Keegan vs. Tait: Week 9

Great. Keegan picked up another game on me in the standings and now I’ve gotta endure this 4-plus hour drive to Stillwater, Okla., with him talking about it the entire way.

Maybe I can get Nick Krug to man the radio and tune him out from time to time.

Tom’s lead grows to three games — a huge margin based on how tight we’ve kept it so far — and, with three games different this week, we either will tighten up or see a bigger gap develop.

Although we’ve picked a few different, we’re once again in agreement on the Kansas outcome, as we both have the Jayhawks losing but also covering the spread during today’s 3 p.m. kickoff against Oklahoma State.

Here’s a look at the rest of our picks:

OVERALL RESULTS
Tait: 6-4 in Week 8; 59-21 overall
Keegan: 7-3 in Week 8; 62-18 overall

WEEK 9 GAMES
Kansas at Oklahoma State
TCU at Iowa State
Kansas State at Texas Tech
Texas at West Virginia
LSU at Alabama
Arkansas at Mississippi
BYU at Wisconsin
Penn State at Minnesota
Nebraska at Michigan
UCLA at Arizona

Question: Because we were robbed and did not get to pick the Baylor-Oklahoma game this week on Thursday night, it’s time to go with a related question: What’s the best college football offense you can remember?

MATT TAIT
Oklahoma State 42, Kansas 17
TCU 27, Iowa State 17
Texas Tech 38, Kansas State 28
Texas 31, West Virginia 19
Alabama 30, LSU 20
Mississippi 33, Arkansas 24
Wisconsin 28, BYU 27
Minnesota 30, Penn State 24
Nebraska 35, Michigan 29
UCLA 33, Arizona 23

Answer: Two words. Charlie Ward. OK, those words probably should be Florida State, but, still, Ward was the guy that made the Seminoles go. The 1993 Heisman Trohpy winner was fantastic in leading FSU’s high-powered attack, the kind that would run over you and run by you all at the same time. Ward’s Heisman victory was the second biggest in history — not bad for a future NBA point guard — and, although his team did not put up college football’s most points or yards or any of those things, they are the first offense about which I remember thinking, ‘Man, it must be flat-out scary to play against them.’ I should note here that, if this year’s Baylor team were in the running, I’d easily pick them for this answer. What a machine.

TOM KEEGAN:

Oklahoma State 35, Kansas 14
Iowa State 17, TCU 14
Texas Tech 31, Kansas State 24
Texas 38, West Virginia 21
Alabama 24, LSU 20
Mississippi 28, Arkansas 27
Wisconsin 28, BYU 17
Penn State 24, Minnesota 21
Michigan 28,Nebraska 20
UCLA 31, Arizona 30

Answer: My memory isn’t what it used to be, but images are flashing into my head and maybe as they keep flashing, I’ll remember the school, the players’ names, the year. A short guy, not all that fast, but he’s running all over the field and nobody can seem to catch him. Did he have 30 eyes that enabled him to see everything in every direction? It seemed that way. Or maybe he felt the earth moving and knew that meant defenders were on his way. Somehow, no matter how many bigger men surrounded him, he kept his eyes downfield, extending the play with is feet, waiting to see one of his receivers break open. What was his name? I see a No. 5 on his jersey. I see him throwing to No. 10, one play, to No. 80 the next. The uniforms were blue or white and there was a little red trim on them. There were two letters on the sides of the helmets. But I see the color orange as well. Not on their uniforms, but where? In a bowl, yes, in a crystal bowl held by a mustachioed smiling coach. I’m sorry. I just can’t come up with the name of the school, the players, the coach, the year. But I see everything else so clearly.