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09/04/2010 - Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eddie Lacy and Trent Richardson each rushed for a pair of touchdowns, and top-ranked Alabama began defense of its BCS national title with a 48-3 win over San Jose State.
Greg McElroy and A.J. McCarron each had a TD pass for the Crimson Tide (1-0), who were without two key players. Heisman Trophy winning running back Mark Ingram sat out after undergoing surgery on his left knee Tuesday. Defensive end Marcell Dareus was ruled ineligible for two games by the NCAA due to his dealings with sports agents.
McElroy connected on 13-of-15 passes for 218 yards, while McCarron finished 9-of-15 for 116 yards. Lacy rushed for 111 yards.
Julio Jones made a one-handed touchdown catch in the second quarter as the Crimson Tide rolled to a 31-3 halftime lead. Alabama, which had 591 yards of total offense, has a big game next Saturday by hosting current No. 19 Penn State.
Harrison Waid's first-quarter field goal provided the lone score for the Spartans (0-1), who are under the guidance of new head coach Mike MacIntyre and are coming off a 2-10 campaign.
Jordan La Secla completed 7-of-14 passes for 85 yards and was picked off once for the Spartans, who were limited to 175 yards of offense.
McElroy led the Tide to a touchdown on the opening eight-play, 71-yard drive. Richardson capped it with a four-yard TD run just 4:22 into the game.
A 32-yard run by Brandon Rutley, combined with a 15-yard face mask penalty, set San Jose State up in Alabama territory. Harrison booted a 31-yard field goal with 7:26 left in the opening quarter.
Less than three minutes later, McElroy found Marquis Maze along the right sideline for a 48-yard TD pass and a 14-3 cushion.
Lacy fumbled the ball away into the end zone later in the first quarter, but the Tide gained a 21-3 lead in the opening minute of the second when Richardson broke off a 39-yard TD run up the middle.
The highlight of the night, though, came with 11:48 to go in the half. Jones took a pattern deep down the field. McCarron, a redshirt freshman, led him a bit too far, but Jones used his left hand to corral the ball as he landed on the goal line.
Waid hit the right upright on a 41-yard field goal try later in the second and Cade Foster capped the half by splitting the uprights from 41 yards out.
Lacy, another redshirt freshman, scored on a 37-yard run early in the third, Foster added a 24-yard field goal later in the period, and Lacy ran up the middle for a 10-yard score in the first minute of the fourth.
Game Notes
Alabama has compiled a 92-21-3 all-time record in season openers, including a nine-game winning streak...San Jose State's last victory over a nationally- ranked opponent came in the 2000 season when the Spartans defeated No. 9 TCU featuring LaDainian Tomlinson, 27-24, in Spartan Stadium. The last time San Jose State defeated a nationally-ranked foe on the road was in 1980, against Baylor...San Jose State is 0-4 all-time against Southeastern Conference opponents.
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Norman, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Broyles posted 142 yards and two touchdowns
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Newton accounts for 5 TDs in Auburn's opening rout >>
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Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gavin Floyd tossed six solid innings and Carlos
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Alameda, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fullback Luke Lawton, center Chris Morris and
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In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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