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08/04/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Welcome to Five-a-Side - five questions, five answers. This is a Q&A feature with an influential person in the FCS, and will run at the beginning of each month.
If Stephen F. Austin senior quarterback Jeremy Moses stopped to soak in his record-setting career-to-date, he would be impressed by the big numbers. They include his 41 touchdown passes in 2008 and another 40 last season. He is on pace to become the Southland Conference's all-time leader in completions, passing yards, touchdown passes and total offense
Moses, though, is letting his statistics do the talking and focusing on the possible next step for SFA, which was 0-11 in his freshman season under coach J.C. Harper in 2007, 4-8 in 2008 and 10-3 in 2009 (including an FCS playoff win over Eastern Washington before the Lumberjacks were hammered by Montana).
What's the next step? Moses is anxious to find out.
Let's kick off:
TSN: In what ways have you gotten better this spring and what's the next step for you this coming season?
JM: I just need to be more patient. I think a lot of the mistakes that I made last year were from trying to do too much or extend the play when I just needed to take a sack or throw the ball away. I've worked on staying in the pocket, going through all my reads, and if nothing's there just throwing it away instead of trying to scramble out and throw the ball 30 yards downfield and getting intercepted.
TSN: How good of a season can it be for your team?
JM: It should be a great season. We haven't had back-to-back conference championships at SFA in a long time. I would definitely love to be part of the team that helped accomplish that, and I think that's pretty much the mindset of the whole team, that we're not just one-and-done, we're going to be here for a while.
TSN: In 2007, it started out 0-11 for Coach Harper. To come this far this quickly, how has that happened?
JM: Me, Jabara Williams, Devon Ducote and Chad Haynes, I think us four were the first ones thrown in there that first year. It was hard to take. After having an 0-11 season, we pretty much understand that winning every game is a big thing. It made us more humble and especially made us work harder. We never want to end up in a situation like that again."
TSN: You mention the senior class. In what ways did you guys have to commit yourself and kind of change around the culture?
JM: We pretty much had to change the attitude of the team. When we all first got here, it was a lot of seniors and it was pretty much ran on a relaxed way, like the seniors did what they had to do and they still were going to be playing. As soon as we all got there, we worked out butts off so we could get in the game.
TSN: Do you ever stop and look at your statistics and admire them?
JM: Not really. I'm not a big statistic person. The only things I really care about are interceptions and completion percentage. I like having a high completion percentage and not a lot of interceptions. As far as the other stuff goes, when it's all said and done, I'll stop and look it. I'm just looking at the wins column right now.
<< Blackhawks sign Cullimore, four others
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks have signed defenseman
Jassen Cullimore to a one-year contract.
In addition, the Stanley Cup champs also inked goaltender Hannu Toivonen and
forwards Evan Brophey, Nathan Davis and Hu
<< Rangers try to bounce back in Seattle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Not even the return of batting leader Josh Hamilton could
pull the Texas Rangers to victory last night in the series opener against the
AL West-rival Seattle Mariners.
Maybe Vladimir Guerrero returning to the lineup follow
<< Wellings shines bright at the Toronto Star Amateur
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the world's best professional golfers
have already moved on to the next PGA tour stop following last week's RBC
Canadian Open, the most talented amateur players in southern Ontario put on
quite a show a
<< CFL East: Alouettes show Argonauts how to be a real contender
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Argonauts' 3-1 start had their fans
talking about not only the playoffs, but the potential of making a good run at
first in the east. That level of support got shot down in a huge way, courtesy
of a 47-10
Portland State adds two assistants >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portland State has hired two new assistant
football coaches, Mark Kaanapu to coach the running backs and Richard Seigler
to assist on the defensive line.
Kaanapu has spent 15 seasons of coaching in California
Patriots add OL Ghiaciuc >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots signed offensive
lineman Eric Ghiaciuc to an undisclosed contract on Wednesday.
Ghiaciuc, 29, did not play in the NFL in 2009, as he was waived by the Chiefs
prior to the regula
Crawley given extension at BC >>
Chestnut Hill, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston College women's basketball coach
Sylvia Crawley has been rewarded with a two-year contract extension through
the 2014-15 season.
Crawley has a record of 40-27 in two seasons with the Eagles.
Fever will keep Lookin At Lucky from Travers >>
Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Haskell Invitational winner Lookin At
Lucky will miss the $1 million Travers at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday,
August 28 after coming down with a fever on Tuesday.
Trainer Bob Baffert announced
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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