Posts Tagged ‘Wake Forest Demon Deacons’

September 24th, 2010 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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Bowling Green Falcons (+25.5) @ Michigan Wolverines
Saturday, September 25th
12:00 ET, Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI

A week after the Wolverines really struggled with the Massachusetts Minutemen, they have to get right back at it against a relatively potent Bowling Green offense. We all know how good QB Denard Robinson is, and we aren't doubting that he is going to go off for 400+ yards of total offense and five scores in this one, as Bowling Green's defense is flat out terrible. However, the Falcons are a 3-0 ATS team this year for a reason. The oddsmakers still aren't giving them nearly enough respect. Yes, QB Tyler Sheehan and WR Freddie Barnes are both gone, but the combination of QB Aaron Pankratz and WR Kamar Jorden should be enough to beat this number. QB Matt Schilz is out of action in this one, but are we really going to miss a guy who has thrown for just two scores and four picks on the year? We think not. The Falcons will stick around in this game and improve to 8-0-1 ATS in their L/9 overall.

Prediction: Michigan 41 – Bowling Green 24

NC State Wolfpack (+8) @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Saturday, September 25th
12:00 ET, Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta, GA

The Techsters need to be awfully careful in this game. The team with the best rush defense right now in the ACC has been NC State, and this is a team that really can do some damage this year. QB Russell Wilson just doesn't throw interceptions, and this year has been no exception to the rule that he started in his freshman season three years ago. If HC Tom O'Brien's defense can force just a couple turnovers and ground the triple option of Georgia Tech for just a few drives, Wilson and the offense have the skill to do some real damage here. Don't be so sure that the Ramblin' Wreck are rolling to 2-0 in conference play. This NC State team reminds us a lot of the team that O'Brien left a few years ago, as his first season away from Boston College was when the Eagles moved up as high as No. 2 in the land. A college football upset might be in the cards on Saturday.

Prediction: NC State 30 – Georgia Tech 27

Alabama Crimson Tide @ Arkansas Razorbacks (+7)
Saturday, September 25th
3:30 ET, Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville, AR

Yesterday, we called for QB Ryan Mallett to lead the Hogs to an upset of the Crimson Tide, and for good reason. He is the only 1,000 yard passer in the nation coming into this week, and he is going to test the newly constructed Alabama defense for the first time all season. This isn't a freshman quarterback coming to Tuscaloosa under the lights like it was a few weeks ago for the Tide against the Penn State Nittany Lions, and though QB Sean Renfree is solid for the Duke Blue Devils, the Razorbacks are certainly several steps up from the ACC cellar dwellers. Alabama is the best team in the nation and we aren't taking anything away from it. However, HC Nick Saban knows that his team has one get out of jail free card under its belt this year, as even an 11-1 (or as the case may have it, 12-1) Crimson Tide team is probably heading to the BCS Championship. The duel with Florida next week might still be first and foremost in the Tide's minds, which could lead for the shocking upset that will shake the nation.

Prediction: Arkansas 35 – Alabama 31

Eastern Michigan Eagles (+44.5) @ Ohio State Buckeyes
Saturday, September 25th
3:30 ET, Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH

We aren't exactly calling for an outright upset here, but we have plenty of reason to believe that the Eagles can stick around and at least make this final score look somewhat respectable on Saturday afternoon. First of all, the Buckeyes clearly have bigger fish to fry, as there are plenty of upcoming games against Big Ten foes that are going to be significantly more challenging than this. But the play of Eastern Michigan is improving week by week, and we think that it's only a matter of time until this dreaded losing streak that dates back to 2008 will go by the boards. QB Alex Gillett and RB Dwayne Priest are capable of putting a TD on the board against this defense in garbage time, and if that happens, it's going to take quite the effort from the standpoint of the Buckeyes to beat this hefty spread. We tend to think that OSU is going to leave EMU with a shred of confidence to back to Ypsilanti with.

