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07/26/2010 - Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There is so much for cornerback CJ James to bask in regarding Eastern Illinois' football 2009 season.
From playing before 104,000 fans at Penn State to winning on the road at rival Jacksonville State to having two four-game winning streaks to capturing the Ohio Valley Conference championship, the Panthers have a lot to remember.
Yet, no matter what, James' mind always flashes to the way EIU was whipped at then-No. 1 Southern Illinois in the first round of the FCS playoffs. He felt the Panthers let the OVC down, and, just as importantly, let their senior class down.
"When you look at that game, it looked like we weren't supposed to be there. We didn't really show any fight from looking at the score," James still says with grimace.
Now a senior himself, James plans a different outcome for this postseason.
"No one wants to leave anything on a bad note. This being my senior year, I wouldn't want to leave on a bad note," he said.
The Big South and the Northeast Conference are embracing the fact their 2010 champions will have automatic bids for the first time, but the OVC seemingly needs a different outcome in the postseason more than anybody else. Over the last nine seasons, OVC teams are 0-12 in the playoffs, and the last one to win in the postseason - Western Kentucky in 2000 - isn't even in the conference anymore.
OVC coaches aren't shying away from the bad history. In fact, as the playoffs expand from 16 to 20 teams, and two of the four additional teams gain at-large berths, they believe their conference could start to gain multiple berths on a consistent basis again. If and when that happens, they're the first to say their teams have to raise their level of play.
If more than the OVC champion extends their season to Thanksgiving weekend and beyond, the pair could be Jacksonville State and Eastern Illinois, who were picked first and second, respectively, in the OVC's preseason poll released today at the conference football media day at LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans. Eastern Kentucky, which won conference titles in 2007 and '08, isn't far behind with its talent. Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State, perhaps the dark horse team in the race, also drew first-team votes in the 18-voter poll.
"We (the OVC) haven't been good enough," Eastern Kentucky coach Dean Hood said matter-of-factly. "We won the conference championship in 2008 and went and played at Richmond and they were a lot better football team than us.
"What I like about our league is (when) Eastern Illinois got in (last) year, I'm cheering for Eastern Illinois, I'm cheering for (coach) Bob Spoo. And I'm sure the year before when we got in it, no matter what happens on the field in our game, I guarantee you every single coach and player was cheering for us. We have a camaraderie in this league, wanting us to win a playoff game. We haven't been good enough; that's the bottom line."
"We along with everyone else from the OVC that's been in the first round have not serviced our conference very well," said Spoo, whose program has lost nine straight first-round games since 1995. "If we had won a couple of those games and advanced, I think people would have a little more respect, so to speak, for the OVC. We need to be able to advance; we've got to have a strong showing. Maybe it would be upsetting some of these (Division) I-A teams (now FBS) that we're playing along the way to get our rankings up high initially, playing good, solid football and gaining the respect of the country a little more."
That the OVC's postseason history dates to Murray State's 21-21 tie with Sul Ross State in the 1948 Tangerine Bowl underscores the conference's snake-bitten ways. Eastern Kentucky won FCS (then known as Division I-AA) championships in 1979 and '82, but the OVC has been playing catch-up ever since.
Coaches identify the need for a greater commitment, both financially and philosophically, to improve success. The resources put into the $47 million renovation at Jacksonville State's Burgess-Snow Field, which the Gamecocks will debut on Sept. 11 against Chattanooga, is a shining example that should give JSU both a decided advantage in recruiting and help it close the gap against top programs nationally.
"The CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) has set the bar," Hood said. "It's the SEC of FCS football right now.
"We've got to get as-good players and improve our program and get better and be like the CAA. That's a strong conference right now."
It's not surprising the head coaches and sports information directors from all nine OVC schools installed Jacksonville State as the preseason favorite. The Gamecocks would have won their conference title last season had it not been ineligible because of APR (academic progress rate) sanctions, and they have a 43-13 conference record that is best since they joined the OVC for the 2003 season.
But there's hope around the conference because their Ryan Perriloux-generated offense of a year ago is breaking in a new starting quarterback, though one- time Georgia Tech player Marquis Ivory should handle the transition. Top rushers Calvin Middleton and Jamal Young return to give the offense some juice, and senior T.J. Heath is one of the FCS' top cornerbacks. The Gamecocks led the conference in both scoring offense and defense last season.
