Alouettes tangle with Tiger-Cats in home opener

Football Betting Lines

07/20/2010 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ranked fifth in the most recent power rankings in the CFL, the Montreal Alouettes hope to move up as they contend against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in their 2010 home opener at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium this Thursday evening.

After getting off to a rough start in the season opener, a meeting with Saskatchewan that resulted in a 54-51 overtime setback, the Als appear to be back on the right track after putting up consecutive wins against Edmonton (33-23) and British Columbia (16-12). At 2-1, Montreal matches the surprising Toronto Argonauts at the top of the Eastern Division standings.

Quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who is making a run at many of the all-time passing records in Montreal history, completed 30-of-47 for 297 yards against the Lions in a close call last time out. Calvillo failed to throw a touchdown pass in the contest and in fact, it was kicker Damon Duval who saved the day for the Als with four field goals and a couple of singles, accounting for the majority of the team's point production.

As for the Tiger-Cats, they dropped their first two outings of the regular season against Winnipeg and Calgary before hitting the win column with a convincing 28-7 romp over the Blue Bombers in week three of the campaign. In that meeting, Kevin Glenn hit on 29-of-36 passing for 340 yards and three touchdowns, with Maurice Mann turning half of his four catches into scores. Running back DeAndra' Cobb began the meeting with a two-yard touchdown catch and finished it with a six-yard run into the end zone as well.

From a defensive standpoint, Hamilton limited the Blue Bombers to less than 24 minutes of possession and 290 yards of offense overall, while knocking starting quarterback Buck Pierce out of action in the third quarter with a right knee injury.

As well as the defense played for the Cats last week, there has to be some concern with the squad's inability to stop opponents on the ground, given that they are second-to-last in the league with an average of 146 ypg given up to opposing runners. Even though he is far off the pace he set a season ago, Montreal running back Avon Cobourne might use this opportunity to get well and improve upon his mere 4.8 yards per carry thus far.

As a unit Montreal, which is second in the league in scoring at 33.3 ppg, has just two rushing touchdowns thus far and has sputtered since the loss in the opener when the offense erupted for significant gains. Calvillo ranks second in the league with his 902 yards through the air, leading to six touchdowns and just two interceptions, yet it still feels as though he is not nearly as precise as he was last season.

On the other hand, Glenn currently ranks third in the CFL with his 889 yards passing and has completed a league-best 70 percent of his attempts. Add to that his five TDs and just a single INT and it is easy to see why he ranks second in efficiency rating with a mark of 110.0 after three games.

With an average of just 79 yards rushing per game the Tiger-Cats are the least likely club to take advantage of the Montreal defense, but don't tell that to Cobb, who ranked fifth last year in rushing with 1,217 yards. However, even though Cobb put up three more yards overall than Cobourne, it was the latter who led the CFL in rushing touchdowns with 13, while Cobb was credited with only five rushing scores in 2009.

Last year the Als made a clean sweep of Hamilton, taking all three contests, which means Montreal now owns an 83-74-7 regular-season mark versus the Tiger- Cats going back to 1946.

The teams are set to meet two more times this season, with both of those contests being played on Hamilton's home field on September 11 and October 22.

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MySportsbook.com favors Buckeyes, Fighting Irish and Golden Bears in this weekend's big games.

NEW YORK, NY, Sept. 21 - My Sportsbook NCAA football fans: things are beginning to get really interesting on college football's national stage. Following last weekend's "Separation Saturday", which included five teams ranked in the top 15 dropping games, the BCS Championship picture is beginning to take shape - with Ohio State leading the charge. And, according to odds makers at MySportsbook.com, the number-one-ranked Buckeyes will continue their winning ways this weekend.

Revenge will be the name of the game in Columbus this Saturday, as Ohio State looks to even the score following last season's loss to Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions. Although Penn State are listed as 16.5 point underdogs, they are 11-10 all-time versus the Buckeyes. Paterno and the Lions, however, will have to shut down Heisman Trophy favorite Troy Smith who has thrown for 769 yards and seven touchdowns this season.

Speaking of revenge, Notre Dame will be out for some against Michigan State, following last year's 44 - 41 overtime loss to the Spartans in South Bend. The thirteenth-ranked Irish, listed as a 3-point favorite, will also be looking to avenge last Saturday's thrashing from the Michigan Wolverines. The Spartans, meanwhile, have won seven of the last nine match-ups against Notre Dame and are coming off an impressive 38-23 victory over Pittsburgh.

Out west, 22nd-ranked Arizona State will be battling for their first victory over 21st-ranked California since 2000. Although the Golden Bears are listed as 7.5-point favorites, the Sun Devils are 3-0, lead the nation in sacks with 18 and possess the Pac-10's leading passer in sophomore quarterback Rudy Carpenter.

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NCAA Football betting lines (home team in CAPS)
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Date Favorite Opponent Point Spread
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Sept 21 GEORGIA TECH Virginia 17
Sept 22 NEVADA Northwestern 6.5
Sept 23 MICHIGAN Wisconsin 14
Sept 23 Minnesota PURDUE 3
Sept 23 SYRACUSE Miami (Ohio) 6.5
Sept 23 MISSOURI Ohio 21.5
Sept 23 Louisville KANSAS STATE 14
Sept 23 TENNESSEE Marshall 22
Sept 23 CLEMSON North Carolina 16.5
Sept 23 FLORIDA Kentucky 24
Sept 23 Iowa ILLINOIS 20.5
Sept 23 FLORIDA STATE Rice 30.5
Sept 23 AUBURN Buffalo 41.5
Sept 23 BOWLING GREEN Kent 7
Sept 23 NAVY Tulsa 4.5
Sept 23 VIRGINIA TECH Cincinnati 27
Sept 23 BYU Utah State 29
Sept 23 OHIO STATE Penn State 16.5
Sept 23 TEXAS Iowa State 25
Sept 23 Washington State STANFORD 10
Sept 23 CALIFORNIA Arizona State 7.5
Sept 23 UCLA WASHINGTON 3
Sept 23 INDIANA Connecticut 1.5
Sept 23 Central Michigan EASTERN MICHIGAN 4
Sept 23 WYOMING Air Force 1
Sept 23 UTEP NEW MEXICO 9.5
Sept 23 West Virginia EAST CAROLINA 21
Sept 23 Boston College NORTH CAROLINA STATE 7
Sept 23 GEORGIA Colorado 27
Sept 23 ARKANSAS Alabama 1.5
Sept 23 BAYLOR Army 11
Sept 23 WESTERN MICHIGAN Temple 28
Sept 23 MISSISSIPPI Wake Forest 2.5
Sept 23 KANSAS South Florida 5.5
Sept 23 TEXAS A&amp;M Louisiana Tech 23.5
Sept 23 UAB Mississippi State 9.5
Sept 23 LSU Tulane 36
Sept 23 Utah SAN DIEGO STATE 6.5
Sept 23 BOISE STATE Hawaii 15
Sept 23 Notre Dame MICHIGAN STATE 3
Sept 23 USC ARIZONA U 22
Sept 23 Oklahoma State HOUSTON 1
Sept 23 OREGON STATE Idaho 23
Sept 23 OKLAHOMA Middle Tennessee State 29
Sept 23 MARYLAND Florida International 18.5
Sept 23 AKRON North Texas 17.5
Sept 23 SOUTH CAROLINA Florida Atlantic 29.5
Sept 23 NEBRASKA Troy 23
Sept 23 SMU Arkansas State 6

For complete NCAA football odds and World Series odds please visit MySportsbook.com