NCAA Football Previews- UAB Blazers vs No.18 Florida Gators
The UAB Blazers, out of Conference-USA, kick-off their 2011 season with a trip to Gainesville to tangle with the SEC’s Florida Gators this Saturday night. Kick-off is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be available on ESPN3.com.
Date/Time: Saturday, Sept.10 7 p.m. (ET)
Venue: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, FL
Broadcast: ESPN3.com
Blazers at Gators lines by BetOnline.com
Point spread: Gators -23
Over/Under: 53.5
Click here for the ATS Gambling Report for this game!
UAB has not won more than five games since 2004 and are coming off a 4-8 campaign in 2010. The patience is wearing thin for head coach Neil Callaway as he enters his fifth season at the helm. His team was much more competitive last season with close loses to Tennessee and Mississippi State, but he will probably need more than to keep his job.
The good news is that 16 starters return from last year’s team including quarterback Bryan Ellis and running back Pat Shed. Ellis started the final eight games of the 2010 season and threw for close to 3000 yards and 25 touchdowns. Shed led the team in rushing with 847 yards on 231 carries.
Florida plays its second warm-up game before embarking on another brutal SEC schedule. Last week the Gators crushed Florida Atlantic 41-3 as 34-point home favorites in their opener. They wasted no time putting this one away early with 24 unanswered points to start the game. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Running back Chris Rainey was the star of the day against the Owls with three touchdowns on a run, a pass, and a return of a blocked punt. Jeff Demps also had a good day running the ball with 105 yards on 12 carries and two scores.
Quarterback John Brantley went an efficient 21-for-30 for 229 yards and one touchdown. The only bad grades on his performance were the two interceptions he threw. Brantley has one more game to further acclimate himself with Charlie Weis’s new offensive system before the bullets start flying around for real.
UAB is 0-4 against the spread in its last four games and the total has stayed ‘under’ in three of those games. Florida is 5-2 ATS in its last seven games and the total has stayed ‘under’ in four of its last five.
The 23-point spread in this game appears to be a bit low, but the 2011 version of the Blazers is still an unknown entity. None the less, stick with the Gators to cover at home.
Betting Trends:
Under is 9-2 in UAB last 11 vs. SEC.
The Pick: Florida 44 UAB 13
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