NCAA football: Betting news and notes

 

In the first weekly installment of my NCAA Notes & Quotes article of the young college football season, I’ll take a look at three major conference teams that struggled mightily in their opener; two from the SEC and one from the Big 12.

Ooops for Stoops:

 

 

Oklahoma certainly did not look like a national title contender in their opener against Utah State. After jumping out to an early 21-0 lead, the Sooners barely hung on for a 31-24 victory, bad news for a 34-point favorite.

 

 

There were certainly some bright spots. Star wideout Ryan Broyles caught nine passes for 142 yards and senior running back DeMarco Murray gained 218 yards on the ground. But QB Landry Jones completed fewer than half of his passes and the offense was only able to convert on 5 of 17 third down attempts. Meanwhile, Oklahoma’s defense showed vulnerability to the big play – six different Aggies receivers caught a pass of 25 yards or longer.

 

 

Head coach Bob Stoops was not amused. “Both sides of the ball, I thought we were inconsistent and I’m really not at all pleased with it in any way.”

 

 

QB Landry Jones wasn’t thrilled with his performance either, blaming himself for rushing his throws and not trusting his protection. “I was a little off tonight. I didn’t play very good. It’s frustrating not playing the way you know you’re capable of playing. I’ll get better.”

 

 

Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson thought his unit was tentative for extended stretches of the game. “Quit worrying about screwing up and pin your ears back and go play. Go play, and play like an Oklahoma team is supposed to play.”

 

 

DeMarco Murray has been waiting for three years to get his chance at the full time No. 1 running back job. “No disrespect to Utah State, but they should have never been that close to us. We didn’t help the defense out, going three-and-outs a couple times in a row, and offensively we should have put a lot more points out there. We’re still young, we’re still learning.”

 

 

Linebacker Travis Lewis thought that the closer-than-expected victory could be an excellent learning opportunity for the team. “As players, we thought we were at the top of the world, ranked seventh, all that. A Utah State team comes in here and they almost beat us.So, it’s a great humbling experience as a team, as a defense and as players.”

 

 

The Sooners face a much tougher test this week when Florida State visits Norman for a Top 20 showdown. Bob Stoops will be coaching against his brother, Mark, the new defensive coordinator for the Seminoles. “The only way you want to play your brother is in a championship game. Because not only does somebody have a chance to lose, but somebody can win.”

 

 

Gator Haters:

 

 

In one of the more misleading final scores of the weekend, Florida beat Miami-Ohio 34-12. At the midway point of the third quarter, Florida had a grand total of 17 yards of total offense against a MAC opponent that went 1-11 last year. Their final touchdown came on 4th and 21, with a deflected pass caught in the end zone.

 

 

The Gators finished the game with 212 total yards, exactly matching the Redhawks production. Their offense couldn’t handle the most basic of tasks, like the center-quarterback exchange, putting the ball on the turf a whopping eight times. The Gators converted only three third down tries all afternoon, while gaining just 3.8 yards per play.

 

 

Florida quarterback John Brantley spent the day after the game working with star senior center Mike Pouncey on the exchange. “I don’t know if it was the heat, the sweaty hands, I don’t know what it was, but we’re figuring that out.” Pouncey said that he has adjusted his grip on the football to make the exchange easier.

 

 

Brantley certainly wasn’t panicking despite the rough debut as the starter: “Things went wrong, but we’ll learn from our mistakes. We’ll get better from here.” Head coach Urban Meyer agreed with that assessment: “There are a lot of guys with a lot of pride (on this team).”

 

 

Meyer was very disappointed in his team’s blocking in the win. “Our edge blocking is something that we take great pride in around here and our receivers have to improve at. When I talk about perimeter blocking, we have fast guys. The first four plays of the game, if we execute on the edge we have big plays, and that didn’t happen.”

 

 

And Meyer was quick to caution his squad about the strength of this week’s opponent, South Florida, a team that has beaten Florida State and Auburn on the road in recent years. “This is an SEC-caliber team that we’re playing.” The early money has come in on the underdog Bulls, driving the current line down to -15.

 

 

Busted Nutt:

 

 

The single most publicized upset from the opening weekend of college football came in Oxford, when Mississippi lost in double overtime to FCS foe Jacksonville State. After a convoluted week where Oregon transfer quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was ruled ineligible, then eligible in a two day span; it was the Ole Miss defense that fell apart in the defeat.

 

 

Defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix signed a fat contract to stay at Ole Miss in the offseason, but he’s already feeling heat from the locals after the Gamecocks racked up 49 points against the Rebels. The Rebels allowed the winning touchdown on a fourth and 15 pass, and they allowed a pair of key two-point conversions. The first conversion came at the end of regulation to tie the game, the second came in double overtime resulting in the one point loss.

Jacksonville State did not march up and down the field all afternoon. The Gamecocks trailed 31-13 after three quarters, held under 100 yards of total offense before scoring touchdowns on their last five drives of the game as the Rebels defense wilted late. Other than the key points allowed stat, Ole Miss had decent defensive numbers, allowing only 103 rushing yards and 252 passing yards for the game.

 

 

Linebacker D.T. Shackelford manned up to the defensive weaknesses following the game. “We played embarrassingly. That’s not up to our standards at all.”

 

 

The Rebels defense should get a major boost this Saturday if star defensive end Kentrell Lockett is allowed to play, after getting cleared by doctors who were concerned about his heart ailment. Lockett: “If we ball out the rest of the season, we can make people forget the first game.”

 

 

Head coach Houston Nutt doesn’t seem too concerned with the lingering effects of the loss. “You have to put that last one to bed, learn and correct as many things as possible and get going. That’s the thing about this game, it is a tremendous teacher. It is a lot like life, things aren’t going to always go as you planned. It is all about your attitude and how you get back up.”

 

 

Nutt continued: “There were a lot of hurt feelings and we expected that. You want it to hurt. I know we can have a good football team; we just have to get going and get back out on the field.”

 

 

Nutt also said that he’ll continue to rotate quarterbacks Jeremiah Masoli and Nathan Stanley for at least one more week. The Rebels gained 479 yards of offense and hung 48 points against the Gamecocks, but three key turnovers – two fumbles and a Masoli interception -- prevented them from turning the game into a blowout.

 

 

Ole Miss is currently a 20.5-point favorite this week as they travel to New Orleans to take on Tulane.