbitt was a mediocre quarterback who made too many mistakes.
Nesbitt, and the rest of the offense for that matter, was on the mark Saturday night, tearing apart the Virginia Tech defense in the second half en route to a 28-23 victory.
Now, Paul Johnson has his team sitting at 6-1 and in contention for a BCS at-large bid should they not win the conference. Maybe he really does have something going with this triple option thing.
9. TCU
The Horned Frogs do not get nearly enough credit for their efforts. They shut down a sneaky Colorado State team 44-6 Saturday, and look to be in prime shape heading into a battle with BYU in Provo this week.
A win over the Cougars would go a long way in convincing the pollsters/computers that they deserve more respect and a higher ranking.
Since the Cougars and Utah have each lost a game already, the Frogs are the last hope for the Mountain West Conference this season to make a BCS run. It won’t be easy, but Gary Patterson knows what he’s doing down there, and this week’s game could be the best of the week.
10. Arkansas
Call me crazy, but the Razorbacks are making a statement in Bobby Petrino’s second season at the helm.
As mentioned earlier, they were tantalizingly close to beating the nation’s top-ranked team. Mallet has thrown 14 touchdowns with only three interceptions this season. He is this year’s Jevan Snead; the similarities are scary. Both are pro-style quarterbacks with NFL-ready arms, both transferred from big-time programs to their current schools, both lead/are leading a resurgence of their respective programs as first-year starters.
If only Mallet had knocked off Florida, the comparison would have been complete. Nevertheless, Arkansas looks very much like the second-best team in the SEC West so far this season. Wins over Ole Miss and LSU would go a long way towards proving that.
11. LSU
12. Virginia Tech
13. Oklahoma State
14. Texas Tech
15. Penn State
16. Pittsburgh
17. BYU
18. Oregon
19. Oklahoma
20. Michigan
21. West Virginia
22. Ohio State
23. Auburn
24. Boston College
25. South Florida
It was an interesting week in college football to say the least. Two top-ten teams fell by the wayside on the road. A couple more barely escaped with wins. Two Hesiman Trophy candidates were lost to injury.
Upset losses have come to be expected, but hardly ever anticipated. As the following weeks begin to pass by, there will be more shock and more chaos.
Chaos is defined as “complete disorder or utter confusion.”
Sooner or later, that definition may read “See: College Football.”
Okay, time for some awards!
The Climb Award, brought to you by Miley Cyrus – Notre Dame
For Charlie Weis and the Fighting Irish, it’s been one hell of a climb back to the top of college football, and after Saturday, they aren’t back yet. The Irish fell at home to the USC Trojans 34-27 in thrilling fashion. Jimmy Clausen put together another sensational fourth-quarter comeback, only to fall three yards short of overtime.
What did we learn from the close loss? Weis has the program headed in the right direction, but it might not be at a satisfactory pace. After losing 38-3 in Los Angeles last season, Notre Dame came closer to beating their cross-country rivals than they had in four years.
USC is not the same USC that has dominated this decade, so it’s not like Notre Dame nearly beat the greatest show on turf or anything close. But it was still USC, and had the Irish completed the comeback and won the game, it would have marked a huge step forward for coach Weis.
It’s a long journey from mediocrity to glory in college football. Much of the Irish roster is full of players with at least one more year of eligibility. The promise they are showing this season should warrant at least one more year for Weis to make a run at a national title.
The Wizard of Oz Award (There’s no place like home) – Virginia Tech and Boston College
What a difference a venue makes. Both the Hokies and Eagles have looked lights-out for the most part in home battles; yet look like an entirely different team away from home.
The Hokies entered Atlanta Saturday night with the number four ranking in the country, thanks largely in part to huge home wins over Nebraska, Miami, and Boston College. In its only trips away from Blacksburg, Tech has struggled.
On the first night of the season, also in Atlanta, the Hokies fought hard but a few costly mistakes lost them the game against Alabama. Two weeks ago, the Hokies struggled through an afternoon in Durham, escaping Duke with a 34-26 win. The defense lacks the same energy away from Lane Stadium, and the offense can’t seem to break as many big plays on the road.
