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Kent State rallies to stun Buffalo
November 14, 2019

KENT, Ohio (AP) Dustin Crum threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, Matthew Trickett kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired, and Kent State scored 24 consecutive points in the final eight minutes to beat Buffalo 30-27 on Thursday night.

Kavious Price - a 5-foot-6, 166-pound receiver - appeared to be stopped short on a third-and-7 with about two minutes left but dragged a defender to the line to gain and then on third-and-6 from the Buffalo 44 with 11 seconds to go Crum hit Price for a 17-yard gain to set up Trickett's winner.

Alex McNulty's 31-yard field goal with 11:18 left in the game gave the Bulls (5-5, 3-3 Mid-American Conference) a 27-6 lead but Kent State responded with an 11-play, 76-yard drive capped by Xavier Williams' 7-yard touchdown run less than four minutes later. Trickett then recovered his own onside kick and, two plays later, Crum hit Williams for a 41-yard score to make it 27-20 with 7:12 to play. Buffalo went three-and-out, Dante Cephas blocked the ensuing punt and Jeremiah Salaam recovered it at the 4. On fourth-and-goal Crum's 5-yard TD pass to Mike Carrigan made it 27-all with 4:52 remaining.

Jaret Patterson had 141 yards rushing on 30 carries for the Bulls. The sophomore, who ran for 1,013 yards last season, has 1,136 yards rushing this year and is the second player (James Starks) in program history with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.

Trickett made field goals of 23 and 33 yards in the second quarter.

Kent State (4-6, 3-3) had 172 of its 284 total yards, and 10 of its 18 first downs, in the fourth quarter.


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Pickett leads Pitt over UNC in OT
November 15, 2019
By The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) Kenny Pickett threw for 359 yards and a touchdown and ran for a pair of scores - including a 3-yard burst on the opening possession of overtime - as Pittsburgh held off North Carolina 34-27 on Thursday night to pick up its first win over the Tar Heels since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013.

The Panthers (7-3, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) kept their hopes of a second straight Coastal Division title alive when Pickett darted into the end zone to start overtime and the defense followed by forcing North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell to throw incomplete on fourth-and-16.

Pickett completed 25 of 41 passes and ran 12 times for 53 yards as Pitt ended a six-game losing streak to the Tar Heels (4-6, 3-4). Sophomore wide receiver Shocky Jacques-Louis caught three passes for 96 yards and a touchdown.

Howell finished 27 of 43 for 322 yards with three touchdowns and an interception for North Carolina as the Tar Heels rallied twice in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Antonio Williams ran for 107 yards and Dazz Newsome caught 11 passes for 170 and a touchdown.

Howell threw two touchdowns in an 88-second span to erase a 24-10 deficit. Pitt moved back in front on a 24-yard field goal by Alex Kessman with 5:18 to play but Howell responded by taking North Carolina 60 yards in 13 plays. Noah Ruggles hit a 32-yard field goal with 13 seconds left in regulation, setting the stage for another tight finish. All seven meetings between the schools as conference rivals have been decided by a touchdown or less.

Pitt, which entered the game second in the country in sacks, got to Howell five times, including a sack by Jaylen Twyman that pushed the Tar Heels back to fourth-and-long in overtime. Howell's lob to the end zone for Michael Carter fell well short and the Panthers poured onto the field in celebration.

The Panthers have relied heavily on Pickett this season, partly by design following the arrival of first-year offensive coordinator Mark Whipple, and partly out of necessity with the running game struggling to find anything resembling consistency.

Against the Tar Heels, Pickett found time to let loose. He completed passes of at least 25 yards to five different receivers, including a beautiful rainbow to Jacques-Louis midway through the second quarter that the sophomore wide receiver turned into a 74-yard touchdown that gave the Panthers a 17-7 lead.

In a series that's found a way to be both lopsided and tight at the same time - North Carolina's six victories came by a combined 26 points - the Tar Heels didn't go quietly. Howell's fearless play in the second half sparked a comeback that proved North Carolina is heading in the right direction in head coach Mack Brown's return.

BIG PICTURE

North Carolina: Howell can sling it. The freshman kept his poise despite being under heavy pressure most of the night. As he matures, the Tar Heels figure to be on the upswing. Still, North Carolina will need wins in each of its final two games to earn a bowl berth.

Pitt: Pickett's competitiveness is the main reason the Panthers have a shot at a rare Coastal repeat. He absorbed a pair of late hits on consecutive plays in the third quarter and took a series of shots yet kept getting back up.

UP NEXT

North Carolina: Tar Heels welcome Mercer in their home finale on Nov. 23.

Pitt: Travels to Virginia Tech on Nov. 23. The former Big East rivals have split their six meetings since Pitt joined the Hokies in the ACC.

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CFB NOVEMBER OPINIONS AND BEST BETS: ALL BASED ON 5 UNITS

DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

11/14/2019...........1-3-0..........25.00%...........-11.50
11/13/2019...........3-1-0..........75.00%...........+9.50
11/12/2019...........2-2-0..........50.00%............-1.00
11/09/2019........32-27-0..........54.24%...........+11.50
11/08/2019...........2-2-0...........50.00%...........-1.00
11/06/2019...........2-0-0.........100.00%..........+10.00
11/05/2019...........1-3-0...........25.00%..........-11.50
11/02/2019........29-28-0,,,,,,,,,,50.88%............-9.00
11/01/2019.......... 1-1-0 ..........50.00%.......... -0.50

Totals................73-67-0.......... 52.14%........... -2.50


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BEST BETS:

DATE........................ATS.............UNITS. ............O/U...............UNITS.............TOTALS


11/14/2019.............1 - 1..............-0.50.............0 - 2...............-11.00...............-11.50
11/13/2019.............2 - 0.............+10.00...........1 - 1...............-0.50.................+9.50
11/12/2019.............2 - 0.............+10.00...........0 - 2...............-11.00...............-1.00
11/09/2019............13 - 14...........-12.00............4 - 2...............+9.00...............-3.00
11/08/2019.............2 - 0.............+10.00...........1 - 1................-0.50...............+9.50
11/06/2019.............1 - 0.............+5.00.............1 - 0...............+5.00..............+10.00
11/05/2019.............1 - 1..............-0.50.............0 - 2...............-11.00..............-11.50
11/02/2019............12 - 16...........-28.00............8 - 4...............+18.00.............-10.00
11/01/2019.............1 - 0.............+5.00.............0 - 1................-5.50...............-0.50

TOTALS..................31 - 31...........-0.55...........15 - 15...............-7.50...............-8.05


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OCTOBER BEST BETS AND OPINIONS:
Totals...................142-133-0.........51.63%............-21.50

OCTOBER BEST BETS:
Totals....................73 - 57.........-79.30.............48 - 32............+36.50............-42.80

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Friday’s 6-pack

Five most experienced college hoop teams this season:

6) Hofstra

5) New Mexico State

4) Louisiana-Monroe

3) Seattle

2) Iona

1) South Alabama

Quote of the Day
“It’s almost impossible to win when you can’t count on getting three stops in a row at some point.”
Steve Kerr

Friday’s quiz
Where did Steelers QB Mason Rudolph play his college football?

Thursday’s quiz
Butch Davis was the Cleveland Browns’ coach last time they made the playoffs, in 2002.

Wednesday’s quiz
John Calipari has led UMass, Memphis, Kentucky to a Final Four.

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Friday’s List 13: Random stuff with weekend here……

13) So far this season, NBA road teams who played the night before are 17-9-1 ATS.

NBA teams playing the first of back/back nights are 19-24 ATS, the second night 22-17-3.

If the Clippers are playing back/back, find out which night Kawhi Leonard is playing, then go against them in the other game.

12) Browns 21, Steelers 7— Pittsburgh has had two games this year with no takeaways; they lost those games 33-3/21-7. They forced 25 turnovers in their other eight games.

An actual brawl broke out in this game with 0:08 left; Cleveland’s DE Myles Garrett hit Mason Rudolph with his own helmet, after he ripped it off the Pitt QB’s head. Then Steeler C Pouncey was punching/kicking Garrett in retaliation. Suspensions will result.

