Razorbacks roll to season-opening win
NCAA Football Betting Lines
09/04/2010 - Fayetteville, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Mallett tossed three touchdown passes to lead 17th-ranked Arkansas to a 44-3 rout of Tennessee Tech in the opener for both schools.
Mallett went 21-for-24 for 301 yards along with a pick for the Razorbacks (1-0), who went 8-5 last season, including their first bowl victory since 2003 with a 20-17 win over East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl.
Ronnie Wingo Jr., Dennis Johnson and Broderick Green each had a score on the ground while Joe Adams finished the game with six catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Cobi Hamilton caught the other touchdown.
Tre Lamb went 6-for-13 for 99 yards for the Golden Eagles (0-1), who finished last season with a 6-5 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference of the FCS. Cass Barnes carried the ball eight times for 31 yards while Henry Sailes had two catches for 40 yards in the loss.
The Razorbacks were stopped on a fourth down play in Tennessee Tech territory on their first possession and the Golden Eagles took advantage by moving the ball 51 yards in 10 plays and capped the drive on a 27-yard field goal from Matthew Barker for a 3-0 lead a bit less than five minutes in.
Mallett was picked off on Arkansas' ensuing touch, but held the Golden Eagles to a three-and-out and in five plays got the ball into the end zone on a seven-yard run around the left end by Johnson for a 7-3 lead early in the second. The score was setup by a 37-yard diving catch from Hamilton.
Tennessee Tech got pinned deep in its own end on the kickoff and the Arkansas defense took advantage as Jocques Crawford was forced out of bounds in his own end zone for the safety and a 9-3 lead.
After getting the ball back due to the safety, Arkansas added to its lead as a nine-play, 49-yard drive was finished on a one-yard run into the end zone by Green for a 16-3 lead with just over nine minutes to play in the first half.
An 85-yard bomb from Mallett to Adams extended the Razorbacks' lead to 23-3 with 4 1/2 minutes to play in the first half.
Arkansas made it a 30-3 game on its first touch of the second half as Wingo took the ball into the end zone from 10 yards a bit under four minutes in.
A three-yard toss from Mallett to Hamilton gave the Razorbacks a 37-3 lead with under six minutes to play in the third.
Mallett's third touchdown pass of the game went to Adams on a 15-yard score for a 44-3 lead with 2:41 left in the third.
Game Notes
This was the first-ever meeting between these two schools...Arkansas totaled 519 yards of offense compared to just 187 for Tennessee Tech...Knile Davis had six carries for 67 yards for the Razorbacks...Arkansas has its highest ranking coming into the season since 1990.
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What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
How to Read Point Spreads
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.