Gary “The Gut” Goombah – Week 9, 2025
You know what I miss??? Fullbacks! I miss fullbacks who blocked heartily, stuck their nose into every defender, moved people, moved weight, and cleared a path for their trailing ballcarriers to gather glory. I miss how fullbacks used to play a primary part in the short passing game. It was a TEAM position, meaning you had to love the team. The we, rather than the I. Fullbacks like Matt Suhey, Andy Janovich, Cory Schlesinger, Lorenzo Neal, Larry Centers, Daryl Johnston, Sam Gash, Roger Craig, Tom Rathman!
In the modern game, fullbacks are a dying breed. Notice how PFF only ranks 8 FB’s in the entire league when they are doing their rankings, as seen on NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcasts. One of the best modern Fullbacks is San Francisco’s Kyle Juszczyk. He is one of these guys that can be a dangerous pass catcher in addition to his blocking skills. I love guys like Juszczyk. Stud!
Week 8 Recap
NCAA Selections
Tennessee Volunteers (+8.5) over Alabama Crimson Tide – Final Score: Alabama won 37-20. Result: Lost
Michigan Wolverines (-5.5) over Washington Huskies – Final Score: Michigan won 24-7. Result: WON!
Oklahoma Sooners (-5.5) over South Carolina Gamecocks – Final Score: Oklahoma won 26-7. Result: WON!
Texas A&M Aggies (-7.5) over Arkansas Razorbacks – Final Score: Texas A&M pulled out a close one by only three points, 45-42. Result: Lost
BYU Cougars (+3.5) over Utah Utes – We still can’t believe the undefeated Cougs were home ‘dogs. Final Score: BYU won 24-21. Result: WON!
Oregon Ducks (-17.5) over Rutgers Scarlet Knights – Gary was super right about the Ducks, as they romped with 750 total yards! Final Score: Oregon won 56-10. Result: WON!
Texas Tech Red Raiders (-7.5) over Arizona State Sun Devils – ASU upset the Red Raiders. Funny thing was, Gary picked TTech largely based on the idea that ASU starting QB Sam Leavitt was out. As it turned out, Leavitt played, while Red Raiders starting QB Behren Morton did NOT play. The irony. Final Score: Arizona St. 26-22. Result: Lost
Gary’s “Lucky Seven” NFL Selections
Chicago Bears (-5.5) over New Orleans Saints –Final Score: Chicago won 26-14. Result: WON!
Las Vegas Raiders (+11.5) over Kansas City Chiefs – The Chiefs crushed the Raiders 31-0. Result: Lost
Dallas Cowboys (+1.5) over Washington Commanders – Final Score: Dallas dominated Washington 44-22. Result: WON!
Minnesota Vikings (+2.5) over Philadelphia Eagles – Philadelphia covered the spread, winning by six points, 28-22. Result: Lost
Arizona Cardinals (+6.5) over Green Bay Packers – The Packers won, but only by four points 27-23. Thus, the home ‘dog Cards covered! Result: WON!
Jacksonville Jaguars (+3) over Los Angeles Rams – Gary missed on this London game, incorrectly thinking it was in Jacksonville. Ooops. Final Score: L.A. Rams won 35-7. Result: Lost
Denver Broncos (-7) over New York Giants – New York held a 19-0 lead going into the 4th quarter. Then Denver awoke, scoring 33 points to win 33-32. Result: Lost
Week 8 Results: 7-7 (50%) Overall; (4-3 NCAA, 3-4 NFL)
Season Results: 48-57 (45.7%) Overall; (26-32 NCAA, 22-25 NFL)
Gary “The Gut” Goombah’s Week 9 Selections
NCAA Selections – all odds taken from Saturday’s Chicago Sun-Times
Nebraska Cornhuskers (-7.5) over Northwestern Wildcats – The “Mildcats” have been playing well lately, but honestly, this pick is all about Nebraska. Last week, as you may know, the Huskers sucked at Minnesota. Just bad performances all the way around. The entire state of Nebraska was embarrassed. Gary suspects a reversal of fortune this week. The Huskers are highly motivated to get that taste out of their mouths. Huskers win big, at home in Memorial Stadium! PICK: Nebraska
SMU Mustangs (-3.5) over Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Kansas State Wildcats (+3.5) over Kansas Jayhawks – Coming into this year, the head coaches of these teams, Chris Klieman for KSU, and Lance Leipold for KU, have done well against the spread (ATS) during their tenures. Klieman was 40-29-2 while Leipold was 22-21-3. The Wildcats are getting points on the road here. Gary likes K-State to win straight up. PICK: Kansas St.
