Football Picks Against the Spread

Ryan Williams is one nasty RB.

BOISE STATE BRONCOS @ VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (+2.5)

Scanning through the week 1 college football lines, the game that stands out this week other than Pitt @ Utah is Boise State @ Virginia Tech (+2.5).  Two National Championship contenders, the No. 5 ranked Broncos and the No. 6. Hokies will be squaring off week one, in the Sunday Night Lights. The game is set for Monday, September 6th, on ESPN at 8:00pm. To be completely fair, this one is a toss up and I’m giving a slight nod to Virginia Tech. If I’ve learned one thing over the years, it’s that this team has performed exceptionally well at home in night games. Although they won’t have the advantage of playing on their home turf at Lane Stadium, they’ll still have a distinct home-field advantage playing at FedEx Field in Washington D.C.

With that said, I would be careless and hasty to say that Boise State doesn’t have a shot in this game. Despite VT’s huge home-field advantage, Boise State is 10-3 ATS on the road in their last 13 games. Even better is the fact that Boise State has 23 of the 24 players that started in the Fiesta Bowl returning. If your memory fails you, Boise State defeated No. 3 TCU last year 17-10 in the Fiesta Bowl and remained undefeated.

BSU’s QB Kellen Moore threw for over two miles last season (3,537 yards to be exact) with a ridiculous 39 TDs. Moore also has all of his top playmakers back again this season. Boise State has an opportunity to play for a National Championship if they win this game. This game is their National Championship, which is why I cannot …

As you know, I’m a huge fan of Coors Light Commercials. It’s practically what made this site famous. We used to have a lot more Coors Light commercial on that page, but some vanished from YouTube. Anywho, there’s an excellent new Coors Light commercial out with my main man, Mike Ditka. It features Coors Light’s latest gimmick in case you thought it was no longer possible to come up with a new gimmicks after the widemouth can, frost-brewed inner lining, the blue-turning mountains, the see-through case so you can see the mountains are blue, and other similar gimmicks. The new gimmick is none other than a home draft kit, aka beer in a box (Box-O-Beer).

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Expect bruising RB Allen Bradford to stomp over Hawaii.

With the college football season getting its start on Thursday, September 2, I’m looking to see if there are any good lines to take before we kick into gear with the NFL. Some lines are already out and I’m already doing some homework on them. The primetime game on Thursday will be Pitt (+3) vs. Utah, which I like Pitt in, but it’s not a strong play due to Pitt being on the road with a QB who is making his first start. I’m expecting Pitt’s D and Dion Lewis to get the job done for the Panthers though. Afterwards, we’ll see USC (-19) @ Hawaii on ESPN.

USC TROJANS -19 @ HAWAII WARRIORS

I’m not expecting USC to be as dominating as in year’s past due to the controversy that surrounded their team this past offseason. They’re prohibited from playing in a Bowl game for the next two years and they’re no longer being led by coaching mastermind Pete Carroll. You have to wonder how that will affect the team this season. One player that won’t affect is RB Allen Bradford who said, “the only way we’re going to be able to express ourselves is to win 13 games.”

USC has a history of beating the smack out of Hawaii. The last time they played was in 2005 and USC won 63-17, following their 2003 rout over Hawaii 63-31. However, with USC’s 1-8 record ATS on the road last season and a 4-9 overall record ATS, I’m hesitant to jump on the opportunity to take USC in this game. To show you how little coaches expect from USC this season, they’re not even listed in the top 25 in …

THE PASS RUSH’S Pick ‘Em league will enter its second season this year. The pick ’em league is ran through Yahoo! Sports where you enter and track your picks. Like last season, I encourage everyone to sign up. The cost is free. The prize if you win the league is a free NFL Shop custom t-shirt from yours truly. The league was great last year. We had over 20 teams compete for the title and it ended up going to Deez Nuts from Minneapolis, Minnesota who picked a t-shirt of his hometown Vikings. Every week was competitive and it came down to the wire.

The sign up, follow this link: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/pickem/register/joingroup

The ID # is 10945 and the password is ‘thepassrush’.

The League Homepage can be viewed there.

Feel free to invite your friends for a shot at the title. Thank you for being a part of THE PASS RUSH. We are also now on Twitter and you can also follow us on Facebook.

Update: Glad to see that Deez Nuts is back to defend his title along with the return of many other Pass Rush Readers.…

Dion Lewis looks to start the season by running wild on the Utes.

The football season is almost upon us. Training camps are in full-mode — injuries are popping up, rookies are developing, and preseason games are about to get underway. Although I cannot wait for the NFL to begin, we get an early start with college football the week prior to the NFL season kicking off.  Although betting on preseason football games is nothing more than a coin toss, week 1 of college football is when good money can always me made.

We start the season on Thursday, September 2. The game of the day in terms of viewing (as opposed betting on) is the Pittsburgh Panthers (+3.5) @ Utah Utes, which I imagine will be broadcasted on ABC or ESPN at the 8:30 time slot, which will be followed by USC (-19) @ Hawaii on ESPN at 11:00.

Both teams last year were BCS contenders and both teams finished the season with 10-3 records.  Impressive by all means. Pitt finished 17th in the final BCS standings while Utah wound up 24th.  Pitt’s defense was their main strength with the 19th best defense in the league. Utah was best known for their potent offense, which ranked 34th in the nation and averaged 29.8 PPG.

The player to watch in this game is none other than emerging RB Dion Lewis, who was a yard shy of an 1800-yard season last year. Dion piled up 18 TDs in his freshman year. In his sophomore year, he is going to tear up the NCAA. Against a Utah defense that is returning just 4 starters, I’m smelling trouble for a young defense that gave up 138 rushing yards per game last …

Is the offseason over yet? I’m already ready to get the sports gambling season started off with a nice little futures bet. I’m looking at the odds for Super Bowl XLV right now and seeing if there’s any dark horses with some decent odds. My Philadelphia Eagles are getting friendly +1800 odds to win the Super Bowl. It looks like the bookmakers don’t have much faith in them. Although I honestly don’t expect them to win the Super Bowl, I think they’re certainly capable of making a nice push with Kolb — I’m expecting them to grab the Wild Card at a minimum. I’m a big Kolb advocate. I think he shows a lot of promise and will be just as good as Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan, but I am being completely bias here since I am not a fan of McNabb and glad that he’s gone.

Let’s be serious for a second though, the front runners to come out of the AFC, I would have to say, are the Jets with their ridiculous defense that will give up less than 10 PPG. Add Santonio Holmes, LaDanian Tomlinson, and QB who is no longer a rookie, and I think you’re looking at the Jets as next year’s champs.

Believe it or not, but they’re getting +1200 odds. That looks like a good score to me. In the NFC, I think it will come down to the Saints and Cowboys (I hate to say it as an Eagles fan, but let’s be honest here). The Saints have +900 odds and the Cowboys have +1000 odds. The Colts are favored to win it all at +800 odds. You also have to look at the Chargers in the mix with +900 …

I recently received an e-mail asking me to spread the word about some viral marketing videos featuring Joe Montana.  I appreciate it when others reach out, so yes, I’m pleased to spread a little viral marketing campaign.  Not only are the videos cool because it features somebody getting nailed in the head with the football, but it’s JOE MONTANA!

Apparently the videos are for Sketchers, but the video doesn’t even feature the Sketchers logo, so this has me thinking, are these videos just an intro to something bigger? Quite intriguing. Feel free to comment.

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