20th-ranked FSU routs Samford

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - Tallahassee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Christian Ponder threw for 167 yards and four touchdowns in just one half of action, as 20th-ranked Florida State began the post-Bobby Bowden era with a 59-6 rout of Samford at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Bowden, who was also the head coach at Samford from 1959-62, spent 34 years with the Seminoles. He reluctantly called it quits after a 7-6 mark in 2009 and Jimbo Fisher, a former Samford quarterback who had been anointed the FSU head coach in waiting after three years as a Bowden assistant, finally took over on the Seminole sideline.

Ty Jones ran for 107 yards and a score for the Seminoles (1-0), who dominated from the start and outgained the Bulldogs 481-300. Jermaine Thomas and Chris Thompson also ran for touchdowns and Lonnie Pryor caught pair of scoring passes from Ponder, who finished 12-of-14 with an interception.

Dustin Taliaferro completed 22-of-32 passes for 174 yards with an interception for Samford (0-1), which plays in the FCS out of the Southern Conference.

Florida State's first offensive series ended with an interception of a tipped Ponder pass inside the Samford 10-yard line, but the Seminoles came right back and marched 47 yards in six plays for a score on their next possession. Ponder keyed the set with a 22-yard pass to Thomas on 3rd-and-2 and finished it with a four-yard toss to Pryor for a 7-0 lead.

Ponder threw a 15-yard scoring pass to Bert Reed early in the second quarter to cap a five-play, 51-yard series and the Seminoles blocked a punt deep in Samford territory soon after, leading to a four-yard touchdown run by Thomas for a 21-0 cushion with 11:21 to play in the opening half.

The Seminoles continued to pile it on in the second quarter, as Greg Reid returned a punt 74 yards for a score and Ponder connected with Pryor for an eight-yard touchdown pass on the first play after an interception to make it 35-0. Ponder then finished Florida State's next offensive series with an 11- yard TD pass to Taiwan Easterling before Samford finally got on the board as the half concluded with a 41-yard field goal from Cameron Yaw.

EJ Manuel took over for Ponder to start the second half and was intercepted on Florida State's first possession. The Bulldogs converted the turnover into a 32-yard field goal from Yaw midway through the third quarter.

The Seminoles needed just two plays to answer, as Manuel threw a 14-yard pass to Reed and Jones found a huge hole in the line on the way to a 57-yard touchdown run.

Thompson's nine-yard scoring run on the first play of the fourth quarter extended the advantage to 56-6 and Dustin Hopkins kicked a 24-yard field goal with just over 6 1/2 minutes left to account for the final margin.

Game Notes

Fisher became the first Florida State head coach to win his debut since Larry Jones in 1971. Bowden lost to Memphis State in 1976...The 42 points were the most for Florida State in the first half since 2000 against Duke...Manuel connected on 10-of-13 throws for 129 yards...Florida State visits Oklahoma next week.

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Problem with Bears?

Chicago, IL - New Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and star linebacker Brian Urlacher shot down reports of a rift, saying they're simply not true.

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Urlacher added: "I never said what I was quoted as saying and that's it. I have a lot of respect for Jay. I think Jay knows that."
Former Bears receiver Bobby Wade caused a stir when he told Minneapolis radio station KFAN-AM that Urlacher used a profanity while questioning Cutler's manhood during a conversation in Las Vegas last weekend. Wade, who now plays for the Vikings, said Urlacher used a profane version of the word "wimp" during the interview that had to be edited out.
go radio station WSCR-AM also reported that Urlacher had to be restrained from confronting Cutler during organized team activities.
"I wouldn't go face-to-face with Brian, anyway," Cutler said. "No, that's never happened. I've hung out with Brian away from the facility numerous times and we've always gotten along."
Urlacher, noting he was limited by a groin injury, denied the reports in an interview with the Chicago Tribune and did it again when he reported to camp.
"I didn't practice this summer, so I don't know how I would fight the guy if I didn't practice," Urlacher said. "We have no problems. I'm excited about football starting. I'm excited to have him as our quarterback."
Why would Wade say that?
"I don't know," Urlacher said. "Maybe he's jealous because we have a good quarterback now."
Cutler said the first he heard of any friction was when he got a call from Urlacher to clear the air. Urlacher, however, said he had already taken several calls from teammates wondering if the reports were true when Cutler phoned.
"He called me and I said, What's up (expletive), what are you doing?'" a grinning Urlacher said, uttering the same word he allegedly used with Wade. "It's so dumb to me that this even got to this point, but it did and then here we are."
better place after going 9-7 and missing the playoffs for the second straight year. They have a franchise quarterback for the first time in decades after acquiring Cutler in an offseason trade with Denver. But there are questions about his attitude following a fallout with Broncos management and new coach Josh McDaniels.
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Particularly the new quarterback.
"Me and Brian have been on a good relationship since I've been here, and I expect it to continue that way," Cutler said.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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