NFL Predictions: Week 15

Another very average week with a few upsets and a few silly calls. With just 3 weeks left of the regular season I could do with some big results to get my record into better shape.

Week 14 = 9-7

Overall = 131-78

Thursday Night Football

*NOTE* THIS WAS PREDICTED BEFORE THE GAME LAST NIGHT... HONEST*

Bengals @ Eagles

Interesting one as one of these teams won and one lost, but not the way round many expected. Whilst the Bengals failed to win against the Cowboys it was still close, and whenever you have a team pushing for a WC spot this late on you have to back them over one who’s season is all but meaningless.

Dbl Coverage Prediction: Bengals by 7

Midweek BAFA Uni Predictions

With one game remaining in the league before the Christmas break, we bring you our final BUAFL predictions for 2012 as Willy Tee goes against Tommy Gee. Close person to the final score wins nothing, but he doesn’t like friendly competition?

College Bowl Season Week 1

With the regular season in the books, the college football world now enters bowl play that’ll feature upsets, blowouts, close games and some amazing plays, and I’m back to give my views on each one!

Since there are so many games to cover, I won’t be doing full-blown previews or reviews but will instead focus on doing short previews of all the games and take it week-by-week. Each preview will feature players to watch out for as well as my picks that are taken directly from my DC College Bowl Mania group entry, which you should all sign up for and play here:

http://games.espn.go.com/college-bowl-mania/en/group?groupID=3378&entryID=60707

So if you fancy taking on me as well as the other DC writers and readers you can sign up and play along and it’s a great way to enjoy bowl season that little bit more. Each week I will keep you updated on how my entry faired.

I will also shamelessly self-promote here, I will be tweeting a lot throughout the bowl season as I did pretty much every Saturday, so follow me @rosswatson20 and feel free to join the conversation or mock me if my predictions are going poorly. 

This first week of bowl season only sees two games on Saturday, but they’ll be coming thick and fast in no time. Here we go…

Saturday, December 15^th

Nevada vs Arizona

Gildan New Mexico Bowl @ 18:00 on ESPN

To open up the bowl games we’re looking at a bit of a shootout in New Mexico. Both teams can put up points in a hurry with Arizona averaging 37.3 points per game and Nevada just a little less at 37, the flip side of those offensive number however is both sides defence's, as the Wildcats allow 34.3 points per game and the Wolf Pack give up 32.5, in the end this one comes down to turnovers and maybe even the last team with the ball.

Players to Watch

Arizona: Ka’Deem Carey, RB #25. At 6.4 yards a carry and amassing  a total of 1757 yards this season on the ground, the sophomore has been a revelation in Arizona’s pass heavy offence.

Nevada: Stefphon Jefferson, RB #25. The staple of the 7^th best rushing attack in the country, averages 5 yards a carry and has 22 scores on the year.

My Pick: Arizona

Confidence: 4

Toledo vs #22 Utah State

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl @ 22:30 on ESPN

Another very even matchup, the Rockets limped into bowl play by dropping two of their last three games whilst the Aggies have won their past six and have only lost narrowly to both Wisconsin and BYU. Toledo need to find some defensive form to help out their offence which will face a Utah State defence that’s ranked 8^th best in the nation in points allowed.

Players to Watch

Utah State: Chuckie Keeton, QB #16. I watched this guys first game as a freshman against Auburn last year in what was nearly the biggest upset of the year. The kid makes big plays and has a knack for keeping the play alive.

Toledo: David Fluellen, RB #22. Came on strong in the second half of the season and always gained consisten yardage. Will need to have a good game against Utah States defence.

My Pick: Utah State

Confidence: 11

Willy Tee's Week Six Predictions

Willy Tee doesn't like anonymous comments...

Saltire  

UWS Pyros @ Stirling Clansmen 

Snore! Only interesting thing with the Clansmen match ups in the Saltire conference this year is trying to judge just HOW MUCH of a smack down they’ll put on their much weaker inter-conference opposition. In a very sloppy conference Pyros may currently be sat in a playoff berth place, but this game will do their postseason aspirations no favours. 

Clansmen 60 – 6 Pyros 

EN Knights @ Edinburgh Predators 

Edinburgh derby games are normally quite interesting. Generally at least a little bit close, with one team’s playoffs on the line. 

Well, I guess this conference is actually awful enough, and the season young enough, that even at 0-3 and 1-3 either of these two teams could still clinch a postseason with a win here (yup, even two wins could see trophy-ball here… sigh.) and as the Knights honestly seem to be the chaff of the division this December? Predators to retain the Scot’s capital bragging rights for yet another year. 

Predators 20 – 6 Knights 

GOTW Interview - Todd Marquis, Warwick Wolves ILB

In our build up to our 'Game of the Week' between the Birmingham Lions and Warwick Wolves, we were able to grab a quick interview with Todd Marquis. Todd is an American student currently completing his PhD at Warwick University.

Before we begin the interview properly, can you provide the readers a bit of information on yourself and your own playing experiences?
My own playing experience is at Liberty University, a member of the Big South Conference in NCAA Division 1 football. In America, I got a relatively late start, playing my first organized year of football when I was about 13, then playing through high school and college.

After college, I played in a sort of developmental league in central Virginia. Effectively, it’s a league made of guys who either were trying to play professionally or guys who had played and were trying to develop some sort of skill or something before going back. It was also a good league for those who played arena football, as their season ended just before ours began, though the nearest team was 2 hours away in Richmond.

It’s a bit of a long story, but I felt confident I was going to get an NFL camp invite after that first season, and prepared fully for some regional combines and American tryouts for the Canadian Football League.

Before I could make any of these combines, I contracted an infection called MRSA, which by itself nearly killed me.

My parents came down to Virginia from Ohio to be with me, and just as they began planning my funeral, I finally took a turn for the better, and after a month in the ICU, was finally released from the hospital. However, less than a week later, I was back in for open heart surgery to transplant a new heart valve, as the old one had been damaged by the infection.

I knew then that, no matter how much I stood out at my game, the risk was too great for any team to pick me up. I did get back into shape and play for the Virginia team again, but this time it was just to show that I could, without the pressure of trying to go on to the next level. I also played a partial season for an arena team in Texas, but, frankly, the pay wasn’t worth the investment of time and expenses, so I opted out after only a part of the time there.

You asked about photos of me from Liberty University. I have to admit; I have scoured the web and my own personal collection, and can’t find any game pictures. As odd as this sounds, the digital camera is a fairly modern invention and really hasn’t caught on until the last 6 or 7 years.