No. 8 Nebraska goes down to wire with QB call

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/03/2010 -

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -Nebraska fans haven't forgotten that one-point loss to Texas in the Big 12 championship game and they're still celebrating next year's move to the Big Ten.

But the biggest topic of conversation in Big Red country has been about who will start at quarterback when the No. 8 Cornhuskers open the season against Western Kentucky on Saturday night.

Coach Bo Pelini hasn't said whether he'll go with Zac Lee, the senior incumbent, Cody Green, the top backup in 2009, or redshirt freshman Taylor Martinez.

``I think it will come down to the last-minute call,'' offensive lineman Ricky Henry said.

Pelini probably can't go wrong regardless of who he chooses for this game. After all, the Sun Belt Conference's Hilltoppers have lost 20 games in a row and are five-touchdown underdogs.

The Huskers have their highest preseason ranking since 2001 and will be in position to make a run at the national championship if their offense improves. The Ndamukong Suh-led defense carried the Huskers a year ago while the offense scuffled along to a No. 99 national ranking.

``We know that we didn't live up to everything that was expected last year,'' receiver Brandon Kinnie said.

Lee started 12 of 14 games and was serviceable, though the Huskers went through a brutal patch where they scored four touchdowns over four games. He had surgery on his right (throwing) elbow after the season, forcing him to miss spring practice.

Green and Martinez did enough in the spring to make it a three-man race that, Pelini predicted, could last until October.

``They've played at a high level,'' offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. ``They've had to, to stay in the hunt. It's been a great competition and it's really, really close.''

Roy Helu Jr. and Rex Burkhead give the Huskers a 1-2 punch at running back, the offensive line is deep and the Niles Paul-led receiving corps is experienced.

Jared Crick, Suh's partner on the defensive line, and cornerback Prince Amukamara lead a unit expected to be stingy even with Suh gone to the NFL. The Huskers were left vulnerable at linebacker when Sean Fisher broke his leg last month, and there will be two new starters at safety.

The Hilltoppers will be going against an opponent that has won 24 straight openers. Nebraska has scored at least 40 points 17 times during the streak and given up 14 points or less 16 times.

``For us to have a chance, we have to be on our 'A' game,'' first-year WKU coach Willie Taggart said. ``They have an opportunity to win a national championship this year. But anything is possible ... If we're not sharp, we're not going to have a chance.''

This is another in a line of money games for the Hilltoppers, who'll earn $800,000 for their visit to Memorial Stadium. Since 2008, they've also visited Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia Tech.

``That most definitely is going to help us,'' WKU defensive end Jared Clendenin said. ``We're not going to be in there with those big wide eyes. You know how it is when you walk in a big stadium like that. All you want to do is look around at the fans.''

The Huskers are coming off a 10-4 year in which they won six of their last seven games, including a 33-0 Holiday Bowl win over Arizona.

All that stood between Nebraska and a BCS game was the 13-12 loss to Texas. The Longhorns kicked the winning field goal after one second was put back on the game clock.

Players are wearing reminders on their wrists - red rubber bracelets with the messages ``0.01'' and ``FINISH'' stamped in.

``It still comes up on ESPN Classic, and I can't watch it,'' Kinnie said. ``It still eats at me. We have a lot of motivation, a lot to prove this year.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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