These teams play again in Week 13; that should be fun.

11) Michigan State 76, Seton Hall 73— This seemed like a March game; Myles Powell scored 37 for the Pirates. Unusual game; only two players on each team scored in double figures.

10) Penn State 81, Georgetown 66— Nittany Lions ran out to a 25-7 lead, made 13-29 on arc, and had an easy win here. Penn State shot better outside the arc than inside it.

9) LA Chargers are practicing in Colorado Springs for a few days, to help get them ready for the high altitude they’re going to experience Monday night in Mexico City.

Charger players didn’t seem too excited about it; Rams did this LY, but then that game was pulled out of Mexico and moved to the LA Coliseum because the field in Mexico was deemed unsafe to play on.

8) Baseball stuff:
— Atlanta Braves signed closer Will Smith to a 3-year deal worth $39M.
— Jake Odorizzi accepted a $17.8M qualifying offer from the Twins.
— Jose Abreu accepted a $17.8M qualifying offer from the White Sox.

7) Memphis Tigers’ freshman C James Wiseman has been ruled ineligible, probably won’t be playing in college anymore. He is expected to go very high in next June’s NBA Draft.

6) Ohio U has an interesting basketball team; they played eight guys in wins at St Bonaventure, Iona; six freshmen, two seniors. That only happens when you have a new coach.

Bobcats are the #335 experience team right now; their bench is playing minutes #347, but they’ve made 44.7% of their 3’s and they have two road wins. Good for them.

5) Only 2 of 12 Pac-12 teams (Oregon State/Wazzu) have lost out of conference- Colorado beat Arizona State over in China; the league is 23-2 SU out of conference. Still too early to tell, but is the Pac-12 having a resurgence?

4) Saint Mary’s gets a quality win on a neutral court over Wisconsin, then loses at home to Winthrop, negating the quality win. Not good.

3) Few years down the road, when Pete Alonso strikes it rich with his first huge contract, hope the Mets remember how they’re using his name to squeeze every last dollar out of their fanbase. In 2020, Alonso’s 2nd season, they’re having two Alonso bobblehead days:

March 28th – Rookie of Year bobblehead
June 20th – Custom Marvel Superhero bobblehead

2) San Francisco Giants hired Gabe Kapler as manager, a sign that they’re becoming more analytics-based. Thank the Lord I don’t have any Giants on my fantasy team; I had five Phillies on my team when Kapler took over there.

Lets just say it didn’t go well for those five guys, or me.

1) Golden State Warriors are 2-10 and headed towards the lottery; next year they’ll have Steph Curry and Klay Thompson back, plus a lottery pick, and they’ll be contenders again. Going to be a long winter for Steve Kerr, but it’ll pay off down the road.

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Big Ten Report - Week 12
November 13, 2019
By ASA

2019 BIG 10 STANDINGS

Team SU Conference ATS Over/Under

Illinois 6-4 4-3 7-3 4-6

Indiana 7-2 4-2 6-3 4-5

Iowa 6-3 3-3 4-5 2-6-1

Maryland 3-7 1-6 4-6 6-4

Michigan 7-2 4-2 5-4 6-3

Michigan State 4-5 2-4 2-7 4-5

Minnesota 9-0 6-0 6-2-1 6-3

Nebraska 4-5 2-4 1-8 4-5

Northwestern 1-8 0-7 2-7 3-6

Ohio State 9-0 6-0 8-1 4-4-1

Penn State 8-1 5-1 5-4 4-5

Purdue 4-6 3-4 6-4 6-4

Rutgers 2-7 0-6 2-7 4-5

Wisconsin 7-2 4-2 5-4 3-6


Week 12 Big Ten Conference Matchups

Saturday, Nov. 16

Indiana at Penn State (-14.5, Total 54.5)

Wisconsin (-14.5, Total 51) at Nebraska

Michigan State at Michigan (-13.5, Total 44)

UMass at Northwestern (-40.5, Total 56.5)

Ohio State (-53, Total 61) at Rutgers

Minnesota at Iowa (-3, Total 44.5)

Odds Subject to Change

BET NOW ON BIG TEN ACTION!

No. 24 Indiana at No. 9 Penn State (ABC, 12:00 p.m. ET)
How many people realize that Indiana has only one more loss than PSU on the season and the Nittany Lions lost their first game of the year last week? How many know that this team is now ranked (24th and 25th in the two polls) for the first time since 1994! Talk about a team that hasn’t really been in the limelight despite their 7-2 record. The Hoosiers only 2 losses came at the hands of Ohio State and Michigan State, a game that wasn’t decided until the final few seconds. All four of their conference wins have been against lower tier Big 10 teams (Rutgers, Maryland, Northwestern, and Nebraska) who have combined for 10-27 record. If you throw in the Hoosiers non-conference wins vs Eastern Illinois, Ball State, and UConn, they have not beaten a single team with a current record at or above .500. Their offense has been very good with only one team holding them under 30 points and that was Ohio State. They come into this game off a bye but not fully healthy. Starting QB Michael Penix was injured two weeks ago vs Northwestern and will miss the remainder of the season. As we’ve stated before in this report, IU basically has 2 starting QB’s as far as we’re concerned. Peyton Ramsey started last year for Indiana and has played in 7 games this year, starting 3 times throwing for over 1300 yards and completing 72% of his passes. Indiana closes out the season with game @ PSU, home vs Michigan, and @ Purdue. If they can win one more game to get to 8 wins, it would be the first time they’ve reached that win total since 1993. If they can pick up two wins getting them to 9, the last time this team reached that number was 1967.

Penn State came into last week’s game @ Minnesota ranked 4th in the first BCS poll of the year. Their stay in the top 4 will be short lived after losing 31-26 @ Minnesota last week giving the Nittany Lions their first loss of the season. How do they respond coming off their first loss of the year? Well they still control their own destiny in the Big 10 East. Win out including a game @ Ohio State next week, and the Lions are in the Big 10 Championship game. They better make sure they are not peaking ahead to their date with the Buckeyes or they might just get knocked off by an Indiana team that can score points. Penn State had their chances last week @ Minnesota including their final drive of the game which ended with Sean Clifford throwing an interception in the endzone with just a few minutes remaining. While they outgained the Gophs by 58 yards, 3 Clifford interceptions killed them with 2 leading directly to 14 points for Minnesota and the last one thrown in the endzone on PSU’s final drive as we stated above. The 8-1 Nittany Lions have been treading on thin ice actually getting outgained in 4 of their 9 games with 3 of their wins (Pitt, Michigan, and Iowa) all coming down to the final possession. They are coming off 4 consecutive big games (Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, and Minnesota). Can they bring it again mentally and emotionally for a fifth straight week vs a solid Indiana team?

Inside the Numbers: Last year Penn State was favored by 14 @ Indiana and pulled out a tight 33-28 win but IU outgained the Nittany Lions 554 to 417. To say PSU has controlled this series would be a bit of an understatement. They are 21-1 SU vs IU since 1980 with the Hoosiers only win coming in 2013. Penn State has been favored in EVERY game between these two since 1980 (13-9 ATS). Indiana is 3-1 SU and 2-2 ATS on the road this year. However, coming into this season the Hoosiers had won just 11 of their last 101 road games SU and they were 29-50-2 ATS their last 81 away from home.

No. 14 Wisconsin at Nebraska (Big Ten, 12:00 p.m. ET)
The Badgers were in a must win spot last Saturday if they hoped to stay in contention in the Big 10 West race. They played host to Iowa and squeaked out a 24-22 win. Wisconsin came in off a bye and off 2 straight road losses @ Illinois & @ Ohio State. Their running game wasn’t great in those 2 games (156 yards vs Illinois & 83 yards vs OSU) and they wanted to get back to dominating on the ground. They did just that rolling up a massive 300 yards on the ground vs an Iowa defense that was allowing less than 90 YPG rushing coming into last week’s game. It was an impressive rushing effort vs a Hawkeye defense that hadn’t allowed 300+ yards rushing since November of 2016. The final score was also probably closer than it should have been as Wisconsin dominated the stat sheet overall with 473 total yards while holding Iowa to 295. The Badgers led 21-6 entering the 4th quarter when Iowa started their run. The defense held Iowa short on a 2-point conversion after the Hawkeyes cut the lead to 24-22 with under 4:00 minutes remaining. The Wisconsin offense then went on a final drive of 8 plays and 62 yards to run out the clock closing the game on Iowa’s 11-yard line. With the win they still have a shot at the Big 10 West title. The Badgers need to win out and have Minnesota lose once before they meet to end the season. If that happens it will be a winner take all match up in Minneapolis. One key injury heading into their game in Lincoln on the defensive line where Nebraska native Bryson Willams, starter at noseguard, is out due to a leg injury. That means true freshman Keenu Benton starts in his place.

