Rutgers had high hopes entering the season, and that’s why we consider them to be the most disappointing team in college football.   But Rutgers failing to cover their three games by a combined 65.5 points is a shining achievement compared to the Washington State Cougars.

Under new coach Paul Wulff, the offense and defense have been blown up, practices have gotten more demanding, and younger players are getting plenty of playing time over established veterans.  As a result, Wulff is losing some of his upperclassmen, and the Cougars have failed to cover their three games by a combined 90 points.  Wazzou did notch a win over 1-AA whipping boy Portland State on Saturday.   Believe it or not, we still think Wulff is the right man for the job.  He’s an alumnus who had plenty of success at Eastern Washington.  He’s just dealing with a lot of youth, injuries in bunches, and he has a culture to change.

Nobody else is close to WSU’s -90 aggregate score against the pointspread, but there are 13 teams that are 0-3 to the number, including four in the Big East (Rutgers, Syracuse, Pitt, and South Florida).   Not a lot of people expected Ohio State to be 0-3 to the number and -45 points below marketplace expectation, that’s for sure.

How bad is Virginia?  Bad enough that Duke is an ACC favorite for the first time in 41 conference games.  The Blue Devils were last the wagering choice in conference play when they were a 3-point pick over Carolina to close the 2002 season.  They lost that one by 2.

The Blue Devils are favored by more than a field goal for the first time in 74 conference games.  In November of 1998 they were a 9-point favorite over Maryland and lost by 17.  How long ago was that?  The coaching matchup was Fred Goldsmith losing to Ron Vanderlinden.

There needs to be a vehicle to somehow bet against both teams in a game.  Purdue visits Notre Dame this weekend.  The homestanding Irish are ranked 112th in rushing offense and 108th in total offense.  Purdue outgained a 1-AA team that was 1-10 last year by only 64 yards, were outgained by 95 yards in their OT loss to an Oregon team that was subsequently walloped by Boise State (see below), and then were outgained by 96 yards by Central Michigan.  Alas, when go-against meets go-against there’s not a whole lot you can do.

Don’t be fooled by the 37-32 final score, Boise dominated Oregon at Autzen Stadium.   It was 37-13 after three quarters before a garbage time 19-0 run on yardage of 238-66 for the Ducks.  Oregon entered the season with no experience at quarterback and are now down to a true freshman third stringer.

Tough break for North Carolina, losing emerging QB TJ Yates for 6 weeks or more.  The Tar Heels were controlling Virgina Tech, holding the Hokies to 247 total yards but found a way to lose thanks to 4 turnovers. Backup QB Mike Paulus was particularly not up to snuff, throwing two INT’s in 8 attempts.  Paulus is competing with Cam Sexton for the starting job.   Paulus, brother of Duke hoopster Greg, was recruited out of Syracuse, NY by both USC and Notre Dame, so he is not without potential.

If you’re betting Stanford games, the results have been little more than late game happenstance.  TCU punched in a 10-yard TD run on 4th and 7 with 1:05 left to cover the two-TD spread in a 31-14 home win against the Cardinal two weeks back.

Last Saturday Stanford handed off to score on 2nd and goal with 9 seconds left and a 6-point lead against San Jose State.   That covered the 7-point spread, so the alumni are happy, and Jim Harbaugh muttered something about developing attitude.  But isn’t Harbaugh familiar with the 1999 Baylor loss to UNLV? 

Good luck this weekend.  And be careful.