Argos edge Blue Bombers

Football Betting Lines

07/10/2010 - Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleo Lemon threw for 162 yards and ran for a touchdown as he helped lead the Toronto Argonauts to a thrilling 36-34 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Canad Inns Stadium.

Also putting together a strong effort for the Argos (1-1) as they snapped a nine-game slide, was running back Cory Boyd who carried the ball 19 times for 109 yards and a score.

Winnipeg (1-1) quarterback Buck Pierce converted 25-of-35 for 366 yards and three touchdowns, adding a hefty 103 yards and a score on seven rushing attempts as well. Terence Jeffers-Harris reeled in seven of those completions, leading to a game-high 152 yards and two TDs in the setback as well.

Toronto controlled the action in the first quarter, forcing a pair of turnovers by the Blue Bombers and keeping the hosts off the scoreboard while kicker Grant Shaw booted through a trio of field goals.

Shaw, who knocked through a 28-yard attempt in his first game in the league last week versus Calgary, made good on a 29-yard effort to start things off just over three minutes into the opening period. Shaw followed that with a lengthy 52-yard effort, with a 35-yard conversion shortly afterwards to provide the squad with a 9-0 advantage.

Early in the second frame the Argonauts found themselves buried deep in their own end following a 49-yard punt by Mike Renaud that was returned six yards to the eight-yard line by Chad Owens. Despite having to drive almost the length of the field, Toronto took care of business as it pushed the ball all 102 yards on 12 plays, eating up close to six and a half minutes of the clock as Boyd lunged into the end zone on a one-yard run at the 7:52 mark of the period.

Boyd, who made the score 16-0, rebounded from a weak start to the season last week when he ran the ball just eight times for a total of 32 yards.

A swing in momentum came on the ensuing Winnipeg possession when Pierce gave his team a jolt with a 20-yard scramble, followed by a 10-yard run by Fred Reid and a major facemask penalty that advanced the ball even deeper into Toronto territory.

Pierce then capped the five-play, 70-yard drive with a 21-yard scoring strike to Terrence Edwards, marking the receiver's third TD grab of the young season.

On their next possession, the home team again turned to Pierce to provide the spark, which he did with a 43-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 16-14. The scoring run was the longest of Pierce's career and helped him reach a career-best 93 yards on the ground in the first half alone.

Following a two-and-out by Toronto, Alexis Serna gave the Blue Bombers a 17-16 advantage when he converted a 26-yard field goal with six seconds remaining in the first half.

In the final moments of the half, Serna's kickoff was punted back into the end zone by Ejiro Kuale and, once Serna recovered the ball, the Argonauts were awarded a single after Winnipeg lost its challenge.

Toronto attempted to cool off the Blue Bombers as it took the second-half opening kick 62 yards on nine plays, with Lemon absorbing a hard shot by defensive back Brady Browne at the goal line to again put his team ahead at 24-17.

Serna then stepped up for the Blue Bombers and made good on a 43-yard field goal to make the score 24-20.

Lemon did not come out on the next possession for the Argonauts, as Dalton Bell instead made an appearance for the club. Bell, getting his first regular- season action in the CFL, completed one of his three pass attempts in the series for 28 yards before the ball was returned to Winnipeg.

With the ball back in the hands of the Blue Bombers, Pierce went to work as he ran out to his right and then threw a short pass over the middle to Jeffers- Harris who then shook off a tackler and raced 60 yards to the corner of the end zone, pushing Winnipeg back in front at 27-24.

Lemon did return to action later in the third quarter, but a quick pair of incomplete passes sent him right back to the sidelines and the ball back over to the hosts.

Serna aimed to provide the Bombers with a six-point edge early in the fourth quarter, but not only did he miss on his 45-yard field goal attempt, the ball was collected by Chad Owens who proceeded to race 117 yards untouched for the score to put Toronto back on top, 31-27.

"Today was a long day at the office," said Winnipeg defensive end Phillip Hunt who was on the field during the Owens run back. "We've got to put this game behind us and get ready for the next game."

Winnipeg head coach Paul LaPolice echoed the sentiment saying, "Momentum swung in their direction when we missed the 45-yarder. We can't do that and be able to beat teams in this league."

Buried deep in their own territory with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, the Blue Bombers opted to take a safety in the end zone rather than chance a punt, pushing the Toronto lead to 33-27 with 3:44 left in the period.

Toronto took advantage of a major penalty at the conclusion of the ensuing kickoff, putting the team in field goal range with the game hanging in the balance. After a couple of hard runs by Boyd moved the ball into the shadow of the goalpost the Argos had to settle for yet another field goal, pushing the lead to 36-27.

Refusing to go away quietly, Pierce again pushed the Blue Bombers 75 yards down the field, culminating with a 38-yard TD strike to Jeffers-Harris making the score 36-34 with Serna's converted PAT with 16 seconds remaining.

The teams lined up for an on-sides kick which was nearly claimed by Winnipeg, but after review the officials awarded the ball to the Argos who subsequently ran out the clock for their first victory since defeating Hamilton in double- overtime (25-22) back on September 11, 2009.

Game Notes

In the season-opening win over Hamilton, Pierce ran for 89 yards, the most for a Winnipeg quarterback since 1993...Winnipeg, which now owns a 48-47-2 advantage in the all-time series, entered the meeting having won two straight and four of the last five versus the Argos...Against the Stampeders in the season opener, Owens recorded a 90-yard punt return for a score...The missed field goal returned for a touchdown by Owens was the third of the season already, after the entire league recorded just two such plays all of 2009...Toronto finished the 2009 campaign with eight consecutive defeats and won just two games on the road all season, one of those coming against Winnipeg (19-5) in late July.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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