Portland State Vikings (0-1,0-1 ATS) vs.Oregon Ducks(2-0,2-0 ATS), Week 3 College Football, AutzenStadium, (Field Turf)Eugene Oregon, Saturday, September 18th, 2010,6:15 PM Eastern
By Jeff Hochman of JHSportsline.com
Point Spread:PSU +52/UO -52
Over/Under: 74
Not all sportsbooks carry “extra” games but you can bet this game at the web’s best: 5Dimes!
The 5th-ranked Oregon Ducks return home after their impressive win at Tennessee to play thePortland State Vikings. This should be a good one…..Just kidding!
One of the highest betting lines you will ever see in College Football and deservedly so. Some books have this game off the board and won’t take any action on it.The Oregon Ducks look unstoppable on offense after the first two weeks of the regular season. The University of Oregon explosive offense has piled up 1,167 yards, and the fifth-ranked Ducks have scored 120 points on scores by the offense, defense, and special teams. The two-game averages of 583.5 yards and 60 points ranks Oregon second in the nation in both categories.
Last week, the Ducks actually trailed Tennessee 13-3, but got blown out the door in the second half. Oregon did a great job of speeding up the tempo as they saw Tennessee starting to wear down. The Ducks had 26 First Downs while Tennessee only had 14.
The one player that Oregon needs on the field is LaMichael James.Hehas rushed for 100-plus yards in eight of his last nine games and should put up big stats in this game. When James rushes for 100 or moreyards, Oregon is 9-1. When James is held under 100 yards, Oregon is 2-2. James, who rushed for a Pac-10 freshman record 1,546 yards in 2009, returned to action after serving his suspension for an off-season misdemeanor harassment charge.
Portland State is 1-1 after defeating UC Davis last week in a game they
could have lost. Cory McCaffrey ran for 118 yards and a
touchdown Saturday night as Portland State held off UC Davis 41-33. The
Vikings had 257 yards rushing compared to 70 for UC Davis, and needed every
bit of them to outscore the win-lessAggies. Fumbles and Penalties kept
UC Daviswithin striking distance, and if some breaks went their way the
outcome might have been different.
The Ducks have some of the fastest linebackers out West. Spencer Paysinger and Casey Mathews are experienced veterans and on the outside the Ducks boast two potential breakoutgems in Josh Kaddu and Bo Lokombo. Oregon doesn’t have the biggest defense but they do have one of the fastest. Thedefensive unit totally dominated Tennessee in the second half last week.
Oregon should have no problems winning this game, but just how motivated will they be to keep scoring points. The Ducks play a Conference game next week at Arizona State.
Jeff’s Pickto Cover the Spread: I stay away fromgames with this type of spread and there is very little data on Portland State. There are much better games to wager on. Check out all of the previews on this website and pick your favorite match-up. (I doubt Oregon shows up PSU though)