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09/08/2010 - 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 Swamp.
USF is led by Skip Holtz, who became the new leader of the program in January, and his debut was a memorable one. Last weekend, the Bulls crushed Stony Brook by a 59-14 final, but the level of competition in that tilt was a far cry from what the squad will face on Saturday.
"The goal was 1-0, and we are 1-0," said Holtz after his debut. "I'm proud of the way this team competed, proud of the way we went out there and the way we played."
As for Florida, it beat Miami-Ohio by a 34-12 final in the opener, but the performance of the Gators was a bit concerning. They were held scoreless in the first quarter and did very little offensively in the first game of the post-Tim Tebow era.
"I'm very disappointed with our performance; that's obvious," said head coach Urban Meyer. "I told the team I don't mind coaching guys that want to work. It's when you coach entitlement where it's hard to get guys to react."
Florida returns plenty of talent from a team that went 13-1 in 2009, and the Gators are the first team in FBS history to capture 13 victories in back-to- back campaigns.
Last season, USF finished 8-5 overall, including a win in the Independence Bowl over Northern Illinois, but the Bulls were just 3-4 against Big East Conference opposition and want to prove that they are contenders in that league.
Surprisingly, this game marks the first-ever meeting between USF and Florida on the gridiron.
Last season, BJ Daniels was forced to start at quarterback for USF as a freshman because of an injury to the team's veteran starter. That experience proved to be invaluable, and Daniels impressed everyone with his play. In the opener against Stony Brook, the now-sophomore completed 15-of-22 passes for 264 yards with a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for a score, showing off his versatility.
"You've got to treat every game just like the other, but Florida is a great team," said Daniels, looking forward to this weekend's showdown. "They're athletic and they're fast. It will definitely be exciting to go down to Gainesville next week."
Evan Landi, who Daniels calls "Mr. Surehands," made six catches for 104 yards against Stony Brook, while Marcus Shaw paced the ground attack with 86 yards and a score. Moise Plancher, another talented tailback for the squad, has a shoulder injury that has him questionable for this weekend. The Bulls posted 563 total yards against Stony Brook and easily overcame a pair of fumbles.
On the defensive side of the ball, Holtz has to be proud of the way that his team played in the opener. Sure, the Bulls did allow Stony Brook to score a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter, but considering the fact that the TD drives covered just 35 and 27 yards, it is hard to pin too much blame on the defense. After those touchdowns, USF shut the door for the rest of the contest.
In total, USF allowed 254 total yards and 12 first downs. The Bulls limited Stony Brook to 2-of-11 success on third down conversion attempts and intercepted an impressive total of four passes. Four different players were responsible for those picks, and while no single player stepped forward with a monumental performance, the overall effort of the defense was strong.
There is no player in the nation that will be more heavily scrutinized this season than Florida quarterback John Brantley, who is replacing Tebow under center in Gainesville. In the opener against Miami-Ohio, Brantley completed 17-of-25 passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions, but his 17 completions covered just 113 yards, proof that few big plays were made through the air. Also, there were major snap issues between Brantley and center Mike Pouncey.
"We have a long way to go as an offense," said Pouncey. "We did some good things, but everybody watching the obvious stuff knows we did terrible."
Jeff Demps ran for 98 yards and a touchdown for the Gators on just eight carries, and Chris Rainey caught a touchdown pass. Florida finished the tilt with a mere 212 total yards and 12 first downs. The squad held possession of the ball for barely over 25 minutes and was 3-of-12 on third-down conversion attempts.
The Florida defense certainly played better than the team's offense, limiting Miami-Ohio to 212 total yards and preventing the RedHawks from scoring a single touchdown. Miami was just 4-of-15 on third-down conversion attempts, a credit to the Gators.
Ahmad Black came through with 12 total tackles, seven more than his closest teammate, and he finished with 1.5 TFLs and an interception. Janoris Jenkins returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown.
<< No. 4 TCU hosts FCS foe Tennessee Tech
Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With one of the toughest games on their
schedule already out of the way, the fourth-ranked TCU Horned Frogs now focus
their attention on the Golden Eagles of Tennessee Tech in a non-conference
showdown at Amon
<< Sooners and Seminoles meet in Top-25 showdown
Norman, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams with a lot to prove square off in a
tiop-25 showdown in Norman this weekend, as the 10th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners
play host to the 17th-ranked Florida State Seminoles.
The Seminoles got the Jimbo Fisher
<< Yellow Jackets and Jayhawks square off in Lawrence
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
take their act on the road for the first time this season, as they invade
Lawrence this weekend, for a showdown with the Kansas Jayhawks in an ACC/Big
XII non-conferenc
<< Fireworks likely in showdown between Ducks and Volunteers
Knoxville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off perhaps the most impressive
performance in week one of the 2010 college football season, the seventh-
ranked Oregon Ducks take to the road, as they invade SEC Country to battle the
Tennessee Volunteer
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
Bragging rights on line as West Virginia visits Marshall >>
Huntington, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - State rivals will square off in Huntington
on Friday night, as the Marshall Thundering Herd welcome the 23rd-ranked West
Virginia Mountaineers to town.
On opening weekend, West Virginia cruised past Coastal
Grief-stricken Cowboys face tall task in clash with Longhorns >>
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
Spartans face another uphill battle in bout with Badgers >>
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Spartans continue their early-
season trek through some of the most treacherous waters imaginable as a week
after taking on the defending national champion Alabama Crimson Tide, they
head north to bat
Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
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The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
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Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
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Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
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