Prediction: Ohio State 41 – Eastern Michigan 7

UCLA Bruins @ Texas Longhorns (-15.5)
Saturday, September 25th
3:30 ET, Royal Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, TX

Many are going to be on the bandwagon of HC Rick Neuheisel and company this weekend due to the fact that the Bruins are coming off of a big 31-13 upset of the Houston Cougars from last week. However, we know that without the services of QB Case Keenum (let alone his backup), Houston is nothing more than a mediocre team from a mediocre (at best) conference. This is a totally new challenge. Laying this many points with a Texas offense that has looked shaky in all three of its games is dangerous, but how on earth is UCLA scoring in this one? The Bruins have RB Johnathan Franklin, but the 'Horns have the top rushing 'D' in the land now two years running. Is QB Kevin Prince going to put points on the board? We don't think so. It's going to take a lot more than 45 percent completions to score on the men in burnt orange, and the end result here should be a whitewashing. If the Longhorns find even some sort of an offense, this NCAA football spread will never be in doubt.

Prediction: Texas 31 – UCLA 3

Stanford Cardinal @ Notre Dame Fighting Irish (+4.5)
Saturday, September 25th
3:30 ET, Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN

Bottom line: The wrong team is favored in this game. Without WR Ryan Whalen in the lineup, the Cardinal are going to be missing a key component in the passing game, and this is going to be the first time their defense is going to run up against a formidable opponent all season long. Irish eyes haven't been smiling on Notre Dame yet this year, but that could all change on Saturday. The Irish are a miserable team in front of their hometown crowd, going just 4-10 ATS in their L/14 overall there, but all of that is going to change on Saturday. The Golden Domers have covered three straight and seven out of nine in this series. Make it four straight and eight out of ten on Saturday with an easy outright upset that makes the oddsmakers cry about the line they set. This one might never be that close either and certainly doesn't qualify as a huge upset in our eyes.

Prediction: Notre Dame 37 – Stanford 20

Temple Owls (+14) @ Penn State Nittany Lions
Saturday, September 25th
3:30 ET, Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA

Last week, the Kent State Golden Flashes were three TD underdogs to the Nittany Lions and came up just short of the cover. Is Temple really only seven points better than Kent State? We tend to believe not. These two teams have a history against each other, and it isn't a good one for the Owls. PSU has absolutely owned them over the last two decades, and don't think for one second that this isn't going to be used as motivation in that Temple locker room. The Owls are solid this year and could legitimately be a Top 25 team by season's end. RB Bernard Pierce and QB Chester Stewart are as good as anything that the Nittany Lions are trotting out there right now. If the running game with RB Evan Royster can't get going, Penn State is going to be on major upset alert. We tend to think that the Nittany Lions are going to escape Happy Valley with another 'W', but this is going to be significantly closer than recent history suggests.

Prediction: Penn State 27 – Temple 21

Wake Forest Demon Deacons @ Florida State Seminoles (-19)
Saturday, September 25th
3:30 ET, Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, FL

Welcome to our beat down of the week! The Seminoles absolutely have the Demon Deacons outmatched this week, and it should show on the field. QB Christian Ponder has really yet to have a rock solid game this season, and that could change against a Wake Forest defense that has been absolutely mauled all season long. Is Florida State as good as Stanford was last week in a 68-24 win? Nah. But we don't need a 44 point beating. We just need a three TD beating. The Noles are coming off of their best defensive game in years, a 34-10 victory over the BYU Cougars. Keep in mind that the last two trips to Tallahassee for the Deacs have resulted in upset wins of 12-3 and 30-0. That's going to be all that HC Jimbo Fisher is talking about all week and all day leading up to that 3:30 kickoff. The heat will be too much for Wake Forest to take this time around, and as long as the garnet and gold show up with at least a few stops, the offense is going to be able to slam this defense time and time again. The cover won't be in doubt in the fourth quarter at any point.

