Tweet
-
RAS
Louisiana Tech -
Baseball Crusher
Los Angeles Angels -154 over Texas Rangers - pending
Washington Nationals -123 over New York Mets
(System Record: 90-2, lost last game)
Overall Record: 90-69
Rest of the Plays
Cleveland Indians + Minnesota Twins UNDER 7.5
Pittsburgh Pirates -131 over Philadelphia Phillies
Cincinnati Reds -117 over St. Louis CardinalsComment
-
Football Crusher
Louisiana Tech +3.5 over North Texas
(System Record: 3-1, won last 2 games)
Overall Record: 3-5
Rest of the Plays
Houston + Brigham Young OVER 57
North Texas + Louisiana Tech UNDER 47.5
Pittsburgh Steelers + Baltimore Ravens OVER 44.5
Comment
-
Soccer Crusher
Sport Recife + Santos UNDER 2.5 - Brazil pending
Corinthians + Atletico MG OVER 2
This match is happening in Brazil
(System Record: 632-22, won last game)
Overall Record: 632-523-93Comment
-
ANTHONY MICHAEL
(Play of the Day)
#101 Pittsburgh Steelers +2.5 (8:25 edt)
This series has been absolutely dominated by the underdog lately and the Steelers have covered 5 of their last 6 trips to Baltimore. Do I really need to remind you of the major non-football distractions going on right now with the Ravens? Sometimes off the field things can unite a team but do they really want to rally behind Rice? Not a chance. Look for the Steelers to be the much better prepared team to play mentally here.Comment
-
Game of the Day: Houston at BYU
Houston Cougars at BYU Cougars (-18.5, 58.5)
Houston doesn't have a lot of time to prepare for its trip to Brigham Young on Thursday, so coach Tony Levine is going to refer back to last year's hard-fought 47-46 loss to BYU. "It'll be a physical game," Levine said Saturday. "It certainly was last year and (BYU) is a physical program. They are always one of the top defenses in the nation. It is about us and how we feel we can play. We have got to do a great job with turnovers and turnover margin and we've got to fly around and tackle on defense and get those guys on the ground." Houston felt pretty good Saturday after a 47-0 beating of Grambling State, forcing six turnovers and scoring a defensive touchdown.
Houston will try to keep BYU's defense - which has been impressive in two lopsided victories - off-balance by using different personnel in the backfield. John O'Korn showed improvements between the first and second week and the club has used receivers Greg Ward Jr. and Daniel Spencer at quarterback in special packages. BYU quarterback Taysom Hill has accounted for 685 total yards, five rushing touchdowns and three scoring passes on the way to back-to-back FBS Independent Offensive Player of the Week honors.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN.
LINE HISTORY: Most shops opened BYU -18 and most are now offering -18.5. The total opened 57 and is now up to 58.5.
INJURY REPORT: BYU - WR Nick Kurtz (Indefinitely, foot).
WEATHER FORECAST: Forecasts are calling for temperatures in the mid-50s with clear skies and wind blowing to the south endzone at 9 mph.
ABOUT HOUSTON (1-1): O'Korn has completed 52.2 percent of his passes for 404 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions while Ward Jr. (five carries for 22 yards and a score) and Spencer (two carries for minus-1 yard) have mostly been used on running plays. Kenneth Farrow leads the ground game with 151 yards after a career-high 130 against Grambling State. Houston is allowing 342.5 yards and has forced a turnover in 25 straight games - the third-longest active streak in the country.
ABOUT BRIGHAM YOUNG (2-0): BYU is allowing 8.5 points and just 76.5 yards rushing after road wins over Connecticut (35-10) and Texas (41-7). Hill has completed 73 percent of his passes and is averaging 5.4 yards per run while Jamaal Williams rushed for 89 yards against Texas. Linebacker Bronson Kaufusi, who had two sacks against UConn, left the Texas game with an ankle injury and his status is unknown.
TRENDS:
* BYU is 3-0-1 ATS in its last four home games.
* Houston is 1-4 ATS in its last five games overall.
* Over is 6-0 in Houston's last six Thursday games.
* Under is 4-0 in BYU's last four Thursday games.
CONSENSUS: 71 percent of wagers are backing BYUComment
-
North Texas has bettors seeing green
Justin Hartling
The North Texas Mean Green have been a stellar play for bettors. The Mean Green has an 8-2 record against the spread in their last 10 contests.
North Texas (-3.5) will host the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Thursday.Comment
-
Houston at BYU
By Joe Nelson
The third week of the College football season starts Thursday night with a matchup between Houston and BYU. While the season in Houston started poorly with an upset loss, BYU has impressively moved to 2-0 with back-to-back road wins, including last week’s huge win at Texas. Here is a look at the teams and this week’s ESPN matchup between two sets of Cougars.
