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Nebraska lovers have witnessed this very scenario previously over the previous 4 seasons.

There had been the Texas and USC games in ’06, USC yet again in ’07, and then Virginia Tech last year in Lincoln, all with the same outcome – the “Nebraska not prepared for big players.”

The latest time the Huskers defeated a ranked team on the road was in November ’06, when Nebraska beat then-ranked number 24 Texas A&M, 28-27, in College Station.

But that was a distinct time, a different coach, and, more or less, different players.

Every person knows that when you face a Frank Beamer team you can expect nice execution on both ends of the field, plus remarkable play by special teams. They demonstrated that again in their 1st game this season vs. Alabama.

Alabama outperformed Virginia Tech by just about a two-to-one margin, however were only ahead by a FG late in the fourth quarter due to a kickoff runback for a score.

The distinct thing that Husker Nation has noticed with this year’s team is that the botched assignments and poorly executed plays have virtually disappeared. There is less thinking on the defensive side of the ball and as a result, more plays are being successfully executed because the athletes are reading and acting on this instead of thinking.

Head coach Bo Pelini now sees a franchise that entirely understands the significance of grinding it out.

This year, the team understands what it requires to be successful. It realizes what its identity is on both offense and defense.

I really do believe that the Huskers have finally turned the corner, and have the ideal athletes in the right positions pull off their first huge road victory in three seasons.

I forecast the Nebraska football team victorious in a low-scoring, tight game in OT by a three point margin.

Enjoy the best NCAA football forum and some great NCAA football pick em at RootZoo.

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.”

The Bulls’ defense limited West Virginia running back Noel Devine to just 42 yards-well under his-0 per game average. South Florida coach Jim Leavitt talked about his team’s priority of stopping Devine:

“We talked a lot about him. We didn’t want to let him get outside — we wanted to keep him hemmed up inside. … He’s such a great back. If he gets out, he’s gone.”

West Virginia coach Bill Stewart didn’t fault his team’s effort in the loss:

“There’s some young hurting guys in there, both physically and mentally. And they should be. That was a hard-fought game. I cannot fault our effort.”

West Virginia safety Robert Sands suggested that no one that the team had faced this season prepared them for the fast and athletic Daniels:

“We haven’t seen a guy like that this year, but at the same time that’s no excuse for our defense. We’ve still got to go out there and make plays. He broke contain too many times, and he burned us.”

South Florida will now have a bye week before playing at Rutgers on Thursday, November 12. They’ll return home to host Louisville and Miami the following two Saturdays. West Virginia will host Louisville next Saturday before playing at Cincinnati the following Friday.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on Super Bowl betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and Super Bowl odds sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

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The South Carolina Gamecocks offense didn’t look particularly sharp in their season opening contest at North Carolina State. Of course with the way their defense was playing, they didn’t have to be. Brian Maddox scored on a one yard run in the first quarter for the only touchdown of the game as the Gamecock defense completely shut down the Wolfpack offense en route to a 7-3 South Carolina victory. The win gave the Gamecocks their second straight season opening victory over North Carolina State–South Carolina won 34-0 in Columbia to start the 2008 football season.

College football betting enthusiasts who backed South Carolina cashed their tickets as the Gamecocks won outright as +5 road underdogs. Not surprisingly, the 10 combined points came nowhere near the post total of 48 for an easy UNDER.

The Gamecock defense held NC State to 11 first downs and just 133 yards of total offense. Nothing worked for the Wolfpack who were equally as inept running the football (59 yards) as they were passing (74 yards). After the game, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier gave credit for the victory to the effort of his defense:

Our defensive guys played their hearts out. Played good, solid football.

Spurrier has only lost once in his last twenty opening games (19-1). It marked the first time a South Carolina team had won a game while scoring less than 10 points since a 7-3 win over Memphis State in 1971. The Gamecocks defense shined in last years season opening win over the Wolfpack, earning a shutout with an uncannily similar statistical performance (10 first downs, 138 total yards).

North Carolina State head coach Tom OBrian pointed to the teams poor pass protection as the biggest liability:

We couldnt get anything going. And with our pass protection, we had Russell Wilson running around too much.

South Carolinas Stephen Garcia didnt put up stellar numbers himself, passing for 148 yards on 13 of 22 with an interception. Still, he picked up important first downs at the right time which enabled the Gamecocks to preserve the victory. Despite their offensive woes, the Wolfpack had a chance to go ahead late but a final drive stalled at the South Carolina 32 yardline.

Next up for South Carolina is a big game at Athens, GA against their hated SEC rivals the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, September 12th. Theyll have an easier assignment the following week as they open their home schedule against Florida Atlantic at Williams-Brice Stadium. North Carolina State will have a good chance at getting on the winning track next weekend as they host FCS/1-AA Murray State.

Ross Everett is a widely published widely published freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi completed a 7 yard touchdown pass to Marvin McNutt as time expired, allowing the Hawkeyes to take a 15-13 road win over Michigan State University and preserve their undefeated season. Trailing 6-3 at halftime, Iowa mounted a furious drive after Michigan State had scored to take a 13-9 lead with 1:37 remaining in the game. Iowa moved to 8-0 for the first time in school history for the win, and has won twelve straight games overall. Michigan State evened their record at 4-4 with the loss.

When you bet on college football you learn that you can’t count your money until the game was over and such was the case here as Iowa even managed to cover the pointspread as they won outright as +2 road underdogs. Iowa improved to 5-2 against the spread while Michigan State dropped to 3-4 against the number.

Stanzi threw three incomplete passes into the end zone before he hit McNutt with the game winner. There were 2 seconds left on the clock when the play began, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz commended McNutt on his effort to get open on the play:

“He made a nice break inside, made a great grab.”

Ferentz was also proud of the way his team responded after falling behind late on the road:

“It speaks to our players, the character that they have. They realized they still had time.”

Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio also praised his players for their tough defensive stand at the end of the game:

“When we scored at the end, I thought that we had it. I’m proud — not happy. Proud of the way our football team responded.”

The Hawkeyes became only the second team in Big Ten history to win at Penn State, Michigan State and Wisconsin in the same season. Michigan was the first to accomplish the trifecta when they did it in 1997.

Michigan State will take to the road next weekend for a game at Minnesota. They’ll host Western Michigan the following Saturday before playing away at Purdue on November 14. Iowa will play their next two games at home, starting with Indiana next Saturday. They’ll host Northwestern a week later before a big game on November 14th on the road against Ohio State.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on soccer betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

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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. Both teams are now 5-3 on the college football 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. The 37 combined points scored went UNDER the posted total of 43′.

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:

“We knew we had to get back to the drawing board. To come back and play the way we did definitely speaks volumes about our team.”

In the Hokies’ locker room, linebacker Cody Grimm spoke of his team’s need to regain their focus:

“I think the motivation is to come out here so you don’t feel like this again. Ten wins is one thing, but I don’t want to feel like this any more and the only way to do that is to win.”

Running back Ryan Williams felt doubly bad about the loss, as his late game fumble cemented the victory for North Carolina:

“As of right now, there probably isn’t really anything they can say to lift me up because regardless of what anybody says, personally I feel like I kind of took the game away from us today. It was on the line, it was in my hands and I fumbled.”

The Hokies will play against next Thursday night, heading to Greenville, NC to face the Skip Holtz coached East Carolina Pirates. They’ll play at Maryland on Saturday, November 15 before returning home a week later to host North Carolina State. North Carolina plays their next two at home, starting a week from Saturday against Duke. Miami will come in the following week before the Tar Heels hit the road to play at Boston College on November 21.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.