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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.

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.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance writer and noted 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 Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

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.

The Atlanta Falcons didn’t so much win their Sunday Night NFL Football game against the Chicago Bears as much as the Bears lost it. A series of costly mistakes and turnovers in the red zone negated an otherwise solid road effort for the Bears, as Atlanta held on to win 21-14 at the Georgia Dome. Chicago held a decisive edge in most of the statistical categories, but was undone by untimely turnovers. Atlanta improved to 4-1 with the victory while Chicago slipped to 3-2.

Chicago also disappointed fans who bet on NFL football by failing to cover the pointspread as +4 road underdogs. Both teams’ ATS records match their straight up records with the Falcons moving to 4-1 against the number while the Bears slumped to 3-2. The 35 combined points went UNDER the posted total of 46.

Winning Falcons’ QB Matt Ryan chose to credit his defense rather than point to Chicago mistakes as the determining factor in the outcome:

“Our defense, give them some credit. Our guys stepped up and made some plays when we needed them to.”

The Bears did a good job shutting down Falcons’ star running back Michael Turner holding the NFL’s second leading rusher to only 30 yards. He came through with the game on the line, however, rushing for the winning touchdown with just over three minutes remaining in the game. Ryan praised his running back’s effort:

“Our offensive line did a great job just giving me just enough time to get the ball off, and then Michael Turner did what he does. The offensive line provided a great push and just paved his way.”

The Falcons are now 4-1 for only the fifth time in team history, the last coming in 2004. Despite their solid start, they’re still trying to keep pace with the red hot New Orleans Saints who improved to 5-0 with their win over the New York Giants earlier in the day.

Atlanta can improve to 5-1 and break the mark for best start in franchise history with a win on the road at Dallas next Sunday. That’ll be followed by an even bigger road game, on Monday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints-a contest full of all sorts of implications for the eventual divisional championship in the NFC South. They’ll return home the following Sunday to host the struggling Washington Redskins. The Bears will be back on the road next weekend to take on the Cincinnati Bengals before returning home for games the following two Sundays against the Cleveland Browns and Arizona Cardinals.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance writer who covers travel, poker and sports handicapping. He is a staff handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, flower arranging and scuba diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.

Behind a career day for quarterback Matt Schaub, the Houston Texans erased a 17-14 halftime deficit to score– points in the second half and defeat the host Cincinnati Bengals 28-17. Schaub threw for 342 yards and 4 touchdowns against one interception in the solid road victory. Against a team that had won three straight games in the final seconds, Houston never gave Cincinnati the chance to create any late drama.

Houston took the money as +3′ road underdogs with the outright win, and both teams are now 3-3 on the season against the NFL pointspread. The 45 points just managed to stay UNDER the posted total of 46. The Texans have gone UNDER in 4 of 6 this season while the Bengals evened their NFL totals record at 3-3.

After the victory, Schaub said that his team knew of Houston’s penchant for late game comebacks and that ‘putting them away’ would be a priority:

“Every game went down to the wire for them. Credit goes to them because they were able to find ways to win those games. So it was a matter of putting the game away.”

The Texans’ taciturn head coach Gary Kubiak would only offer that:

“Matt continues to put up exceptional numbers on the road.”

The defense did a stellar job as well, shutting out the Bengals in the second half. In the third quarter, Houston only allowed six yards on nine plays for a franchise record. Cornerback Dunta Robininson talked about the defensive corps mindset:

“It was swarm tackling. Everybody has a job to do, and today we made this team a one-dimensional team. Overall as a defense, we played well.”

In the losing locker room, wide receiver Chad Ochocinco admitted that his team knew that they couldn’t rely on last minute heroics to win games:

“That’s our fault. We’ve been saying that we can’t keep winning with the way we’ve been playing. We’ve got to be consistent for all four quarters.”

The Bengals will play their next two games at home, starting with a contest against the Chicago Bears this Sunday. They’ll host the Baltimore Ravens the following Sunday before traveling to Pittsburgh for a game against the Steelers on November 15. The Texans host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. They’ll take to the road for the next two games, playing Buffalo on November 1 and Indianapolis the following Sunday.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He 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.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been playing the Cleveland Browns for longer than any other team in the National Football League, dating back to’50. And while it hasn’t been quite that long since the Cleveland Browns won a game against the Steelers it may be starting to feel like it. On Sunday, Pittsburgh won for the twelfth straight time dating back to 2003 as they topped Cleveland by a final score of 27-13.

The good news for NFL betting enthusiasts who took the +13′ with the Browns as a road underdog is that they managed to cover the pointspread by the slimmest of possible margins. Betting against the defending Superbowl champion is a long standing handicapping concept, and this season at least its worked like a charm-the Steelers have only covered one of their first six games. Cleveland, meanwhile, evened their NFL pointspread record at 3-3 on the season. The Browns have covered three straight after dropping their first three both straight up and against the spread. The 40 combined points went OVER the posted total of 37′.

Pittsburgh dominated the game in virtually every statistical category. They amassed 28 first downs to 12 for Cleveland, held a 543 to’7 total yardage advantage and a 36:46 to 23:14 time of possession advantage. Both teams turned the ball over four times, and the Steelers led only 17-14 in the third quarter. Most of the post game talk from both sides was about a controversial spot in the first half where the Steelers were given a first down on a short yardage play when it appeared that they didn’t make the required yardage.

After the contest, Derek Anderson spoke of the frustration of continually coming up short against the Steelers. The Browns have only one once in ten games since Pittsburgh moved into their new home at Heinz Field:

“We’re not trying to lose every time we go out here. We put tons of hours in and … it’s frustrating. Every single week, it’s frustrating.”

Steelers’ tight end Heath Miller said the team is happy to be where they are at this point despite not playing up to their standards:

“I think we haven’t played our best ball yet and that’s pretty comforting. We’ve gotten a few wins here without playing our best.”

The Steelers will host Brett Favre and the 6-0 Minnesota Vikings next Sunday. The Steelers are a -4 home favorite with the total set at 45. After a bye week, the Steelers will hit the road to play another undefeated team as they take on the Denver Broncos on Monday, November 9. Cleveland will host the Green Bay Packers this Sunday, with the Browns a +7 home underdog and the total set at 42′. They’ll head to ‘The Windy City’ to face the Chicago Bears the following Sunday and then have a bye week.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news 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 energy secretary Donald Hodell.