Prediction: Florida State 51 – Wake Forest 20

 
September 17th, 2010 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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Baylor Bears @ TCU Horned Frogs (-21.5)
Saturday, September 18th
4:30 ET, Amon Carter Stadium, Waco, TX

The Horned Frogs have absolutely beat the living heck out of the Bears, winning 27-0 at home in 2007 and 17-7 in Waco in 2006. TCU has won three straight in this series ATS dating back to 1995. On the field itself, the winningest QB in the history of the program, QB Andy Dalton is going to hopefully have a showcase game, which would be his first big outing of the year. However, Dalton has a pair of fantastic running backs in Matthew Tucker and Ed Wesley, both of which have the ability of going for 100+ yards against anyone in the nation. The Bears really only have one man that can take over a game. The good news is that he plays the quarterback position. QB Robert Griffin is absolutely going to have to have one of those games where he throws for 300+ yards and probably runs for near another 100 and accounts for four scores. The bad news? TCU hasn't given up more than 28 points in a game at home since 2006. Without scoring at least 24 or so, the Bears don't have a chance of sticking in front of this number.

Prediction: TCU 41 – Baylor 17

Mississippi State Bulldogs (+7.5) @ LSU Tigers
Saturday, September 18th
7:00 ET, Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, LA

Could the Bulldogs be ready to pull off a big time upset of the Tigers in the Bayou? Mississippi State has played the role of a very strong side so far this year, and the 17-14 loss to Auburn last week really could have gone either way. The play of QB Chris Relf is improving, the QB Tyler Russell could get into the act as well after playing a strong game against Memphis in Week 1. As for the Tigers… We're not sold yet. The Bayou Bengals barely hung on against a depleted North Carolina side in Week 1 and really hasn't done anything even remotely impressive since that point. LSU might not even win this game, let alone beat the TD+ spread. However, this is LSU, and this is a team that just keeps finding ways to win games. And just as we said last week when it was Vanderbilt playing against the Bayou Bengals, Mississippi State usually just finds ways to lose.

Prediction: LSU 20 – Mississippi State 17

Clemson Tigers @ Auburn Tigers (-7)
Saturday, September 18th
7:00 ET, Jordan Hare Stadium, Auburn, AL

This tussle of the Tigers is going to be a rematch of bowl games of the past. However, just as always seems to be the case when these two teams lock horns, there is a little twist in the plot. QB Cameron Newton has played like a Heisman Trophy candidate so far this season, and his brother, Syvelle already spent a number of years tearing apart Clemson when he was at South Carolina. As for the purple and orange Tigers, head coach Dabo Swinney has his work cut out for him. QB Kyle Parker seems to be the only real offensive threat, as guys like Ford, Spiller, etc. are all gone from the program. Clemson's offense doesn't seem to be able to quite keep up with Auburn's. Both of these teams have played relatively well this year, but we think that we'll be yelling "War Eagle!" at the end of the night.

Prediction: Auburn 28 – Clemson 17

Texas Longhorns @ Texas Tech Red Raiders (+3.5)
Saturday, September 18th
8:00 ET, Jones AT&T Stadium, Lubbock, TX

The Longhorns return to the scene of the crime where their 2008 National Championship hopes were dashed by the Red Raiders the night after Halloween on an absolutely amazing play by WR Michael Crabtree. It was one of the games of the year, if not one of the games of the decade, as HC Mack Brown's team narrowly fell short to a Texas Tech squad that nearly found itself playing for the National Championship as well. Now, both of these teams have new looks. The Red Raiders are at least running the ball a tad more with new HC Tommy Tuberville in charge, while Texas appears to have some problems both at the running back position and at quarterback. The starting running back job has changed hands already, while QB Garrett Gilbert, who many thought was a Heisman Trophy candidate at the start of the season, just hasn't played up to his expectations thus far. Texas is ripe for the picking in this one if it isn't careful. Don't be shocked if the guns are up once again in this NCAA football betting affair in the Lone Star State.

Prediction: Texas Tech 37 – Texas 34

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (+3.5) @ Michigan State Spartans
Saturday, September 18th
8:00 ET, Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI

Very simply put, the Fighting Irish seem like a team that is going to fight through the entire season, and it only seems like a matter of time until the Spartans collapse. HC Mark Dantonio just doesn't have a good history, and that history seems to kick in right around this time every single season. QB Dayne Crist and the Irish are on their way to something special, as they put up a great fight last week against a Michigan team that might be contending for the Rose Bowl this year. Sparty has covered three straight in this series, but the road team had won seven straight outright from 2001 to 2007. These games are always close, as eight of the L/10 clashes have been decided by a TD or less. This one won't be an exception.

