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Al DeMarco
Al DeMarco Saturday's Play 5 Dime Release - Tulsa
This is Tulsa's fourth road game in five weeks to open the season. The Golden Hurricane easily covered the first two, beating Tulane 37-13 laying 14 1/2 points, and rolling over New Mexico 44-10 as a 16 1/2-point chalk. The third game resulted in a blowout 45-0 loss in Norman against Oklahoma. But rather than dwell on that setback, Tulsa kicked off the home portion of its schedule last Saturday with a 56-3 pasting of Division 1-AA member Sam Houston State.
Last year the Golden Hurricane stopped Rice 63-28 at home in a contest where they were ahead by just seven points at halftime. But this year's edition of the Owls is much weaker and inexperienced than the 2008 crew. They're coming off a 36-17 home loss to Vanderbilt in which the Commodores amassed nearly 500 yards of total offense, including 216 on the ground. Rice is dead last in the country when it comes to total yards allowed per game with an average yield of 447 yards, and ranked 120th in the nation with an average yield of 44 points an outing. One of the team's biggest deficiencies is its non-existent pass rush, which has accounted for just five sacks in four games.
Rice enters this game with injury problems on offense. Quarterback Nick Fanuzzi missed the Vandy game with a sprained shoulder and might not play versus Tulsa. Neither senior J.T. Shepherd (6-for-14, 58 yards) or redshirt freshman Ryan Lewis (6-for-18, 64 yards) proved to be an adequate back-up against the Commodores last Saturday. And with one starting offensive lineman out and another whose availability is in doubt, the Owls might struggle moving the ball against a Hurricane defense that's held each opponent - with the exception of Oklahoma - to 13-or-less points a game.
Tulsa is on a 9-3 ATS run as a double-digit favorite, including a 2-0 mark this year with both victories coming on the road. Finishing first in Conference USA play is the team's goal this season, and with a bye coming up next before its big game with Boise State on October 14, the Golden Hurricane should be focused at the task at hand
Al DeMarco
Al DeMarco Saturday's Play 5 Dime Release - Tulsa
This is Tulsa's fourth road game in five weeks to open the season. The Golden Hurricane easily covered the first two, beating Tulane 37-13 laying 14 1/2 points, and rolling over New Mexico 44-10 as a 16 1/2-point chalk. The third game resulted in a blowout 45-0 loss in Norman against Oklahoma. But rather than dwell on that setback, Tulsa kicked off the home portion of its schedule last Saturday with a 56-3 pasting of Division 1-AA member Sam Houston State.
Last year the Golden Hurricane stopped Rice 63-28 at home in a contest where they were ahead by just seven points at halftime. But this year's edition of the Owls is much weaker and inexperienced than the 2008 crew. They're coming off a 36-17 home loss to Vanderbilt in which the Commodores amassed nearly 500 yards of total offense, including 216 on the ground. Rice is dead last in the country when it comes to total yards allowed per game with an average yield of 447 yards, and ranked 120th in the nation with an average yield of 44 points an outing. One of the team's biggest deficiencies is its non-existent pass rush, which has accounted for just five sacks in four games.
Rice enters this game with injury problems on offense. Quarterback Nick Fanuzzi missed the Vandy game with a sprained shoulder and might not play versus Tulsa. Neither senior J.T. Shepherd (6-for-14, 58 yards) or redshirt freshman Ryan Lewis (6-for-18, 64 yards) proved to be an adequate back-up against the Commodores last Saturday. And with one starting offensive lineman out and another whose availability is in doubt, the Owls might struggle moving the ball against a Hurricane defense that's held each opponent - with the exception of Oklahoma - to 13-or-less points a game.
