Grief-stricken Cowboys face tall task in clash with Longhorns
NCAA Football Betting Lines
09/08/2010 - Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a game overshadowed by tragedy, the grieving Wyoming Cowboys take on the fifth-ranked Texas Longhorns in a non-conference affair.
On Monday, 19-year-old Wyoming freshman linebacker Ruben Narcisse was killed and three teammates were injured in a one-car accident.
Christian Morgan's injuries were serious but seemingly not life-threatening. Trey Fox, who was driving and apparently fell asleep at the wheel, suffered moderate injuries. As for J.J. Quinlan, the extent of his injuries wasn't initially reported.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ruben's family," Wyoming athletics director Tom Burman said. "Our thoughts are also with the students who were involved in the accident and their families as well."
None of the four men saw action in Wyoming's 28-20 season-opening victory over Southern Utah last weekend, but that doesn't lessen the impact of the tragedy.
Texas coach Mack Brown issued a statement to offer his sympathy.
"It's such a sad day to see a life taken so early," Brown said. "Our thoughts go out to Ruben's family, and we pray for them and the families of the injured young men."
Wyoming, a member of the Mountain West Conference, is under the guidance of Dave Christensen, now in his second year as the leader of the program. Last season, Christensen's group was picked to finish last in the MWC, but the group posted a 6-6 mark during the regular season and went on to shock Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl. Now Christensen faces his toughest task of all, getting his team mentally prepared to play a football game that suddenly feels rather insignificant.
The Longhorns began the 2010 campaign with a 34-17 victory over Rice and weren't as dominant as many expected. Texas is considered a national title contender, but that seems to be the case every year.
Texas has won all three previous meetings with Wyoming, including a 41-10 romp over the Cowboys last season.
Last season, Wyoming ranked near the bottom of the FBS in scoring, as the club averaged just 18.3 ppg. Sure, the Cowboys did manage 28 points against Southern Utah in the opener, but the level of competition was sub par.
Austyn Carta-Samuels completed 26-of-32 passes for 319 yards with three touchdowns and one interception for the Cowboys. Zach Bolger was the best of the receivers, racking up 134 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five catches. The high-powered passing attack made up for a weak ground game that mustered a mere 36 yards on 25 carries.
"A win is a win", said coach Christensen. "I thought Austyn did a good job of keeping his composure, and I thought our receivers did a good job of getting open."
Defensively, Wyoming permitted 384 yards to Southern Utah and failed to come up with a single takeaway. The Cowboys did not allow many big plays through the air, yielding just 8.8 yards per completion. The run defense certainly has room for improvement, and Texas will undoubtedly pound that ball at the defensive front of Wyoming.
Shamiel Gary and Brian Hendricks both recorded 14 tackles for the Cowboys in the opener, and Marcell Gipson forced a pair of fumbles.
With Colt McCoy now playing in the NFL, Texas has turned the quarterback reins over to Garrett Gilbert. In the national title game a year ago, Gilbert took over for an injured McCoy early in the contest and played fairly well at times. He didn't do anything overly impressive in the opener against Rice, completing 14-of-23 passes for 172 yards, but the young signal-caller was able to avoid mistakes.
"Offensively we stayed pretty simple," said coach Brown. "It's amazing in a first game not to have any fumbles, no interceptions and no sacks. That may be the first time we've ever done that. We're proud of the guys for doing that."
Tre' Newton only rushed for 61 yards on 18 carries, but the Texas tailback reached the end zone three times. The 'Horns finished with 369 total yards and have plenty of room for improvement.
Keenan Robinson returned a fumble 10 yards for a touchdown for Texas against Rice, and the defense played fairly well in that contest. The Owls were limited to 219 total yards, and one of their two touchdowns came in the final minute of the contest, long after the outcome had been decided. Texas permitted just 88 rushing yards on 42 attempts and were fairly solid against the pass with the exception of a 47-yard touchdown.
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MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds
With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season. What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season. Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all. Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13). Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two. Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury. Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven. Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury. Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.
In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons. Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4. Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1). The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this. No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.
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Atlanta Hawks 1000-1
Boston Celtics 5000-1
Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1
Chicago Bulls 20-1
Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1
Dallas Mavericks 2-1
Denver Nuggets 25-1
Detroit Pistons 6-1
Golden State Warriors 250-1
Houston Rockets 12-1
Indiana Pacers 60-1
Los Angeles Clippers 45-1
Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1
Miami Heat 9-1
Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1
Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1
New Jersey Nets 50-1
New Orleans Hornets 150-1
New York Knicks 150-1
Orlando Magic 75-1
Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1
Phoenix Suns 5-2
Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1
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Toronto Raptors 35-1
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Washington Wizards 25-1
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