Sports Blog

Football Flashback: Gators Stay Atop College Football With Win Over Vols

Tennessee put up a gutty effort against #1 ranked Florida in The Swamp, but ultimately the Gators defense were too much for the Vols. Florida held Tennessee to 210 yards of total offense en route to a 23-13 SEC victory on Saturday and in the process won their school record 13th consecutive game. The Vols fell to 2-7 all time when playing a #1 ranked team. Florida has now beaten Tennessee in five straight, and has won 10 of the last 12 meetings at home.

Sports gamblers who took the points with UT in their bet on college football were smiling at the end, as Florida never really threatened to cover as -29 home favorites. Despite the ATS setback, Florida’s pointspread records remain outstanding–they’re 20-7 ATS overall in the past three years, as well as 13-4 ATS in SEC games and 10-3 ATS at home. The 36 points scored went well UNDER the posted total of 52.

Florida QB Tim Tebow didn’t have a great day, though he did rush for a touchdown. On the other hand, he failed to put a touchdown pass on the board for the first time in 30 games. He sounded almost disappointed that the Gators weren’t able to dish out more of a beating to their hated rivals:  Read more...

Virginia Tech Earns Hard Fought Victory Over Duke

Duke University is far from being a national college football powerhouse, but they’re no longer a team you can take lightly either. #6 ranked Virginia Tech found that out on Saturday, and what they expected to be an easy afternoon became a tightly contested affair. Ultimately, the Hokies would survive for a 34-26 road victory. Virginia Tech improved their record to 4-1, while Duke dropped to 2-3 on the 2009 college football season.

Despite the straight up loss, Duke won where it counted as they rewarded sports players who bet on college football with the ATS victory as +17 home underdogs. Duke evened their mark at 2-2 in their lined games, while the Hokies dropped to 2-3 against the spread. The 60 combined points scored went well OVER the posted total of 48. Virginia Tech has gone OVER in 3 of 5 games this year, while Duke has gone OVER in all three of their games with posted totals.

The Hokies were saved by the career day posted by their quarterback, Tyrod Taylor. Taylor threw for 327 yards on 17 of 22 passing and two touchdown passes. After the game, Taylor modestly downplayed his own impact on the outcome of the game:  Read more...

Houston Upsets #5 Ranked Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State had been riding high in the college football polls, fresh off a decisive victory over Georgia last Saturday. Houston, meanwhile, started its season with a lopsided beatdown of overmatched FCS foe Northwestern State. Perhaps for that reason, Oklahoma State didnt come out with a whole lot of intensity and by halftime found themselves in a 24-7 hole to their opponents en route to a 35-25 loss to the unranked Cougars. The win was Houstons first triumph over a top five opponent since defeating then #3 ranked Texas back in 1984.

College football betting enthusiasts who took the points with the Cougars as a +10 road underdog were rewarded with their outright victory. The victory by Houston broke form with a couple of pointspread trends”the Cougars had failed to cover in 7 of their last eight games played on turf. Oklahoma State, meanwhile, on a 10-3 ATS run as a favorite. The 60 combined points went well OVER the posted total of 35.

The Cougars got a number of lucky breaks in the game, but a win is a win. Second year coach Kevin Sumlin expressed what the victory means to the Cougar program in his postgame comments to the media:  Read more...

College Football Flashback: Seminoles End BYU’s BCS Championship Hopes

BYUs BCS hopes went down hard on Saturday, as the Cougars were no match for the superior team speed of Florida State. Looking nothing like the team that had struggled against FCS Jacksonville State the week before, the Seminoles used 23 second quarter points to blow open the game and went on to defeat BYU 54-28. The opportunistic Florida State defense forced BYU into committing 5 turnovers, and Seminoles QB Christian Ponder threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in the blowout victory on the Cougars home field.

College football betting devotees who backed the Seminoles as a +8 road underdog were counting their winnings by halftime, as BYU never led in the game. The Cougars dropped to 11-16 ATS over the past three years, while Florida State improved to 3-4 as an underdog in that same timeframe. The 82 combined points went well OVER the posted total of 54.

After a sloppy victory over FCS Jacksonville State last weekend, the Seminoles looked like a completely different team in Orem, Utah on Saturday. FSU QB Ponder was elated that his team had finally played up to its considerable abilities:  Read more...

Boise State Stomps Bowling Green

Bowling Green played Boise State tough on their home field this weekend”at least for one quarter. Things looked good for the host Falcons at the end of the first quarter, as they’d held the #6 ranked Broncos scoreless and were right in the thick of things in a scoreless game. It was all downhill from that point for Bowling Green, as Boise State exploded for 29 unanswered second quarter points. The Broncos would eventually win 49-14, improving to 4-0 on the season. Bowling Green dropped to 1-3 as Boise improved their record against the MAC to 6-2 all time.

The Broncos easily covered as -16 road favorites. The 63 combined points went OVER the posted total of 51. Boise State needed four plays or less on their first six scoring drives, and amassed a season high 529 yards of total offense. Their defense also forced the Falcons into three costly turnovers. By halftime, the game was essentially over.

Boise State coach Chris Petersen had insisted on more quick strike scoring drives in the week before the Bowling Green game. They most definitely delivered, and the coach commented to their performance after the contest:  Read more...

