Monday Grab Bag: Game week, finally

After two consecutive bye weeks the natives are getting restless.  By Saturday, it'll have been 21 days since the last time CU took the field in anger.  I can't imagine how it must feel to be in the course of the season and face a break of more than a fortnight between games.  Players play, and I don't fault the kids for being desperate to get back on the field.

I'm starting to convince myself that this will be a blessing in disguise for the team.  By the time week five starts they'll be fresh and eager, while a team like Oregon St has had to slog through three-straight weeks of close games.  Rhythm counts for a lot, but so does health. CU hasn't hit in weeks, leaving the two-deep clean, and ready to rock.

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Today in the bag, I'm taking a look back at my bye week picks, looking in on the soccer team on the eve of Pac-12 play, and making usual trip around the world of football.

Click below for the bag...



Re-viewing my picks from the Bye Week preview - 

In my bye week preview, I made a point of making four specific investing suggestions.  Let's see how I did...

Boise St and Fresno St over 68 points -

As advertised, the Broncos and Bulldogs got into a shootout in Fresno.  The two teams combined for over 1,000 yards of offense, and, most importantly, 81 points.  A nice 1-0 start to my weekend.

High-flying offenses did not disappoint Friday night.

Utah State cover +7 -

Chuckie Keeton may not have had the day I envisioned, but his Aggies stuck close to the struggling Trojans, only losing 17-14.  That's good enough for me, 2-0

Stanford cover -9 - 

The Cardinal were up 29-0 at half, and cruised in the 2nd half to a 14-point victory.  The Sun Devils put up three pride-saving scores in the 4th, but they only briefly threatened the spread.  Money in the bank, 3-0.

All too easy in Palo Alto.

CSU and Alabama over 51 points - 

The dreams of a perfect 4-0 weekend went up in flames, however, as Alabama struggled to put points up on the board against the Rams in their 31-6 win.  Got to give little brother credit; while their offense couldn't do much against the Tide, their defense held the #1 team in the nation in check until late.  Something to be proud of.

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In a weekend devoid of any worthwhile action in the college ranks, watching these potential investments was the only way to inject some spice.  3-1 isn't too shabby, had I been in Vegas and placing legal bets, which is what I always do.


Soccer gets back to winning - 

The CU football team wasn't the only squad to have their schedule disrupted by the 1000-year weather event that shook Boulder County.  The soccer team was also displaced, and had to move their big match with Denver from Prentup field in Boulder down to DU's campus.

The results weren't pretty, with the previously undefeated Buffs getting smoked 3-0 by their big-city rivals.

Undeterred, the Buffs were able to get back to that winning feeling over the weekend at the Omni Soccer Classic in Boulder.  They plowed through Stony Brook and UNLV by a combined margin of 7-1 to secure the Classic title, and improve their overall record to a sterling 8-1 on the season.

Friday against Stony Brook, it was a full team effort, with four different Buffs finding the back of the net.  Stars Brie Hooks and Anne Stuller were in on the poaching, along with Emily Paxton and Madison Krausner.  The performance was so dominating that CU goalie Annie Brunner didn't even have to record a save to earn the shutout.

Krausner got a goal to help CU power past Stony Brook.  From: CUBuffs.com

Sunday against UNLV, it was a much closer match, but the Buffs still came away victorious 3-1.  Up 2-0 into the final 15 minutes, UNLV pulled one back to give CU a scare, but a second goal from Darcey Jerman sealed the win and the tournament.

The Buffs completed non-conference play with the victorious weekend, and now head into the always difficult Pac-12 looking to prove that their success can carry over when the opposition gets tougher.  Their conference slate gets going in earnest this Saturday when Stanford visits Prentup Field.  Kickoff is set for 1pm for those who can attend.


Around the nation of football - 

NFL

Chicago 40 - Pittsburgh 23 -

Turning five forced turnovers into 23 points helped the Bears throttle the struggling Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night.  They almost blew a 24-3 second quarter lead, but a pair of late touchdowns sealed it for Chicago.  In the process, the Bears gained ground on two of their division foes.

The Bears are a nice surprise at 3-0.

Cincinnati 34 - Green Bay 30 -

Down 16 points in the third, the Bengals mounted a massive comeback against the Pack, surging past them through a fumble recovery for touchdown with less than four minutes to go.  Green Bay, a preseason favorite to win the NFC North, now sits two games back of the Bears after only three weeks of play.

Carolina 38 - New York Giants 0 -

What the hell happened to the G-Men?  In the worst loss of the Tom Coughlin era, The Panthers, who had spent the week contemplating the future of head coach Ron Rivera, managed to hold New York to only 150 yards of offense.  It was the largest margin of victory in Panthers history, to boot.  The Giants simply looked lost out there.

Cam Newton and the Panthers soared past the crumbling Giants.

Cleveland 31 - Minnesota 27 -

A week after trading Trent Richardson, and behind the QB play of something called a Brian Hoyer, the Cleveland Browns did what many thought was impossible and beat the Minnesota Vikings.  The trick was muting the usually prolific Adrian Peterson.  The Vikings all-world runner was held to only 88 yards on 25 carries. Solid work from the Browns defense.

Happy Monday!