For the second straight
year, the UCLA Bruins and Kansas State Wildcats will meet on the gridiron in
NCAA football betting action.
spread odds betting odds handicapping
Neither one of these programs is considered in fantastic shape right
now, and one would probably think that the winner of this game has at least a
bit on an inside track towards a bowl game, while the loser will struggle to go
above .500 for the rest of the year.
A Prince Not Fit for the Job
Last year, QB Kevin Prince was thrown into the fire as a bit on an
emergency plan for a UCLA team that struggled to find enough quarterbacks to
throw to wide receivers in practice. He only completed 56.2 percent of his
passes a year ago for 2,050 yards and eight scores against eight picks. Prince
had three 300+ yard passing games, he also had seven games of the 11 he played
last season in which he either threw the same amount or more interceptions than
touchdowns.
Even though head coach Rick Neuheisel has named Prince his starter for
the season, his back injury is going to lead to Neuheisel calling upon the
services of fellow sophomore QB Richard Brehaut as well in the Bruins' opener.
Brehaut acted as Prince's backup last season at times, though his game college football betting action
was very limited. He went 11-of-17 for 124 yards with an INT.
If Prince proves that he is really ready to go, Neuheisel hasn't thrown
out the idea of letting Prince go the distance, but Brehaut is waiting for his
chance should Prince not be healthy enough to finish what he is likely to
start.
Thomas the Train Could Run Over UCLA
The college
football odds are clearly stacked against UCLA once the Wildcats reach the
field. The defensive line for the Bruins has faced a ton of criticism, and lo
and behold, the first test they face as a unit this season is going to be one
of the best running backs in the nation.
KSU doesn't have a
slew of talent, but one man that is clearly a bulldozer is RB Daniel Thomas.
Thomas, who played the running back position for the first time in college, was
a diamond in the rough in Manhattan last year. He embraced his new position and
ended up rushing for 1,265 yards and 11 scores, averaging 5.1 yards per carry.
At 6'2" 228 lbs, Thomas has the power to run the ball right at UCLA 25 or
30 times in this game if need be.
This senior ran
the ball 20+ times seven times last season as a junior, and when he did that in
a game, the Wildcats went 5-2. When he
didn't, they only went 1-4.
UCLA betting: The Last Meeting...
UCLA defended its
home turf last year in a game that ultimately gave it enough wins to go
bowling, and really kept Kansas State from doing the same thing.
The Wildcats were
held to just 268 total yards of offense. Quarterback Carson Coffman ended up
running the ball 20 times for six yards because he was running for his life the
entire game in the face of what was ultimately a ferocious pass rush for the
Bruins. Thomas only ran the ball 15 times for 54 yards, but did score a TD.
On the other side
of the ball, RB Johnathan Franklin was the start, rushing for 119 yards and
scoring the opening TD of the game.
The Bruins won
that day 23-9, narrowly covering the 11 point college football spread.
Trouble Bruin for the Cats
The Bruins have
covered the spread in five straight games played outside of the Pac-10, one of
which was this win last season against Kansas State. On the contrary, the
Wildcats are just 5-17 ATS in their last 22 games outside of the Big XII.
Kansas State is
5-1 ATS in its last six games played in the Little Apple, but is also just 1-4
ATS in its last five games played in the month of September. UCLA has been hot
in the first month of the season for quite some time, going 34-16-2 ATS in its
last 52 September clashes.