Nebraska has been disappointing to say the least. We felt they were drastically over rated entering the season with talk of them possibly being the top team in the Big 10. We were proven correct as they are in jeopardy of not making a bowl game period for the second straight season. With a 4-5 record, the Huskers will need to win 2 of their final 3 (Wisconsin, @ Maryland, Iowa) to get to bowl eligible and a .500 record. The Huskers come in rested here off a bye last week. Their most recent game was a road loss @ Purdue who was down to their 3rd string QB playing in the 2nd half. Nebraska led 20-17 when Purdue’s QB starter Plummer went out and they still lost 31-27. Starting QB Adrian Martinez returned from an injury to start @ Purdue and he was shaky at best. He’s definitely regressed this year after entering his sophomore year as potentially the top QB in the conference. Martinez has been inaccurate with many of his passes this year completing only 59% after a 65% effort last season. He’s already thrown 6 interceptions in just 185 pass attempts after throwing only 8 last year in in nearly twice as many attempts (347). The Huskers are getting outscored by 12 PPG in league play (average score of 33-21) and outgained 5.5 YPP to 6.0 YPP. Their only conference wins came @ Illinois by 4 points and at home vs Northwestern by 3 points. They are in a good situational spot here catching Wisconsin off a big win and the Badgers have dominated the Huskers winning 7 of the last 8 so a possible letdown game. Can the Big Ten’s 13th ranked rush defense (allowing 219 YPG in league play) slow down Wisconsin’s running game? That will probably be the key to giving them a shot at the upset.

Inside the Numbers: Wisconsin has dominated this Big 10 West series winning 7 of the 8 meetings since Nebraska joined the conference back in 2011. Last year the Badgers topped Nebraska 41-24 in Camp Randall but the yardage was almost dead even for the game. Nebraska has covered just one game this year and that was back in September vs Northern Illinois. The Huskers have won only 6 of their last 22 Big Ten Games SU (2-4 SU this season / 0-6 ATS). The Badgers have been one of the top road teams in the Big Ten winning 23 of their las 30 road games SU. They are also 24-12 ATS their last 36 road games.

Michigan State at No. 15 Michigan (FOX, 12:00 p.m. ET)
Michigan State enters their big rivalry game having lost 4 straight games. The first 3 were somewhat understandable as they were underdogs in each and facing some of the Big Ten’s best (Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State). Last week, however, they were coming off a bye and favored by more than 2 TD’s vs Illinois and lost 37-34. Not only did they lose, it was in devastating form. Sparty led 28-3 late in the 2nd half and 31-10 entering the 4th quarter where they had a win probability of 99% at that point in the game. Illinois scored TD’s on a 46-yard pass on the final play of the first half AND a 76-yard interception return with under 5:00 remaining in the game to cut the MSU lead to 1 point. The only time MSU trailed in the game was when the Illini scored with 5 seconds remaining for the 37-34 win. The Spartan offense that had scored only 17 points their previous 3 games combined had over 500 total yards and scored TD’s on 4 of their first 5 possessions. It looked like they had the game in hand but key mistakes with the big lead cost them. MSU QB Lewerke threw 3 interceptions and each was a huge momentum swing. The first was thrown in the endzone as they were going in to score and possibly make it 35-3. Another late in the first half with under 1:00 remaining led to an Illini 80 yard in 4 play TD drive with the score coming as time ran out in the first half. Lewerke’s final interception was the 76 yard pick 6 we mentioned above. Those were obviously game changing miscues. The Spartans once promising season has now gone sideways as they sit with a sub .500 record at 4-5. Their mental state has to be in question right now and we’ll see if playing the Wolverines can bring them back for one more all out effort.

While MSU was losing in unfathomable fashion last week, Michigan was resting on their off week. Their most recent game was 2 weeks ago @ Maryland. The Wolverines returned the opening kickoff for a TD in that game and never looked back on their way to a 38-7 win. Since their loss to Wisconsin back in late September, Michigan has win 5 of their next 6 games outgaining all 6 opponents. Their only loss was 28-21 @ Penn State and Michigan actually dominated the stat sheet in that one outgaining the Nittany Lions by 124 yards. Since allowing 35 points @ Wisconsin, the Wolverine defense has allowed a total of 77 points over their last 6 games (12.8 PPG). Offensively they have scored at least 38 points in 4 of those 6 contests. It’s safe to say they’ve gotten things back on track. The one exception might be their passing game. QB Shea Patterson is completing only 57% of his passes this year after completing 65% last year and he has topped 200 through the air only once in his last five games. If he can get in synch with his talent receiving corps, this team will be very good moving through the final month of the season.

Inside the Numbers: Michigan leads this series all time 70-36-5 SU but they have lost each of the last 2 times they faced Sparty in Ann Arbor. The road team has actually won the last 4 meetings outright. Going back to 2008, MSU has owned this series with a 10-1 ATS record. Dating back to 1980, the Spartans are 24-14-1 ATS in this rivalry. The last 6 times Michigan has been favored at home vs MSU, the Wolverines have covered once.

No. 2 Ohio State at Rutgers (Big Ten, 3:30 p.m. ET)
After OSU was favored at home by 43 points vs Maryland and won that game 73-14, we thought this line might open in the mid 50’s. It opened at -51 and we wouldn’t be shocked to see it move up before the week comes to an end. The total on this game is only 10 points higher than the spread at 61 which is crazy. Thus the projected final score on this tilt is 56-5. What else can be said about this Buckeye team. They are far and away the best team in the Big 10. Their average margin of victory in conference games only is +41. They are outgaining their Big 10 opponents by an average of 541 to 217 (7.2 YPP to 3.7 YPP). Last week they nearly had the 43-point spread covered by halftime sitting with a 42-0 lead over Maryland at the break. The Buckeyes had over 700 yards of offense outgaining the Terps by 321 yards on the ground AND by 245 yards through the air. They scored a TD on every first half possession and played most of their 2nd stringers the entire 2nd half. Maryland had a grand total of 2 offensive possessions that lasted more than 5 plays. Will OSU finally have a letdown game with Penn State & Michigan on deck? We won’t count on it.

Rutgers has actually shown a bit of offensive life the last few games. Albeit one of those games was against Liberty, but they’ve looked a little better on that side of the ball none the less. After scoring 48 points and beating a terrible UMass team to open the season, Rutgers went on to score just 30 total points over their next 6 games before meeting up with Liberty a few weeks ago. In that game they broke out for 44 points and then followed that up with 10 points @ Illinois which isn’t bad for this team that switched to the option offense when head coach Chris Ash was fired back in late September. The Knights had a bye last week and their 38-10 loss @ Illinois two weeks ago was actually a bit misleading. They were only outgained by 53 yards and 14 of the Illini’s 38 points were scored by their defense. Rutgers didn’t play that badly against an Illinois team that has now won 4 straight games. The problem here is QB Johnny Langan, starting now but was originally the 4th stringer, isn’t a good passer. In his 4 Big Ten starts he’s completed a total of 32 passes or an average of 8 completions per game. They need to be able to run the ball and OSU doesn’t allow that to happen giving up just 2.48 YPC. There is a chance Rutgers doesn’t score in this game but that still means OSU will have to potentially get to the mid 50’s depending on where this line falls at game time.

