Colorado Buffalos (0-1) ATS 0-1, O/U 0-1 vs. Toledo Rockets (0-1) ATS 0-1, O/U 1-0, Friday, September 11 9:00 p.m. EST
By Wilson of Predictem.com
Point Spread: Toledo -3.5
Over/Under: Not available at time of print
Toledo is coming off of a week one loss to Purdue 52-31, but it was not without a fight. The Rockets QB Aaron Opelt threw for 423 yards and three touchdowns in the losing effort. Thats not exactly a bad day for any QB, number-wise but we know its all about getting the W. Opelt connected with wide receiver Stephen Williams 15 times for 185 yards and two touchdowns.
The Rockets simply had no answers for stopping the running attack as they gave up 535 yards of total offense to the Biolermakers, and 315 alone on the ground. Meanwhile, the Rockets only accumalated 70 yards on the ground but chalked up an impressive 423 yards through the air, which doesnt say whole lot about Purdues secondary even if they did get the win.
It was debut for both head coaches, Danny Hope for Purdue, and Tim Beckman for Toledo. Hope won this one but he might want to address his defense that allowed a ton of passing yards and failed to stop every other third down conversion. Toledo will need to recover quickly as they host the Colorado Buffalos this Friday night. The Buffalos will come to town with an attitude after their season opening upset loss to rival Colorado State Rams.
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Dan Hawkins, the Colorado Buffalos head coach, had a decision to make prior to the game against CSU regarding who would start at QB. Hawkins had to decide between Tyler Hansen or his son, Cody Hawkins. Cody got the start and struggled the entire first half. But when asked, Coach Hawkins said he never considered pulling his son out of the game. He stated that it was hard for any QB to find a groove when you go three and out. Hawkins (coach) blamed mental mistakes and penalties for the Buffalos woes.
The Buffalos found themselves down 20-3 at the half. Cody Hawkins was just 7 of 14 passing for 46 yards in the first half and the Buffalos student section was voicing their concerns. But the second half showed more promise for the Buffalos as they came out in the third quarter and scored to make it a 20-10 ballgame and held the Rams to just a field goal in the second half. Unfortanately for the Buffalos the first half damage could not be overcome and the Rams would hold on to win 23-17.
A big blow for the Buffalos occurred in the first quarter when starting center Mike Iltis went down with a knee injury. Iltis was replaced by back-up Keenan Stevens but the running game never surfaced for the Buffalos which really makes everything else easier to execute and the result was a home opening loss to their instate rivals.
Toledo has to be excited about their chances this Friday even on the heels of a loss to Purdue the Rockets showed some serious fire power with their passing attack. The Buffalos will need to address their game film carefully if they intend to hold Toledos air-force in check. The Rockets can only get away without a running game for so long, they have to find a way to open up some holes to create a balanced attack if they want to compete against top caliber teams.
Colorados head coach Hawkins must rally his troups as they have made it clear that they will win 10 games this season. The Buffalos had a total of 251 offensive yards in the CSU loss, that is pathetic at any level of the game. They only had 29 yards on the ground! Wow, thats gotta change.
Wilsons Pick: Both teams had first week issues with the running game and both struggled in a ton of areas. This should be a cleaner game for both squads but I really like Toledos home field advantage. Toledo steals one at home! I like the Rockets to win 38-24. Luck to ya.
