5 Thoughts for September 19, 2015 (all about football)

1. I'm not saying that Oregon could possibly lose at home to Georgia State, which will likely occupy the basement of the Sun Belt along with Idaho, but were they to have a tight game against Georgia State, the luster would be off the Ducks. People will carefully compare the Ducks' performance against a team that has only won two games since becoming an FBS member in 2013, to that of USC's game against Idaho. If they do not measure up, then all eyes will be squarely focused on the PAC-12 South battles between UA, UCLA, USC and Utah. Oregon 45 GSU 30.
2. Stanford's defense has been stripped bare (4 returning starters on defense) and exposed as a vulnerable group. Were the Trojans to go full throttle on offense using some 9 receivers and 6 runners as they have been in their last two games, they could wear down the Cardinals and make it ugly. Sarkisian already mentioned that he wanted to turn up the throttle on offense, and assuming that Stanford plays zone or cover-2, USC will have the opportunity to throw underneath the coverage all day long, moving the ball 5-8 yards at a time. USC 31 - Stanford 17.
3. I don't know why anyone would pick Colorado over Colorado State, but the betting line is -3 in favor of Colorado, and that's crazy. We already saw that Colorado couldn't even handle Hawaii, so why should they win against CSU, when CSU is expected to fare much better than Hawaii in the Mountain West Conference? Colorado State 41 Colorado 35.
4. Were Kam Chancellor to sit out the entire season, he would lose all of his salary this season as well as his prorated bonus. Any adjustments to his contract thereafter, would be outweighed by the money lost, as no team would make up the shortfall. Chancellor loses big by his poorly informed gamble, and is forced to sit at home watching the game instead of playing it. As much as people make of the gap between Dion Bailey and Chancellor, the real problems are the glaring hole opposite of Richard Sherman and the woeful state of the offensive line. By the way, people made way too much out of the loss to St. Louis, considering that Seattle has only won 2 out of the previous 5 meetings in St. Louis. Plus, last year they lost to a team that had Austin Davis as the starting quarterback, while this year they've got Nick Foles.
5. I wouldn't pick Green Bay against Seattle -- have you seen the two teams play? GB is jinxed against the Seahawks, like you couldn't believe. The odd thing here, is that GB loses their #1 receiver for the season -- Jordy Nelson -- and their game against Chicago exposed their lack of a go-to receiver, yet somehow pundits are picking GB to win. Their next-best receiver, Davante Adams, hasn't stepped up, catching just 4 passes out of 8 targets against the Bears. In RB Eddie Lacy's two games against Seattle, he's averaged just 53.5 yards per game. Seattle 27 Green Bay 24.