Florida at Alabama (-8.5)

Big line here, which is probably right where it should be. Florida’s offense woke up a bit against Kentucky, but Kentucky isn’t in the same stratosphere offensively or defensively that Bama is. Game 2 of a brutal stretch for Alabama, but Saban certainly will have his guys up for this game. The bigger question, however, will be how Florida responds on offense. Certainly a lot of points for a team with as much talent as the Gators have, but laying points seems reasonable.

Stanford at Oregon (-6)

HUGE Pac-10 game that will tell us a lot about both teams. Stanford absolutely manhandled Notre Dame, but what exactly does that mean? Meanwhile, Oregon is running the ball at an unbelievably high level. Again, home field will loom large here and expect the scoreboard to be active. Tough place to play on Saturday night, but I’m digging the underdog here early on…

Texas vs. Oklahoma (-4)

The Red River Shootout is almost always the showcase game, unless of course it’s Florida vs. Alabama and one of the teams in this yearly contest just lost a home game to UCLA. Oklahoma isn’t exactly coming into this one on a roll after almost losing to a struggling Cincinnati team, but they are undefeated. Crazy rivalry, but hard for me to lean Texas after getting #PistolRick’d.

Penn State at Iowa (-6)

I actually thought this line might be a bit larger, although people are down on Iowa as a whole. How they’re ranked below Texas in any poll is insanity, but I digress. I simply don’t know how a young Penn State offense, outside the vet Royster, will be able to handle the Iowa front-4. At home, I’ll always take the Hawks but then again I’m an Iowa guy.

Miami (-3) at Clemson

A crucial ACC game and our first road favorite. Clemson got a much needed week off after their battle with Auburn and now takes on a Miami squad that somehow managed to look unimpressive in a blow out win against Pitt. I loved what I saw from Clemson and believe they’re very capable of taking this at home.

Texas A&M at Ok State (-3)

Two teams in very similar situations. A&M has not looked as good, and I’ll take the OK State passing attack.

Georgia (-3.5) at Colorado

Yikes. This spread is terrifying if you’re a Dawg or Mark Richt’s contract. This could be ugly…

Notre Dame (-1.5) at Boston College

ND needs a win but this is not an easy place to play. Tough game to figure with both teams reeling.

Washington at USC (-11.5)

Jake Locker might throw for 500 yards and this is simply too many points in my eyes.

Tennessee at LSU (-14)

The Vols struggled against UAB and are now a two touchdown dog to LSU. Very telling…

Wisconsin at Michigan State (pick)

Really underrated Big 10 game and I’m liking what I’ve seen from MSU. Tough call, but leaning home field.

Virginia Tech (-3) at NC State

Has Tech finally found their mojo? NC State is rollin’, have a hard time not taking points at home.

For the whole rundown of spreads visit Vegas Insider…

Week 3 was an interesting week.  Vegas lost a lot of money with the Nebraska game, but the real financial hit came to Jake Locker and his plummeting draft stock.  This is a clear case of why you should leave school early and take the money.

He was projected as a top 5 pick last year and that means millions of guaranteed dollars.  He can still bounce back and salvage some draft momentum, especially at his much anticipated combine performance.  Regardless, Washington sucks and sucks bad, but not as bad as their rivals in Spokane.  Whoever holds that Washington State flag at ESPN Gameday deserves a medal of valor.

Best game of the year so far goes to Clemson at Auburn last Saturday night.  That game featured everything, including a couple guest appearances from Dr. James Andrews.  It’s never a good sign when one of the nation’s best orthopedic surgeons goes on the field twice, but it proves how intense the battle was between the Tigers of the ACC and SEC.    Clemson’s Kyle Parker, if he chooses football over baseball, will be a solid pro QB.  He has a rocket arm that’s second only to Boise State’s Kellen Moore (hahaha).

Lane Kiffin gets the A-HOLE award for Week 3, which he could probably get pretty much every week.  Minnesota was taking a knee to go into halftime when Lane Kiffin made sure to take all his 3 timeouts to get the ball back with several seconds on the clock.  Way to go, buddy.  He also went for the two-point conversion early in the first half which is becoming quite a trend.  Great display of gamesmanship from a desperate coach against a terrible Golden Gopher squad.

Moving on to a more important issue, making money in Week 4.  Last week was a battle, and we ended 4 wins 3 losses if you played the NFL bonus bet with the 49ers.  Here are the week 4 plays.

4 Kegs:

Auburn -3 vs. South Carolina

3 Kegs:

Rutgers +2 vs. North Carolina

Georgia Tech -8 vs. North Carolina State

Penn State -13 ½ vs. Temple

BYU +4 vs. Nevada

Good luck, Keg Heads and let’s hope the FG Kickers don’t pork us!

Travis Haney, who writes for The Post and Courier and covers the Gamecocks like a blanket, was nice enough to stop by and chat just in time for South Carolina’s big matchup at Auburn on Saturday.

