Alabama starts BCS title defense with rout of San Jose State
NCAA Football Betting Lines
09/04/2010 - Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eddie Lacy and Trent Richardson each rushed for a pair of touchdowns, and top-ranked Alabama began defense of its BCS national title with a 48-3 win over San Jose State.
Greg McElroy and A.J. McCarron each had a TD pass for the Crimson Tide (1-0), who were without two key players. Heisman Trophy winning running back Mark Ingram sat out after undergoing surgery on his left knee Tuesday. Defensive end Marcell Dareus was ruled ineligible for two games by the NCAA due to his dealings with sports agents.
McElroy connected on 13-of-15 passes for 218 yards, while McCarron finished 9-of-15 for 116 yards. Lacy rushed for 111 yards.
Julio Jones made a one-handed touchdown catch in the second quarter as the Crimson Tide rolled to a 31-3 halftime lead. Alabama, which had 591 yards of total offense, has a big game next Saturday by hosting current No. 19 Penn State.
Harrison Waid's first-quarter field goal provided the lone score for the Spartans (0-1), who are under the guidance of new head coach Mike MacIntyre and are coming off a 2-10 campaign.
Jordan La Secla completed 7-of-14 passes for 85 yards and was picked off once for the Spartans, who were limited to 175 yards of offense.
McElroy led the Tide to a touchdown on the opening eight-play, 71-yard drive. Richardson capped it with a four-yard TD run just 4:22 into the game.
A 32-yard run by Brandon Rutley, combined with a 15-yard face mask penalty, set San Jose State up in Alabama territory. Harrison booted a 31-yard field goal with 7:26 left in the opening quarter.
Less than three minutes later, McElroy found Marquis Maze along the right sideline for a 48-yard TD pass and a 14-3 cushion.
Lacy fumbled the ball away into the end zone later in the first quarter, but the Tide gained a 21-3 lead in the opening minute of the second when Richardson broke off a 39-yard TD run up the middle.
The highlight of the night, though, came with 11:48 to go in the half. Jones took a pattern deep down the field. McCarron, a redshirt freshman, led him a bit too far, but Jones used his left hand to corral the ball as he landed on the goal line.
Waid hit the right upright on a 41-yard field goal try later in the second and Cade Foster capped the half by splitting the uprights from 41 yards out.
Lacy, another redshirt freshman, scored on a 37-yard run early in the third, Foster added a 24-yard field goal later in the period, and Lacy ran up the middle for a 10-yard score in the first minute of the fourth.
Game Notes
Alabama has compiled a 92-21-3 all-time record in season openers, including a nine-game winning streak...San Jose State's last victory over a nationally- ranked opponent came in the 2000 season when the Spartans defeated No. 9 TCU featuring LaDainian Tomlinson, 27-24, in Spartan Stadium. The last time San Jose State defeated a nationally-ranked foe on the road was in 1980, against Baylor...San Jose State is 0-4 all-time against Southeastern Conference opponents.
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Sportsbook betting odds favor Europe in Ryder Cup
September 19, – Despite holding a decided edge in the all-time series, with 24 wins, 2 ties and 10 losses, Team USA is the underdog again heading into the Ryder Cup in Kidare, Ireland this weekend, according to MySportsbook.com. The Europeans have captured four of the past five editions, including their largest victory ever, an 18 ½ to 9 ½ thumping in Michigan in 2004. Current Ryder Cup betting odds favor the Europeans to continue their winning ways; they are a 4-5 bet to take the title, compared to 6-5 for the Americans.
Despite being knocked out in the first round of World Match play by Shaun Micheel, Tiger Woods is predicted to lead the US charge and be their highest point scorer for the week, with odds listed at 9-4 that he outpoints all other American players, including Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco to name a few. Team USA has four relatively unknown players on the roster but all four are 2007 tournament winners and have posted some of season’s best performances, each earning over $1.5 million on the PGA TOUR. They include Zach Johnson, Vaughan Taylor, JJ Henry and Brett Wetterich.
The experienced European squad includes the likes of Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Jose Maria Olazabal and Darren Clarke, who’s emotions will be tested after the passing of his wife to a battle with cancer. Donald and Garcia are in particularly good form and each is a 5-1 bet to lead the European squad in the points race. Donald has proven he can go head to head with Woods at a major event after a run for the $1.2 million purse at the PGA Championship. Garcia’s Ryder Cup credentials prove he’s ready for battle too.
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Ryder Cup Odds| Europe Tie USA |
4-5 10-1 6-5 |
Ryder Cup Top US point scorer
| Tiger Woods Jim Furyk Phil Mickelson Chris DiMarco David Toms Stewart Cink Chad Campbell Scott Verplank Zach Johnson Vaughan Taylor JJ Henry Brett Wetterich |
9-4 4-1 5-1 7-1 8-1 12-1 15-1 15-1 25-1 30-1 30-1 50-1 |
Ryder Cup Top European scorer
| Sergio Garcia Luke Donald Padraig Harrington Colin Montgomerie Darren Clarke David Howell Lee Westwood Paul Casey Henrik Stenson Jose Maria Olazabal Paul McGinley Robert Karlsson |
5-1 5-1 6-1 13-2 8-1 9-1 9-1 11-1 12-1 12-1 20-1 25-1 |
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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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