Inside the Numbers: As high as this number may seem, OSU won 52-3 last year in this match up which would have come very close to covering this year’s spread. The Buckeyes outgained Rutgers 580 to 134 in last year’s game. OSU is a near perfect 8-1 ATS this year with their only non-cover missing by just 3 points vs Florida Atlantic early in the season. Rutgers has covered just 2 games this season vs UMass and Liberty. The Knights have lost every Big 10 game this season by at least 28 points. OSU is favored by more than 50 on the road which is obviously a very rare situation. They have NEVER been favored by 50 or more on the road period. The last time a team in a Power 5 conference was favored by 50 on the road was in 1987 (Oklahoma @ Kansas). There have been just TWO times since 1980 where a road team was favored by -50 or more on the road vs any opponent. Both were in 1987 and the favorite each time was Oklahoma (@ Kansas & @ Kansas State).

No. 8 Minnesota at No. 20 Iowa (FOX, 4:00 p.m. ET)
The Gophers finally had their step up in competition game last week and came through with flying colors. PSU came to the Twin Cities as a 6-point favorite and the Gophers picked up a 31-26 win. The game ended with the Nittany Lions throwing an interception in the endzone as they were driving for the potential winning TD. This game was being billed as Minnesota’s biggest home game in a decade and they came out with an emotional first half. The Gopher dominated the first half leading 24-13 at the break rolling up 321 yards of offense in the first 30 minutes alone. After a high scoring first half, the two teams combined for just 20 points in the 2nd half (13-7 in favor of Penn St) and the script flipped with PSU piling on 223 yards in the final 30 minutes while holding Minnesota to 129 yards. The Gopher rushing attack really turned the corner about a month ago and coming into last Saturday they had topped 300 yards on the ground in 3 of their previous 4 games. That came to a screeching halt on Saturday as PSU defense shut them down with 121 yards on 40 carries. The way QB Tanner Morgan played, Minnesota definitely didn’t need to lean on their running game last Saturday. Morgan had just TWO incomplete passes in his 20 attempts, he threw for 340 yards and 3 TD’s with no interceptions. This isn’t the first time Morgan has proven he can carry the offense if the running game isn’t working. When they traveled to Purdue earlier this season, the Gophs ran for less than 100 yards but Morgan completed 21 of 22 passes for 396 yards. This is a diverse offense for sure. We’ll see how they respond on Saturday following their huge home game last Saturday. Their game vs PSU was their first big game of the season and one that Minnesota had been pointing to for quite some time. They have only played two road conference games this season @ Purdue and @ Rutgers. Going to Iowa on Saturday will be the most strenuous test of the season for this young team consisting mainly of freshmen and sophomores.

Iowa has been accustomed to tight losses this year and they went to the wire again last week and came up short losing 24-22 @ Wisconsin. It was the Hawkeyes 3rd loss of the season by a combined total of 14 points. It looked like they were in big trouble as they entered the 4th quarter down 21-6. At the time the Badgers scored late in the 3rd quarter to grab the 15 point lead, Iowa had just 144 total yards and 2 FG’s. From that point on (final few minutes of the 3rd quarter and the 4th quarter) Iowa rolled up 150 yards of offense and 17 points. With Wisconsin up 8 points and under 4:00 minutes remaining, Iowa scored on a 1-play 75-yard drive with QB Nate Stanley hitting Tyrone Tracy for the long TD. They had to go for 2 points and the tie but were unsuccessful and the Badgers were able to run out the final 3:12 of the game for the 2-point win. Iowa was without LB Christian Welch, their leading tackler, and it showed as UW RB Jonathan Taylor gashed them for 250 yards on the ground. It was definitely unchartered territory for this Iowa defense that had held 6 of their 8 opponents to less than 100 yards rushing and were allowing only 89 YPG rushing entering Saturday’s contest. The Iowa offense has long been conservative and that hasn’t changed this year. They have scored only 22 TD’s on the season (112th nationally) but they lead the nation in field goals made. In their four games vs their 4 best opponents this year (Wisconsin, Penn State, Iowa State, and Michigan) they have only 4 total TD’s and ALL of those game in the 4th quarter when the Hawkeyes were trying to make up a deficit. Last week’s game basically eliminated them from Big 10 West contention. How do they respond at home this week knowing they won’t be heading to Indianapolis for the Big 10 Championship game? It’s a big time rivalry game with the Gophs so we’d be surprised if Iowa doesn’t show up and play well.

Inside the Numbers: Iowa has won 4 straight in this rivalry including taking down Minnesota 48-31 on the road last year as 7-point favorites. The Hawkeyes have dominated this rivalry with a 26-11 SU record since 1982. The last time the Gophers went to Iowa City and won outright was back in 1999. Our in depth database goes back to 1980 and this is the lowest spread the Hawkeyes have ever had at home vs Minnesota. In fact, Iowa has only been favored at home by less than a TD just 4 times in this series in the last 39 seasons (4-0 ATS). The Gophs are a perfect 6-0 ATS in Big 10 play this season. Heading into this year, they were 6-11-1 ATS in Big 10 play dating back to the start of the 2017 season.

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Total Moves - Week 12
November 14, 2019
By Matt Blunt

College Football Week 12 Total Moves

These total selections have completely hit a wall, as it was another goose egg last week in the end. Cincinnati put up 48 points on Connecticut and we still couldn't get 'over' the 54.5 number, while Tennessee and Kentucky couldn't put up more then 17 points in either half in the 17-13 win for the Volunteers. Whether it's a bit of bad luck, settling on the wrong games for this piece, or a little bit of all of the above, it's time for this totals piece to get back on track.

YTD: 10-13 ATS

Week 12 Total move to disagree with:

Cincinnati/USF from 49.5 to 47

Not afraid to go back to the well with this Bearcats team 'over' a total despite it not cashing for me last week. There are a few more positives surrounding this 'over' play then there were a week ago, and in terms of both teams carrying their own weight this time, I don't think that will be a problem.

For one, USF is a much better offensive (and overall) team then Connecticut, and this Bulls offense should be able to move the ball. Yes, there have been a couple of offensive clunkers of late, scoring just 3 points in a blowout loss to Navy, and just 7 points last week in a loss to Temple for USF. But after scoring 10 points or less this year, USF has bounced back with 10, 55, and 45 points in three opportunities this season, and I like their chances to put up 20+ this week. The Bulls average 24 points per game as it is, and being at home never hurts in that regard.

Secondly, USF being at home automatically means the Bearcats are on the road, and that's where they have had some concerns defensively this year.

Cincinnati has allowed at least 14 points against in all four of their road games this year, and are 3-1 O/U away from home. The lone 'under' came because Cincinnati couldn't pull their own weight for 'over' bettors in a 42-0 loss at Ohio State, and it's safe to say that likely won't happen here. But the Bearcats defense which has just not been the same away from home, will make a few more errors in this game – against a USF team that's trying to become Bowl eligible – and that's the main factor for this play.

The Bearcats will get theirs offensively, as this team has put up 38+ in three of their last four games overall, and have only fewer than 24 points once all year – that shutout loss to the Buckeyes. Cincinnati should get well into the 30's as the majority of teams to beat USF this year have, and I do expect the Bulls to have a much better showing then Connecticut did for me against this Bearcats defense a week ago.

As a program, USF is on a 17-7 O/U run in their last 24 games against a winning team, while the Bearcats are on a 7-1 O/U run off a SU win of 20+ points, and 7-2 O/U after allowing fewer than 20 points their last time out as well. All of those trends in support of the high side, should get us to the payout window this week with a Bearcats 'over'.

Week 12 Total move to agree with:

Alabama/Mississippi State from 63.5 to 61
It's not stating anything new when I say that Alabama is a program that hasn't lost much in recent years, so when they do lose it tends to make headlines. But as bettors, we can use rare situations like that to backtrack and dig into the past to try and predict future outcomes, and that's where Alabama's loss becomes much more important.

Did you know that Alabama is 1-5 O/U in their next game following a loss since the start of the 2014 season. Now that run includes CFB Bowl losses where the “next game” is Game 1 next year with a different roster wearing Crimson Tide, but if you want to count losses where there is still a game to be played in the same year, the number goes to 0-3 O/U. Not any of those six contests in any counting scenario finished with more then 55 total points scored, and most of them were dominating blowouts where the total score finished in the 30's and Alabama's foes finished with less than 10. Any way you put it, that does not bode well for Mississippi State's offense this week.

