Indy Report

Army 35 – Duke 21

Army took a 14-7 lead at the end of the 1st Quarter and scored 21 unanswered points to roll past Duke 35-21.

Army kept up its rushing attack and took advantage of 5 Duke turnovers to make the game result all but academic by the beginning of the final stanza. Trent Steelman passed for two touchdowns and ran in for another score to push Army’s record to 3-1. Army continues its time of possession dominance by winning that battle 2:1 and running for 244 total yards.

Sean Renfree passed for 261 yards, but threw 3 picks in a losing cause.

Next week Army has a resurgent Temple at home while Duke faces another ACC foe in Maryland.

Stanford 37 – Notre Dame 14

Stanford rolled off 24 straight points after Notre Dame pushed the game closer at 10-6 in the 2nd Quarter.

Andrew Luck went 19-32 for 238 yards, but threw two picks in the win. He’ll need to have marquis games in the next two weeks against Oregon and USC if he wishes to be the 2nd Cardinal to grace the New York stage. Today’s game belonged to Owen Marecic. He rushed for one score and made a pick-6 to put the game away for Stanford.

Next week Stanford faces Oregon at Autzen stadium while Notre Dame hopes to avoid 1-4 when travelling to Chestnut Hill to face Boston College.

Thoughts? Criticism? Upset at plucking down $50 for UFC 119? Be sure to let me know on Twitter @prttimesouthpaw.

The Independents in Week 4

On the Independent scene, Army and Notre Dame both have games this week. Both come in as underdogs this week. I believe one team will come out victorious.

Army vs. Duke

The Black Knights move in to hostile territory on Saturday afternoon when they face a Duke team looking to recover from the trouncing they received courtesy of the #1 team in the nation.

Army brings a rushing attack that has all but abandoned the passing game. Last week they managed to rush for 292 yards while shutting out bottom feeders of the entire FBS, North Texas. This would seem to be a small accomplishment, but Army has rushed for at least 250 yards in its prior 2 games against Hawaii and Eastern Michigan.

Duke will rely heavily on 1st year starter Sean Renfree to continue to air it out. Renfree is a legitimate passing talent, but lacks a go-to receiver. Each of his 3 starts had a different receiver reach the century mark, only to be a minor footnote the subsequent week.

Army lost to Duke 35-19 last year. I am expecting the rushing attack of Army to control the clock and keep the young Duke quarterback from catching his rhythm. In a minor upset, I will pick the Black Knights over Duke.

Stanford (16) vs. Notre Dame
In the shadow of Touchdown Jesus, Notre Dame fights to keep its losing streak from reaching 3 in a row. The Kelly era looked hopeful after an easy win against Purdue, but two heartbreaking losses in a row against the state of Michigan have many of the faithful recalibrating their expectations.

Andrew Luck makes his first case to the Heisman Voters that he belongs in the Gang of Five in New York City. I expect the offense to be hitting all cylinders this week as Stanford takes advantage of the Fighting Irish’s national exposure (and television contract with NBC).

I expect the Notre Dame defense will continue its slide. In South Bend, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Notre Dame continues its march to 6-6 with another loss at home. This time, I expect a 2 touchdown win by Stanford.

The Cardinal may take a step forward in this game, but Oregon and USC are ready to strike in the following two weeks.

Going forward I will also be covering the best of Division I-AA as well. If any of you have recommendations of players to follow outside the scope of the Top 25, let me know. I can be found on Twitter @prttimesouthpaw.