College cram session: Week 14 news & notes

[verdict]

By Tim Roberts

The football focus this weekend will be on the games with the biggest impact on the BCS bowls, but bettors can`t ignore the other games on tap to wrap up the regular season.

Yes, we touch on some of the big games here in Cram Session, but only to point out line moves and the reasons behind them, as opposed to BCS Bowl speculation.

There are other betting tales to be told, with two of the more interesting ones coming from the service academies.

Army at Navy (-19 ½), total 49

The spread hasn’t quite reached three touchdowns despite the obvious gap in quality between the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen. Midweek reports out of Annapolis might encourage bettors to be wary of the favorite in this traditional rivalry.

”They were just punching the clock, trying to get out of here,” Navy head coach Paul Johnson complained to The Baltimore Sun about last Friday’s practice. “We can’t have that.”

”Complacency is always your biggest fear,” agreed assistant Ken Niamatalolo. “It`s torn down many a team. It`s torn down many a civilization. It`s something you always guard against."

So the Navy coaching staff has taken disciplinary steps to ensure that the Middies keep their eyes on Army as opposed to a looming bowl game. Last year was the first time in Johnson’s tenure as Navy’s head coach that his team didn’t beat Army by at least four touchdowns. They still won by 19 and easily covered the 6-point spread.

The Sun also reports that Navy will derive extra motivation to win from the news that senior quarterback Brian Hampton will dress and take the final kneel-down snap if the game’s circumstances allow. Hampton led the team to a 5-1 record before he tore three ligaments in his knee against Rutgers.

Rutgers at West Virginia (-10), total 49

The West Virginia Mountaineers are a double-digit favorite after opening at -7. The team’s backers are counting on quarterback Pat White’s return to health after he suffered turf toe and a high ankle sprain on his right foot last Saturday against South Florida. White vowed on Tuesday to start against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights this weekend.

”I can`t tell you definitively one way or the other,” head coach Rich Rodriguez told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The paper reports that Rodriguez wants to make a decision by midweek between White and redshirt freshman Jarrett Brown, who took the bulk of snaps at practice on Tuesday and Wednesday.

”Right now, he`s out and I`m in,” Brown told the Post-Gazette. “That`s how I take it right now. I`m just really going with the flow.”

The backup quarterback’s impressive season stats (14 of 18 for 140 yards and 103 rushing yards on 15 carries) are tempered by the fact that Division I-AA Eastern Washington was the only team against which Brown threw more than a single pass.

Nebraska vs. Oklahoma (-3 ½), total 45 ½

The Oklahoma Sooners are still the favorite in the Big 12 Championship game at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday night, but the spread has narrowed as the week has progressed. The most recent drop could have something to do with the formal announcement that star running back Adrian Peterson would not be playing.

”Without being too technical, he`s close and could be cleared to play,” head coach Bob Stoops told reporters at his weekly news conference. “But each week that passes, the likelihood of anything reoccurring is less and less.”

With that in mind, the Sooners will bank on their backup runners to continue their success against a tough Nebraska Cornhuskers defense, giving Peterson an extra four weeks to allow his collarbone to heal for a bowl game.

It remains to be seen if the Sooners’ cast of unknown runners can outgain that of the Huskers. Placing fourth in the conference with 183 rushing yards per game (after ranking dead last in 2005 with only 96 yards per game on the ground), Nebraska is a power on the ground for the first time in head coach Bill Callahan’s tenure.

“It goes back to the bowl game against Michigan,” Callahan told The Kansas City Star. “Our ranking was hideous last year, and we had to get better.”

Arkansas vs. Florida (-2 ½), total 44

The Florida Gators’ highest profile injury last week was that of speedster Percy Harvin, but the Swamp Things have had continuous pain on the offensive line, enough to potentially play a factor in the line leading up to kickoff late Saturday afternoon.

”It`s killing us,” Urban Meyer told The St. Petersburg Times regarding the lack of depth on the line. “You know the best motivating factor you have if you aren`t playing very well is the guy behind you [waiting to take your job], but we don`t have that.”

Meyer’s not exaggerating, as the Gators have used the same five players on the line almost the entire season, with injuries decimating both the starting lineup as well as the reserves. Arkansas Razorbacks defenders could shoot the gaps easier than usual as a result.

”We get tired, but we just have to play through it,” left tackle Phil Trautwein told the Times. “But that`s one of the things with the offensive line, we`re really good in the beginning and then for some reason we just start to go downhill.”

Wake Forest vs. Georgia Tech (-2 ½), total 40 ½

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons have remained an underdog all week for the ACC Championship game in Jacksonville despite having a better record both on the field and at the window than the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

But the Wake players are likely too busy practicing to notice the slight.

”Maturity has something to do with it,” head coach Jim Grobe told The Florida Union-Times. “We have a lot of older kids who have learned by experience that if you have a bad week of practice, you don`t play well on Saturday. But if you practice well, and then go out and block and tackle, you can win games.”

The attention to detail during the week allows the Demon Deacons to improve as the season went on in areas often overlooked by handicappers, such as penalties.

Wake Forest averaged 48.6 yards per game in penalties in September and 46.7 in October, but as the team stayed cool as the pressure built in late-season ACC games. They averaged only 30.3 yards in penalties per game in November, going 3-1 SU and ATS in the process.

Air Force at TCU (-17 ½), total 50

Early bettors have driven the spread in this Mountain West game up from the opening number of -14 ½, ignoring the Air Force Falcons’ recent trend to end losing seasons on a winning note.

”The past couple years, we`ve been in the same situation,” quarterback Shaun Carney told The Rocky Mountain News. “We went out there and played great and we got a victory because you start playing for pride and realize you`ve got nothing to hold back and you just start going out there and playing football.”

The Falcons ended the 5-6 2004 campaign with a 30-point victory over Colorado State when they were dogged by a point. Last year they were 12-point doggies against New Mexico, but the Falcons pulled out another double-digit win to finish 4-7.

Last week’s 42-39 loss to UNLV guaranteed the academy’s third consecutive losing season. Air Force was a 10-point favorite against the Runnin` Rebels.

”It`s a very disappointing loss for our players,” head coach Fisher DeBerry told the News. “It`s disappointing that my players didn`t listen to me, because I tried to prepare them the best that I knew how of what they might be coming into. [UNLV] didn`t have anything to lose."

As the paper notes, Air Force finds itself in that very same position this week as they visit the Texas Christian Horned Frogs, hopping happily along at 6-0 SU and 5-1 ATS over their last six.

[Dr. Jack]

Originally Posted by verdict

Arkansas vs. Florida (-2 ½), total 44

The Florida Gators’ highest profile injury last week was that of speedster Percy Harvin, but the Swamp Things have had continuous pain on the offensive line, enough to potentially play a factor in the line leading up to kickoff late Saturday afternoon.

”It`s killing us,” Urban Meyer told The St. Petersburg Times regarding the lack of depth on the line. “You know the best motivating factor you have if you aren`t playing very well is the guy behind you [waiting to take your job], but we don`t have that.”

Meyer’s not exaggerating, as the Gators have used the same five players on the line almost the entire season, with injuries decimating both the starting lineup as well as the reserves. Arkansas Razorbacks defenders could shoot the gaps easier than usual as a result.

”We get tired, but we just have to play through it,” left tackle Phil Trautwein told the Times. “But that`s one of the things with the offensive line, we`re really good in the beginning and then for some reason we just start to go downhill.”

I can't see Florida losing but this above does scare me a little from betting them heavy