Minnesota Golden Gophers (+8.5) over Iowa Hawkeyes – “Floyd of Rosedale” goes to the victors of this longstanding Big Ten rivalry. Gary thinks eight and a half points is too large, maybe WAY too large. We could see Minny winning S/U. PICK: Minnesota
Texas Longhorns (-7.5) over Mississippi St. Bulldogs – UT has a great defense. They should cover in Starkville. PICK: Texas
Stanford Cardinal (+29.5) over Miami Hurricanes – It might take a real, actual, hurricane for the Cardinal to win this game straight up. However, we don’t care about S/U in this one. We care only about all those points. Twenty-nine and a half! “The Gut” LOVES Stanford to keep it closer. PICK: Stanford
LOCK OF THE WEEK : LSU Tigers (+2.5) over Texas A&M Aggies – Gary “The Gut” wanted to bring back his special “LOCK OF THE WEEK” for this one in Baton Rouge. The home-field Tigers are getting points at home, in a night game. Let me throw you some stats here, as found in Marc Lawrence’s 2025 Playbook: “LSU is 8-2 in their last ten vs A&M, including 5-0 in their last five home games vs A&M.” This is one of Marc’s “Pointspread Power Plays” as listed in the Playbook. PICK: LSU
Gary’s “Lucky Seven” NFL Selections
San Francisco 49ers (+2.5) over Houston Texans – I guess Houston’s defense is really good. But don’t forget about the ‘Niners. QB Brock Purdy is back. PICK: San Francisco
Buffalo Bills (-7.5) over Carolina Panthers – Sure the Bills lost two in a row. Sure the Panthers are playing better, at 4-3, than anticipated. But Buffalo had their bye week. Check out this trend, as stated in Marc Lawrence’s 2025 Playbook: “14-0 away off BB SU losses vs .500> opp”. YES! That’s a perfect stat that we can use here in this matchup! PICK: Buffalo!
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-4.5) over New Orleans Saints – Have you noticed how Gary picks Tampa Bay almost every week? What’s up with that??? Well, TB is good! At 5-2, they lead the NFC South. New Orleans is bad (1-6), in last place in the NFC South. Only four and a half points??? DONE! PICK: Tampa Bay
Tennessee Titans (+14.5) over Indianapolis Colts – Gary thinks this point spread is just simply too high. PICK: Tennessee
Dallas Cowboys (+3.5) over Denver Broncos – How will Denver respond after their crazy comeback victory over the Giants of New York? Will they rest on their laurels, or will they ride that momentum? Meanwhile, Dallas is probably better than most experts think. Bye the way (puns are fun), what are “laurels”? PICK: Dallas
Pittsburgh Steelers (+3) over Green Bay Packers – This is a home ‘dog situation. The storyline is about Aaron Rodgers, of course. Look at this Google search: “Mike Tomlin has an impressive record as a home underdog, with a career 22-7-3 against the spread (ATS), a winning record of 19-13 straight up (SU)“. That’s all “The Gut” needed to know. PICK: Pittsburgh!
Washington Commanders (+11.5) over Kansas City Chiefs – This is a large spread for MNF. Let’s go with some trends as documented, once again, in Marc’s Playbook: The Chiefs are “1-5 after Raiders”. Last week the Chiefs beat the Raiders. Kansas City is “0-4 off DD SU win vs .300< opp”. This one means KC is ugly after big wins vs bad teams. That’s what happened last week, as they beat a bad Raiders (2-5, .286) team 31-0. PICK: Washington
As you can see, Gary “The Gut” went deep on some statistical research this week to try to reverse his bad record so far in ’25. We need to thank Marc Lawrence for his awesome 2025 Playbook for providing us with much of this information. And in gambling, information is king. Now, let’s go watch some games! Enjoy your weekend, gamblers!
“Whether rich or poor, thou shalt gamble more” – Gary “The Gut” Goombah’s mantra
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