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09/08/2010 - Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a game overshadowed by tragedy, the grieving Wyoming Cowboys take on the fifth-ranked Texas Longhorns in a non-conference affair.
On Monday, 19-year-old Wyoming freshman linebacker Ruben Narcisse was killed and three teammates were injured in a one-car accident.
Christian Morgan's injuries were serious but seemingly not life-threatening. Trey Fox, who was driving and apparently fell asleep at the wheel, suffered moderate injuries. As for J.J. Quinlan, the extent of his injuries wasn't initially reported.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ruben's family," Wyoming athletics director Tom Burman said. "Our thoughts are also with the students who were involved in the accident and their families as well."
None of the four men saw action in Wyoming's 28-20 season-opening victory over Southern Utah last weekend, but that doesn't lessen the impact of the tragedy.
Texas coach Mack Brown issued a statement to offer his sympathy.
"It's such a sad day to see a life taken so early," Brown said. "Our thoughts go out to Ruben's family, and we pray for them and the families of the injured young men."
Wyoming, a member of the Mountain West Conference, is under the guidance of Dave Christensen, now in his second year as the leader of the program. Last season, Christensen's group was picked to finish last in the MWC, but the group posted a 6-6 mark during the regular season and went on to shock Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl. Now Christensen faces his toughest task of all, getting his team mentally prepared to play a football game that suddenly feels rather insignificant.
The Longhorns began the 2010 campaign with a 34-17 victory over Rice and weren't as dominant as many expected. Texas is considered a national title contender, but that seems to be the case every year.
Texas has won all three previous meetings with Wyoming, including a 41-10 romp over the Cowboys last season.
Last season, Wyoming ranked near the bottom of the FBS in scoring, as the club averaged just 18.3 ppg. Sure, the Cowboys did manage 28 points against Southern Utah in the opener, but the level of competition was sub par.
Austyn Carta-Samuels completed 26-of-32 passes for 319 yards with three touchdowns and one interception for the Cowboys. Zach Bolger was the best of the receivers, racking up 134 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five catches. The high-powered passing attack made up for a weak ground game that mustered a mere 36 yards on 25 carries.
"A win is a win", said coach Christensen. "I thought Austyn did a good job of keeping his composure, and I thought our receivers did a good job of getting open."
Defensively, Wyoming permitted 384 yards to Southern Utah and failed to come up with a single takeaway. The Cowboys did not allow many big plays through the air, yielding just 8.8 yards per completion. The run defense certainly has room for improvement, and Texas will undoubtedly pound that ball at the defensive front of Wyoming.
Shamiel Gary and Brian Hendricks both recorded 14 tackles for the Cowboys in the opener, and Marcell Gipson forced a pair of fumbles.
With Colt McCoy now playing in the NFL, Texas has turned the quarterback reins over to Garrett Gilbert. In the national title game a year ago, Gilbert took over for an injured McCoy early in the contest and played fairly well at times. He didn't do anything overly impressive in the opener against Rice, completing 14-of-23 passes for 172 yards, but the young signal-caller was able to avoid mistakes.
"Offensively we stayed pretty simple," said coach Brown. "It's amazing in a first game not to have any fumbles, no interceptions and no sacks. That may be the first time we've ever done that. We're proud of the guys for doing that."
Tre' Newton only rushed for 61 yards on 18 carries, but the Texas tailback reached the end zone three times. The 'Horns finished with 369 total yards and have plenty of room for improvement.
Keenan Robinson returned a fumble 10 yards for a touchdown for Texas against Rice, and the defense played fairly well in that contest. The Owls were limited to 219 total yards, and one of their two touchdowns came in the final minute of the contest, long after the outcome had been decided. Texas permitted just 88 rushing yards on 42 attempts and were fairly solid against the pass with the exception of a 47-yard touchdown.
<< Cavaliers travel across country to tangle with Trojans
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Virginia Cavaliers will play their
first-ever game in the state of California on Saturday night, as they take on
the 16th-ranked USC Trojans in a non-conference affair.
Last weekend's opener against Ric
<< Hogs host Warhawks in non-conference action
Little Rock, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 14th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks of the
SEC will attempt to knock off the UL-Monroe Warhawks, a team from the Sun Belt
Conference set to open its season.
In December, ULM announced Todd Berry as the prog
<< Sunshine State showdown pits Bulls against Gators
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The eighth-ranked Florida Gators struggled
a bit in their season opener, and they are undoubtedly eager to get back on
the field this weekend against the South Florida Bulls in a non-conference
affair from The
<< Utes open Mountain West slate against visiting Rebels
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vaulting into the AP poll at the 20th
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Mountain West Conference schedule against the UNLV Rebels at Rice-Eccles
Stadium in Salt Lake
Traditional national powers collide in Tuscaloosa >>
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One of the premier matchups on the 2010
college football docket takes place in Tuscaloosa this weekend, as the top-
ranked and defending national champion Alabama Crimson Tide square off against
the 18th-ranked
Bruins host Cardinal in Pac-10 opener >>
Pasadena, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 25th-ranked Stanford Cardinal kicks off
its Pac-10 Conference slate against UCLA at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
Stanford vaulted into the national rankings following a convincing 52-17
victory over Sacramen
Cardinals shoot for needed series win in Milwaukee >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It took a lot longer than expected, but Milwaukee reliever
Trevor Hoffman finally picked up his 600th career save. The St. Louis
Cardinals would have preferred that he waited a few more days.
The Cardinals will try to rebo
Aaron `saddened' by Bonds, Clemens steroid stories >>
NEW YORK (AP) -Hank Aaron's verdict on baseball's steroid scandal: ``Saddened.''Aaron, long reluctant to weigh in too strongly on the stories involving steroids and baseball, said Tuesday he'll keep sticking with that tact in the cases of Roger Clem
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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