CFB Week 4 Friday
- Kyle Kirms
- Sep 18
- 3 min read
TULSA @ OKLAHOMA STATE - 7:30 PM
If Kirk Francis plays in this game, I really like my bet. I thought concussion protocol... 2 weeks later he should be good. It turns out that he might not play.
Oklahoma State's defense is bad... but that Freshman Baylor Hayes doesn't exactly look excellent starting in Kirk Francis' spot.
Remember, Tre Lamb said they were going to be whipping the football around the field this year. We haven't gotten to see it yet... they opened up the season against an FCS opponent and then Kirk Francis got injured early in the 2nd game.
So my thought when I placed the bet... 2 weeks later... Kirk Francis should be good to go. He was in concussion protocol. I understand that differs from case to case but I thought 2 weeks was good enough for me to place the bet counting on him to come back. If he plays, I think we're gonna see Tre Lamb open the playbook up and put points on the board in Stillwater. The pace is there.
It's not like Oklahoma State's defense is any good. It was the worst defense in the Big 12 last year and they're dealing with a brand new roster. The program's a mess. We have seen some shootouts between these two teams over the years.
I know Oklahoma State's offense isn't exactly perceived to be strong... but at home against Tulsa's defense. I'd be very surprised if Gundy can't score 30+ points in this game. Keep in mind, Tulsa was arguably the worst defense in the country last year.
The first time they saw a half-decent opponent this season was last week and they got cooked by Navy.
This bet is pretty simple. If Kirk Francis plays, I think I'm in great shape. If he doesn't, I might be screwed.
IOWA @ RUTGERS - 8 PM
So this Rutgers offense looks strong so far this season.
But there's a difference between "Rutgers has a strong offense this year"... and "Rutgers can move the ball on Iowa's defense". Let's not forget what happened the last time these two teams met.
But I'm not sure how relevent this data point is. This was two years ago... this year's Rutgers offense is head and shoulders better than it was two years ago. Their first two games were against Ohio and Miami (OH). Now are those P4 opponents? No... but that's not Kent State or New Mexico State... these are solid opponents and I expect the Miami OH defense to be pretty good this year.
Kaliakmanis looks excellent. He hasn't been under a ton of pressure but when he has seen it, he's handled it extremely well. That's something you love to see before playing Iowa.
This Iowa defense is obviously going to be his toughest test. We saw what Iowa did to the Iowa State offense in Week 2. Rocco Becht really struggled to get anything going.
We know Kaliakmanis is not gonna piece Iowa up... that's a certainty. We're gonna see Rutgers offense struggle for the first time this season. But we're not talking about Rutgers laying a FG here... we're talking about Rutgers catching points at home. Which means if we're going to consider betting Iowa in this game, we better have confidence in this offense.
The good news for Iowa is Rutgers defense looks soft. Remember, they lost their DT Doug Blue-Eli for the season before we got to Week 1. So they're missing one of their key defensive pieces. Even the Miami (OH) game, where they won in blowout fashion, the defense wasn't all that great. They were moving the ball on Rutgers.
So this shouldn't be that tough of a matchup for Iowa's offense but I do have some concerns. Iowa's offense hasn't looked all that good... and Gronowski has some AWFUL looking numbers under pressure so far this year. I don't trust Rutgers defense at all... but they do have edge rushers.
Iowa should be able to run the ball in this game... and if you're betting Iowa, that's what you're counting on. They do have some injuries to the RB position though. Xavier Williams (leading rusher) has been ruled out for this game and Kamari Moulton is listed as questionable. Iowa has 3 or 4 RBs that have been getting carries so I'm not sure this is a huge issue. But 2 of their top 3 RBs may be out for this game.
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