NCAAF Betting – RM
Rebels at Demon Deacons
Sept 5th, 2008
Two teams who looked good last week will take the field on Saturday afternoon, as ACC meets SEC. The Rebels of Mississippi (1-0 SU & ATS) meet up with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (1-0 SU & ATS) in an NCAA college football matchup that is scheduled to kick off at 3:30 PM ET at Groves Stadium (artificial turf) in Winston-Salem, N.C.
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: WAKE FOREST -7.5, Total 46.5
Here are some of the NCAAF betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* MISS has lost nine of its last 12 games SU
* MISS has covered four of its last 12 road games
* MISS has lost 13 of its last 14 road games SU
* MISS has played five of its last six road games UNDER the total
* WAKE has covered eight of its last nine games
* WAKE has won 10 of its last 12 games SU
* WAKE has played four of its last five games OVER the total
* WAKE has covered five of its last six home games
* WAKE has won its last five home games SU
* WAKE has played seven of its last ten home games UNDER the total
All indications are that Houston Nutt has come in and made something of a difference in the attitude at Ole Miss. Jevan Snead, the transfer from Texas, threw a couple of touchdown passes without any pickoffs against Memphis, and Shay Hodge, who caught 43 passes last year and was on the other end of both those TD passes, looks like he is going to be a beneficiary of the new “Wild Rebel” offensive scheme. It was the first time in nearly five years that Ole Miss had scored 40 points or more against a real, live Division I opponent.
There is no mistaking the ability of Snead, who was one of the nation’s most highly-recruited quarterbacks coming out of high school; a Parade All-American and two-time all-state player in football-mad Texas. In the spring game, he was 20 for 26 and with the infusion of some freshman talent at the wide receiver spots, Nutt had a lot of reason for optimism from the start.
But let’s not crazy about the Rebs just yet. Snead, for all his attributes, was just 10 for 22 against Memphis, and 32 of Dexter McCluster’s 64 rushing yards came on one TD play. The Rebels were outgained 453-438 by the Tigers, so there is some work to do. And on Saturday, they are facing a team that is known for its fundamentals, gets consistent performances out of its QB (Riley Skinner, who completed 72% of his passes lat year and was 27 for 36 in the opener against Baylor) and has a little extra time to prepare.
And crafty Jim Grobe, who knows how to motivate, will have his Deacons holding on to that pre-season national ranking (the first ever for the school) with dear life. True, Baylor committed five turnovers against them, and those in turn were converted to three TD’s. But then again, that’s what Wake Forest does – they play low risk in the passing game, and take advantage of opponents’ mistakes. Remember, they had ten TD’s on defense and special teams last year.
Let’s see how Nutt’s team does when it has to travel. We’re willing to pay to find out. Let’s lay the points with Wake Forest, the 7.5-point favorite in the BetUS NCAA college football betting odds.
