Panic Button Pushed, Rev. Picks 'em: Week 4

To put it lightly, I’m still in a bit of shock over the precipitous fall from grace that has befallen the Louisville Cardinals football program.

I don’t know how many times in college football history a program goes from 12-1, winning the Orange Bowl, and a top-10 national ranking … to suddenly dropping 2 of your first 4 games (one as a 37 point favorite at home), giving up close to 40 points a game and racking up more personal fouls than were committed all last year.

At the beginning of this season, people were confident that this team would again compete for the Big East title. Funny how things can change so quickly! Right now, a 5-7 record looks very generous for this bunch.

Suffice it to say, the atmosphere around the program is downright toxic right now. It looked like Veterans Stadium’s heyday on Saturday, with insults and objects being hurled onto the field and fans fighting each other to the death in the parking lot. To think that the entire city would be burned down by an angry mob is not an overstatement after watching that display this past weekend.

On top of everything else that is happening on the field, reports came out late yesterday that star-crossed linebacker Willie Williams has been dismissed for the team for trying to scarf down a bag of marijuana after being pulled over by Louisville’s finest earlier this week.

Photo from The Courier Journal

You might remember Willie Williams during his recruitment out of high school. After a recruiting visit to Florida in which he set off fire extinguishers in his hotel and allegedly and inappropriately groped a girl at a bar, it was revealed that he had already tallied 11 or 12 arrests on charges ranging from burglary to assault. I guess this would be lucky number 13, right?

Predictably, all this negativity coming out of the Louisville football program is destroying my ability to competently play Pick-Em. I went a disastrous 4-6 last week. That is inexcusable, and the Rev’s wife is threatening to take over the picks if I can’t get my act together.

I just keep reminding myself - basketball season is just a few weeks away.

Photo from uoflsports.cstv.com

Here are this week’s picks:

10 points: Mississippi State (3-1) at SOUTH CAROLINA (3-1)

9 points: USC (3-0) at Washington (2-2)

8 points: Pittsburgh (2-2) at VIRGINIA (3-0)

7 points: ALABAMA (3-1) at Florida State (2-1) * neutral site

6 points: California (4-0) at OREGON (4-0)

5 points: Kansas State (2-1) at TEXAS (4-0)

4 points: CLEMSON (4-0) at Georgia Tech (2-2)

3 points: Michigan State (4-0) at WISCONSIN (4-0)

2 points: Air Force (3-1) at NAVY (2-2)

1 point: PENN STATE (3-1) at Illinois (3-1)

Season Record: 24-16

-Posted by Rev. Shaw Moore