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If you take one thing out of the opening weekend of the college football season it’s that the teams had to work out some of the kinks. Unfortunately for teams like Oklahoma and (to a lesser extent) Ohio State those hiccups were prelude to an upset or pretty close to one.
There is a trio of clubs that could be caught not paying attention to the current task at hand. Let’s take a gander at them.
Children of the Corn…
Year 2 of the Bo Pelini era at Nebraska got off on the right foot with a cracking start by dumping the Owls as a 24 ½-point home favorite, 49-3. Roy Helu Jr. appeared to be more rolling stone than running back as he racked up three touchdowns and 152 rushing yards on 16 carries. The Cornhuskers’ defense came up big as well in holding Florida Atlantic to just four drives in which they moved the ball a total of at least 40 yards.
The majority of betting shops have expected more of the same from the ‘Huskers this week after listing them as 23 ½-point home faves against Arkansas State.
At first blush, you’d say that the Red Wolves don’t stand a chance. That’s a perfectly understandable thing to believe of another of the lowly schools of the Sun Belt Conference.
Arkansas State is coming off of an impressive 61-0 pillaging of Mississippi Valley State to open its schedule. The Wolves just ran down the Delta Devils’ throat, logging 53 total carries for 358 total rushing yards. Reggie Arnold accounted for 126 of those yards on the ground, with four touchdowns.
The Red Wolves’ rushing attack could help tire Nebraska down defensively. That’s not a good thing considering that Nebraska will no doubt be thinking of a trip out east to face the Hokies the following weekend.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the Cornhuskers have not covered two straight games when listed as at least 20-point favorites since the beginning of the 2006 campaign. It’s an awful high number for bettors to back in a look ahead spot.
Breaking in the New Digs…
Minnesota could be considered a darkhorse team in the Big Ten with Adam Weber under center, Erick Decker as the No. 1 wide out and Duane Bennett handling the rushing duties. The Golden Gophers needed all three players to come out on top against Syracuse to open the year with a 23-20 overtime win. Not a pretty win, but a win nonetheless.
Most sportsbooks aren’t putting much stock in the Gophers this week by making them as fairly standard four-point home favorites against Air Force.
You can’t fault the ‘books for doing what they did here with Minnesota. This team got outplayed by the Orange for a fair amount of its last game. Plus, this is the first game for the Golden Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium. There will no doubt be a few kinks to be worked out for Tim Brewster’s team since they’ve played their home games at the Metrodome. It will be interesting to see how they adjust to play in the open air atmosphere for home dates now after playing in controlled environments for so long.
The Falcons pose a threat to Minnesota since they possess a much stronger running game than the Orange. Last week, the Air Force racked up 474 yards on the ground versus Nicholls State.
This is a great test for the Gophers’ front seven considering they’ll be facing Jahvid Best and California next week. All Brewster can hope for is that Minnesota keeps focused on this week’s opponent.
Trouble on Rocky Top…
Lane Kiffin finally got a chance to back up all the talking he did during the summer as his Volunteers made mincemeat of Western Kentucky as 31-point home favorites, 63-7. We shouldn’t read too much into this win since this is the Hilltoppers’ first year as full fledged members of the Football Bowl Subdivision. Jonathan Crompton definitely likes Tennessee’s new offensive gameplan, completing 21 of 28 passes for 233 yards and five scores.
Now the Vols are ready for a spot of revenge with UCLA coming into Knoxville. UT got caught with its pants down when Rick Neuheisel’s side stole a 27-24 overtime victory as seven-point home pups last year.
The sportsbooks are expecting Tennessee to come up big here by making them an 8 ½-point home “chalk.”
While that number sounds about right, you know that this team is salivating for its meeting with the Gators in Gainesville the following Saturday. It’s entirely possible that this team could be looking ahead for that game. You should also know that the Volunteers are just 2-2 straight up against Pac-10 schools recently. Even worse is the fact that they are 1-3 against the spread.
You can reach Judd Hall via e-mail at judd@vegasinsider.com