And then when you look at the two most recent losses in that stretch where Alabama gave up 40+ in defeat – Game 1 this year after last year's 44-16 loss to Clemson in the Championship, and their September 2015 loss to Ole Miss (43-37) – the following games saw Alabama opponents put up 3 and 0 points respectively. Again not a good omen for Mississippi State's offense this week.

So historically, going low for an Alabama game after a loss has done well, and specifically regarding this 2019 team the scenario seems to make plenty of sense as well.

Alabama can rest Tua as much or as little as they deem necessary this week as this should be another easy outright win for the Tide regardless. Now, to have a shot at getting back into the Top 4 teams in the country, style points are going to matter now, and Alabama's always been a program that gets their style points from their defensive work. Beating teams 34-3 and 48-10 are Alabama type scores, not 64-34.

Furthermore, Alabama has held Mississippi State to 7 points or less in three of the last four years, and six of the last eight overall, so you'd better believe Alabama's defense will show up. If there is anything that history has taught us about Alabama off a loss, is that Saban always makes sure his defense is ready to ball that next time out on the field, and this game shouldn't be any different.

The average total score in those 6 games post-Alabama loss going back to 2014 is just under 35 points per game. While we should see more then that get put up in this game, I wouldn't expect to see more then somewhere in the low 50's.

BET NOW ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Other Notable Moves

Down
Fresno State-San Diego State: 44.5 to 42.5
Louisville-N.C. State: 58.5 to 56
Kentucky at Vanderbilt: 43.5 to 41.5

Up
Troy at Texas State: 61 to 63.5
Air Force at Colorado State: 61.5 to 63.5
Kansas at Oklahoma State: 65.5 to 67.5

[StarDust Bum]

Fresno State at San Diego State
November 13, 2019
By Matt Blunt

Fresno State at San Diego State
Venue/Location: SDCCU Stadium, San Diego, California
Time/TV: Friday, Nov. 15 (ESPN2, 9:30 p.m. ET)
Line: Pick 'em, Total 43.5

There is a big time Mountain West showdown this Friday, as the defending conference champions (Fresno State) hope that the can go out on the road and play spoiler to a San Diego State team that hopes it's there name beside the conference champion moniker by this year's end.

A win by the Aztecs would put them in the driver's seat in the West division before their big trip to Hawaii next week, while a loss would only add more tension and pressure. Feeling tension and pressure are two things not commonly associated with touching down on the islands of Hawaii, but should San Diego State fall this week to Fresno, it might be the beginning of the end for San Diego State's conference title dreams in 2019.

And after last week's play on the 'under' in the Washington/Oregon State game brought a no-sweat winner, hopefully the move over to the Mountain West conference this week can bring the same results.
Betting Odds: Fresno State vs San Diego State (pick'em); Total set at 43
This line has already seen significant movement on the side and total, as the total's come down from it's opener of 44.5, while it appears that there aren't many in the market looking to back the Aztecs, as their opener of -2.5 has only gone against them. And given that San Diego State struggled to get by UNLV as a -10 favorite two weeks ago, and then lost outright to Nevada (17-13) as -17 home chalk, it's not hard to see the reasoning behind wanting to go against San Diego State. After all, this is a team that averages just 20.8 points per game on offense this year, and winning consistently in college is rather hard with that type of point production.

For Fresno State, this was always going to be a type of “reloading” year for the program after they had so many valuable and talented upperclassmen lead them to a conference championship a year ago. The Bulldogs came into 2019 as a very young team, and having alternated wins with losses the past six games, the inconsistency in putting together a strong 60 minutes on a weekly basis is a sign of a young team. Following that patter would suggest a win for Fresno State this week, but at 3-5-1 ATS this year, it's not like they've been world beaters against the number either.

In terms of the total, the move downwards is always going to be expected for San Diego State games given how low scoring they tend to be. The Aztecs have only cashed one 'over' ticket in eight tries this year, and that game finished with just 48 total points. Yet, given the Fresno State love, this total going low isn't exactly correlated with that side, as Fresno's 7-2 O/U on the season and has only had one total close lower then 50 on the year. With all the Fresno State love that's already come in, you'd expect to see more support for the 'over', and that's just not the case. Therefore, from a side perspective, can San Diego be trusted to get the job done given that oddsmakers do expect their style of play to be the main form of action given the lower total?

If you are going to do one thing in college football, you'd better be able to do it good, and San Diego State's defense is THAT good. Yes, the results have looked rather ugly the past two weeks, but it's three straight weeks of holding foes to just 17 points, and they've held opponents at/below that threshold in seven of their nine games this year. The Aztecs are 6-1 SU in those seven games, so clearly they are doing something right, even with an offensive unit that's hard to watch at times. 20 points per game on offense has been good enough to go 7-2 SU overall so far, and with where the line is now, you've just got to worry about picking the winner.

One of the toughest situations for young programs like Fresno is always going up against a stout defense. The college game is built on higher scoring, back-and-forth type play because of talent mismatches, coaching mismatches, and/or more schematic breakdowns by younger guys still learning the game. San Diego State's defense just doesn't have those schematic breakdowns that opponents can count on to put up points and keep themselves in the game. That puts Aztecs opponents in a tough spot if San Diego isn't mistake prone themselves on offense, and I'm not sure this 2019 Fresno State team will be able to take advantage of that scenario.

Sure, San Diego State could look awful on offense at times, but if this game does turn out to be a 20-17 or 23-20 type game, who would you rather trust in that situation: Fresno State or San Diego State?

I believe you've got to back the Aztecs defense in that scenario every time out, and coming off an embarrassing loss as three-score home favorites, I do like the Aztecs chances to bounce back offensively as well. This Fresno State team is used to playing games where the first to 35 points win, and that's quite far from the realm of how this game plays out that the lack of comfort Fresno State will have because of it will start to show up early on.

San Diego State is already 1-0 SU and ATS after their other outright loss this year, and that 24-10 win over Colorado State was arguably their most complete win of the season. The Aztecs scored points in every quarter that day, and let the defense do what they do in quarters 2, 3, and 4 while San Diego State's offense put up majors in each frame to build a 24-3 lead. A garbage time score was conceded after that, and this week's home game vs Fresno should have a very similar script when it's all said and done.

Best Bet: San Diego State

YTD Record: 5-7 ATS

[StarDust Bum]

Key LA Tech football players to miss Marshall game due to suspension

Louisiana Tech will be without a trio of key players for Friday night's game at Marshall, two for longer.

Senior starting quarterback J'Mar Smith, junior wide receiver Adrian Hardy and senior outside linebacker James Jackson have been suspended due to an athletic department policy violation, according to a statement the school released Thursday night.

Jackson will only sit out the Marshall game while Smith and Hardy will serve a two-game suspension through next Saturday's pivotal C-West matchup at UAB where a spot in the league championship game could be up for grabs for the Bulldogs.

According to the team's new depth chart, redshirt freshman Aaron Allen will get the start at quarterback for Tech in a key conference game. It'll be Allen first career collegiate start. Graduate transfer Malik Stanley will start in place of Hardy at the X receiver position.

Allen has thrown just nine passes this year in four relief appearances, completing eight of them for 114 yards with a touchdown along with an interception. Getting his first start at Marshall, who owns one of college football's best home winning percentages, will be a tall order.


Smith, a three-year starter for the Bulldogs, has played an integral role in his team's hot, 8-1 start to the 2019 season. The Meridian, Mississippi native has completed 65 percent of his passes for 2,483 yards with 14 touchdowns to just four picks.

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Louisiana Tech at Marshall: 5 things to watch

RUSTON — Not that the game needed any more juice, but Marshall hosting Louisiana Tech, two of the top teams in Conference USA in their respective divisions, for the annual “75” game will ramp up the emotion, especially from the Thundering Herd sideline.

The task will be on the Bulldogs (8-1, 5-0), the lone undefeated squad in the league and owners of the conference’s longest active win streak at eight, to match the intensity when the game kicks off Friday night at Joan C. Edwards Stadium at 7 p.m. ET. Marshall will don the black jerseys and wear 75 on its helmet, a touching and fitting memorialization of the 1970 plane crash that took the live 75 members of the school’s football program.

