This week is record shattering in one sense. The bettors in Las Vegas have set the over/under on total points in the Cal/Oregon game at 89 points…I recall a couple games involving Baylor getting to 87 or so but never do I recall a number this high.
Does that mean that Oklahoma’s visit to Texas Tech will be a relative defensive battle? After all, the total points set by the experts is “only” 85. Never have two games gone off with such high expected scores. In old times, the 75 total points predicted in this week’s Middle Tennessee visit to Missouri would have been the highest total on the board.
Ultra high scoring reflects the transformation in college football to an offense-first affair. It is no coincidence that two legendary proponents of button down, defense first football, Les Miles and Freak Beamer, were encouraged or forced to leave their posts in the past year. Even legendary coach, Bill Snyder, is realizing that he cannot do well in the Big 12 with a run-first style, featuring 2 QBs who cannot effectively throw. Roll over, Bo and Woody! The game, as you knew it, has passed on.
Against this trend, one notable club is points challenged this year: Stanford. It took poor QB play by ND to enable Stanford to overcome a 10-0 halftime deficit in South Bend. When Colorado visits Stanford at noon tomorrow, there will be one team who does know how to score. Which makes you ponder why Stanford is favored. Especially when Christian McCaffrey may not be 100%. Past reps die hard! However, there is excellent news on the horizon for the should-have-been 2015 Heisman Trophy winner. In a bizarre anomaly, the formerly prolific McCaffrey (hey, not his fault that Stanford has a Swiss cheese OLine this year and a QB who scares exactly nobody) has never scored a TD in a true road game.
No worries, there, Christian! Stanford plays AT Oregon on November 12 followed by a game AT Cal on November 19.
Hope your team wins this weekend, Rick Rock