Brigham YoungCougars(1-1,1-1 ATS) vs.Florida State Seminoles(1-1, 1-1 ATS), Week 3,Doak Campbell Stadium, (Natural Grass) Tallahassee Florida, Saturday, September 18th, 2010, 3:30 PM Eastern
By Jeff Hochman of JHSportsline.com
Betting Line:BYU +9.5/FSU -9.5
Over/Under: TBA
Line Movement:One of your bigger line moves this week. FSU opened as 6.5-point favorites. This line is headed to 10 by game time!
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The No. 24th ranked BYU Cougarsfly overto Tallahassee, Floridaand willtake on the No. 18th ranked Florida State Seminoles, in a game that features two teams ranked in the Top 25.
BYU lost to Air Force on the road last weekas two-point road underdogs. Mikel Hunter scored twice and the Falcons’ defense forced three turnovers, helping Air Force snap a six-game slide against the Cougarswith a 35-14 win Saturday. Air Force entered the game with the nation’s top rushing offense and had its option attack cranked up against the Cougars, rushing for 409 yards.Florida State will feed Jermaine Thomas and Ty Jones on the ground in hopes of having the same result as the Falcons’ offensedid last week.
Oklahoma crushed Florida State last week 47-17,easily covering the seven-point spread. The Sooners showed the entire country they could be for real this season as their young quarterback had his best game of his career so far. Landry Jones outplayed Christian Ponder by throwing for 380 yards and four touchdowns against Mark Stoops’ defense. The Seminolescommitted costly penalties throughout the entire game and a repeat performancecould have BYU winning this game outright.
A rematch of the 2001 Orange Bowl that brought home the Sooners’ most recent national championship quickly turned into a blowout as Oklahoma scored touchdowns on its first four possessions. The Sooners won their 32nd straight game at Owen Field, extending the nation’s longest home winning streak as a late celebration of their coach’s 50th birthday earlier in the week.
Florida State is 3-0 straight-up and 2-1 against-the-spread vs BYU all time. Last season, FSU defeated BYU 54-28, as 8-point road underdogs. Christian Ponder enjoyed one of his best games to date.After that loss BYU went on to win eight out of their last nine games, includinga Bowl victoryvs. in-state rivalUtah.
Both Riley Nelson and Christian Ponder have struggled at the quarterback position and both teams have used a two QB rotation in both their games. Nelson has been more effective running the balland will likely see the majority of snaps.
Jeff’s Pickto Cover the Point Spread: BYU +9.5.
This is a big revenge game for the Cougars as FSU spanked them around in Provo, UT last season. FSU doesn’t have a shutdown defense and are inconsistent on offense. Take BYU plus the points!
Don’t forget to check out our week 2 pro football picks (with analysis!).