QB Zach Collaros can get it done in the air or on the ground. He's the real deal.

When I saw the line open at Cincinnati -1.5, my eyes opened up and I was in a state of disbelief. Something has to be up because this football spread is just too favorable if my first impression serves me correct. Sure, Cincinnati lost their head coach Brian Kelly to Notre Dame and they don’t have QB Tony Pike this season either (29 TDs last season in just 8 starts), but did the oddsmakers forget that Fresno State lost the nation’s best running back RB Ryan Matthews (1808 yards, 19 TDs) and play in the WAC?

Cincinnati has a more than capable quarterback in QB Zach Collaros (1436 passing yards, 344 rushing yards, 10 passing TDs, 4 rushing TDs in 4 starts), who filled in for the injured Tony Pike last season. I am enamored with this kid. In Collaros’s five games after Pike’s injury (he had 132 rushing yards in his debut once Pike went down vs. USF), he averaged 65 rushing yards per game. Collaros helped lead the Bearcats to a 12-0 regular season by going 4-0 as their starter and beating quality teams such as Connecticut and West Virginia. He threw for 4 TDs against Syracuse and racked up 480 passing yards, 75 rushing yards, and 3 TDs against Connecticut. Collaros won over Bearcats fans and there were many who wanted him to…

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If you are looking to place a wager on tonight’s game you should probably consider the following.

NY Giants: According to the Giants Head Coach their offense has been severely limited due to several key injuries. The Giants normally play a two tight-end set, but will likely be limited to a one tight-end set tonight due to several injuries to their tight-ends. The coach also stated that the starting offense would be limited to about 15-18 plays before the second string would hit the field. The Giants have been running their mouth a lot and giving the Jets a lot of “bulletin board” material to get them fired up over the past week. Giants defense appears to be pretty healthy and ready to go.

Jets: The Jets appear to be relatively healthy and should come in pretty prepared for this game. The starting offense is expected to play into the 2nd quarter. Giants said that the Jets playing starters longer would not effect their strategy for the game. One important note is that the Jets are appearing this year on the HBO Hard Knocks show. Several of the teams that have been filmed for this this show have really struggled with their overall play in the season that followed them appearing on the show as it appears to distract the players from the overall routine of getting ready for the season as the cameras are constantly on them.

Based on the above, I would lean towards the Jets -3 and…

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WR #15 Jermaine Kearse is the player to watch in this one.

WASHINGTON HUSKIES @ BYU COUGARS -3

Washington has been a notoriously awful football team for the better part of the last decade, but has shown signs of turning their program around last year. Ever since their 2001 Rose Bowl appearance, they’ve struggled big time. Here are their records since 2001 in chronological order: 7-6, 6-6, 1-10, 2-9, 5-7, 4-9, 0-12, 5-7. The bottom line is that this team hasn’t produced a winning season since 2002, but they were able to improve on their 0-12 2008 season by going 5-7 this past year. Everyone tried to pound the Huskies last year and more often than not, they got burned as the Huskies had a 7-5 record ATS. They covered against USC, Notre Dame, Arizona, UCLA, and Cal. Even more impressive was the fact that they closed the season by defeating Cal 42-10 after shutting out Washington State 30-0, as well as upsetting USC 16-13. However, Washington struggled on the road going 0-5 and getting crushed by the likes of Oregon State and Stanford, who they were unable to cover against.

BYU was tremendous this past season, closing the year with an 11-2 record and going 8-5 ATS and finishing 14th in the BCS standings ahead of teams such as Pitt, Oregon State, Stanford, Utah, and West Virginia. That kind of performance last year begs the question, why is this team only giving…

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If you do a little research and make some educated guesses based on current comments by coaches and players as to their intentions for any of their preseason games, you may have a chance to build that bankroll even before the season officially starts.

Saturday Leans:

1. Detroit (+2.5) vs Pittsburgh: Even w/o Big Ben Pitt is still the better team.  However, Detroit has won more games in the past two preseasons than they have in either season combined.  Therefore, I still look for the Detroit coaches to push for a win here, just to help the overall morale of this team.  So look for Detroit to come out and play harder as this game may mean more to Detroit than Pittsburgh. Lean towards Det.

