Army has been home to some very bad football lately. The Cadets have managed just 23 SU wins in the last ten years and are off to a typical Start in ’08, getting undressed at West Point by 1-AA New Hampshire on their way to an 0-2 start. That should be sufficient to scare everyone away from Army this week… everyone except us. Akron may have had enough zip to pummel sorry Syracuse in Week Two but coach J.D.Brookhart has NEVER covered as a road favorite (0-5 ATS) while leading the Rubber City boys. He’s also a weak 1-6 ATS when taking on a < .500 foe coming off consecutive defeats. Army coach Stan Brock was beyond frustrated after the 28-10 loss to New Hampshire, openly questioning the effort of his players and apologizing to fans. With a bye week to re-address fundamentals and team commitment, Army should also benefit from the numbers found in our DIRE STRAITS article on page 2. With Brock commanding his team’s full attention, look for the Cadets to improve to 4-1 ATS off back-to-back losses when skirmishing with the MAC.
We’ll learn a lot about Joe Tiller and his Purdue team here. After ripping through Oregon for 300 first quarter yards and a 20-3 lead, the Boilermaker offense inexplicably fired blanks the rest of the way against the Ducks – and before you could say ‘Donald’, Oregon had caught up and forced overtime, eventually winning 32-26. That devastating loss puts the Boilers smack in the middle of our classic ‘Home Favorite Letdown Off An Overtime Loss’ scenario (see last week’s I’M A LOSER article). Central Michigan may not get much attention but the Chippewas have averaged 9 wins per season over the last two campaigns and went bowling both years. They also owe Purdue for a pair of SU defeats in 2007, a 23-point embarrassment on this field in Game Three and a narrow 3-point loss in
the Motor City Bowl. In a battle of top-notch quarterbacks, we expect CMU’s Dan LeFevour to out-duel the Boilers’ Curtis Painter and walk way with a statement making win.
Last Week: 4-1 Season: 5-3
