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Buckeyes begin season of hope against Thundering HerdNCAA Football Betting Lines09/01/2010 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes enter the 2010 season with tangible chance of winning the national title, and the first step of the process will be knocking off Marshall in Thursday's opener. The Thundering Herd welcome Doc Holliday as the program's 29th head coach, and he brings with him 31 years of collegiate coaching experience. Holliday, an accomplished recruiter, inherits a Thundering Herd squad that finished 7-6 a year ago, including 4-4 versus Conference USA competition. A total of 45 letterwinners and 13 starters are back in place, including six players that earned post-season recognition from the C-USA coaches in 2009. "My ultimate goal has always been to be a Division I head football coach at a major university and to have this opportunity at Marshall, a school rich in tradition and full of potential, is a dream come true," said Holliday upon being hired. Ohio State is 9-0 in season openers under Jim Tressel, and it would be a complete shock to the college football world if that record wasn't pushed to 10-0 on Thursday. The Buckeyes have won 54 consecutive regular-season non- conference home games against unranked teams and are one of just three teams to post 10 or more wins in five consecutive seasons. Ohio State has an all- time opening day record of 104-12-4, and this year's group is absolutely loaded with talent. The only previous meeting between Ohio State and Marshall occurred in 2004, a narrow 24-21 triumph by the Buckeyes. Brian Anderson will be the man under center to start this game for Marshall. Anderson, who made 13 starts last season and threw for 2,646 yards and 14 touchdowns, had to win his job during fall camp, but that is understandable considering the new coaching staff and the fact that the signal caller tossed 13 INTs a year ago. There is a talented group of receivers to work with, and Antavious Wilson is the best of the bunch. The 6-0, 191-pound Wilson made an immediate impact as a freshman last season, leading the team with 60 catches for 724 yards and three touchdowns. The sophomore tandem of Martin Ward and Andre Booker step in to a void at tailback. Booker got less touches than Ward last season but is listed atop the depth chart and has better breakaway speed. The strength of the Marshall defensive unit figures to be the line, and that was the case a year ago as well. Vinny Curry is a 6-4, 252-pound end who is ready to become a star after posting 59 stops and 3.5 sacks as a sophomore last season. Mario Harvey, a thumper at linebacker, is a big-time talent who came up with 117 tackles and seven sacks last season. He will be asked to help contain the Ohio State ground attack in this opener. As for the Marshall secondary, this group was dealt a big blow when corner DeQuan Bembry, who made 53 stops and three picks last season, was kicked off the team after being charged with assault on a police officer and underage consumption. That leaves Ahmed Shakoor as the most experienced corner, as he had 36 stops and a team- high 11 PBUs in 2009. Omar Brown is another returning starter in the defensive backfield, and both players will be under attack early and often on Thursday. Throughout much of last season, no player was more heavily criticized than Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor. Then, in his final game as a sophomore, the gifted signal caller showed his true ability, throwing for a career-high 266 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 72 yards in a Rose Bowl victory over Oregon. "I thought he learned a great deal throughout the regular season his sophomore year," said Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel said at Big Ten Media Day. "And I thought it really started to crystallize in his mind during bowl practice." Pryor posted 25 total touchdowns a year ago and is a legitimate Heisman candidate as a junior. The backfield tandem of Brandon Saine (739 yds, 5.1 ypc, four TDs) and Daniel "Boom" Herron (600 yds, 3.9 ypc, seven TDs) returns, and while Pryor did lead the Buckeyes in rushing a year ago, the hope is that he can do less with his legs in 2010 without sacrificing team success. At wideout, top targets DeVier Posey (60 rec, 828 yds, eight TDs) and Dane Sanzenbacher (36 rec, 570 yds, six TDs) are back. And along the offensive line, four starters return from a unit that dominated the trenches on a weekly basis last year. Put simply, this offense is loaded and figures to overwhelm Marshall and most other opponents. The Buckeyes also return a wealth of talent from a defense that ranked fifth in the nation in both total defense (262.3 ypg) and scoring defense (12.5 ppg) last year. Cameron Heyward is a star in the making at defensive end, as he led the team with 6.5 sacks last year as a junior and opted to return to OSU instead of entering the NFL Draft. At linebacker, the Buckeyes return their top two tacklers in Ross Homan (108) and Brian Rolle (95), and both were recently named team captains. Homan also excels in coverage, as evidenced by his team-leading five interceptions and 10 passes defended. Moving to the secondary, both starting cornerbacks return in Chimdi Chekwa and Devon Torrence. There are some fresh faces at safety, one of the lone questionable positions on the team.
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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. |
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