No. 6 Huskers' Martinez to measure self vs. Idaho

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/10/2010 -

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -After passing his trial run as Nebraska's starter, Taylor Martinez can strengthen his grip on the quarterback's job with another strong outing Saturday against Idaho.

Martinez won over his teammates, not to mention the fans, in last week's 49-10 season-opening win over Western Kentucky. Now the redshirt freshman is poised to establish himself as the sixth-ranked Cornhuskers' clear starter going into next week's test at Washington.

``I just feel like now he knows it's his huddle, and he's going to run the show,'' receiver Mike McNeill said. ``He's got a lot of confidence.''

Martinez ran for 127 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 136 yards against a Western Kentucky team that has lost 21 straight. He should get a better measure of himself against Idaho, which beat Bowling Green in the last seconds of the Humanitarian Bowl last year and opened with a 45-0 rout of North Dakota.

Nebraska's quarterback shuffle has gone as smoothly as offensive coordinator Shawn Watson could have hoped. Martinez beat out 2009 starter Zac Lee, a senior, and top backup Cody Green, a sophomore.

Watson said Lee and Green have offered their help to Martinez in film study and on the practice field.

``I'm proud of what they've done because both Cody and Zac wanted to have that opportunity,'' Watson said. ``Those guys have put the team first, which is part of our culture here.''

Watson told the quarterbacks the pecking order five days before the opener. To that point, Green said, Watson had updated the three almost daily about where they stood in the competition.

``That's all you can ask for,'' Green said. ``It would be a lot worse if everything was secretive and then, bam, here is the starter. It wasn't like that. We knew (Martinez) was starting, and we knew the reason why he was starting.''

Lee declined an interview request, as did Martinez.

Watson said Martinez, who was clearly uncomfortable speaking with reporters after last week's game, reluctantly accepts all that comes with being a Nebraska quarterback.

``I see that he knows he is getting attention,'' Watson said. ``I think he would really like it to all go away and let him do his thing.''

His thing is running the ball, not his mouth.

McNeill said he and his teammates have witnessed Martinez's explosiveness since last year, when Martinez was on the scout team. The fans got their first glimpse of Martinez in the spring game, which put him in position to make a bid for the job in preseason practice.

``A lot of time people get hyped up during camp or spring ball, and you never really know what you're going to get,'' McNeill said. ``But we all knew, that kid can flat out run. I knew he was going to run the ball well, but I was just impressed with the clock management and the play calls.''

Though his team is a four-touchdown favorite against Idaho, coach Bo Pelini said the Vandals present a bigger challenge than the Hilltoppers did.

The Vandals had the nation's second-best turnaround last year, going from 2-10 in 2008 to 8-5. NFL prospect Nathan Enderle, a North Platte, Neb., native, returns to his home state after passing for 333 yards and two TDs against North Dakota.

Idaho coach Robb Akey said his players should soak up the Memorial Stadium atmosphere and the 85,000-strong ``Sea of Red.'' But he said the Vandals won't just show up just to collect their $800,000 guarantee.

``Nobody is going to pick us to win this game,'' he said, ``so there's no way we can go in there and screw it up. I believe this: If we play as fast as we can, as hard as we can and as long as we can, and if we execute things better, we give ourselves some opportunities. We'll see what that will do when we read the scoreboard at the end of the ball game.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.