Every week Charles Jay will select four games, offering analysis and picking a final score. Lines used are overnight lines, and are subject to change. ALL INFORMATION IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. By CHARLES JAY, Editor/Publisher, TotalAction.com COLLEGE FOOTBALL -- November 11, 2000 WASHINGTON STATE (+12) at USC -- You might consider last week's win over Arizona State to be an emotional lift for beleaguered USC. After all, it blew a 29-point lead, then had the wherewithal to come back and win the game in overtime. That may be the impetus Trojans (who dropped seven straight to the line previously) may need as they mount a drive toward a bowl bid (need clean sweep here and against UCLA and Notre Dame). Washington State is a team that is NOT on a roll. The Cougars have dropped four straight ballgames - three of those overtime heart-breakers, including last week at home against Oregon. They have lost any shot at a bowl, and will be missing injured QB Jason Gesser, who had seemed to be coming on some as a sophomore. So redshirt freshman QB Matt Kegel making first start, and on the road. It may be too much for them to overcome. Washington State has only one win at USC since 1957. Key technical stat - Washington State only 1-13 ATS before playing arch-rival Washington. FINAL SCORE: USC 38, WASHINGTON STATE 20 LOUISIANA TECH (-23.5) at LOUISIANA-MONROE -- We've been making some money with Louisiana Tech in recent weeks, because the school, which lost Tim Rattay in the off-season, has re-discovered its air attack behind freshman QB Luke McCown, who has thrown for 14 touchdowns in the last four games and led this team to four straight covers, rolling up big numbers against nationally-rated teams like Auburn and Miami. Louisiana Tech has scored 31 points per game this season; on the other side of the coin, Louisiana-Monroe has tallied just FORTY-FOUR points in eight games against Division I competition (that's 5.5 points per game, folks), and will be without the services of QB Andy Chance for this one. His backup, Andre Vige, is experienced (started as freshman), but not effective (44%, 0 TD, 3 INT's). major problems on special teams for ULM, which has allowed 143 points off special teams mistakes. Monroe has yet to cover a game this season (0-7 ATS). Two programs going in opposite directions, at least at the moment. FINAL SCORE: LOUISIANA TECH 42, LOUISIANA-MONROE 10 OREGON STATE (-1) at ARIZONA -- Rose Bowl-hopeful Oregon State demonstrating a great efficiency on offense this season behind steady QB Jonathan Smith (14 TD's, 5 INT's) and star runner Ken Simonton, who has been getting plenty of support from supersub Patrick McCall (571 yards, six yards a carry). Beavers on a pointspread roll (one point away from 7-0 ATS run), while Arizona looking for offensive answers (Ortege Jenkins just 47% completions, with 10 interceptions). Can Wildcats generate enough offensive balance against stout OSU run defense to keep Beavers honest? Not likely. Interesting technical trend at work here - home-field advantage has been missing for Arizona, as they have covered just ONE out of last 11 home games. Too much balance, on both sides of the football, for Dennis Erickson's surging team in this near pick'em affair. FINAL SCORE: OREGON STATE 35, ARIZONA 27 MARYLAND (+7) at NORTH CAROLINA -- North Carolina is looking for some revenge - last year's game produced an embarrassing 45-7 defeat to the Terps. But SEEKING revenge and GETTING revenge are two different things. While this is a "must" game for Tar Heels, same can be said for Maryland, which can get bowl-eligible with a victory (would be first berth since 1990). Terrapins are within a point of covering five straight contests, and Lamont Jordan has shown vast improvement after starting Heisman-hopeful year in sluggish fashion. North Carolina win at Pittsburgh perhaps a bit deceiving, as they may have caught Panthers a little flat coming off heart-breaking defeat against Virginia Tech. Points worth taking here. FINAL SCORE: NORTH CAROLINA 24, MARYLAND 23

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