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Patriot League Football Predictions, 9/11/2010

For those who are interested - below the flip are my selection of picks tomorrow's Patriot League football games being played.

Last weekend, I went 4-2 - picking Lehigh over Drake, Duquesne over Bucknell, Holy Cross over Howard (almost picking the score perfectly: 35-7 instead of 38-7), and picking Georgetown over Davidson (again, almost picking the score exactly: 20-13 instead of 20-10).

I never dreamed Bryant would crush Fordham the way they did (44-30), and while I picked a potential upset by Monmouth over Colgate, in the end it wasn't meant to be (by 30-29 score, and a missed two-point conversion by the Hawks).

You already know my Villanova/Lehigh prediction: let's see the rest.  (more)

Holy Cross at No. 18 UMass.  How good is UMass, really?  Pro: they beat William & Mary at home, 27-23, ranked No. 4 in the nation, which catapulted them from lightly-regarded also-ran in the CAA to Top 25 powerhouse in the matter of a week.  Senior RB Jonathan Hernandez - and a lot of patience - won them that game - but did an extremely vanilla offense by the Tribe play a factor?  Holy Cross will provide them a much better test on offense - with junior QB Ryan Taggart actually showing some Randolph-esque flashes last week against Howard - and I have my doubts that the Minutemen can keep up with the Crusaders in a high-scoring game.  Taggart and the Crusaders jump out to the early lead - and pull off the upset.

"Taggart!  You're it!"  31, "Hernandez And A Cloud Of Dust" 21

No. 25 Colgate at Furman.  The Paladins, playing in their season opener, might be a tiny bit rusty - which, theoretically, should favor senior QB Greg Sullivan and the Raiders' powerful, physical running game.  And yet, Colgate's young defense - which struggled at the end of the game against Monmouth - might find things tough at home against senior FB Tersoo Uhaa and the Paladins.  It will be a tough test for the Raiders - but one, I think, they will pass.

Sully Ain't Shark Bait 35, "Terse-Ow!  Uh ha ha!" 31

Georgetown at Lafayette.  Lafayette in the middle of a quarterback controversy: senior QB Marc Quilling or junior QB Ryan O'Neil?  Georgetown in the midst of a hot one-game winning streak, and sophomore QB Scott Darby looking pretty good in his opener?  Don't read a lot into the trends.  Lafayette may be rusty, and may not even look sharp, but they'll still win this thing easily.

Loping Leopards 23, Humbled Hoyas 0

Rhode Island at Fordham.  So whassssup, Fordham?  Junior QB Blake Wayne did his best impresonation of John Skelton last week - he did pretty much everything, and you still lost.  Rhody junior QB Jeff Probst didn't look great last weekend - but then again, he was playing against FBS Buffalo.  If Bryant was able to do that against Fordham, I can only shudder to think what Probst will do.

Rhody Rams Tough 45, Fordham Rams Probed 28

Bucknell at Marist.  Look at Bucknell's schedule for a minute.  This game, this weekend, has to be circled on the calendar since it's one that head coach Joe Susan has to see as a must-win.  But Marist will be a tricky game to win - trickier than you might think, with junior QB Tommy Reilly chucking the ball everywhere in their pass-happy offense.  But can the Bison offense, with their 178 yards of total offense last weekend vs. Duquesne, pick up the pace?  For better or worse, freshman QB Brandon Welsey will have to do so to win; unfortunately, I think they'll be in for another tough weekend.

Red Reilly's Rodeo 34, Blue Brandon's Bison Burgers 13


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