The game can be seen on CBS Sports Network.

Tech could strengthen its vice grip on the West division lead with a win, and Marshall could regain the lead on the East side by beating the Bulldogs. The Herd would be tied with Florida Atlantic at 5-1, but they own the tiebreak over the Owls with a 36-31 win at FAU a couple of weeks ago.

Tech and Marshall (6-3, 4-1) have rarely met, this week marking just the third time the two conference foes have played. The most recent was a 26-23 Herd victory in the 2014 C-USA Championship Game in Huntington.

Here’s what I’m watching for as Louisiana Tech and Marshall square off:

Marshall TE usage vs. Louisiana Tech defense

Skip Holtz talked earlier this week about how Tech hasn’t seen an offense like Marshall’s this season. The biggest variation in what Doc Holliday’s offense does is the involvement of their tight ends in the passing game as well as what they add in run support. Redshirt senior Armani Levias serves as the Thundering Herd’s leading receiver with 39 grabs for 442 yards and three touchdowns, while fellow tight end Xavier Gaines ranks second on the team in catches with 23 and has 276 yards with two scores.

Defensive coordinator Bob Diaco and his defense will counter with more muscle, rolling out four linebackers when facing multiple tight end formations. Willie Baker and Ezekiel Barnett must play a vital role in limiting Levias and Gaines in the passing game.

Louisiana Tech O-Line vs. Marshall pass rush
Aggression has been one of things that stuck out to Holtz and his offensive staff from film of Marshall’s defense. Captained by the defensive end pair of Darius Hodge and Marquis Couch, the Herd rank eighth nationally in sacks with 32 through nine games this year. In the four games — all wins for Marshall — the defensive front has applied steady pressure on quarterbacks, recording 22 hurries.


The good news for Tech quarterback J’Mar Smith is his offensive line has been in tact all year and have done a solid job in protection. The offensive line has allowed 18 sacks this year, just two per game, but the unit’s ability to keep Smith upright and out of trouble will be key for the Bulldogs in Huntington.

Red zone, best zone

It’s no secret at this point that Louisiana Tech’s defense gives up plenty of yards between the 20s. In fact, you could argue it’s become the identity. Tech gives up 391 yards per game and the pass defense ranks 100th in FBS at 255 yards in yards allowed. But as we’ve seen all season, racking up the yards are one thing, but scoring on the Bulldogs in the red zone is a chore. Teams score just 60% of their trips inside the 20-yard line, the third-best clip in the nation for Tech.

And Marshall struggles to punch it in once they venture inside the red zone, scoring 76 percent of the time which is 107th in the country.

Justin Henderson vs. Marshall rush defense

Redshirt junior running back Justin Henderson has been the much-needed surprise for Louisiana Tech’s offense this year. Starting the season as the third-string tailback, Henderson vaulted to the top of the depth chart and seized the opportunity. In his last six games, the bruising back has piled up 14 rushing touchdowns while averaging 6.5 yards per carry, which is tops in C-USA and 30th nationally. He’s got three 100-yard rushing performances.

Marshall’s rush defense has been consistently good the past couple of seasons. The Herd have allowed a 100-yard rusher just three times in their last 23 games — they’re 2-1 in those instances. Also, Holliday’s defense has limited the big plays in the run game, as running backs have broken runs of 50-plus yards just twice in 27 games.

Staying hot in the cold

The Bulldogs have been hot, winning eight straight for the team’s best start to a season since 2012. That year, Tech opened up 10-1, but dropped its final two games for a disappointing finish. Louisiana Tech will look to stay hot at Marshall where the weather will be a balmy 36 degrees at kickoff.

Louisiana Tech (8-1, 5-0) at Marshall (6-3, 4-1)

Kickoff: 6 p.m. CT

Location: Joan C. Edwards Stadium

Watch: CBS Sports Network

Listen: KXKZ 107.5 FM (Ruston)

[StarDust Bum]

by: Monty Andrews


TECH-NICAL DIFFICULTIES

Louisiana Tech is enjoying a sensational season – but a big test became massive as the Bulldogs visit the Marshall Thundering Herd in a battle of Conference USA elite on Friday night.

Senior starting quarterback J'Mar Smith, junior wide receiver Adrian Hardy and senior outside linebacker James Jackson have been suspended due to an athletic department policy violation, according to a statement the school released Thursday night and will miss the game against Marshall.

Redshirt freshman Aaron Allen will get the start at quarterback for Louisiana Tech. Allen has thrown just nine passes this season, but has completed eight of them for 114 yards with a touchdown and a pick.


TRAMPLED BY THE HERD?

Marshall boasts one of the most imposing defensive units in the country, coming into Week 12 ranked sixth in the nation in sacks per game (3.56). But while the Bulldogs have faced lesser opposition en route to an 8-1 SU mark, their offensive line has fared well, allowing just 18 sacks through their first nine games while limiting opponents to just 4.56 tackles for loss per game – the 18th-best rate in the country.

That unit will have to be at the top of their game if they want to make life easy for their redshirt freshman quarterback in this one.

Louisiana Tech was rolling, having won eight straight games while covering the previous four and averaging better than 38 points per game on the season. But it's hard to see them getting to their team total of 24.5 while missing those key pieces on offense.


TOO LOW?

The total for Friday's Mountain West encounter between Fresno State and host San Diego State looks awfully low – and that might mean profit potential for Over bettors. The Bulldogs head to SDCCU Stadium riding a five-game Over stretch during which they've seen an average of 74.6 points scored, and should make things difficult on an Aztecs defense ranked in the top-10 in total defense (277.2 yards allowed per game), run defense (65.4) and scoring defense (14.4 points per game against). Fresno State has also struggled to get to the quarterback (12 sacks in nine games), which should bolster SDSU's scoring chances.

San Diego State might be one of the top Under options in the country (1-8 O/U), but Fresno State is talented enough on offense and mediocre enough on defense to lead this one past the number.


"WAIT AND SEE" ON WAN'DALE

The Nebraska Cornhuskers might have to go into Saturday's daunting home encounter with Wisconsin without one of their top offensive options. Running back Wan'Dale Robinson suffered an undisclosed injury in the Huskers' Nov. 2 loss to Purdue, and he remains in doubt even with Nebraska coming off a bye week. Huskers offensive coordinator Troy Walters says the team is in "wait and see mode" on Robinson, and the freshman might ultimately be a game-time decision. Robinson ranks third on the team in rushing yards (326) and second in receiving yards (453) while racking up five touchdowns.

Nebraska is already in tough against one of the stoutest defenses in the nation – and with Robinson's status unclear, we're leaning even more heavily toward the Under on the Cornhuskers' team total.


TROJANS ON THE MEND

A pair of USC running backs are nearing a return to action. Both Vavae Malepeai and Stephen Carr returned to practice this week; Malepeai hasn't played since mid-October after undergoing knee surgery, while Carr has missed the previous three games while dealing with a hamstring injury. While their return to practice is a positive step, it's unclear whether either player will be in uniform for the Trojans' Saturday tilt with the host Cal Golden Bears. The Trojans have gone 2-1 SU in their past three games despite the absences of Malepeai and Carr, but are averaging just 3.46 yards per carry in that span.

The return of either Malepeai or Carr (or both) will assuredly bolster USC's sagging run game, which would coincide nicely with the Golden Bears' defense struggling to contain opposing offenses. We favor the Trojans to cover in this one.

[StarDust Bum]

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

LT at MRSH 07:00 PM

MRSH -6.5

U 54.0


FRES at SDSU 09:30 PM

SDSU -1.0

O 43.5

[StarDust Bum]

Green, Knox lead Marshall past La Tech 31-10
November 15, 2019

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) Isaiah Green and Brenden Knox accounted for two touchdowns apiece and Marshall handed Louisiana Tech its first Conference USA loss 31-10 on Friday night.

Green was 14-of-26 passing for 213 yards with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Willie Johnson and added a rushing touchdown. Knox rushed for 113 yards on 25 carries and scored twice.