Match-up: Houston Cougars at BYU Cougars
Venue: LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah
Date: Thursday, September 11, 2014
Time/TV: 9:00 PM ET – ESPN
Line: BYU -17.5, Over/Under 57.5
Last Meeting: 2013, BYU (-10) 47-46 at Houston
Houston is coming off of an easy home win vs. FCS Grambling last week. The Cougars were led by RB Kenneth Farrow, who rushed for 130 of Houston's 275 rush yards (6.9 YPC) in a 47-0 win. It was a nice comeback victory after a disappointing home loss to UT-San Antonio to open the season - a game in which the Cougars totaled -26 rush yards. QB Josh O'Korn has gotten off to a bit of a disappointing start. He is completing just 51.5% of his throws with just one touchdown and four interceptions. This week, Houston hits the road for the first time this season to take on BYU.
This is a tough spot for BYU. The Cougars are off of a 41-7 win at Texas. It was a hard-fought game for one half as BYU led just 6-0 at the midpoint before opening the floodgates with a 28-point third quarter. Do-everything QB Taysom Hill led the way with three rushing touchdowns. Through two games, Hill is completing 73% of his passes and averaging 244.5 pass YPG; but the real threat he presents is with his feet as he already has 196 rushing yards and five touchdowns. BYU will try to avoid a letdown performance here, something the Cougars couldn't avoid last year. After 2013's blowout win over Texas, the Cougars returned home and laid an egg against Utah - losing by seven points as a six-point favorite.
Defensively both of these teams have been very solid through two weeks. BYU is allowing just 76.5 rushing yards per game on 2.3 yards per carry. Opposing QB's are completing just 57% against BYU with one touchdown and two interceptions. Houston's 'D' (which returned nine starters from 2013), ranks 24th against the pass, 35th against the run, and 11th in total yards allowed - albeit stats that may be skewed in their favor considering their two opponents were UT-San Antonio and FCS Grambling.
These two met for the first time ever in 2013 in one of the more entertaining games of the season. The game featured two ties, eight lead changes, and neither team led by more than 10 points. Taysom Hill threw a touchdown with 1:08 left to give BYU the lead. The defense held on Houston's final drive and BYU won, 47-46. BYU tallied 681 yards of total offense, including 264 rushing yards on 71 total carries. Houston's O'Korn completed 29-of-45 passes for 363 yards with three touchdowns but also three interceptions. Houston was able to cover as the double-digit underdog (+10).
BYU is 10-3 S/U & ATS in its last 13 home openers, including back-to-back ATS wins by an average of 21.5 points. BYU is 7-2-1 ATS in the last 10 games as a home favorite of 17 points or more. Houston is 5-18 S/U & 8-14 ATS in its last 23 road openers, but is 3-2 S/U & ATS in the last five years. Houston is 8-4 ATS in the last 12 as a double-digit underdog, but that record worsens to just 5-10 ATS as a road underdog of 17 points or more dating back to 1997.Comment
-
Battle of the Cougars
Houston Cougars (1-1) at BYU Cougars (2-0)
Line & Total: BYU -18.5, Total: 58
After a beating of Texas this past weekend, the BYU Cougars host the Houston Cougars as they attempt to stay undefeated.
Houston did not look good in the first game of the season, falling by a score of 27-7 against the UTSA Roadrunners, but bounced back in an easy matchup facing Grambling State, prevailing by a score of 47-0 in against a Tigers team that was 1-11 last season. Not too much should be taken from the win, since Grambling state hurt themselves with 15 penalties for 147 yards while also turning the ball over six times as the Cougars converted only 4-of-14 on third downs.
BYU has looked great in its first two games, first handling Connecticut with a 35-10 win followed by a huge 41-7 defeat of Texas in Austin as one-point underdogs. It was their defense that was the hero here, grabbing four takeaways and holding a usually potent Longhorns offense to a woeful 258 total yards. The rushing attack for the Cougars was unstoppable with 248 yards on the ground; giving them two consecutive games over 200 rushing yards.
Last year these programs met and both offenses were clicking in a 47-46 barnburner, which BYU won, but failed to cover as a 10-point favorite. Both teams threw for more than 400 yards with the big difference coming from the Brigham Young runners as they outpaced Houston on the ground 264 to 48.
Bettors should take into consideration that BYU is a mere 7-26 ATS (21%) after a two-game road trip since 1992 while Houston is 1-9 ATS after allowing six points or less in their previous game in the same timeframe. There are no significant injuries going into this contest for either team.