2. Minnesota (+2.5) vs St. Louis: Without Favre confirmed to be the starter look for the QBs from Minnesota to take the field focused on earning a starting QB role.  Therefore, you may see some more passing from the Vikings, plus their running game will be solid even when they get pretty deep on their bench.  St. Louis still has a long way to go to be considered a professional football team.  Lean towards Minny.

These are not blockbuster picks, this is the presason so anything could happen.  Just some insight I have gained through some interviews with coaches and players that I have heard this year.

Keep your eyes on WR Michael Floyd in this game.

PURDUE BOILERMAKERS @ NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (-10.5)

Scanning through the week 1 college lines, Purdue at +10.5 caught my eye. Although Purdue had a losing record at 5-7, they were a competitive team, losing to Oregon by 2 points, Notre Dame by 3, and Michigan State by 3. Purdue was probably best known for upsetting Ohio State 26-18. They knew how to fight in games against the top competition, which is why I was tempted to take the points here. I also figured that Notre Dame may be facing a major set back with the losses of QB Jimmy Clausen and WR Golden Tate.

Unfortunately for Purdue, the injury bug has hurt the Boilermakers this past spring. Their star RB Ralph Bolden, who finished 3rd in the Big Ten in rushing, tore a ligament in his knee and may miss the entire season. Purdue’s QB Robert Marve, who was recruited by Miami, but left when he wasn’t chosen as Miami’s starter, will be the new face of the team and will have a talented receiver in WR Keith Smith (91 receptions, 1100 yards last season) to throw to.  Marve isn’t anything to write home about though: he threw more INTs (13) than TDs (9) last season at Miami. Purdue had a solid secondary last year, giving up just 203 yards per game, but they’ll have to deal with replacing 4 starters in that group,…

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Andy Dalton hopes to lead his team to an undefeated year if they can get past OSU.

OREGON STATE BEAVERS @ TCU HORNED FROGS (-13)

Coming into this season, TCU is ranked 7th while Oregon State is ranked 23rd. The TCU/OSU spread jumped out at me because Oregon State is a quality team and they’re getting double-digit points here, which had me think about taking a game where you’re starting off with some points. However, with the Horned Frog’s extraordinary offense and rushing attack, TCU may end up beating the Beavers convincingly.

TCU was ranked No. 3 last year going into the Fiesta Bowl ultimately losing 17-10, so my last impression of them was that they’re impressive offense when playing competition in the Mountain West Conference, but when faced with a legitimate defense like BSU’s, they get shut down.

Oregon State closed the regular season losing to the 7th ranked Oregon Ducks in honourable [sic] fashion, 37-33. Oregon State was a 10-point dog in that game and we recommended a teaser taking the Ducks at -3 with the over 55 — a spot on call if there ever was one. Oregon State finished the season 8-5 crushing the likes of California, Washington, and Washington State, and topping quality teams like Stanford and Arizona State, before competing against Oregon at a high level. In that game, they nearly had the Ducks beat. They had the lead going into the half and trailed by just…

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Good to be back.  I do have to apologize for struggling down the stretch last year.  I had a lot going on personally and really wasn’t focused on football.  No EXCUSES though, it is what it is and life goes on.  I have done a lot of pre-season review of the teams and have actually already placed a bet on a college football game. If you don’t know, Vegas books release early lines and the one that jumped out at me was Louisville +7 at home verse Kentucky. However, that line was changed quite a bit, with Louisville at +3.

Another key to betting the first week is to look for teams with returning offensive linemen.  Protecting your QB and giving your RB some holes to run through is critical early in the season b/c it really helps avoid those unnecessary turnovers. One team that will be a bet against at every opportunity is Florida Atlantic who returns NO offensive linemen with a collegiate start.  To make matters worse their projected starting center just went down with an injury to his knee and it is not looking good that he will make it back for the first game.

If some of you are into future bets on who may be the BCS Champion I would lean towards the following:

1. Oklahoma at 12to1. Bottom Line: QB did get several starts last year and their schedule sets them up perfectly to go undefeated.

2. Boise State at 10to1. Bottom Line: If…

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