The Herd (7-3, 5-1), who won their fifth straight, moved into a tie with Florida Atlantic atop the East standings. The Bulldogs (8-2, 5-1), who hadn't lost since falling to Texas in their season opener, are a half-game ahead of Southern Mississippi in the West.

Louisiana Tech opened the scoring with a 5-yard run by Justin Henderson, but a field goal and the touchdown pass put Marshall on top in the second quarter. In the final minute of the first half, Kevin Murphy recovered a fumble by Brady Farlow at the La Tech 1 and Knox punched it in with 40 seconds to go for a 17-7 lead.

The Bulldogs kicked a field goal in the third quarter but that was all they could manage.


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SAN DIEGO ST. 17, FRESNO ST. 7

[StarDust Bum]

CFB NOVEMBER OPINIONS AND BEST BETS: ALL BASED ON 5 UNITS

DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

11/15/201.............3-1-0..........75.00%..........+9.50
11/14/2019...........1-3-0..........25.00%...........-11.50
11/13/2019...........3-1-0..........75.00%...........+9.50
11/12/2019...........2-2-0..........50.00%............-1.00
11/09/2019........32-27-0..........54.24%...........+11.50
11/08/2019...........2-2-0...........50.00%...........-1.00
11/06/2019...........2-0-0.........100.00%..........+10.00
11/05/2019...........1-3-0...........25.00%..........-11.50
11/02/2019........29-28-0,,,,,,,,,,50.88%............-9.00
11/01/2019.......... 1-1-0 ..........50.00%.......... -0.50

Totals................76-68-0.......... 52.77%........... +7.00


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BEST BETS:

DATE........................ATS.............UNITS. ............O/U...............UNITS.............TOTALS

11/15/2019.............2 - 0.............+10.00...........1 - 1...............-0.50................+9.50
11/14/2019.............1 - 1..............-0.50.............0 - 2...............-11.00...............-11.50
11/13/2019.............2 - 0.............+10.00...........1 - 1...............-0.50.................+9.50
11/12/2019.............2 - 0.............+10.00...........0 - 2...............-11.00...............-1.00
11/09/2019............13 - 14...........-12.00............4 - 2...............+9.00...............-3.00
11/08/2019.............2 - 0.............+10.00...........1 - 1................-0.50...............+9.50
11/06/2019.............1 - 0.............+5.00.............1 - 0...............+5.00..............+10.00
11/05/2019.............1 - 1..............-0.50.............0 - 2...............-11.00..............-11.50
11/02/2019............12 - 16...........-28.00............8 - 4...............+18.00.............-10.00
11/01/2019.............1 - 0.............+5.00.............0 - 1................-5.50...............-0.50

TOTALS..................33 - 31...........+9.00...........16 - 16...............-8.00...............+1.00


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OCTOBER BEST BETS AND OPINIONS:
Totals...................142-133-0.........51.63%............-21.50

OCTOBER BEST BETS:
Totals....................73 - 57.........-79.30.............48 - 32............+36.50............-42.80

[StarDust Bum]

Saturday’s 6-pack

Five least experienced college hoop teams this season:

6) South Carolina-Upstate

5) Virginia Tech

4) Central Connecticut

3) Incarnate Word

2) Utah

1) Memphis

Quote of the Day
“The Browns won the game, but it’s kind of what’s been biting them in the backside throughout this year and throughout the last few years is just lack of self-control and discipline. This to me, this comes back to coaching. This falls squarely right on the head coach because the head coach talks to every assistant coach, who then talks to their group of players. There’s an old saying in coaching, ‘You’re either coaching it or you’re allowing it to happen.'”
Todd Haley

Saturday’s quiz
Who was coach of the Cleveland Browns at the start of the 2018 season?

Friday’s quiz
Steelers QB Mason Rudolph played his college football at Oklahoma State.

Thursday’s quiz
Butch Davis was the Cleveland Browns’ coach last time they made the playoffs, in 2002.

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Saturday’s List of 13: Clearing out cluttered mind……

13) Browns’ DE Myles Garrett was suspended indefinitely (minimum of 6 games) by the NFL after the fracas at the end of the Browns’ game with Pittsburgh Thursday night.

Cleveland DT Larry Ogunjobi was also suspended for a game; Pittsburgh’s center Maurkice Pouncey was suspended for three games.

12) Shaky programming move by ESPN, putting the UNC-Pitt game on Thursday night, same time the Steelers were playing. Wednesday or Friday would’ve worked better.

11) Pittsburgh Pirates hired former Red Sox GM Ben Cherington as their new GM, then fired assistant GM Kyle Stark. Cherington was GM in Boston when they won the 2013 World Series, but got the boot two years later- they’re not real patient in Boston.

Cherington’s first job is probably to hire a manager, seeing how the Pirates don’t have one yet after they fired Clint Hurdle.

10) West Virginia 68, Pittsburgh 53— ESPNU’s analyst for this game was Chris Spatola, who is Mike Krzyzewski’s son-in-law. Pitt is coached by former Dukie Jeff Capel; they did couple of segments during the game where they showed Pitt’s new locker room, it was like a Pitt Panther infomercial, geared towards recruits.

Meanwhile, West Virginia has a big kid named Oscar Tshiebwe who dominated the game inside, with 20 points, 17 rebounds in his second college game. Mountaineers have won four in a row over Pitt for first time since 1977.

9) Rhode Island 93, Alabama 79— Solid win for the A-14, with URI forcing 22 turnovers (+10).

8) Gonzaga 79, Texas A&M 49— Zags are this generation’s version of the Jerry Tarkanian UNLV teams; a national power that dominates a mid-major league in January-February, and uses pre-conference play to test itself in games like this. Aggies shot 30.4% from floor in this game.

7) NFL stuff:
— Lions’ QB Matthew Stafford (back) is out again this week.
— Vikings’ WR Adam Thielen (hamstring) is out again this week.
— Eagles put RB Darren Sproles on IR, ending his season.

6) NBA stuff:
— Nets’ F Caris LeVert (thumb) will likely miss 4-6 weeks.
— Hawks’ F Kevin Huerter (shoulder) is out two weeks.

5) A few over/under numbers for CONFERENCE wins in college hoop:
— Colorado 11.5
— Duke 15
— Gonzaga 14
— UNLV 9
— Utah State 14
— Villanova 11.5

4) California Golden Bears QB Chase Garbers has been cleared to return and will start in Saturday’s home game vs. USC.

3) James Holzhauer, who won $2.46M during a 32-game winning streak on Jeopardy! last spring, won the show’s Tournament of Champions during Friday’s episode, taking the $250,000 first prize.

2) Duquesne 58, Lipscomb 36— These teams combined to make 1 of 40 3-pointers.

Let me repeat that; these teams took 40 3-pointers, and made ONE!!! No bueno.

1) Celtics 105, Warriors 100— Golden State played its heart out, but lost their 6th game in a row and is now 2-11 in this lost season.

[Udog]

Saturday's Essentials - Week 12
Tony Mejia

Here’s a look at what must be considered before wagering on Saturday's slate in select FBS vs. FBS matchups:

Afternoon Delights

Georgia (-3/42) at Auburn, 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS: The Tigers hope Jordan-Hare can help produce victories over the Dawgs and Crimson Tide this month, but need to get more out of freshman Bo Nix, who has had an uneven first season at the controls. If Gus Malzahn’s impressive streak of regular-season wins coming off a bye reaches 12, he’ll need to find a way to solve a Georgia defense that has blanked two of their last three opponents and should be ready for its toughest remaining challenge until a potential SEC Championship matchup with LSU. The week off gave RB JaTarvious “Boobee” Whitlow time to heal up from arthroscopic knee surgery so he’s expected close to 100 percent. DE Marlon Davidson and safety Jeremiah Dinson will also be available, so the Tigers are as healthy as they’ve been all season. Georgia is pretty healthy too, and has kept QB Jake Fromm from being sacked more effectively than any team in the country with the exception of Air Force.