Tulsa is on a 9-3 ATS run as a double-digit favorite, including a 2-0 mark this year with both victories coming on the road. Finishing first in Conference USA play is the team's goal this season, and with a bye coming up next before its big game with Boise State on October 14, the Golden Hurricane should be focused at the task at hand
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
10* Bookiekiller
USC vs. California
Play: USC -4.5
Although it suffered a melt-down two weeks ago against Washington, and one of the "spiritual leaders" of its team experienced a freak accident this past week, I believe that USC will outlast Cal in this one as I expect the Golden Bears to suffer a let-down after they had their worst defeat in eight years of coach Jeff Tedford's coaching regime at California last week. It's safe to say that USC's running back Stafon Johnson won't be playing in this one as he had emergency surgery to his throat after a weightlifting accident on Monday. Last week USC held the Cougars scoreless until giving up a touchdown with 22 seconds remaining in the game. The Trojans finished with 403 yards of total offense as freshman QB Matt Barkley, who’d missed the previous game with a bruised shoulder, went 13 of 22 for 247 yards and two TD's. The key for USC in this game will obviously be to contain Jahvid Best; the Trojans, who are holding opponents below 60 rushing yards per game in 2009, limited Best to 30 yards in a 17-3 victory over Cal last season. Southern Cal may only be 2-4 ATS its last six overall, but its 13-1 SU its last 14, 5-1 SU its last six on the road and 4-2 ATS its last six on the road vs. California. On the other side of the field: The Golden Bears had their six-game winning streak snapped last week with an embarrassing 42-3 rout at Oregon. After averaging 48.7 points in their first three games, they failed to score after Vince D’Amato’s 47-yard field goal gave them a 3-0 lead. The Bears managed just 207 yards of total offense - 77 rushing. Best was held to 55 yards on 16 carries after averaging more than 137 yards in the first three games; starting QB Kevin Riley was replaced in the fourth quarter after going 12 of 31 for 123 yards. I Look for Cal to fall to 0-6 SU vs. USC, to 3-7 ATS over the last three seasons off a loss against a conference rival and to 2-4 ATS the last two seasons when playing the roll of underdog. Bottom line: I feel there is tremendous value on USC as it rallies together on the field from its "off field" issues, and look for it build off last weeks convincing performance and to take advantage of the Golden Bears shaken psyche from last week's beatdown; expect USC to move to 4-1 ATS over the last two seasons as a favorite of 3 1/2 to 10 points, to 10-6 ATS over the last three seasons off a win against a conference rival and to 8-4 ATS over the last two seasons when playing against a team with a winning record!
10* Bookiekiller
USC vs. California
Play: USC -4.5
Although it suffered a melt-down two weeks ago against Washington, and one of the "spiritual leaders" of its team experienced a freak accident this past week, I believe that USC will outlast Cal in this one as I expect the Golden Bears to suffer a let-down after they had their worst defeat in eight years of coach Jeff Tedford's coaching regime at California last week. It's safe to say that USC's running back Stafon Johnson won't be playing in this one as he had emergency surgery to his throat after a weightlifting accident on Monday. Last week USC held the Cougars scoreless until giving up a touchdown with 22 seconds remaining in the game. The Trojans finished with 403 yards of total offense as freshman QB Matt Barkley, who’d missed the previous game with a bruised shoulder, went 13 of 22 for 247 yards and two TD's. The key for USC in this game will obviously be to contain Jahvid Best; the Trojans, who are holding opponents below 60 rushing yards per game in 2009, limited Best to 30 yards in a 17-3 victory over Cal last season. Southern Cal may only be 2-4 ATS its last six overall, but its 13-1 SU its last 14, 5-1 SU its last six on the road and 4-2 ATS its last six on the road vs. California. On the other side of the field: The Golden Bears had their six-game winning streak snapped last week with an embarrassing 42-3 rout at Oregon. After averaging 48.7 points in their first three games, they failed to score after Vince D’Amato’s 47-yard field goal gave them a 3-0 lead. The Bears managed just 207 yards of total offense - 77 rushing. Best was held to 55 yards on 16 carries after averaging more than 137 yards in the first three games; starting QB Kevin Riley was replaced in the fourth quarter after going 12 of 31 for 123 yards. I Look for Cal to fall to 0-6 SU vs. USC, to 3-7 ATS over the last three seasons off a loss against a conference rival and to 2-4 ATS the last two seasons when playing the roll of underdog. Bottom line: I feel there is tremendous value on USC as it rallies together on the field from its "off field" issues, and look for it build off last weeks convincing performance and to take advantage of the Golden Bears shaken psyche from last week's beatdown; expect USC to move to 4-1 ATS over the last two seasons as a favorite of 3 1/2 to 10 points, to 10-6 ATS over the last three seasons off a win against a conference rival and to 8-4 ATS over the last two seasons when playing against a team with a winning record!