Travis is not only a good dude but he’s also fantastic at what he does, which is covering South Carolina athletics and college football as a whole. If you’re not following him on Twitter, do yourself a favor and get on it immediately.

 You can find him at @gamecocksblog and also be sure to check out his blog at The Post and Courier website. Big thanks to Travis for the insight. 

Give us a little background about your profession, your blog and yourself in general.

Travis: Well, I’m a print guy by trade who’s working, slowly, to evolve to other mediums — first a blog and then Twitter. We started with a blog in summer 2008 and then, on my own, I got @gamecocksblog started the following summer. As for me, I’m an SEC guy, to the core. Grew up in Tennessee. Went to Tennessee. Have covered most of the SEC East at one point or another, including three-plus years on the Gamecocks beat. Enjoy the job, but think it’s important not to take yourself too seriously in it. Still, when you’re a sportswriter, sports becomes your life. That’s what people want to talk about with you, even if you’re supposedly off.

Have the Gamecocks exceeded your expectations with how they’ve played, or did you anticipate this kind of start?

Travis: This start was distinctly possible, but Georgia could never, ever be a given here. Look at that series record; it’s way skewed Georgia’s way. Starts haven’t been a problem here, generally speaking. South Carolina was 6-1 and sixth in the country in 2007 – and then lost its final five games and missed a bowl. It was 7-3 heading into Florida and Clemson in 2008, and it got drilled in those games in the Outback Bowl, too. Last year was a bit different, because the Gamecocks got a rare win against Clemson, but then they looked horrific against UConn in the esteemed Papajohns.com Bowl. That’s a long way of saying the Gamecocks need to prove they can finish a season, not start one.

Where does South Carolina really need to improve in your eyes?

Travis: The line play and run game were the focuses coming in, and I think that’s where it needs to stay. Just because those things have been better doesn’t mean they’ll continue to stay that way. The line needs to stay healthy and progress. Consider that it allowed 37 sacks a year ago, and the sack numbers are still relatively high. The Gamecocks aren’t throwing to many other receivers than Alshon Jeffery, so they need to show they can do that. Stephen Garcia needs to pick it up, generally speaking. The pass defense, a real strength in 2009 (with most players returning), has given up too many big plays.

Obviously the talk of the team, and perhaps college football as a whole, is freshmen running back Marcus Lattimore. What would you say has been the most impressive trait you’ve seen from the young back?

Travis: He handles it. This, for whatever reason, isn’t a big deal to him. A lot of people point to the fact that the he came from a big-time high school program (Byrnes, in Duncan, S.C.), but it’s got to be more than just that. It’s how he was raised. He’s different. It’s like he’s a third-year NFL vet. The success … the offense … this all seems so familiar to him. It’s almost weird how comfortable he is as a kid who appeared here in June.

Where is your confidence right now in Stephen Garcia? Certainly can’t doubt his toughness, but do you personally trust him in key situations?

Travis: Yeah, I mentioned Garcia earlier. Lattimore obviously makes his job a lot easier. As defenses gang up to stop Lattimore, there will be more opportunities. Garcia has thrown some beautiful passes this year, but he’s thrown some dreadful ones, too. I think he’s a better quarterback than he’s shown, overall, but I also think the less you ask him to do, the better off you are. Also, Alshon Jeffery is an incredible and underrated receiver. He can bail out Garcia – and has already this season.

How does an underrated SC defense go about stopping Cameron Newton? Are there any particular matchups on defense you’ll have your eye on?

Travis: Well, Newton threw a total of 14 times last week against Clemson, and there’s really no reason to believe Auburn will suddenly become pass-heavy this week. Darvin Adams is good, but Newton locks on to him quite a bit. South Carolina is physical and athletic up front, but the linebackers aren’t terrific. That said, they’re better against the run than pass. No one schemes better than Ellis Johnson. He’ll be ready for Newton. It’ll take more than him to beat South Carolina — and Auburn does have more than him, with Onterio McCalebb and Michael Dyer.

Prediction time – what happens on Saturday at Auburn?

Travis: I don’t like this matchup for South Carolina at all. Been playing relatively well, going on road for first time in SEC play. The Gamecocks didn’t win a single league game on the road last year. Gut says they don’t start with one this season. I think South Carolina is a more talented team than Auburn, overall, but I don’t think the Gamecocks play like it. Auburn jumps out to a two-touchdown lead in the first half, the exact opposite of a week ago, and it won’t let go of that in the second half. (As a caveat, I do think the Gamecocks rebound to upset Alabama at home in three weeks.)

I know you’ll be working, so I can’t ask you what you’ll be drinking come game time. BUT, what would you be drinking if you were taking this game in on your couch?
 
Travis: Makers and diet. No question. I’m having one now, after a long, long work day.