Prediction: Notre Dame 27 – Michigan State 24

Fresno State Bulldogs @ Utah State Aggies (+4)
Saturday, September 18th
8:00 ET, Romney Stadium, Logan, UT

The Aggies are really on the verge of something special in the WAC. No, they're not going to be contending with Boise State, and no, they probably aren't going to be able to score with Nevada, but this is a winnable fixture that could ultimately end up sending them to a bowl game if they can pull it off. Utah State has done just about as well this year as it ever could have imagined, as it nearly pulled off the upset in Norman and took care of Idaho State without any real hassles. The Bulldogs have only played one game this year, and though we tend to believe that a 28-14 win over the Cincinnati Bearcats was relatively impressive, the more win watch the U of C, we aren't so sure that's the case. This is going to be a great test for both of these teams, but we think that USU is being severely underrated. This game should be a heck of a lot closer to a pick 'em, and if that's the case, we'll take the points in hopes for the Aggies to, at bare minimum, keep this one close.

Prediction: Utah State 34 – Fresno State 33

Iowa Hawkeyes (+1.5) @ Arizona Wildcats
Saturday, September 18th
10:30 ET, Arizona Stadium, Tucson, AZ

This is the game of the day without a doubt. College football betting fans have gone back and forth with this one throughout the week, and with good reason. This is the same Arizona squad that nearly beat the mighty Oregon Ducks last year at home that would've won the Pac-10 and sent the Wildcats to the Rose Bowl. Unfortunately, this is also the same Arizona team that marched into Kinnick Stadium last year and left with its tails tucked between its legs in a bad defeat. What tends to be forgotten is that this Iowa bunch hasn't lost a game that QB Ricky Stanzi has both started and finished in his career. The Hawkeyes found ways to win last year at Penn State and at Wisconsin. This is a long, long roadie, but there aren't many coaches that we'd rather have in our corner in this situation than HC Kirk Ferentz. Iowa has always been good. This is a chance to make it great. Go with the Hawkeyes in what should be a very, very tough game.

Prediction: Iowa 16 – Arizona 14

Houston Cougars @ UCLA Bruins (+3.5)
Saturday, September 18th
10:30 ET, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA

Be very, very careful, oddsmakers. We were taught a long, long time ago that NCAA football betting and NCAA basketball betting both have one thing in common. If it looks like a fish and it smells like a fish, something is probably really, really fishy. The Bruins were shutout last week by Stanford at home in one of the most embarrassing losses the team has suffered this year. The Cougs avenged last year's loss to UTEP in a big way, crushing the Miners to improve to 2-0. However, this is the first time that QB Kevin Prince and the UCLA offense has seen a beatable defense. Houston flat out stinks defensively. We think that this is also the first time that QB Case Keenum is going to be facing a defense with a ton of great athletes on it. Regardless of how banged up the Bruins are on that side of the ball, these are still great recruits, largely from a very talented base in California. This looks to be a very, very sharp play for us, as UCLA could be the team to end the Heisman Trophy dreams of Keenum and the BCS busting dreams of these Cougs.

Prediction: UCLA 31 – Houston 26

Wake Forest Demon Deacons @ Stanford Cardinal (-17.5)
Saturday, September 18th
11:15 ET, Stanford Stadium, Stanford, CA

Last season, the Cardinal flew all the way East to tango with the Demon Deacons and left town with their heads held high in spite of the fact that they lost 24-17. In short: It's payback time. Basically that entire Wake Forest team has turned over, and it is clear that the defense, which allows a whopping 325.0 yards per game this year through the air, doesn't have the goods to keep up with the Stanford offense. With QB Ted Stachitas already not that great, his injured thumb is going to force HC Jim Grobe's hand. Needless to say, this isn't Presbyterian or Duke anymore that the Demon Deacons are going up against, and this is one heck of a road trip to get to Stanford. The Cardinal should be able to get a ton of yards from QB Andrew Luck in a game that should be all one way traffic. Wake Forest will get exposed as a fraud on Saturday night in the final game of the day.

Prediction: Stanford 48 – Wake Forest 13