There is something to be said for drawing energy from the crowd to carry you through a lot of games. This Tech team needs to learn to create its own energy when need be.
As for the Eagles, it is hard to look as polar opposite as they have looked depending on where they play. At home, they have beaten Wake Forest, Florida State, and now North Carolina State, and looked pretty darn good doing it. On the road, Frank Spaziani’s crew has looked pitiful in losses to Clemson and the Hokies.
Much of the struggles away from home can be attributed to the inexperience at quarterback. David Shinskie played minor league baseball for five years before coming to play quarterback at Boston College. It is not very easy to adjust to playing football at this level, let alone doing it in two of the most intimidating stadiums in America.
The Eagles’ final three road tests come against Notre Dame, Virginia, and Maryland. Expect the Irish to have their way this Saturday, but the Cavaliers and Terrapins are hardly the Hokies or Tigers. Also, by that point in the season, Shinskie will have much more experience under his belt, and should be able to handle those trips.
As crazy as the Atlantic Division is, don’t count the Eagles out for a spot in the ACC Championship Game.
The Always Be Prepared Award – Zach Collaros, QB Cincinnati
As the first half of the Bearcats’ Thursday night bout with South Florida drew to an end, so did the Heisman dreams of their quarterback Tony Pike. With an undisclosed injury to his left forearm, Pike was unable to return to the field after halftime, leaving a 17-10 lead in untested backup Collaros’ hands.
No pressure, right?
Not for Collaros. The sophomore scampered 75 yards midway through the third quarter to extend the Bearcats’ lead to 14, then led a pair of well-sustained scoring drives that held off any chance of a Bulls’ rally.
The extent of Pike’s injury is still uncertain, but it is not looking good at this point. The good news for fifth-ranked Cincinnati is they can feel comfortable with Collaros in his stead.
Even though the Bulls may have been the toughest opponents Cincinnati sees this season, the spotlight will only brow brighter as an undefeated season draws closer.
Now that’s pressure.
The Most Awkward Thanksgiving Dinner Award – The Hawkins Family, Colorado
After a 1-4 start to the Buffaloes’ season, coach Dan Hawkins ran into the worst problem a coach can ever face: being forced to bench his son at quarterback.
Colorado fell apart in the second half last week, losing to Texas 38-14 after once leading 14-3. Dan’s son Cody was largely responsible for the offense’s ineffectiveness, throwing a couple untimely interceptions that led to the Longhorns’ rout.
Following the game, that’s when the elder Hawkins made the fateful decision. He opted to start Tyler Hansen under center for the upcoming game against #17 Kansas. Initially he declared the decision a “permanent” one, and then later in the week said his son might still see the field in the coming weeks.
That looks highly unlikely now. Hansen completed 14 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown in the Buffaloes’ 34-30 upset of the Jayhawks. Suddenly, an offense that sputtered in its first five games was taking control against a ranked foe.
The only major difference between this past week and the early part of the season was the personnel at quarterback. It appears obvious that Hansen is firmly cemented as the starter from here on out, and the younger Hawkins will have to learn what life is like holding the clipboard for his father. Awk-ward…
According to Westwood One Radio, Ryan Williams, the redshirt freshman running back for Virginia Tech who leads the ACC in rushing, has an illness and will be a game-time decison tonight at Georgia Tech (6:00 p.m., ESPN 2). Should he miss the game, the starting nod in the backfield will go to Josh Oglesby, and freshman David Wilson will also see a lot of carries.
OKLAHOMA 34, Texas 30
· Texas can’t afford another slow start in this game
OHIO STATE 37, Purdue 10
· Hopefully the Buckeyes offense scores more points than its defense, unlike last week
IOWA 20, Wisconsin 15
· The Hawkeyes already showed up Penn State in Happy Valley, what says they can’t knock off the Badgers at Camp Randall?
CLEMSON 27, Wake Forest 20
· Why not screw up the ACC’s Atlantic Division a little more?
FLORIDA 31, Arkansas 10
· Ryan Mallet has shined with the exception of the Alabama game. Sorry Ryan, the Gators’ defense is just as good
USC 35, Notre Dame 24
· The Irish have had all sorts of trouble stopping the run, which is not good news considering the talent in the Trojans’ backfield.
