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09/03/2010 - Honolulu, HI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Barkley tied a school record by throwing for five touchdowns, as 14th-ranked Southern California beat Hawaii, 49-36, giving Lane Kiffin a victory in his coaching debut with the Trojans.
Ronald Johnson caught three scoring passes and returned a punt 89 yards for another TD for the Trojans, who posted their 13th straight win in a season opener.
Despite being ranked to start the season and with high aspirations, the Trojans won't be going to a bowl game. They were hit with a two-year postseason ban as a result of violations stemming from former USC standout football player Reggie Bush and basketball star O.J. Mayo.
Marc Tyler ran for 154 yards and a touchdown for the Trojans (1-0), who are 7-0 all-time against Hawaii.
Barkley, who led USC to an Emerald Bowl win over Boston College last December, completed 18-of-23 passes for 257 yards.
Kiffin, previously an assistant at USC, left Tennessee unceremoniously after just one year and took over for Pete Carroll who once again has jumped to the NFL, this time with the Seahawks.
Bryant Moniz connected on 18-of-36 passes for 269 yards and a score for the Warriors (0-1), but he left the game in the third quarter after taking a blow to the head on a hit from USC linebacker Michael Morgan.
The Warriors rolled up 588 yards of offense, but couldn't give head coach Greg McMackin a win as he began a third season with Hawaii, which is coming off a 6-7 campaign. Included in the big offensive showing were three receivers going over 100 yards. Greg Salas caught eight balls for 124, Royce Pollard seven for 106, and Kealoha Pilares five for 176 and three touchdowns.
Moniz suffered a cut to his right elbow after being hit hard by Morgan during a 13-yard scramble to the USC five. Brent Rausch replaced Moniz and the Warriors scored on a one-yard run from Alex Green, getting Hawaii within 34-23 with 1:54 left in the quarter.
Barkley, though, quickly struck back, hitting Stanley Havili for 49 yards, and then finding Johnson for a three-yard score with 27 seconds left in the third. Mitch Mustain's run accounted for the two-point conversion.
Shane Austin's 65-yard TD pass to Pilares had Hawaii knocking on the door again with 6:48 left in the game, but just 13 seconds later, Tyler broke off a 44-yard TD run.
Pilares and Austin hooked up from 30 yards away with under four minutes left.
Barkley threw 46 yards to David Ausberry for a TD nearly five minutes into the game. Kiffin brought out an odd formation for a two-point conversion try, but Mustain's pass went awry.
Scott Enos kicked a 24-yard field goal, but Barkley's one-yard TD pass to Johnson and the subsequent two-point conversion by the pair widened USC's lead to 14-3 with 1:38 left in the opening quarter.
It became 20-3 when Barkley passed to Rhett Ellison for a six-yard score early in the second.
Enos kicked a 40-yard field goal and the Warriors made it a seven-point spread after Pilares broke a tackle on the way to a 56-yard catch-and-run for a TD with nearly three minutes left in the half.
Hawaii's defense again failed, though, as Barkley hit Johnson for a 13-yard score with 1:06 remaining.
A big replay with 12 seconds left in the first half was the difference between a touchdown and a field goal for the Warriors. Salas caught a short pass and was tackled by linebacker Malcolm Smith near the goal line. Salas seemed to reach the ball over the plane, but officials ruled the ball short after the replay. The crowd of 44,204 went wild when they thought referee Bill Athan signaled touchdown, but instead he was showing how short the ball was from the goal line. Enos ended up kicking an 18-yard field goal for a 27-16 margin.
Johnson bolted down the right sideline for his TD punt return midway through the third quarter.
Game Notes
USC is 30-1 against current Western Athletic Conference teams...The Trojans have won 17 straight non-conference games...This was the first of a school- record seven road outings for the Trojans this year...Hawaii is 15-35 all-time against members of the Pac-10 Conference...Austin completed 6-of-9 passes for 141 yards...Johnson ended with seven catches for 59 yards.
<< 49ers edge Chargers to complete unbeaten preseason
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nate Davis' two-yard touchdown pass to
Jehuu Caulcrick in the fourth quarter lifted the San Francisco 49ers over the
San Diego Chargers, 17-14, in the preseason finale for both clubs.
Davis completed
<< Cardinals defeat Redskins in final preseason game
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Max Hall connected on 7-of-9 passes for
126 yards and ran for a touchdown and Jay Feely kicked a pair of field goals
to lead Arizona to a 20-10 victory over Washington in the final preseason
tuneup
<< Laird's homer wins it, as Tigers outlast Twins
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gerald Laird's 13th-inning home run was the
difference, as the Detroit Tigers pulled out a 10-9 victory over the Minnesota
Twins in the finale of a three-game series.
Laird's blast was one of five Tigers
<< Choo carries Cleveland over Seattle
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shin-Soo Choo tied a career-high by driving in
five runs, as he stroked a three-run double in the sixth inning and added a
two-run homer in the ninth, boosting the Indians to a 6-3 win over Seattle to
open a
Line of Scrimmage: Your Guide to the 2010 NFL Season >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two summers from now, you'll be reading -
or perhaps choosing to disregard - this piece at least one week earlier.
Given the forceful recent rhetoric emanating from NFL commissioner Roger
Goodell and the
No. 16 GaTech favored against SCarolina State >>
ATLANTA (AP) -Paul Johnson didn't know what to expect when making his debut as Georgia Tech's coach in 2008.As it turned out, Johnson inherited some pretty good talent from former coach Chan Gailey, including four players - Demaryius Thomas, Jonatha
12 Tar Heels out for LSU game amid NCAA probe >>
Twelve players from North Carolina won't play in the 18th-ranked Tar Heels' opener against No. 21 LSU in Atlanta on Saturday amid an ongoing NCAA investigation.The school said Friday that six players - defensive ends Robert Quinn and Michael McAdoo,
Bruins sign Wyatt Smith >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins have signed forward Wyatt
Smith to a one-year contract.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Smith spent last year with Pittsburgh's American Hockey League affiliate in
Wi
Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.
NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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