UCLA Bruins at Texas Longhorns, Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, TX
Saturday, September 25, 2010, 3:30 pm EST, TV: ABC or ESPN (Check local listings
Opening Line: Texas -14 1/2
Current Line: Texas -16
Opening Total: 43.5
Current Total: 41.5
Money Line: Texas -725/ UCLA +575
All Odds from above taken from Bookmaker Sportsbook who offers the best online betting around.
Rick Neuheisal leads his UCLA Bruins to Austin to take on Mack Brown and the Texas Longhorns. The last time these two teams met in Austin was in 1997. UCLA embarrassed the Horns 66-3. Longhorn fans still remember that game and will be out for blood. Texas also has two impressive streaks going. They have won 17 straight games at home and 17 straight regular season non-conference games. Texas is also 4-0 against the Pac-10 straight up since 2000. The Bruins, meanwhile have lost 15 straight road games against ranked opponents since 2001. The Bruins are 1-2 so far this season, while the Longhorns are 3-0 Texas checks into this game as -16 point home favorites on the college football point spread.
UCLA beat Houston last week in the Rose Bowl 31-13 after Houston’s top two quarterbacks Case Keenum and Cotton Turner left the game with injuries. Both are lost for the season. The Bruins offense is led by runnng back Johnathan Franklin who has 50 carries for 291 yards and 3 touchdowns so far this season. The Bruins rush 204 yards a game. The passing game is almost nonexistant. Quarterback Kevin Prince has only thrown for 258 yards, 1 touchdown, and 4 interceptions so far this year, prompting some Bruin fans to call for Prince to be benched in favor of back-up Richard Brehaut. Turnovers have been a problem for the Bruins, as they have 10 in three games. The Bruins also have committed 19 penalties so far thsi season. On defense the Bruins have been pretty bad especially against the run. They are giving up over 210 yards a game on the ground. The Bruins have forced 5 turnovers of their own along with 7 sacks. It could be a long day for the Bruins if they can’t shore up the run defense.
Texas is 3-0 but the offense hasn’t looked great so far. The Longhorns are winning mainly on defense as they have the second ranked defense in the country, giving up only 206.7 yards a game along with12.7 points a game. It is a nice luxury to have as quarterback Garrett Gilbert learns the offense. Against Texas Tech last week, the Longhorns only allowed 144 total yards including -14 yards rushing. The Horns also forced 3 turnovers and 4 sacks en routhe to a 24-14 victory. The game wouldn’t have been that close had Texas not committed 4 turnovers of their own. Gilbert has thrown for 621 yards, 3 touchdowns, and three picks so far this season. The rushinbg attack is led by Foswhitt Whittaker, Cody Johnson, and Tre’ Newton. Eash has at least 27 carries and 2 touchdowns, but Newton leads with 3. Johnson has the most carries with 41 but Whittaker leads in yards with 168. Gilbert’s top two targets are receivers James Kirkendoll (9 catches for 159 yards, no TD’s) and Mike Davis (13 catches for 149 yards and 2 TD’s).
This has serious trap game potential for Texas as they play Oklahoma and Nebraska in the next two weeks. Texas clearly has more talent than the Bruins but sometimes the Longhorn offense tends to struggle, which might give the Bruins a chance to pull the upset. In order for that to happen, The Bruins must cut down on the turnovers and penalties or they will leave hot, muggy Austin disappointed. We dont have an opinion on this game, both of the offenses have struggled but the total is already low and has already been bet down so there is no value there. We made the game Texas -15 so it looks lined properly as well. We do have 7 strong opinions on the Saturday card and you can get this winners by visiting our winning college football picks page of the site. Currently on a 75% pick run ride us while we are hot and turn profits along the way.