PENN STATE 37, Minnesota 24
· The Nittany Lions don’t have much to play for these days, the Big Ten title is unlikely, the national title is impossible
NEBRASKA 42, Texas Tech 31
· Backup quarterback Steven Sheffield threw seven touchdowns for Tech last week against Kansas State. The Wildcats don’t have Ndamukong Suh.
CAL 49, UCLA 28
· Remember when Jahvid Best was scoring more touchdowns than Jon and Kate Gosselin had children? Best returns to form today.
BOSTON COLLEGE 28, NC State 20
· The Eagles looked awful against Virginia Tech last week. But they return home, and the ‘Pack lost to…Duke? The Eagles are a different team in Chesnut Hill
VIRGINIA 35, Maryland 30
· The battle of inferiors in the ACC is a great opportunity for Maryland to show something to the home crowd, but the Cavaliers have a little confidence this week coming off two straight wins.
VIRGINIA TECH 37, Georgia Tech 21
· This is the biggest…well the only big road test for the Hokies this season. The Jackets’ defense has given up 500 yards of total offense the last two weeks…uh oh…
KANSAS 38, Colorado 14
· Buffaloes’ coach Dan Hawkins benched his son, Cody, at quarterback after last week. Not too much is going right in Boulder these days.
ALABAMA 31, South Carolina 6
· Were this game in Columbia, the Gamecocks might have a chance. Mark Ingram is red hot and the Tide defense is way too good.
OKLAHOMA STATE 45, Missouri 42
· The Cowboys are missing suspended wideout Dez Bryant, but Missouri is reeling after blowing a 20-point lead against Nebraska.
Overall: 21-9
Game: Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech
When: 6:00 p.m.
Why it matters: In one of the craziest seasons the ACC has seen in recent memory, madness would ensue within the conference should the Jackets upset the Hokies. Before the season, prognosticators across America were pointing to this game as the best of the year in the conference.
After some early season struggles, including an embarrassing loss to Miami on national television, Georgia Tech is back on track and sits at 5-1 on the season. Last week, in a game that ended later than most of the west coast battles that night, the Jackets outscored Florida State 49-44 in Tallahassee.
They know that in order to gain respect throughout the country, they need to beat the fourth-ranked Hokies at home.
For the Hokies, it’s make-or-break time in Atlanta. If Frank Beamer’s team loses, they will fall into a three-way tie in the Coastal Division with Georgia Tech and Miami, and could very well be left out of the ACC and BCS equation come season’s end.
With a win, the Hokies will have another victory over a top-20 opponent, their third of the season, and would further boost their BCS resume. Ryan Williams and Tyrod Taylor are also both starting to gain serious ground in some award races as we hit the midpoint of the season.
Player to watch: Josh Nesbitt is plain and simple the key to this game. After looking dreadful in back-to-back Thursday night affairs in September, Nesbitt is now third in the ACC in rushing, and is finally throwing the ball accurately.
Although the Jackets have the league’s best rushing offense, they rely on the passing game to be successful. Contrary to popular belief, if the Jackets cannot stretch the field with the passing game, they are far less successful. Last season, the Hokies were able to barely escape their matchup with the Jackets after Roddy Jones dropped a couple of potential game-winning touchdown passes.
Bud Foster excellently prepared his defense for the option last year, and you can expect much of the same this Saturday. The fate of the Yellow Jackets rests on Nesbitt’s shoulders, more specifically his right shoulder.
Who has the edge?
Virginia Tech is as hot as any team in America, which is not good news for Paul Johnson’s team. The Hokies have always had a tough time with the Jackets in Atlanta, but have always left Bobby Dodd Stadium victorious since joining the ACC.
As previously mentioned, it will be tough sledding for Johnson’s option game, and you can bet the Hokie defense will be more prepared for the sneaky passes than it was a year ago.
Georgia Tech has a chance to win, but it’s a slim one. Its defense has been blasted for big plays in the running and passing game all season, which is not a good sign when the Hokies offense is just now catching fire.
Some people think Georgia Tech has what it takes to secure a huge home victory. Instead, this one might get away from the Jackets early.