Texas at Iowa State (-7/65), 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS: The Cyclones have lost four games by a combined margin of 11 points and are heavily favored over the Longhorns despite back-to-back losses. This spread is definitely a bit of an eyebrow raiser when you consider the athletes Tom Herman has recruited to Austin and the fact they’re still firmly in the mix for a Big 12 Championship game berth. The Longhorns will have to overcome Jalen Green’s suspension for targeting in the first half and are hoping Chris Brown can return from an arm injury to help offset that absence. Brock Purdy has been terrific after a slow start and has now thrown 20 touchdowns on the season and should eclipse 3,000 yards for the season here. Texas QB Sam Ehlinger helped beat K-State 27-24 with a 13-play game-winning drive last week and should be a handful for a Cyclones defense that just had to deal with Jalen Hurts for four quarters.

Minnesota at Iowa (-3/44.5), 4 p.m. ET, ABC: The Hawkeyes have come up 0-for-3 against ranked opponents but have mate late pushes in games against Michigan, Penn State and Wisconsin, so they haven’t worn down physically. They’re favored over the Gophers despite losing 51-14 in Minneapolis last season. The Gophers are looking to avoid a fifth straight loss in the series and haven’t won since in Iowa City since 1999, dropping eight consecutive matchups there. Coming off an upset of Penn State in which QB Tanner Morgan completed 90 percent of his passes in a national coming out party, Minnesota will need to run the football effectively against Iowa to win back the Floyd of Rosedale in one of the day’s biggest games.

Primetime Matchups

LSU (-21.5/66) at Ole Miss, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN: The Tigers hit the road again looking to avoid a letdown after last week’s immense conquest of Alabama. The home team has won five of six in the series, but LSU has won the last three matchups by a combined margin of 123-61. Ed Orgeron has dominated against his former employer and has the best offense he’s had by a wide margin with Heisman frontrunner Joe Burrow dominating and separating himself as the nation’s top quarterback after 457 yards and three scores in Tuscaloosa. After being treated like heroes upon their return to Baton Rouge, it will be interesting to see how the Tigers handle a trip to Oxford. Ole Miss snapped a three-game losing streak with a 41-3 rout of New Mexico State and will be playing their final home game of the season. In order to reach a bowl, the Rebs have to pull off this upset and win the Egg Bowl in Starkville on Thanksgiving night. Freshman John Rhys Plumlee took most of the snaps at QB last week and appears to have moved far ahead enough of redshirt freshman Matt Corral that most anticipate he’ll wind up transferring..

Oklahoma (-10.5/68) at Baylor, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC: The Sooners and Bears may meet again in the Big 12 Championship, but it’s Oklahoma that most needs this win. Despite a loss at Kansas State to close out October, Oklahoma remains ahead of unbeaten Baylor in the CFP rankings and will look to get back into the national title race despite their hiccup. Last week’s 42-41 win over Iowa State saw the Sooners outscored 20-0 in the fourth quarter so there is no chance they’ll arrive in Waco overconfident. More offensive line changes are likely to be necessary since tackle Adrian Ealy is uncertain to play. Safety Robert Barnes is questionable and standout tight end Grant Calcaterra remains out. Baylor QB Charlie Brewer is fun to watch and competes hard, so hopefully he’s able to hold up physically through this one. In senior WR Denzel Sims, he’ll have one of the nation’s most dynamic receivers to try and do damage. Oklahoma scored 66 points in last year’s win, doubling up the Bears. Baylor’s last win in the series came in 2014.

UCLA at Utah (-21/52), 8 p.m. ET, FOX: With a visit to Arizona and a home game against Colorado on tap after this one, the Utes look like a good bet to finish as Pac-12 South Division champs if they can get past the Bruins here. That means USC is stuck pulling for its rival since it owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with Utah and would therefore control its own destiny in next week’s matchup. UCLA has won three straight games and can get back to .500 after opening 0-3 and dropping five of their first six. The Bruins are 2-1 against ranked opponents and coming in off a bye week but haven’t beaten a Top-10 team since 2010. Dorian Thompson-Robinson has thrown multiple touchdown passes in each of his team’s last three wins but will need to make plays with his legs to keep drives alive against the stingy Utes. UCLA WR Kyle Phillips is expected to play but Theo Howard has been lost for the season, so we’ll see if the Bruins have enough depth at the skill positions to flirt with an upset. Bruins RB Joshua Kelley leads the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game (107.6). Utah leads the country in rushing defense (56.0) and has allowed just 12.2 points per contest. Temperatures are supposed to be in the 40s throughout this one.

Late Night Snacks

Arizona at Oregon (-27.5/68), 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN: The Ducks can only take care of the business in front of them and hope it ends up rewarded with a CFP invite since they close against the ‘Cats, Sun Devils and Beavers. They’ll be heavy favorites in all three games and will get either Utah or USC in the Pac-12 Championship, so style points would serve them well. The Wildcats are nearly a four-touchdown underdog despite winning last year’s meeting 44-15 in Tucson. Khalil Tate has only finished one of his last four starts and has thrown eight interceptions, which is one reason Kevin Sumlin has given freshman Grant Gunnell more time. The Ducks are preparing to see both and will have RBs CJ Verdell and Cyrus Habibi-Likio in the lineup behind Justin Herbert. Oregon has averaged over 44 points per game over its last four games. The ‘over’ has connected in their last three contests.

USC (-4.5/47.5) at California, 11 p.m. ET, FS1: The big news here is the Bears getting QB Chase Garbers after being sidelined for the past month-plus due to an upper body injury. Cal’s offense has been difficult to watch without Garbers, who had thrown for nearly 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns prior to being injured against Arizona State. Garbers was at the helm for last season’s 15-14 upset of the Trojans that ended a 14-game losing streak for the Bears in the series. USC won in Berkeley 30-20 in 2017 and will lean on freshman QB Kedon Slovis, who threw for 297 yards and four touchdowns in a quarter against Arizona State last week and has really gotten great chemistry going with his talented receiving corps. Senior Tyler Vaughns is listed as questionable. Cal is playing its final home game of the season. Last year’s team lost their finale at Memorial Stadium to Stanford.

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

TULN at TEM 12:00 PM
TEM +6.0
O 54.0

TCU at TTU 12:00 PM
TCU -3.5
U 54.0

MASS at NW 12:00 PM
MASS +38.0

IND at PSU 12:00 PM
IND +15.0
O 55.0

WIS at NEB 12:00 PM
WIS -14.0
U 50.0

MSU at MICH 12:00 PM
MICH -13.5
U 44.5

FLA at MIZZ 12:00 PM
MIZZ +6.5

ALA at MSST 12:00 PM
MSST +18.5

VMI at ARMY 12:00 PM
ARMY -35.5

KU at OKST 12:00 PM
OKST -17.5

ALST at FSU 12:00 PM
FSU -41.0

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LATE AFTERNOON GAMES:

UTEP at UAB 01:00 PM
UAB -15.0

NAVY at ND 02:30 PM
ND -7.0
O 54.5

IDST at BYU 03:00 PM
U 58.5

CC at ARST 03:00 PM
ARST -13.5

ULM at GASO 03:00 PM
U 57.5

TROY at TXST 03:00 PM
TROY -7.5

WVU at KSU 03:30 PM
KSU -14.0

OSU at RUTG 03:30 PM
OSU -52.5

MEM at HOU 03:30 PM
HOU +10.5

UK at VAN 03:30 PM
UK -10.0

UGA at AUB 03:30 PM
AUB +3.0
U 43.0

TEX at ISU 03:30 PM
ISU -7.0

CMU at BALL 03:30 PM
CMU +1.5

WAKE at CLEM 03:30 PM
CLEM -34.5

VT at GT 03:30 PM
VT -6.0
O 51.5

SYR at DUKE 04:00 PM
DUKE -9.5

HAW at UNLV 04:00 PM
HAW -6.5
O 72.5

WYO at USU 04:00 PM
WYO +4.5

IW at NMSU 04:00 PM
NMSU -7.5

MINN at IOWA 04:00 PM
IOWA -3.0
U 44.5

RICE at MTU 04:30 PM
RICE +14.0

STAN at WSU 04:30 PM
STAN +10.0

ULL at USA 05:00 PM
ULL -27.5
O 53.5

SOMIS at UTSA 06:00 PM
U 55.0