Cowboys roll in offensive coordinator's debut
NCAA Football Betting Lines
09/06/2010 -
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -Oklahoma State uber-booster Boone Pickens spoke for most fans of the Cowboys before their season opener Saturday night against Washington State.
``I'm anxious to see what we've got in the way of an offense,'' Pickens said, noting the offseason hiring of Dana Holgorsen as the Cowboys' new coordinator and play-caller.
Pickens undoubtedly came away satisfied as Oklahoma State rolled up 544 yards in a 65-17 rout of the Cougars. But even after Oklahoma State didn't commit a turnover, had only four penalties and posted its highest-scoring season opener since 1916, Holgorsen said the Cowboys remain far from a finished product.
``We've just got to get better at operating the offense,'' Holgorsen said. ``Whatever they give us, we've got to be able to take it.''
Holgorsen came to Oklahoma State with quite the reputation. He helped Mike Leach construct Texas Tech's frenetic offense before spending the last two years at Houston, where he turned that program into an offensive force. But with four new starters on Oklahoma State's offensive line, a 26-year-old quarterback who hadn't started a football game in nine years, and a mostly inexperienced receiving corps, he wondered how quickly the Cowboys could master his intricate offense.
Early on, quarterback Brandon Weeden looked a bit shaky, acknowledging he had ``jitters.'' Then tailback Kendall Hunter took over. Hunter, a third-team All-America selection in 2008, was severely limited last season by an ankle injury. But he looked like his former self against Washington State, carrying 21 times for 257 yards - the 12th-best single-game total in school history - and four touchdowns.
``When you average 11 yards a carry, you probably ought to give it to him,'' Holgorsen said.
Hunter left the game after the Cowboys' first series of the second half or he could have threatened Barry Sanders' school record of 332 yards, set against Texas Tech during his Heisman Trophy season in 1988.
``I am trying to protect (Sanders) a little bit,'' quipped Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, who played with Sanders that season. ``We'll see if he'll buy a club-level suite if we protect his record.''
Joking aside, Weeden said that Hunter's success running the ball keyed the Cowboys' success in the passing game ``and made things a little easier for me.'' Weeden, a former New York Yankees minor league baseball player, completed 22 of 30 passes for 218 yards and three touchdowns, all to Justin Blackmon, before giving way to freshmen backups Clint Chelf and Johnny Deaton.
``We're going to do whatever,'' Weeden said. ``I'll throw it five times a game or I'll throw it 50 times a game. It doesn't matter to me as long as we come away with a win.''
Except for Blackmon, who had eight catches for 125 yards, no other receiver stood out for the Cowboys. Josh Cooper had five catches, but for only 31 yards. Bo Bowling had three catches for 30 yards. Seven other players had at least one catch for Oklahoma State, but Holgorsen didn't sound pleased.
``We've got a long ways to go on offense,'' he said. ``I thought Brandon managed the game well. I thought we took care of the ball well. Obviously, Kendall, they had a hard time tackling him, and then we had at least one deep threat in Blackmon. I'm happy with those three guys, but ... we are still looking for about another six guys to step up and become real players.''
The Cowboys did have an offensive twist not expected with Holgorsen - on a handful of plays, they used a full-house backfield, with three running backs joining Weeden behind the line. Holgorsen smiled when asked about that. He said he and another assistant hatched the scheme this summer during a staff outing.
``It gives you a different way to run the football and use a play-action pass,'' Gundy said Sunday. ``I think it's taking advantage of the personnel we have and using it to the best of our ability.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -Alabama took advantage of an opening rout to get plenty of youngsters on the field.The top-ranked Crimson Tide's top tackler in Saturday night's 48-3 route of San Jose State was freshman linebacker C.J. Mosley. The leading rus
<< Jets, Revis agree to deal
Florham Park, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets and Darrelle Revis
have agreed to a deal, ending the cornerback's holdout.
The team made the announcement early Monday morning, according to multiple
media outlets, but did not disclose t
<< Stewart wins at Atlanta and clinches spot in Chase
Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Stewart snapped a 31-race winless streak
in the Sprint Cup Series by taking Sunday's Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta
Motor Speedway.
Stewart put on a dominating performance by leading 176 of 325 lap
<< Giants blank Dodgers to inch closer in division
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Uribe hit a key two-run homer for the
second straight game and Jonathan Sanchez pitched seven strong innings, as the
Giants took a 3-0 win over the Dodgers in the rubber match of a three-game
series.
<< Geovanni leads 'Quakes past Houston
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Geovanni scored a goal and assisted on another
to propel the San Jose Earthquakes to a 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo at
Robertson Stadium on Sunday.
