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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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.