EIU is nipping at the Gamecocks' heels, however. Not only have James and his teammates been motivated by last season's playoff demise, but they feature one of Spoo's more experienced teams. Mon Williams hopes to run wild behind a veteran offensive line, while defensively all four starting linebackers as well as James and fellow cornerback Rashad Haynes bolster the unit.
"I know Bob knows they can go play with anybody and I know we can go play with anybody," said Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe. "Obviously some people out there that are making some decisions, I don't think they get it. I think there's extremely regional biases in FCS football - extremely regional biases. And I think sometimes when things are done with organizations that really don't have insight ... Not just us, but I think this whole league, I don't think we've gotten the credit that we deserve."
Eastern Kentucky features quarterback T.J. Pryor, the 2009 OVC Freshman of the Year, who might be the best signal-caller in the OVC, although the preseason first-team distinction went to junior Matt Scheible of Southeast Missouri. Consistent play at the position will go a long way this season because the OVC doesn't bring back a lot of top QBs.
The conference is so unpredictable that the preseason favorite in six of the last seven seasons has not gone on to win the title. Adding to the wacky ways, last season's two first-team running backs, Terrence Holt and Ryan White, played for an Austin Peay squad that finished 4-7. Both are back this season.
The OVC's new coaches are Chris Hatcher at Murray State, who arrives after three years of subpar records at Georgia Southern, and Rod Reed, who was elevated from the defensive coordinator's position at Tennessee State, his alma mater.
"You talk about some quality teams in the league," Reed said. "You can't just go down and say, 'OK, we can expect to win this one, we can expect to ...' There are quality coaches in this league, like Jacksonville State, Coach Crowe. You've just got to go out and play hard week in and week out."
The season kicks off on Sept. 4 for OVC teams, and they will be hard-pressed to have a good overall record by the end of that day. Among the games, Eastern Illinois visits Iowa, Jacksonville State goes to Ole Miss, UT Martin travels to Tennessee, Tennessee Tech is at Arkansas, Murray State visits Kent State, Southeast Missouri goes to Ball State, even Eastern Kentucky faces a difficult road test within the FCS, at Missouri State.
That just might be the day the OVC is looking for. They could parlay some strong performances - maybe not wins - into a little more respect nationally. It could lead up to a deep title race and a then November to remember in the FCS playoffs.
At least that's what the OVC is pointing toward in 2010.
"I can sit here and tell you that our league is very competitive and it's better than it's ever been," Spoo said. "Do we match up across the country nationwide with other teams that are trying to get in there? That I don't know. But I sure hope that changes."
"The best thing we can do is send a couple teams to the playoffs," Crowe said, "and we've got to win some games."
OVC PRESEASON POLL (Head Coaches and Sports Information Directors)
1. Jacksonville State (11 first-place votes), 120 points; 2. Eastern Illinois (4), 114; 3. Eastern Kentucky (1), 102; 4. Tennessee Tech (1), 78; 5. Tennessee State (1), 70; 6. UT Martin, 59; 7. (tie) Austin Peay, 38; 7. (tie) Southeast Missouri, 38; 9. Murray State, 29
PRESEASON OVC ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Offensive Player of the Year - Terrence Holt, RB/KR, Austin Peay; Defensive Player of the Year - Josh Bey, LB, UT Martin
Offense
QB- Matt Scheible, Southeast Missouri; RB- Ryan White, Austin Peay; Terrence Holt, Austin Peay. WR- Tim Benford, Tennessee Tech; Marcus Harris, Murray State. TE- Cory Freeman, Jacksonville State. C- Willie Henderson, Eastern Illinois. G- Tylor Chambers, Jacksonville State; Slade Adams, Tennessee Tech. T- Curt Porter, Jacksonville State; Malcolm Jones, Tennessee Tech
Defense
DL- Andrew Soucy, Eastern Kentucky; Perry Burge, Eastern Illinois; J.J. Sanchez, Southeast Missouri; Donte'e Nicholls, Tennessee State. LB- Josh Bey, UT Martin; Jordan Dalrymple, Eastern Kentucky; Nick Nasti, Eastern Illinois. DB- Eugene Clifford, Tennessee State; T.J. Heath, Jacksonville State; CJ James, Eastern Illinois; Jeremy Caldwell, Eastern Kentucky
Specialists
PK- Kienan Cullen, Murray State. P- Kienan Cullen, Murray State. RS- Terrence Holt, Austin Peay
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The 23-ye
The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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