12/02/2008 - Virginia Beach, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South Carolina State running back Will Ford was selected as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Offensive Player of the Year and Morgan State's Jarrell Guyton earned the Defensive Player of the Year honor, as voted by the MEAC head football coaches and sports information directors.
Willie Carter of Howard earned the Rookie of the Year award and South Carolina States Raymond Harrison was selected as the Offensive Lineman of the Year.
Coach of the Year honors went to South Carolina State head coach Buddy Pough who led the Bulldogs to their first playoff berth in 26 years. Under Poughs guidance, the Bulldogs finished the season with a 10-3 overall mark and clinched the MEAC title with an unblemished 8-0 conference record. The Bulldogs ranked in the top 10 of three FCS statistical categories including tackles for loss (4th), sacks allowed (6th), and scoring defense (9th).
Ford led the MEAC in rushing with 1,499 yards and was tied for third in the conference in scoring (78 points). He carried the ball 246 times for an average of 115.3 yards and accounted for 13 touchdowns. Ford, a junior from Travelers Rest, S.C., is just 1,009 yards away from becoming the MEAC's all- time leading rusher. The Preseason Player of the Year honoree, he received the Rookie of the Year award in 2006 and was recently named a finalist for the Walter Payton Award.
Guyton earned the MEAC's Defensive Player of the Year honor after leading one of the most dominating defensive units in the FCS. For the second year in a row the Morgan State Bears led the FCS in total defense giving up less than 213.4 yards per game. Guyton collected 35 solo and 35 unassisted tackles for the Bears this season. He put up numbers in almost every defensive statistical category including 70 total tackles, 13 tackles for a loss of 41 yards, four sacks for a 22 yard loss, one interception for a 22 yards return, three broken up passes, one hurry, and one forced and recovered fumble.
Carter was a key offensive threat for the Howard Bison this season before being sideline with an injury. In just six games of play, he earned two Rookie of the Week honors and caught 44 passes for 477 yards and six touchdowns. He averaged 10.8 yards per catch and was instrumental in Howard's pass offense that finished second in the MEAC averaging 218.5 yards.
Harrison was a key performer in one of the most dominating offensive attacks in the MEAC this season. The Bulldogs' third consecutive Lineman of the Year, Harrison aided SCSUs offense to 4,972 yards of total offense including 2,651 yards on the ground. With Harrison at the lead the Bulldogs posted the league's top rusher in running back Ford. Harrison earned Offensive Lineman of the Week honors two times this season.
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE: QB -- Curtis Pulley, Florida A&M; RB -- Will Ford, South Carolina State; RB -- Devan James, Morgan State; TE -- Octavius Darby, South Carolina State; WR -- Justin Brown, Hampton; WR -- Kevin Elliott, Florida A&M; OL -- Robert Okeafor, Florida A&M; OL -- Dwayne Delaney, Morgan State; OL -- Johnny Culbreath, South Carolina State; OL -- Dennis Conley, Hampton; C -- Raymond Harrison, South Carolina State.
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE: DL -- Justin Lawrence, Morgan State; DL -- Cedric Lloyd, South Carolina State; DL -- Chris Baker, Hampton; DL -- Dennis Marsh, Norfolk State; LB -- Jarrell Guyton, Morgan State; LB -- Travis Roland, Bethune-Cookman; LB -- Endor Cooper, Howard; DB -- Terrell Whitehead, Norfolk State; DB -- Markee Hamlin, South Carolina State; DB -- Chris Williams, Morgan State; DB -- Darren McKhan, Morgan State; P -- Jahmal Blanchard, Hampton; PK -- Justin Castellat, Norfolk State; RS -- LeRoy Vann, Florida A&M.
(Courtesy of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Media Relations)
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Golden Eagles seek return to win column in clash with Chippewas >>
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the Big East Conference welcome the Central Michigan Chippewas of the Mid-
American Conference to the Bradley Center this evening.
Central Michigan is off to a shaky
Duke visits Purdue in ACC/Big Ten Challenge >>
West Lafayette, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An intriguing battle of national
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Boilermakers host the Duke Blue Devils as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Duke is 7-0 on
Gators and Rattlers square off in Gainesville >>
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Gators welcome the Florida A&M
Rattlers to Gainesville for a non-conference clash this evening.
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underdog. The Ratt
No. 18 Memphis entertains Marist >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Memphis Tigers and Marist Red Foxes will
collide at FedEx Forum tonight in non-conference action.
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63-61 final. Clearly, however,
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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