Bearcats and Gators meet in drama-filled Sugar Bowl

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01/01/2010 - New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a game full of storylines, the Florida Gators and Cincinnati Bearcats will collide in the much-anticipated Sugar Bowl on New Year's night.

Cincinnati is making its second straight New Years Day appearance in a Bowl Championship Series game. The Bearcats have won back-to-back Big East Conference titles and wrapped up a perfect regular season with a come-from- behind, 45-44 victory over Pittsburgh in the finale. The team is currently ranked fourth in the AP poll, matching the highest spot ever achieved by the program.

"To have the chance to represent the University of Cincinnati in a game like the Sugar Bowl that has such great history against an outstanding opponent in Florida is a real honor for our football team," said head coach Brian Kelly after the Pittsburgh win. "We look forward to a great game in New Orleans on Jan. 1."

While Kelly may have been looking forward to this bowl game at the time, he won't be on the sidelines for the Bearcats, as he decided to resign his post at Cincinnati to accept the vacant head coaching position at Notre Dame. Kelly's assistant, Jeff Quinn, was named the interim head coach for this Sugar Bowl, and even though he was recently selected to be the next head coach at Buffalo, Quinn will honor his commitment and lead the Bearcats against the Gators.

"The most important thing right now is our players," Quinn said. "This has been a tremendous season, but we still have another game to finish off. We will handle our preparations for the Sugar Bowl with class and distinction."

The story becomes even more complicated in that Cincinnati has already hired a new permanent head coach in Butch Jones, who led Central Michigan to a pair of Mid-American Conference titles. Jones replaced Brian Kelly at CMU after he left the Chippewas to lead the Bearcats.

As for Florida, it is making a bowl appearance for the 19th consecutive year, the second-longest active streak in the nation. The Sugar Bowl marks the program's sixth appearance in a BCS game, and the team knocked off Oklahoma by a 24-14 final in last season's national title contest. The Gators hoped to defend the championship this season, but a 32-13 loss to Alabama in the SEC title tilt on December 5th crushed that dream. Still, at 12-1, Urban Meyer's Florida squad has plenty to be proud of. The Gators' 22-game win streak, which began in 2008 and was snapped by Alabama, was a school record and the fourth- longest ever by an SEC team. It was the best in the league in the past 15 years.

Adding even more intrigue to this clash is the recent announcement by Meyer that he is going to take an indefinite leave of absence following the Sugar Bowl for health-related reasons. Meyer had originally stepped down from his coaching position, stating his desire to concentrate on his health and focus more on his family. But a day later, changed his mind and will take leave instead.

Clearly, there is unrest with both teams at the moment, which could make for some interesting developments on the Superdome playing surface this Friday.

In the only previous meeting between Florida and Cincinnati on the gridiron, the Gators cruised to a 48-17 victory back in 1984.

Cincinnati leads the nation in passing efficiency (166.19), and ranks sixth in scoring offense (39.8), passing offense (320.3), and total offense (464.3). The team has the good fortune of having two outstanding quarterbacks in Tony Pike and Zach Collaros. Pike, the senior, missed three games due to injury, but he has still thrown for 2,350 yards with 26 touchdowns against six interceptions this year. Collaros, a sophomore, has connected on 75 percent of his attempts for 1,434 yards and 10 touchdowns against a mere two interceptions. As a runner, he has posted 344 yards and four touchdowns.

Pike will get the start under center in this bowl game, and he will benefit from the presence of receivers Mardy Gilyard and Armon Binns as usual. Gilyard has recorded 80 catches for 1,150 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Binns adds 56 grabs for 859 yards and 10 scores. Gilyard has also scored a touchdown as a runner, one as a punt returner and two as a kick returner. Isaiah Pead leads the UC ground attack with 758 yards and nine touchdowns.

Cincinnati is yielding 20.8 ppg and 350.2 total ypg, and while the defensive unit isn't dominant, it has been strong in most games this season. The Bearcats are only allowing 3.5 yards per rushing attempt, and they have recorded 16 interceptions as well. Aaron Webster has intercepted four passes to pace the team, and Andre Revels is tops with 103 total tackles.

Florida is led by quarterback Tim Tebow, who is one of the greatest leaders the college game has ever known. Tebow, who won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore and a national title as both a freshman and junior, has thrown for 2,413 yards and 18 touchdowns while completing 65.2 percent of his passes this season. As a runner, the versatile signal caller has posted 13 touchdowns and 859 yards, and he was recently named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year.

The Gators will be playing without Brandon James in this clash, as the standout kick returner and wideout has a foot injury. Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey have combined for nearly 1,300 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, while tight end Aaron Hernandez and Riley Cooper have more than 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns between them.

Florida has allowed just 15 touchdowns this season, tied for the fewest in the nation with Penn State, which has played one fewer game than the Gators. The 11.5 points per game that UF is allowing ranks third nationally, and the team has given up seven or fewer points in six games. Foes are gaining a mere 101.6 yards per game on the ground against the Gators, who are yielding just 3.1 yards per rushing attempt. The pass defense has been even better, as opposing quarterbacks have notched just seven touchdowns with 20 interceptions.

Standout defensive end Carlos Dunlap didn't play against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and was sorely missed. His one-game suspension has been served and he is expected to be on the field against Cincinnati.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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Terrell Owens could return for Cowboys next game
A bye week will allow Terrell Owens broken hand to recover just in time for the next game the Dallas Cowboys are slated to play, according to reports. MySportsbook.com, an football sportsbook, has posted football betting lines on TO playing.

Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger Sunday night and had a plate surgically attached to it Monday. Although Owens' hand was swollen and aching Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said he's optimistic the receiver will be back at work next week and catching passes a week from Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

MySportsbook.com online sportsbook listed Terrell Owens with odds of 7-2 (or $7 paid out for every $2 bet) to return back for the game against Tennessee.

"I certainly wouldn't rule it out now," Parcells said, referring to Terrell Owens immediate return. "Maybe five days from now I might, but I wouldn't rule it out now. ... I know we're looking to try to get him moving around pretty good in the next day or so. So we'll see where we are."

Owens did not speak with reporters Wednesday, but said Sunday he'd be out two to four weeks. A return against the Titans would be 13 days after the surgery. The Cowboys were listed as an early -7 1/2 favorite vs. the Tennessee Titans for Week 4 at MySportsbook.com

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