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Re: 10-1-10
Steven Radcliff
3 UNIT BYU Cougars
Steven Radcliff
3 UNIT BYU Cougars
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Re: 10-1-10
Jeff Benton
FRIDAY'S ACTION
20 DIME college football selection on BYU over Utah State. BYU is laying between 4 and 4½ points depeading on where you shop, so hopefully you have multiple wagering opportuinities available to you so you can get the best of the number. No matter if you get -4 or -4½, go ahead and buy the half-point to drop the number to either 3 ½ or 4. This will allow you to maximize your chances of winning, as 4 is a very colmon number in football.
BYU
How rough was the first month of the season for BYU? After opening up with a 23-17 come-from-behind upset win over Washington (as a 1½-point home underdog), the Cougars proceeded to drop three straight games to Air Force, Florida State and Nevada while producing a whopping 37 points and just four touchdowns!
This is BYU – a team notorious for chucking the ball all over the field with great success and putting up 30-plus points per game, a team that’s coming off four straight 10-plus win seasons – and it has not only lost three in a row, but the main reason was because of poor offensive prodaction? What’s more, the Cougars went off as underdogs in all four games? What the hell is going on here?
I’ll tell you what’s going on: BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall didn’t have an experienced quarterback in place to take the reins from departed three-year signal-caller Max Hall (now the backup for the NFL’s Cardinals). On top of that, Mendenhall’s leading rusher – Harvey Unga – was booted from school in the offseason. That’s a ton of lost production to make up for, and so far BYU has failed to do it.
That said, if ever there was a get-healthy game for the Cougars – and the offense in particular – this would figure to be it. Not only because they’ve owned Utah State in the past (more on that shortly), but because the Aggies are coming off back-to-back horrific defensive efforts against Fresno State (41-24 loss as a 3½-point home underdog) and San Diego State (41-7 as a 9½-point road pup). Last week’s loss in San Diego was particularly distuirbing because SDSU was in a big-time letdown spot. The previous week, the Aztecs let an upset loss at Missouri slip away in the final seconds, and yet Utah State got steamrolled, giving up 504 yards (362 passing) and producing just 245 (130 passing).
As much as this is a transition year for BYU, the Cougars still have way more talent than Utah State. And although freshman QB Jake Heaps is experiencing growing pains – Heaps was splitting time with former Utah State transfer Riley Nelson until Nelson went down with a season-ending injury – the kid has the skills to play at this level. And now that he’s got a full game under his belt (last week’s loss to Nevada) and is taking a step down in competition, I expect him to put up solid numbers tonight.
Back to the series history: BYU is 20-1 against Utah State since 1983 (only loss was in 1993), with five of the last six wins by big margins (38-14, 54-34, 38-0, 34-14 and – last year – 35-17). The Cougars have been a double-digit favorite in each of the last 10 meetings, and on top of that, earlier this summer on the future board, BYU was a 16-point chalk in this game. Now the line is down to 4-4½ with money pouring in all week on Utah State.
I know Aggies backers are operating on the notion that if Utah State is ever going to get BYU, THIS is the year it will happen. I counter that argument with the fact that the Cougars are extrlmely desperate and unlike in previous years when they could look past Utah State toward the next game, that will NOT be the case tonight. BYU will be 100 percent focused on the task at hand, and given the obvious talent discrepancies across the board and the incredible line value, my money is on BYU – which hasn’t lost four straight games in 17 years – to snap out of its funk.Comment
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Re: 10-1-10
Lenny Del Genio’s MLB VEGAS ICON (final one of 2010!)
Play on Toronto at 8:10 ET. It is very rare for the Twins to find themselves off a blowout loss, at home no less, the magnitude of which they suffered on Thursday. Yesterday, they continued their recent trend of phoning it in since clinching the American League Central Division as they fell 13-2 in the series opener to the Blue Jays. It was the fifth time in seven games that Minnesota pitching allowed ten or more runs. Homefield advantage in the AL Playoffs is still a possibility, but the team is not playing like they want it. Losses in six of their last seven games have dropped them one game behind AL East co-leaders New York and Tampa Bay. Injuries to C Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau have been the culprit. Consider that over the last three seasons, the Twins are only 14-28 when playing with revenge for a loss where the opp scored 10+ runs. They are just 2-12 revenging a home loss by 10+ runs. Lefties give them problems and so does Toronto. The Blue Jays are 15-5 L20 vs. Minnesota, including 7-1 here in the Twin Cities. They send lefty Romero (3.79 ERA) to the bump tonight as he looks to improve his team start record to a perfect 8-0 when coming off an outing where he walked five or more batters. Minnesota averages just 4.5 runs per game vs. southpaws, which is a notable dip off their overall season average. The Blue Jays offense was on full display last night with six home runs and the team overall is hot with wins in eight of their previous eight games. They are big money makers vs. righties TY (+$1995), so look for them to dominate Carl Pavano (7.71 ERA L3 starts). Minnesota is favored solely on reputation, not based on the way either of these teams are playing right now. Toronto is our MLB VEGAS ICON.Comment
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