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DOUBLE-DIGIT 'DOG WINNER
Texas State was +14,300 on the money-line at an offshore outfit vs. Houston, meaning 143/1 odds of winning the football game. UH had a new head coach and TSU dominated and there is nothing fluky about it as they led 14-3 and 27-10 at the half in their 30-13 win. They finished with a 443-326 edge in yards.
FRONT-DOOR COVERS
Texas Tech dominated New Mexico State with a 37-6 first down and 500-84 yardage edges yet they were laying 37 1/2 and only led 27-6 in the 4Q. They needed a td with 2:17 left to get ahead of the spread, 44-6. Backup QB Michael Brewer hit 10-13-122 and guided Tech to 17 points in the 4Q...
It was a tough beat if you had the Under (51.5) in the Minnesota/UNLV game last Thursday. The game was tied 13-13 with UNLV getting a FG with 2:30 left to send the game to OT. In the 3OT's, the two (which had combined for 26 pts in regulation) combined for 31 pts in the OT's to put the game Over the Total at 30-27!
NO FRONTDOOR COVERS
There were a couple games this past weekend were one team had a chance to cover in the final minutes and didn't get it done deep in the other team's territory. Utah was -42 and had a first down at the Northern Colorado 17 but gained 7 yards on their final 3 runs getting down to the 10 and only won by 41. Utah did have a 414-114 yd edge in their shutout win and a missed 27-yard field goal on the final play of the half was another key play...
Michigan State dominated Boise State with a 25-14 first down and 461-206 yardage edge. Generally, when a team has that kind of yardage edge, it amounts to a win by three touchdowns or more. Unfortunately, for MSU they gave up a 43-yard interception return for a touchdown and missed two field goals during the game. At the end, MSU had a FD at the Boise 14, which would have given them a push, a running back running into the EZ for a td would have given them a win, but the worst case scenario happened as they got a first down at the 4 and then just took a knee, only winning the game by 4, laying 6 1/2...
USC led Hawaii 35-0 in the second quarter and led 49-10 (-42). They had a first down at the Hawaii 24 but were stopped two years short of a first down the 16 with 2:11 left and would only win by 39. Coach Lane Kiffin had a little something to do with that as well as usual, when he opted to go for a two-pt conversion three times, failing on each and those missed three pts cost a push.
MISLEADING FINALS
Temple appears to have blown out Villanova last week 41-10 but VU actually had a 365-362 yardage edge and 18-15 first down edge. VU went on an 85 yard, 12 play drive and settled for a 21-yard FG, gave up a 58-yard interception return TD, another fumble set up a 24-yd score, they were short on downs at the Temple 29-yard line and ended the game inside the Temple 5.
LATE 1st-HALF SCORES = BIG 2nd-HALF
Brent Hundley's first touch as a UCLA QB was a 72-yard touchdown run as UCLA piled up 651 yards vs. Rice in the opener. RB Jonathan Franklin became the first player in LA history to have a least two rushes with 72 yards in a game with 74 and 78 yard td runs. UCLA did only lead 29-24 when they got a fumble return score with 17 ticks left in the h