The following is a look at this week’s most interesting news and notes from the world of college football. What is the latest news from the gridiron, and how can college football betting enthusiast use this to help with their picks?
NCAA Football News & Notes- May 2
The month of
May marks the start of the summer offseason for college football with spring
practices wrapping-up in April. While thing may appear quiet on the field, each
week there are always some behind-the-scene stories that could end up having a
major impact on the college football betting odds for a team to win its conference and perhaps even
a national title.
Oklahoma State names starting
quarterback for 2012 season
The Oklahoma
State Cowboys are coming off a 12-1 season and a third-place ranking in the
final USA Today Coaches Poll, which by many standards was one of the best
seasons in school history. With the departure of quarterback Brandon Weeden to
the NFL along with a wealth of other talent from last year’s team, the college football odds makers
have opened the Cowboys as +10000 longshots to win the 2012-2013 BCS National Championship,
but do not tell that to gang in Stillwater.
Optimism is
running high that Oklahoma State can still seriously compete for the Big 12
title as well as work its way into the BCS title picture despite having
numerous holes on both sides of the ball to fill. Head coach Mike Gundy is
hoping that true freshman Wes Lunt can fill one of the biggest holes as the
Cowboys’ new starting quarterback. Lunt was locked into a heated competition
with junior Clint Chelf and red-shirt freshman J.W. Walsh throughout this
spring’s practice, but earned the nod as being the team’s “best chance to win
football games” according to Gundy.
The last
true freshman to start at quarterback for Oklahoma State was Tone Jones in
1993, but the last one to start on opening day was back in 1950.
SEC running backs return to the
lineup
There were a
couple of high-profile running backs in the SEC that had their 2011 season cut
short due to injury and are looking to make an impact for both their team and
possibly the NFL scouts with a return to action in 2012.
The player
at the top of this list is South Carolina tailback Marcus Lattimore. Heading
into the 2011 season he was widely regarded as the top back in the SEC even
ahead of Alabama’s Trent Richardson after a spectacular freshman campaign in
2010. Lattimore rushed for 1,197 yards and 17 touchdowns while catching 29 passes
for 412 yards. He was off to another strong start last season with 818 yards
rushing and 10 TD’s in his first seven games, but was lost for the year with a
torn ACL against Mississippi State. The 6-foot, 220-pound back is reportedly
ahead of schedule on his rehabilitation and expected to be ready to return to
the starting lineup in the fall.
Another SEC
running back who is looking forward to the 2012 season is Arkansas’ Knile
Davis. The 6-foot, 230-pound Davis was expected to be the center piece of the Arkansas Razorbacks’ offensive attack last season after rushing for 1,322 yards and 13
TD’s in 2010. He never got the chance after going down with a left ankle injury
in late August that cost him the entire 2011 campaign.
Davis’s
ankle is reportedly 100 percent healed and he should once again be able to
carry the load for Arkansas’s running game. He is a runner with the unique ability
to be both a power back on short yardage situations while have still possessing
break-away speed to pull-off a few long gainers down the field.
BC back sent packing
Boston
College has struggled to compete with the top teams in the ACC over the past
few seasons and now it will have to forge on without running back Montel
Harris. Head coach Frank Spaziani announced earlier this week that Harris had
been dismissed from the team due to repeated violations of team rules.
Harris
missed most of last season due to a lingering knee injury, but he led the ACC
in rushing in 2010 and established himself as Boston College’s all-time leading
rusher with 3,735 yards.