Mill
Works USA
Major Hoople
'The Fearless Forecaster'
A
stellar first week, 14-3... from a relic of the past...
The
Major can be best described as as no genius. But, he does have an
opinion and wants it to be heard each week! Actually, his full name
is Major Amos B. Hoople, considered to be the King of the Grumps for
outlandish college football predictions. It must have been with all
the retro television comeback shows like Murphy Brown, Hawaii Five O,
Magnum PI and McGyver that caused the Major's return.
The
'Major' first appeared as a cartoon character in a comic strip called
Our Boarding House. It ran in hundreds of newspapers across the
nation, from 1921 until 1984. The cartoon was so well received by the
public, that a weekly radio show ran for six seasons in the 1940s on
NBC.
The
syndicated college football prediction column started much later in
1968. The current Major Hoople writer remembers the column from his
youth as a must read (before the Internet), on Thursday in his daily
local newspaper sports section He used the column as a preview for
that week's slate of games. The people, actually back then read
newspapers where ink most of the time got on your hands from turning
the pages!
The
writer of the column, Tom Peoples, the original Football Prediction
Wizard ended each column with :
Now
go on with my forecast. We will also...and enjoy the read.
Egads!
Did I actually go 14-3 last week? Omg, I did, Psshaw......no problem
with this week's games either..I hope.
Before
we discuss the contested games this week, I think we'll gloat over
the results again. The best pick was Temple's upset win over
Cincinnati. Okay, I was wr..ra...raaaa...not right about NC State
giving Clemson a game. The Wolf Pack got tossed out of the Mill
Sports USA Top 25 Poll because of the 41-7 drubbing by the Tigers.
In
this week's poll, Oklahoma, Florida, West Virginia, Iowa, Kentucky,
Houston, Texas A&M, Utah State, UAB and Fresno State all go up
this week in the rankings. However, Ohio State's, kaff-kaff (choke
sign after I coughed) beat down by now 4-3 Purdue (4th
straight win) has the Boilermakers in this week's Top 25 with their
impressive victory last Saturday Night. Head Coach Jeff Brohm a good
college QB and backup in the NFL may become a possible candidate at
that level very soon.
We
told you Michigan was a lock to knock out Michigan State, as was UAB
over fellow CUSA squad North Texas. Yes, another Hoople pick Oregon
lost to Washington State. But, on the bright side, the Huskies of
Washington stampeded the Buffaloes of Colorado, as the Roses rounding
out nicely in the PAC10. Actually, your guess as good as mine who
wins that mediocre conference this season. Har-rumph! Many rumors on
what coaches lose jobs very soon.
The
gridiron contests this week of interest are the SEC bout, Georgia @
Florida, ACC struggle Miami FL @ BC, the weekly Big Ten slobber
knocker Iowa @ Penn State and the battle between two ranked Non-Power
5 schools, #10 USF @ # 17 Houston. The winner advances to possibly
play in one of the bowl games that can generate millions of dollars
for those schools lucky enough to survive ever more competitive
divisions of play. Um-Kumph, our fathers would have
been proud of the level of game play this past weekend. I was up
watching games until the wee hours of Sunday morning to catch all the
highlights of the days events. What a season, indeed, my good man.
Now
go on with my forecast:
You
know its the fall season down in SEC country when a Bull Dog and
Gator are seen at the same tail gate party... “ Not the six foot
tall rabbit I see, every so often...enough said.” This week
Georgia visits Florida. Both teams have only one loss,
and the loser likely out of the Conference title game versus I
assume, Alabama!
The
Bulldogs are led by competent QB , Jake Fromm with 13 passes for
touchdowns. He has a few talented wide outs like Ridley (5 Tds) and
Hardman (4 scores). The team really is a ground and pound machine
led by a big OL and “two strap it on and go get it” runners,
Holyfield who averages 7.5 yards a carry and Swift, not like “He's
not too swift...” more like, D'Andre Swift and his 5.1 ypc average.
The
Gator defense all week has been focusing on stopping both those Bull
Dog power backs. However, the Gator offense while under performing
all season like their rival across the field on Saturday, could be
ready to bite their way out with a back that averages 8.4 ypc
average, Damean Pierce. Two additional runners also combined for
nearly 800 yards, Perine and Scarlett. The difference maker might be
the signal caller Feleipe Franks, and his 1,400+ yards thrown this
season, with 15 TDS through the air.
