Syracuse didn’t win last week but Diane Miller did on our toughest football contest of the year so far.

Miller is a big Syracuse fan, and she picked the Orange to beat Duke last weekend but the Blue Devils came out on top with a 38-24 win. That was one of six games Diane lost, all in the college ranks, but she battled back to sweep the seven NFL games on Sunday and win the contest.

I don’t know if anyone ever had gone into Sunday with a 2-6 record and won the contest. Most everyone did poorly on the college games this week. Of the eight Saturday games to pick the underdog on the betting line by a touchdown or more won four times, including NC State over Virginia.

For her efforts Diane will receive a $50 gift certificate from Mac & Bob’s as well as a large blizzard from Dairy Queen in Salem. This week Syracuse is on the contest again, and as of Tuesday the ‘Cuse were three and a half point dogs at home against Liberty.

For last week’s “Quick Change” contest I asked you to guess the score of the big game between Oklahoma and Texas. The Sooners won that game in overtime, 53-45, and the closest to the actual score was Lauren Cole, who picked Oklahoma to win 48-45. Nice job Lauren, enjoy your free oil change from Valvoline of Salem.

For this week’s “Quick Change” question we’ll stay in upstate New York and ask you to pick the score of that game between Liberty and Syracuse. The Flames come in at 4-0 after a 40-7 win over Louisiana-Monroe last week, and you might remember Louisiana-Monroe is where Salem High seniors Jayden and Jorden McDonald and Zavione Wood committed in July. So, the Flames better enjoy that win while they can.     –Brian Hoffman