Lions host Alouettes in week three action
Football Betting Lines
07/13/2010 - Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In an effort to finally put to rest their weakest defensive effort of the 2009 season, the British Columbia Lions entertain the Montreal Alouettes on Friday night at Empire Field in Vancouver.
British Columbia had a number of lopsided outcomes a season ago, but none was more distressing than the club's dismal 56-18 loss to the Als in the playoffs. The setback was the second in three attempts for the Lions against Montreal that year, the lone victory being a 19-12 final the first week of September.
Fast forward to this year and both of these teams have gotten off to a 1-1 start. In the case of the Lions, they went from dumping Edmonton in the opener (25-10), to being thumped by Saskatchewan last weekend (37-18). Adding insult to injury, the Roughriders also knocked starting quarterback Casey Printers out of the game with a thigh bruise, forcing the home team to turn to Travis Lulay for guidance.
Lulay finished the outing 9-of-15 passing for 197 yards and a score, while Printers hit on 10-of-14 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown. Printers commented after the game that he could have returned to action but didn't want to risk making the injury worse. Receiver Geroy Simon had a huge outing with six catches for 169 yards and both TDs, one of which registered a whopping 92 yards late in the meeting. However, as well as Simon played, he and the Lions could not change the fact that they were penalized 16 times for a loss of 116 yards.
As for the Alouettes, the defending Grey Cup Champions needed a bit of a wake- up call in their meeting with Edmonton on Sunday after they scored a mere four points in the first quarter. Quarterback Anthony Calvillo was held in check by the Eskimos for most of the game before tossing touchdown passes to Brian Bratton late in the third quarter and Kerry Watkins midway through the fourth to bring his team back for the victory.
Calvillo finished 19-of-30 passing for 237 yards and an interception, not to mention having to pull himself up off the turf after three sacks. Even though recently-signed Ricky Santos managed to make his way into the end zone on a two-yard run in the second frame, the Montreal rushing game was far from dominant with a mere 72 yards on 17 attempts. Avon Cobourne tallied 55 yards on 13 carries to lead the way.
Last season, Cobourne was a dynamo for Montreal coming out of the backfield, placing sixth in the league in rushing with 1,214 yards and coming up with a league-high 13 TDs, but thus far he's gotten off to a slow start with just 94 yards and one touchdown on 23 attempts. Cobourne has also been a huge piece of the passing attack the last couple of years for the Als as well, capturing 120 passes for more than 1,000 yards, but after two games this year he has but six grabs for 66 yards.
Calvillo has been on pace with last year's numbers for the most part, except for the fact that the reigning two-time CFL Offensive Player of the Year already has two interceptions after throwing a total of just six all of last season.
Tied with both Toronto and Winnipeg for first place in the Eastern Division in the early going, the Als have had their defensive stats skewed due to the ugly 54-51 overtime loss to Saskatchewan in the opener. Last year, Montreal ranked first in the league in points allowed with a mere 18.0 ppg, almost a full six ppg less than the next best squad.
As for the Lions, a team that ranked second-to-last in points allowed in 2009 with an average of just under 28 per game, in giving up only 10 points in the opener to Edmonton they sported their best defensive performance since September of 2008. With just 47 points allowed in the first two games of 2010, BC is second in the category in the Western Division behind Calgary. However, the Lions have also scored the second-fewest points in the division with just 43.
British Columbia is in the middle of the pack when it comes to rushing (141.5) and passing (267.5) yards per game thus far. What the Lions do have is two of the top performers in both individual rushing and receiving in Jamal Robertson and Simon, respectively. Robertson, thanks to a long run of 61 yards, has a total of 222 yards on 20 carries thus far, while Simon's 10 receptions have been turned into 228 yards and a pair of scores. The 98-yard reception for Simon last week is the longest of the season for any receiver thus far.
Not taking into account Montreal's convincing triumph in the most recent meeting between these two clubs, BC actually maintains a 31-28-1 advantage in regular-season meetings.
Of all the teams that Calvillo faced during the regular season last year, the Lions seemed to be field the toughest defense, holding him to just a single touchdown on 47 completions. However, when the pressure was on Calvillo was more than ready, as evidenced by his five-TD performance in the playoffs against BC. Assuming Calvillo is on top of his game and the BC defense is again vulnerable, expect to see the visitors come out on top in this meeting.
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Getting an early jump on the
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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