Touchdown Adds Eagles With Owls

NCAA Football Betting Lines

NDSU's Ryan Drevlow recovered a fumble by Shaw with 5:39 left and the Bison converted the miscue into a 4-yard touchdown run by McNorton, increasing their lead to 35-7 with 39 seconds remaining,

 

That left enough time for GSU to drive into field goal range, but the Eagles failed to score off a fake on the final play of the half. Holder Charlie Edwards threw an incomplete pass into the NDSU end zone, where Bison cornerback Christian Dudzik tipped a potential touchdown away from John Douglas.

 

Two plays later, Holloway separated himself from GSU safety Laron Scott in a corner of the Eagles' end zone and hauled in a 19-yard touchdown pass from Jensen with 4:45 left.

 

GSU's offense, not surprisingly, played aggressively. The Eagles converted on fourth down on a drive that later ended on downs early in the second quarter. Midway through the quarter, they ran a fake punt from their 33 and converted the first down on Johnathan Bryant's 13-yard run around end.

 

Albuquerque, NM (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bernard Pierce ran for 100 yards and two scores as the Temple Owls won their first bowl game in 32 years with a 37-15 win over the Wyoming Cowboys in the New Mexico Bowl. The Owls last won a bowl game in 1979 when they defeated Cal, 28-17, in the Garden State Bowl.

 

Chris Coyer ran for 71 yards and Matt Brown added 49 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Owls (9-4), who ran over 200 yards for the eighth straight game. They finished the contest with 255 yards on the ground.

 

Temple, which was snubbed out of a bowl bid last season after going 8-4, took control early and scored touchdowns on each of its first three possessions to take a 21-0 lead.

 

After Daniel Sullivan's 49-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right, Joe Jones took a reverse 35 yards to Wyoming's 34-yard line on the first play of Temple's ensuing possession. Pierce's second one-yard TD run capped off the nine-play, 69-yard drive.

 

Kee-ayre Griffin intercepted Smith's pass on Wyoming's ensuing series and returned it 30 yards to the Cowboys' 35-yard line. The turnover led to Brown's one-yard TD run to make it 21-0 with 10:21 remaining in the second quarter.

 

After a Wyoming punt, the Owls took their opening second-half possession 60 yards in 12 plays, and Brandon McManus connected from 34 yards out to make it 31-7 with 1:22 remaining in the third quarter.

 

McManus booted his second field goal from 37 yards out early in the fourth quarter, and Kevin Kroboth intercepted Smith's pass on Wyoming's ensuing series as Temple took over at their own 27. The turnover led to McManus' third field goal of the game, this one from 34 yards out to make it a 37-7 game with 3:22 to play.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.