Houston’s usually potent offense currently ranks 80th in rushing (218 YPG) and 102nd in passing (124.5 YPG), and has not faced a tough team such as BYU. Leading their offense is QB John O’Korn who was solid last season (3,117 yards, 28 TD, 10 INT) and has completed 35-of-68 passes (52%) for 404 yards (5.9 YPA) while throwing just a single touchdown and four picks this year. It was his play that took the team down against UTSA as he threw 4 INT and completed a mere 21-of-43 attempts.
It does get a little more promising with the running game, as HB Kenneth Farrow has rushed for 151 yards on 20 attempts (7.6 YPC) and a touchdown while last year’s top rusher, HB Ryan Jackson, has two touchdowns in 13 attempts (50 yards). The team likes to spread the ball out, and through the first couple of contests they already have three different players with seven or more receptions. Leading the way is WR Deontay Greenberry (206 yards) while WR Greg Ward Jr. (40 yards) has the sole receiving touchdown.
It is hard to size up the Cougars defense at this point of the season with their shutout victory coming against such a weak team, but they have allowed their opponents to gain 263 yards per game so far. Both LB Derrick Mathews (16 tackles, 1 sack) and DB Trevon Stewart (10 tackles) hope they can continue to put forth solid performances as this team looks to win their second straight contest.
BYU has been phenomenal in the early going while ranking in the top-65 at both passing (244.5 YPG) and rushing (226.5 YPG) with 38.0 PPG (42nd in FBS). QB Taysom Hill (489 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT) has improved through the air this year after throwing 14 interceptions in 2013, but threw for just 181 yards and 1 INT in the win over Texas.
The real threat comes from Hill’s legs, which have propelled him to 194 yards (5.4 YPC) and five touchdowns after leading the team with 1,344 rushing yards (5.5 YPC, 10 TD) in 2013. Helping him in the backfield will be HB Jamaal Williams who missed the first game of the year, but went for 89 yards (4.7 YPC) against the Longhorns. These two players combined for 2,577 yards on the ground last year and should be the main focal point for any opposing defense. With last year’s top receiver, Cody Hoffman, out of the picture, the Cougars are targeting plenty of players, and four wideouts have caught at least five passes with WR Jordan Leslie (107 yards) leading the way.
As mentioned previously, the defense for BYU is the main reason for the team's success, having allowing only 8.5 PPG and 306.5 YPG to their opponents over the first two weeks. LB Bronson Kaufusi had two sacks in the first game of the year and hopes to be an important piece of this defense moving forward.Comment
-
StatFox Super Situations
CFB | NEBRASKA at FRESNO ST
Play Against - Road favorites of 3.5 to 10 points (NEBRASKA) in a game involving two teams that had winning records last season, in non-conference games
46-18 since 1997. ( 71.9% | 26.2 units )
2-2 this year. ( 50.0% | -0.2 units )
CFB | HOUSTON at BYU
Play On - A road team vs. the money line (HOUSTON) off a home win, with 9 or more defensive starters returning
132-98 over the last 10 seasons. ( 57.4% | 0.0 units )
2-1 this year. ( 66.7% | 0.0 units )
CFB | E CAROLINA at VIRGINIA TECH
Play Over - Road teams where the first half total is between 25 and 28 in non-conference games, with 4 or fewer defensive starters returning
46-18 over the last 5 seasons. ( 71.9% | 26.2 units )
0-1 this year. ( 0.0% | -1.1 units )Comment
-
Today's NFL Picks
Pittsburgh at Baltimore
The Steelers head to Baltimore on Thursday night to face a Ravens team that is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 Thursday games. Pittsburgh is the pick (+3) according to Dunkel, which has the Steelers favored by 1 1/2. Dunkel Pick: Pittsburgh (+3). Here are all of this week's picks.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
Time Posted: 10:00 a.m. EST (9/10)Game 101-102: Pittsburgh at Baltimore (8:25 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Pittsburgh 133.605; Baltimore 132.199
Dunkel Line: Pittsburgh by 1 1/2; 48
Vegas Line: Baltimore by 3; 44 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Pittsburgh (+3); OverComment
-
NCAA Football Game Picks
Houston at BYU
The Houston Cougars head to BYU on Thursday night and come into the contest with a 7-0 ATS record in their last 7 road games. Houston is the pick (+18 1/2) according to Dunkel, which has the BYU Cougars favored by only 14 1/2. Dunkel Pick: Houston (+18 1/2). Here are all of this week's lined game.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
Time Posted: 8:00 a.m. EST (9/10)Game 103-104: Louisiana Tech at North Texas (8:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Louisiana Tech 55.956; North Texas 74.809
Dunkel Line: North Texas by 19; 54
Vegas Line: North Texas by 3 1/2; 48
Dunkel Pick: North Texas (-3 1/2); OverGame 105-106: Houston at BYU (9:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Houston 86.069; BYU 100.535
Dunkel Line: BYU by 14 1/2; 62
Vegas Line: BYU by 18 1/2; 57
Dunkel Pick: Houston (+18 1/2); OverComment
-
Thursday Night Football: Steelers at Ravens
Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens (-2.5, 44.5)
Preparing to play your fiercest rival on a short week is a daunting enough task, but the Baltimore Ravens are also dealing with the fallout from the Ray Rice saga as they get set to host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night. Baltimore lost at Cincinnati in its season opener and faces the prospect of falling two games behind the Steelers in the AFC North. Tight games are the norm in the rivalry, with nine of the last 10 regular-season meetings decided by three points or fewer.
