Grief-stricken Cowboys face tall task in clash with Longhorns

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/08/2010 - Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a game overshadowed by tragedy, the grieving Wyoming Cowboys take on the fifth-ranked Texas Longhorns in a non-conference affair.

On Monday, 19-year-old Wyoming freshman linebacker Ruben Narcisse was killed and three teammates were injured in a one-car accident.

Christian Morgan's injuries were serious but seemingly not life-threatening. Trey Fox, who was driving and apparently fell asleep at the wheel, suffered moderate injuries. As for J.J. Quinlan, the extent of his injuries wasn't initially reported.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ruben's family," Wyoming athletics director Tom Burman said. "Our thoughts are also with the students who were involved in the accident and their families as well."

None of the four men saw action in Wyoming's 28-20 season-opening victory over Southern Utah last weekend, but that doesn't lessen the impact of the tragedy.

Texas coach Mack Brown issued a statement to offer his sympathy.

"It's such a sad day to see a life taken so early," Brown said. "Our thoughts go out to Ruben's family, and we pray for them and the families of the injured young men."

Wyoming, a member of the Mountain West Conference, is under the guidance of Dave Christensen, now in his second year as the leader of the program. Last season, Christensen's group was picked to finish last in the MWC, but the group posted a 6-6 mark during the regular season and went on to shock Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl. Now Christensen faces his toughest task of all, getting his team mentally prepared to play a football game that suddenly feels rather insignificant.

The Longhorns began the 2010 campaign with a 34-17 victory over Rice and weren't as dominant as many expected. Texas is considered a national title contender, but that seems to be the case every year.

Texas has won all three previous meetings with Wyoming, including a 41-10 romp over the Cowboys last season.

Last season, Wyoming ranked near the bottom of the FBS in scoring, as the club averaged just 18.3 ppg. Sure, the Cowboys did manage 28 points against Southern Utah in the opener, but the level of competition was sub par.

Austyn Carta-Samuels completed 26-of-32 passes for 319 yards with three touchdowns and one interception for the Cowboys. Zach Bolger was the best of the receivers, racking up 134 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five catches. The high-powered passing attack made up for a weak ground game that mustered a mere 36 yards on 25 carries.

"A win is a win", said coach Christensen. "I thought Austyn did a good job of keeping his composure, and I thought our receivers did a good job of getting open."

Defensively, Wyoming permitted 384 yards to Southern Utah and failed to come up with a single takeaway. The Cowboys did not allow many big plays through the air, yielding just 8.8 yards per completion. The run defense certainly has room for improvement, and Texas will undoubtedly pound that ball at the defensive front of Wyoming.

Shamiel Gary and Brian Hendricks both recorded 14 tackles for the Cowboys in the opener, and Marcell Gipson forced a pair of fumbles.

With Colt McCoy now playing in the NFL, Texas has turned the quarterback reins over to Garrett Gilbert. In the national title game a year ago, Gilbert took over for an injured McCoy early in the contest and played fairly well at times. He didn't do anything overly impressive in the opener against Rice, completing 14-of-23 passes for 172 yards, but the young signal-caller was able to avoid mistakes.

"Offensively we stayed pretty simple," said coach Brown. "It's amazing in a first game not to have any fumbles, no interceptions and no sacks. That may be the first time we've ever done that. We're proud of the guys for doing that."

Tre' Newton only rushed for 61 yards on 18 carries, but the Texas tailback reached the end zone three times. The 'Horns finished with 369 total yards and have plenty of room for improvement.

Keenan Robinson returned a fumble 10 yards for a touchdown for Texas against Rice, and the defense played fairly well in that contest. The Owls were limited to 219 total yards, and one of their two touchdowns came in the final minute of the contest, long after the outcome had been decided. Texas permitted just 88 rushing yards on 42 attempts and were fairly solid against the pass with the exception of a 47-yard touchdown.

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NFL Football Betting : Odds on NFL Division to Win the Super Bowl

NFL Super Bowl Betting

The AFC South and the NFC East are the favorite divisions to have the next Super Bowl champ among them in the NFL betting odds. But more down to the point, these football odds are in favor of the Indianapolis Colts, by far the strongest team in the AFC South, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East.

Most sports fans would agree that these two teams top the list to win it all before the season even begins. In the BetUS Sportsbook football futures, the Colts are +800 in the odds to win the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys are sitting at +1000 and the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints at +900. In the AFC South, the Colts won the division for five straight years after the 2002 realignment, before the Tennessee Titans won it in 2008. But the Colts came back strong in 2009 to win the division again en route to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are the favorite to win the NFC East, as well as to advance far into the post season. The Cowboys won the division last season before their horrendous loss in the NFC Divisional playoff to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. But the ‘Boys will take that loss humbly and be ready for the playoffs this time around.

The NFC South is also very strong, at +600 in the NFL futures, considering that it is home to the defending Super Bowl champions. However, some predictions have the Atlanta Falcons with possibilities of claiming the divisional title this season in place of the Saints, as no team has won back-to-back division championships since the division realignment took place. Let’s not overlook the AFC North at +500. As TO goes to Cincinnati to join Chad OchoCinco and Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, this team looks to claim the division title again. And it is likely they will do so. The Bengals lost in the AFC Wild Card spot in a hard-fought battle against the New York Jets last season. Lest not forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the XLII Super Bowl Champions… All these teams present interesting odds and matchups for the upcoming season, but the safest and surest bet seems to be with the Colts in the AFC South and the Cowboys in the NFC East. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

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