The Brazilian was making his first Major League So
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -If this was Ryan Mallett's idea of a so-so performance, then No. 17 Arkansas has high expectations indeed.Mallett completed 21 of 24 passes Saturday night, leading the Razorbacks over Tennessee Tech 44-3. He threw for 301 ya
Proud powers get early test on rebuilding efforts >>
Michigan-Notre Dame seems so last century now.The game burnished reputations, showcased a handful of top NFL draft picks and often signaled whether either Midwestern power was likely to land a spot in the national championship picture. But the meeti
Leinart finds new home with Texans >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Texans have agreed to a one-year
contract with quarterback Matt Leinart, according to the player's agent.
The Houston Chronicle cited Leinart's agent, Tom Condon, as confirming the
move, which comes
The biggest threat to the U.S. Ryder Cup team >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While I was busy searching for the best line to describe
Miguel Angel Jimenez, someone I don't know beat me to it.
In the Internet age, it isn't hard to believe how it happened.
Sports Illustrated writer Alan Shipnuck po
Phils eye first place in doubleheader with Marlins >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Even when Roy Oswalt is off his game, he is still pretty
darn good. The Philadelphia Phillies pitcher might get a chance tonight to put
his team back into sole possession of first place in the National League East.
Set to
What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
How to Read Point Spreads
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
Football Betting Lines
The 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds have been released and Denver Broncos' running back Knowshon Moreno has been made the opening favorite.
Moreno was selected in the first round of April's NFL draft and is expected to carry the rushing load for the Broncos this season. And with Jay Cutler now in Chicago, Moreno might be expected to be Denver's entire offense.
Betting Lines from sports betting lines have made Moreno a 5/2 favorite to win this year's Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Fellow running back Chris “Beanie” Wells (Arizona Cardinals) is right behind Moreno at 7/2, while Donald Brown (Indianapolis Colts) and receiver Michael Crabtree (San Francisco 49ers) are 5/1 to win. Quarterbacks Mark Sanchez (New York Jets) and Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions) are 7/1 and 8/1, respectively.
A couple of players who present some value are Josh Freeman, Shonn Green and Darrius Heyward-Bey.
Freeman needs to beat out Byron Leftwich to become the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but if he does, he has a lot or raw talent and could use the weapons around him (i.e. Kellen Winslow Jr. and Antonio Bryant) to be very successful in his first season.
Green enters a crowded backfield in New York, but considering both Thomas Jones and Leon Washington are unhappy about their contract situations and might holdout, the former Iowa product could become the Jets' primary back.
Everyone was shocked when Al Davis took Heyward-Bey with the eighth overall pick in April's draft, but the kid has a tremendous amount of talent and if quarterback JaMarcus Russell takes the next step this year, the former Maryland product could blossom. Plus, Heyward-Bey will be looking to prove the people wrong who said Oakland should have taken Michael Crabtree with the No. 8 pick.
And if you're looking for a deep sleeper, check out Pat White at 30/1. He enters the Miami Dolphins vaunted “Wild Cat” offense and could be a big time playmaker.
For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds, see below.
2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Odds to Win
Ramses Barden (NYG) 40/1
Andre Brown (NYG) 20/1
Donald Brown (IND) 5/1
Kenny Britt (TEN) 20/1
Glenn Coffee (SFO) 30/1
Chase Coffman (CIN) 50/1
Michael Crabtree (SFO) 5/1
Josh Freeman (TB) 14/1
Shonn Green (NYJ) 14/1
Percy Harvin (MIN) 10/1
Darrius Heyward-Bay (OAK) 18/1
Juaquan Iglesias (CHI) 30/1
Cornelius Ingram (PHI) 50/1
Rashad Jennings (JAC) 30/1
Johnny Knox (CHI) 40/1
Jeremy Maclin (PHI) 18/1
Mohamed Massaquoi (CLE) 30/1
LeSean McCoy (PHI) 12/1
Knowshon Moreno (DEN) 5/2
Hakeem Nicks (NYG) 18/1
Brandon Pettigrew (DET) 30/1
Brian Robiskie (CLE) 20/1
Mark Sanchez (NYJ) 7/1
Matthew Stafford (DET) 8/1
Jason Smith (STL) 40/1
Mike Thomas (JAC) 25/1
Patrick Turner (MIA) 50/1
Mike Wallace (PIT) 50/1
Chris Wells (ARI) 7/2
Pat White (MIA) 30/1
Field (Any Other Player) 9/1
To visit this sports betting site go to BettingExpress.com for all your football betting lines needs.
For sports betting with credit cards site go to BettingExpress.com as well.