Rice's contract was terminated Monday after videotape from TMZ surfaced showing the running back knocking out his then-fiancee with a punch to the head, which had led to a two-game suspension by the league. "We knew we were going to be without him anyway for the first two games, so our focus is on the Steelers and nothing else," Ravens wideout Torrey Smith said. "It’s way worse for him than it is for us. We just have to get ready for the next one.” Pittsburgh blew a 24-point halftime lead before beating Cleveland on a last-second field goal in its opener.
TV: 8:25 p.m. ET, CBS, NFL Network.
LINE HISTORY: Most shops opened the Ravens as 3-point home faves and are now dealing -2.5. The total opened around 42 or 43.5 and is now up to 44 or 44.5 (depending on where you shop).
INJURY REPORT: Steelers - WR Lance Moore (Questionable, groin), RB Dri Archers (Questionable, ankle). Ravens - CB Ladarius Webb (Questionable, back).
POWER RANKINGS: Steelers (+1.0) - Ravens (+2.0) + home field advantage (-3.0) = Ravens -2.0
WEATHER REPORT: Weather forecasts are calling for 61 percent chance of thunderstorms. Wind will blow to the east endzone at 6 mph.
WHAT CAPPERS SAY: "While the game sets up well for Baltimore with Ravens off the loss and Pittsburgh off the win, the off-field incident involving Ray Rice is a heavy distraction.The Black Birds’ 14-1 SU mark at home in games off a loss is intriguing. The Steelers’ 10-2 ATS record as a dog with revenge off a win is a strong counter." Marc Lawrence.
WHAT BOOKS SAY: "The early Pittsburgh action is justified. I was preaching 'sell' on the Ravens prior to the preseason getting underway. The Ray Rice saga has nothing to do with it either, he's a declining player. Joe Flacco is a mediocre quarterback leading a mediocre offense. Baltimore's defense could create some problems for Pitt's O-line but the Ravens will likely start this season 0-2. This spread should continue to push downward."
ABOUT THE STEELERS (1-0 SU, 0-1 ATS, 0-1 O/U): Pittsburgh running back Le'Veon Bell also was involved in a notable off-field transgression when he was arrested on marijuana possession and DUI charges last month, but he sparkled in the opener by rushing for 109 yards and a TD and catching six passes for 88 yards. Bell wasn't the only second-year player with a strong debut. Markus Wheaton, who did next to nothing as a rookie, had six receptions for 97 yards and provides another favorable option for Ben Roethlisberger (365 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) with a pair of huge catches on the winning drive. An aging defense was a major issue last season for the Steelers and it remains a concern after the unit was gouged repeatedly by Cleveland's no-huddle offense.
ABOUT THE RAVENS (0-1 SU, 0-1 ATS, 0-1 O/U): An already unsettled running back situation became further muddled when Bernard Pierce - Rice's replacement - was benched after a costly fumble and replaced by scat back Justin Forsett, who acquitted himself well with 70 yards and a TD on 11 carries. With rookie Lorenzo Taliaferro the only other option in the backfield, Pierce will likely remain the starter but Baltimore needs a more balanced attack. Quarterback Joe Flacco was forced to attempt 62 passes last week, finishing with 345 yards with one TD and one pick. Veteran Steve Smith had an 80-yard scoring pass in his Ravens debut while a bend-but-not-break defense allowed five first-half field goals before surrendering a 77-yard winning touchdown pass.
TRENDS:
* Over is 5-2 in the last seven meetings.
* Steelers are 3-0-1 ATS in their last four meetings.
* Ravens are 1-6 ATS in their last seven Thursday games.
* Steelers are 0-6 ATS in their last six games in September.
CONSENSUS:60 percent of wagers are backing the Steelers.Comment
-
Thursday night football could see thundershowers
Justin Hartling
When the ball is kicked off at M&T Bank Stadium it may be soaring through a thunderstorm. There is a 61 percent chance that the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens game will be playing with thundershowers.
The Ravens are currently a 2.5-point home fave with the total set at 44.5.Comment
Comment