NCAAF Betting's Notable Quotes
By Teddy Covers
Sports bettors hear a million quotes from players and coaches a week. Some of those quotes are just fluff. Others are mere posturing before the big game. But sometimes, a quote can give you insight into how a game will play out.
Check out what notable quotables are catching the ears of Las Vegas wise guys heading into Week 4 of the college football schedule.
Hawkeye Hell
The betting marketplace hasn’t been high on Iowa since its struggles on opening day against FCS Northern Iowa, needing two blocked field goals in the final seconds to come away with the victory. Since those opening day difficulties, the Hawkeyes have been a strong pointspread proposition, winning and covering against Iowa State and Arizona in the last two weeks.
The Hawkeyes defense has been the difference maker in each of their last two victories. They forced six turnovers against Iowa State, holding the Cyclones to a single field goal. This past Saturday, Iowa held Arizona to 253 yards of total offense and eight first downs.
The defense has a new motto this season - Six Seconds of Hell.
“We just go hard for six seconds every play, because that's usually how much a play takes. That's what we did,” defensive end Broderick Binns told reporters.
Arizona head coach Mike Stoops was extremely impressed with the Iowa stop unit.
“We knew defensively they're as good as anybody we've played. They're bigger, they're faster than what people give them credit for,” Stoops told the media.
The Hawkeyes defense will be in for a tough test when they travel to Happy Valley to face the revenge-minded, undefeated Penn State Nittany Lions Saturday night. Penn State is a 10-point favorite in that game, with the total set at 40.
Boise Bullies
Boise State and USC are the only two programs in the country to win 80 games, make seven bowls and win at least six conference titles since the start of the 2002 campaign. The Broncos burst onto the national scene with their overtime win against Oklahoma in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, but their dominance in WAC play is nothing new. The Broncos are 66-4 SU in the WAC since 2000 following their win at Fresno State last Friday night.
Boise State was tested at Fresno. The run defense got torched, allowing 320 yards on the ground (8.2 yards per carry). The Broncos allowed three breakaway touchdown runs of more than 60 yards.
"When you can't control the run game, it's not a good feeling,” said head coach Chris Peterson. “We had guys in position, we just didn't tackle well. That's the bottom line. We're really fortunate we could miss tackles like that, give up that many yards and points and still come up with the 'W’.”
The Broncos hung tough while facing the relentless Fresno State charge thanks to their own offensive prowess. Wide receiver Jeremy Avery has a trio of 60-plus yard gains, gaining a whopping 269 yards from scrimmage.
“We knew we had to answer back as an offense,” he told the press. “We didn't let it get to us. We knew we had a high-powered offense and could do the same thing. We gathered our troops and we all clicked. When we all clicked there was no stopping us.”
Count Fresno State head coach Pat Hill as a believer that the Broncos are capable of putting together another undefeated season in 2009.
“Every time we closed the gap, Boise, to their credit, would make a big play. When it looked like we would have a chance to get the ball back, bang, they'd make a play,” Hill said.
This week, Boise State travels to Bowling Green for a non-conference affair against the Falcons. Boise State beat BG 20-7 at home last year, failing to cover the 17-point spread. This time around, BSU is a 16.5-point road favorite with the total set at 51.
Seminole Shocker
Florida State found a way to lose on the last play of the game against Miami in the season opener. Then the Seminoles were nearly upset the following week by FCS Jacksonville State, trailing until the very final minute of the fourth quarter. No surprise, then, that the Seminoles were more than a touchdown underdogs as they travelled to Provo to take on undefeated BYU.
The expression “speed kills” is very valid in the college football world. Florida State’s speed absolutely blew away the BYU defense. FSU quarterback Christian Ponder passed for 195 yards and ran for 77 more. Ponder spent some time after the game talking about his team’s newfound confidence and chemistry.
“It shows us what we can do,” he told reporters. “It's the first time in a while we played as a whole team. The defense played great. The offense played incredible.”
The Seminoles coaching staff sounded pretty upbeat after the game.
“I've been through this thing so many times, I knew we had an advantage. We went out there and made some plays, which we hadn't done lately, and we also forced some crucial turnovers,” head coach Bobby Bowden told the media.
Offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher threw praise at his starting quarterback.
“He can beat you with his arm, his legs and his mind. And then he can also beat you with how competitive and tough he is,” Fishers said of Ponder following the game.
BYU was impressed with the preparation level of their opponent, a rarity in recent years when talking about Florida State.
“I think Florida State was more prepared in general than we were tonight, really from beginning to end,” head coach Bronco Mendenhall told the media.
Florida State returns home for a potential flat spot as they face South Florida Saturday, before their first conference road game at Boston College next week. The Seminoles are 14.5-point home favorites with the total set at 50.5.
Bear Droppings
Cal barely covered the spread in a hard-fought win at Minnesota last Saturday, winning by 14 in a game that was lined with the Bears favored by 13.5 points. But make no mistake about it – Cal was as good as advertised in its first test of the young season.
Defensive end Tyson Alualu wanted to erase the memory of last year’s 0-4 road record.
“We tried to make a statement that we're going to be road warriors this year. It's a different team than last year,” he said.
Bears running back Jahvid Best tied a school record with five touchdowns in the game. The darkhorse Heisman contender certainly impressed the opposition.
“He's probably the fastest running back I've ever played against,” Minnesota linebacker Lee Campbell admitted. “You had to keep him corralled. You saw what happened. When he got outside, he's gone.”
Gopher star wide receiver Eric Decker was knocked out of the game for a stretch following a vicious hit. He was impressed with the intensity of the Bears defense.
“I can't remember the hit. They're a tough, physical team,” Decker told reporters.
Cal head coach Jeff Tedford was positively euphoric after the game.
“It is great to play a tough game and to be able to play well in the fourth quarter and make plays when you need to make plays in all phases of the team,” he said. “I think it will give us a boost and give us a little bit of confidence.”
Cal faces another road test on Saturday as it travels to Eugene to take on Oregon. The Bears are 5.5-point road favorites with the total set at 58.
Achilles' Heels
North Carolina came into the season with numerous question marks on both sides of the football. The Heels have won three straight to open the season, notching their first 3-0 start in the Butch Davis era following their 31-17 win over East Carolina last Saturday.
“We're a work in progress. Let's don't make any mistakes about it,” said Davis. “We're going to have challenges. We're going to have adversity. ... But our kids believe in each other and the coaches believe in the kids and they just keep trying to find a way to fight and give us the best chance to play as well as we can each Saturday.”
East Carolina was impressed by the Tar Heels talent on both sides of the football. Pirates head coach Skip Holtz was surprised by the abilities of North Carolina’s completely rebuilt receiving corps following the graduation of NFL draft choices Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate and Brooks Foster.
“Their receivers showed more today than they had showed on film,” said Holtz. “They were dialed-in and focused. They did a nice job with it ... because when you watched them on film, they had dropped a bunch and their passing game was a little bit out of whack, but they were impressive today.”
East Carolina quarterback Patrick Pinkney struggled against North Carolina’s defensive talent.
“When you've got NFL-bound players coming at you every play, it's hard,” Pinkney told reporters.
The Tar Heels defense held East Carolina to 247 yards one week after completely shutting down UConn.
North Carolina faces a tough test this Saturday as it travels to Georgia Tech to take on the Yellow Jackets, still smarting from their ugly loss at Miami last Thursday. Georgia Tech is a 2.5-point home favorite in that game with the total set at 46.