Argos edge Blue Bombers

Football Betting Lines

07/10/2010 - Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleo Lemon threw for 162 yards and ran for a touchdown as he helped lead the Toronto Argonauts to a thrilling 36-34 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Canad Inns Stadium.

Also putting together a strong effort for the Argos (1-1) as they snapped a nine-game slide, was running back Cory Boyd who carried the ball 19 times for 109 yards and a score.

Winnipeg (1-1) quarterback Buck Pierce converted 25-of-35 for 366 yards and three touchdowns, adding a hefty 103 yards and a score on seven rushing attempts as well. Terence Jeffers-Harris reeled in seven of those completions, leading to a game-high 152 yards and two TDs in the setback as well.

Toronto controlled the action in the first quarter, forcing a pair of turnovers by the Blue Bombers and keeping the hosts off the scoreboard while kicker Grant Shaw booted through a trio of field goals.

Shaw, who knocked through a 28-yard attempt in his first game in the league last week versus Calgary, made good on a 29-yard effort to start things off just over three minutes into the opening period. Shaw followed that with a lengthy 52-yard effort, with a 35-yard conversion shortly afterwards to provide the squad with a 9-0 advantage.

Early in the second frame the Argonauts found themselves buried deep in their own end following a 49-yard punt by Mike Renaud that was returned six yards to the eight-yard line by Chad Owens. Despite having to drive almost the length of the field, Toronto took care of business as it pushed the ball all 102 yards on 12 plays, eating up close to six and a half minutes of the clock as Boyd lunged into the end zone on a one-yard run at the 7:52 mark of the period.

Boyd, who made the score 16-0, rebounded from a weak start to the season last week when he ran the ball just eight times for a total of 32 yards.

A swing in momentum came on the ensuing Winnipeg possession when Pierce gave his team a jolt with a 20-yard scramble, followed by a 10-yard run by Fred Reid and a major facemask penalty that advanced the ball even deeper into Toronto territory.

Pierce then capped the five-play, 70-yard drive with a 21-yard scoring strike to Terrence Edwards, marking the receiver's third TD grab of the young season.

On their next possession, the home team again turned to Pierce to provide the spark, which he did with a 43-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 16-14. The scoring run was the longest of Pierce's career and helped him reach a career-best 93 yards on the ground in the first half alone.

Following a two-and-out by Toronto, Alexis Serna gave the Blue Bombers a 17-16 advantage when he converted a 26-yard field goal with six seconds remaining in the first half.

In the final moments of the half, Serna's kickoff was punted back into the end zone by Ejiro Kuale and, once Serna recovered the ball, the Argonauts were awarded a single after Winnipeg lost its challenge.

Toronto attempted to cool off the Blue Bombers as it took the second-half opening kick 62 yards on nine plays, with Lemon absorbing a hard shot by defensive back Brady Browne at the goal line to again put his team ahead at 24-17.

Serna then stepped up for the Blue Bombers and made good on a 43-yard field goal to make the score 24-20.

Lemon did not come out on the next possession for the Argonauts, as Dalton Bell instead made an appearance for the club. Bell, getting his first regular- season action in the CFL, completed one of his three pass attempts in the series for 28 yards before the ball was returned to Winnipeg.

With the ball back in the hands of the Blue Bombers, Pierce went to work as he ran out to his right and then threw a short pass over the middle to Jeffers- Harris who then shook off a tackler and raced 60 yards to the corner of the end zone, pushing Winnipeg back in front at 27-24.

Lemon did return to action later in the third quarter, but a quick pair of incomplete passes sent him right back to the sidelines and the ball back over to the hosts.

Serna aimed to provide the Bombers with a six-point edge early in the fourth quarter, but not only did he miss on his 45-yard field goal attempt, the ball was collected by Chad Owens who proceeded to race 117 yards untouched for the score to put Toronto back on top, 31-27.

"Today was a long day at the office," said Winnipeg defensive end Phillip Hunt who was on the field during the Owens run back. "We've got to put this game behind us and get ready for the next game."

Winnipeg head coach Paul LaPolice echoed the sentiment saying, "Momentum swung in their direction when we missed the 45-yarder. We can't do that and be able to beat teams in this league."

Buried deep in their own territory with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, the Blue Bombers opted to take a safety in the end zone rather than chance a punt, pushing the Toronto lead to 33-27 with 3:44 left in the period.

Toronto took advantage of a major penalty at the conclusion of the ensuing kickoff, putting the team in field goal range with the game hanging in the balance. After a couple of hard runs by Boyd moved the ball into the shadow of the goalpost the Argos had to settle for yet another field goal, pushing the lead to 36-27.

Refusing to go away quietly, Pierce again pushed the Blue Bombers 75 yards down the field, culminating with a 38-yard TD strike to Jeffers-Harris making the score 36-34 with Serna's converted PAT with 16 seconds remaining.

The teams lined up for an on-sides kick which was nearly claimed by Winnipeg, but after review the officials awarded the ball to the Argos who subsequently ran out the clock for their first victory since defeating Hamilton in double- overtime (25-22) back on September 11, 2009.

Game Notes

In the season-opening win over Hamilton, Pierce ran for 89 yards, the most for a Winnipeg quarterback since 1993...Winnipeg, which now owns a 48-47-2 advantage in the all-time series, entered the meeting having won two straight and four of the last five versus the Argos...Against the Stampeders in the season opener, Owens recorded a 90-yard punt return for a score...The missed field goal returned for a touchdown by Owens was the third of the season already, after the entire league recorded just two such plays all of 2009...Toronto finished the 2009 campaign with eight consecutive defeats and won just two games on the road all season, one of those coming against Winnipeg (19-5) in late July.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.