The
game looks to be equal on paper, with predictable play calls.
However, the Bull Dogs pull away late in this game with a 17-14 hard
fought victory, “Um-Kumph!
Just like the legends of the past, that coached and played at Bull
Dog U. Think legendary back and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel
Walker, coached by all arounf good guy Head Man Vince Dooley. Maybe
we can include last years stud backs in the same type of lore, the
Brown's Chubb and Pat's, Michel. “Nah, not them, just ordinary
puppies, compared to Walker, so ….down UGA, it's only one game,
save your energy for Bama!!..you'll need it!!!, now, nice puppy have
a doggie treat...errrr, sit....”
The
Miami
FL Hurricanes travel
to Chestnut Hill Massachusetts to take on conference rival Boston
College.
The Eagles just found out that super sophomore RB Dillon ready to
play after missing the last two games. The Canes have trouble this
season at QB with the lack of consistent play. They do not invoke any
memories of past legendary greats Kelly, Kosar, Walsh or Testaverde.
But, heck neither does the Eagles Brown, because no confusion with
past phenoms, Flutie, Foley or Ryan. No shocker here as the
Hurricanes blow over BC 28-20.
Iowa
takes on Penn State, as the Hawkeye offense has been
average all season. Penn State led by QB McSorley will have a tough
time with the opposition, they give up only 12 ppg! The Nittany Lions
had better be ready to get dirty in the trenches. I believe they are
up for the task as RB Sanders from Happy Valley PA has a big game in
a 24-6 victory.
In
the very underrated American Athletic Conference between two ranked
teams,USF Bulls visits the Houston Cougars. This Non-Power 5 small
school contest should show case the Cougar QB, King, who has passed
for 1,984 yards, 23 td's and scored 9 more with his legs.
The
only loss was to ranked Texas Tech (63-49) as no one this season can
seem to stop that top offense, booyah!!!!
The
Bulls might be undefeated but I see them meeting the same fate as
conference rival Cincinnati last week at Temple, in defeat, and out
of the poll, 38-22.
Here
are the other Top 25 Mill Sport USA Poll game score predictions:
Baylor
35 @ (14) WVU 56
UNC
17 @ (24) UVA 35
New
Mexico 21 @ (20) Utah State 49
(23)
UAB 45 @ UTEP 13
(13)
Washington State 25 @ Stanford 28
(18)
TAM 31 @ Mississippi State 24
(16)
Kentucky 35 @ Missouri 24
(5)
Texas 31 @ Oklahoma State 17
(25)
Purdue 36 @ Michigan State 24
Kansas
State 26 @ (9) Oklahoma 45
(23)
Texas Tech 46 @ Iowa State 26
(2)
Clemson 31 @ Florida State 14
Navy
21 @ (3) Notre Dame 38
(19)
Oregon 38 @ Arizona 19
Hawaii
30 @ (22) Fresno State 56
2018 Record 14-3-0
COLLEGE
FOOTBALL TOP 25 POLL
Week
9
Rank/Team/Record/LR
- Alabama 8-0 1
- Clemson 7-0 2
- ND 7-0 3
- Michigan 7-1 5
- Texas 6-1 6
- UCF 7-0 7
- LSU 7-1 9
- UGA 6-1 8
- Oklahoma 6-1 12
- USF 7-0 11
- Florida 6-1 13
- Ohio State 7-1 4
- Washington State 6-1 14
- West Virginia 6-1 16
- Iowa 6-1 18
- Kentucky 6-1 19
- Houston 5-1 21
- Texas A&M 5-2 22
- Oregon 5-2 8
- Utah State 6-1 23
- UAB 6-1 24
- Fresno State 6-1 25
- Texas Tech 5-2 NR
- UVA 5-2 NR
- Purdue 4-3 NR
Honorable
Mentions: SDST, Appalachian State, Troy., Buffalo, Army, BC,
Miami Fl., Boise State, Washington, Penn State, WMU, VT. Wisconsin
and Syracuse.
Gone
this week, and will be forgotten: Cincinnati,
Colorado and NC State.
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