#1 Florida Routs Hapless Troy State

The 2009 college football season is already two weeks old and so far its looked almost too easy for defending national champions Florida. That was expected last week, as they destroyed overmatched FCS opponent Charleston Southern 62-3, but it wasnt much harder today against a better class of opposition. QB Tim Tebow threw for four touchdowns and ran for a fifth as the Gators demolished Troy State 56-6. The Gators led only 7-3 at the end of the first quarter before scoring seven unanswered touchdowns. Florida is now 2-0 on the season, while Troy dropped to 0-2. The Gators have outscored their first two opponents by an outlandish aggregate score of 118-9.

Despite a generous head start from the pointspread, Troy State lost against the money as well. Florida covered as -37 home favorites”their third straight ATS cover as a favorite of 31 or more. The Gators also won and covered the last time the two teams met, cashing tickets for college football betting enthusiasts as a -26 favorite in 2007.

After the contest, Florida coach Urban Meyer gave most of the praise to a defense that limited Troy to 139 yards of total offense:  Read more...

North Carolina Stuns Nationally Ranked West Virginia

The University of North Carolina used a 21 yard field goal on the final play of the game to pull a big college football upset over #13 Virginia Tech on Thursday night, winning by a final score of 20-17. The Tar Heels’ #8 ranked defense proved as tenacious as their high national status would suggest, and gave the Hokies fits throughout. North Carolina led for most of the game, but withstood a late game Virginia Tech comeback bid to take the win. It was North Carolina’s first ACC Conference win of the season.

College football betting enthusiasts who took North Carolina as +16′ road underdogs were never in serious doubt about the eventual payday they’d receive as the Tar Heels never trailed by more than three points. The Tar Heels improved to 3-4 against the college football pointspread, while the Hokies dropped to 3-5 versus the money.

Tar Heels’ QB T.J. Yates was in a state of disbelief after the narrow road victory:

“I’ve never really had this feeling before. Kicking it at the last second? It just sends chills down your spine.”

Running back Shaun Draughn spoke of the team’s priority to bounce back quickly after they blew a big lead in a loss to Florida State last week:  Read more...

College Football Flashback: 2008 SEC Championship Game

The Florida Gators rampage through the SEC reached its culmination with a 31-20 victory over #1 ranked Alabama in the conference championship game. This victory set the stage for the Gators’ appearance in the National Championship Game.

The Gators struck first, taking a 7-0 lead on a three yard Tim Tebow TD pass to Carl Moore. The Crimson Tide quickly counterpunched, tying the score on an eighteen yard run by Glen Coffee and taking their first lead of the game at 10-7 several minutes later on a 30 yard FG by Leigh Tiffin. Florida responded in the second quarter, tying the game on a Jonathan Phillips’ yard FG and taking a 17-10 lead into the halftime break on another Tebow TD pass, this one to David Nelson from five yards out. Alabama regained the momentum in the third quarter, tying the score on a 2 yard Mark Ingram touchdown run and then regaining the lead at 20-17 in the final seconds of the period on another Tiffin field goal. Florida put them down for the count in the fourth, however, on a 1 yard Jeffrey Demps TD run followed by Tebows third touchdown strike of the day.  Read more...

South Florida Stuns #21 West Virginia

Redshirt freshman quarterback B.J. Daniels threw for three touchdowns and the South Florida Bulls used a tenacious defensive effort to upset visiting West Virginia 30-19 on Friday night. Daniels threw for 232 yards and rushed for 104, compiling more yardage individually than West Virginia amassed as a team. The Bulls have had the Mountaineers’ number in recent years, and this was the third victory in four seasons for the Big East Conference upstarts.

College football betting aficionados who took the Bulls as +3 home underdogs cashed their tickets with the outright victory. Despite their 6-2 record, West Virginia dropped to 2-5 against the spread in their lined games this season while South Florida evened their college football pointspread record at 3-3 in their lined contests. The 49 combined points barely managed to go OVER the posted total of 47′.

Daniels had this rebuke for his team’s doubters after the victory:

“I guess a lot of people doubted us and thought we were going to go down the same patch we did the last two years. That was a lot of garbage that our team didn’t listen to.”  Read more...

Florida State Comes From Behind To Uppend North Carolina

Florida State won their first ACC college football game of the year on Thursday, though it certainly wasn’t easy. The Seminoles were down 24-6 midway through the third quarter before mounting a furious comeback to defeat North Carolina 30-27. FSU quarterback Christian Ponder threw for a career high 395 with three touchdowns and no interceptions to pace his team. The Seminoles improved their overall record to 3-4 while North Carolina dropped to 4-3.

College football betting enthusiasts who overlooked the Seminoles dismal record against the spread were rewarded by Florida State’s outright win as +2′ road underdogs. FSU covered for only the second time this season, upping their record against the college football pointspread to 2-5. The Tar Heels haven’t been a very good investment either, and the loss left their ATS tally at 2-4. The 57 points scored went OVER the posted total of 48′ for the Seminoles fifth OVER in six lined games.

With the uncharacteristically slow start by Florida State, there has been a good deal of speculation that the venerable coach should step away from the program. He expressed some relief in his postgame comments:  Read more...