posted August 25, 2008 at 14:00 in NCAA F Betting Trends
Florida Atlantic Owls at Texas Longhorns
by BetUS Staff
Howard Schnellenberger's Florida Atlantic Owls (8-5 SU & ATS) would like to be known as a program that can compete with the national powers. They can take a major step toward that on Saturday, August 30, when they face off against the Texas Longhorns (10-3 SU, 7-6 ATS) in an inter-conference college football betting matchup that is set to kick off at 7 PM ET at Memorial Stadium in Austin.
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: TEXAS -23
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* FAU has covered 10 of its last 15 games
* FAU has won four of its last five games SU
* FAU has played its last eight games OVER the total
* FAU has won and covered four of its last five road games
* FAU has lost 16 of its last 24 road games SU
* FAU has played its last five road games OVER the total
* TEX has won six of its last seven games SU
* TEX has played four of its last five games OVER the total
* TEX has covered four of its last six home games
* TEX has won 21 of its last 25 home games SU
* TEX has played four of its last six home games OVER the total
Texas, as usual, comes with a lot of talent. The Longhorns return four players from an offensive line that experienced some injury problems last year, and they have at least a couple of wide receivers back with extensive experience in starting games - including Quan Cosby, who caught 60 passes last season. the defense has to replace six starters, including three in the secondary. Thinning out the defensive backfield is a big concern, because of the fact that this team was only 109th in the country against the pass in 2007, giving up almost 278 yards a game.
The losses on offense are big. Limas Sweed was one of the nation's best wide receivers, and a second-round draftee of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Running back Jamaal Charles, who had a furious finish en route to 1619 yards rushing, departed for the Kansas City Chiefs. Colt McCoy, once hailed as the top schoolboy quarterback in the country, raised some doubts with an 18-interception season (to go along with 22 TD passes).
The Longhorns have had a hard time proving that they can rush the passer. And that could be trouble against Florida Atlantic's Rusty Smith, a junior who threw for 32 touchdowns with only nine pickoffs last season in being named the Sun Belt Player of the Year. How many people thought he might be thought of as a better pro prospect than McCoy?
Smith joins eight other starters on the offensive unit, including four down linemen, who contributed to this team giving up less sacks than all but a dozen Division I squads. Frantz Joseph, who recorded 64 solo tackles, has a chance to demonstrate that he is in the upper strata of the nation's outside linebackers, though admittedly he is going to have to get some improvement from his defensive mates, who gave up over 33 points a game last year - including 46 per game to the five out-of-conference opponents on its regular season schedule.
FAU's program, however, believes it can make a move, and that would be consistent with the history of Howard Schnellenberger, who has brought two previous schools - Miami and Louisville - from nowhere to a level of national prominence. His team posted a +18 turnover margin last year, beat Memphis by 17 points in the New Orleans Bowl, returns a lot of talent, and has an opportunity to catch a team with a mistake-prone quarterback by surprise. This is precisely the kind of situation Schnellenberger has craved, and excelled at, in the past. And it's enough for us to grab the points here with the Owls, the 23-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA college football betting odds.
JAY'S PLAY: FLORIDA ATLANTIC +23 **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
(Charles Jay of www.ebookies.com gives it more than the old college try as a contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)