Als seek return to win column in clash with Bombers

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08/18/2010 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoping to bounce back from just their second loss of the season, the Montreal Alouettes entertain the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at McGill Stadium on Thursday night.

According to the most recent power rankings in the CFL, this matchup pits the second and third-strongest clubs against each other, despite the Blue Bombers having just two victories on the season thus far.

Last week the Bombers were handed their third straight loss and the fifth in the last six attempts as they bowed to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats by a final of 39-28. In a matter of just seven weeks, the matchup marked the fourth time the two division foes had met and left Hamilton with a 3-1 season series advantage as a result.

Buck Pierce was back in as the starter at quarterback for the Blue Bombers, but he failed to make much of a difference as he completed just 7-of-12 passes for 63 yards, leading to one touchdown and one interception. Head coach Paul LaPolice felt Pierce had trouble moving and his lack of mobility was throwing off his accuracy, so the head coach decided to insert Steven Jyles back into the lineup. While the backup signal-caller didn't lead his team to victory, he did manage to convert 14-of-22 passes for 227 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The other problem that arose for the Blue Bombers just before the game started was an injury to kicker Louie Sakoda, thus causing the team to change its game plan.

As for the Alouettes, a team that was leading the Eastern Division with a 5-1 mark heading into its contest with Toronto last weekend, they were dealt a surprising blow in their 37-22 loss to the Argonauts on the road.

Quarterback Anthony Calvillo converted 37-of-49 passes for 450 yards and three touchdowns, to go along with one interception, but early in the game there was a question about his ability to hold onto the ball due to an injured finger.

The Als started off the meeting slow, failing to score a single point in a quarter for the first time this season as they were blanked in the opening frame. Calvillo did up his all-time touchdown total to 369 in the decision, leaving him just 25 behind the CFL's all-time leader, Damon Allen, but surely the signal-caller would have preferred the win instead. Heading into the matchup with Toronto the Als had dominated the series, winning seven in a row over the Argos.

Despite the setback, slotback Ben Cahoon continued his assault on the history books as he reeled in a game-high 10 passes for 99 yards. With the effort Cahoon moved into second place all-time on the CFL receptions list, moving past Darren Flutie who had 972 catches in his 12 seasons. Now in his 13th campaign Cahoon, who has advanced his streak of 134 games with at least one reception and is third all-time behind Don Narcisse (216) and Tony Gabriel (137), is up to 981 catches for his career and trails only Terry Vaughn who was responsible for 1,006 receptions during his amazing career.

Even though Calvillo had a huge game in terms of numbers last week, the situation with his hand is still a concern for the Als, not to mention the lack of productivity from running back Avon Cobourne who gained a mere 26 yards on 11 carries. It was the second straight week that Cobourne had posted a weak effort, having logged just 34 yards on seven attempts versus Saskatchewan. The Als were expecting Cobourne to have a game that was much like the effort he put together against Toronto at the end of July when he gained 115 yards on the ground and another 116 yards through the air, but it just wasn't meant to be.

Because of the last two weeks, Cobourne has dropped to seventh in the league in rushing with only 403 yards on 82 attempts, while someone like Winnipeg's Fred Reid is fifth in the CFL after seven games with his 499 yards, averaging better than six yards per attempt.

The big question for this game will be which quarterback will be seeing the most action for the Blue Bombers. But whether it is Pierce or Jyles, the main target down the field will remain the same. Averaging close to 20 yards per catch, Terrence Edwards has been eating up the yards for the Bombers and ranks second in the league with his 687 yards at the moment. His seven touchdown catches, two of which he made last week, have him pacing the entire league. The rest of the pass catchers on the Winnipeg roster have combined for only five TD receptions, so that says a lot about how valuable Edwards is to the success of this group.

Conversely, as big a game as Cahoon had for the Als last weekend, he has still not made it into the end zone in 2010 and is averaging barely half the yards (10.5 per catch) that Edwards is at the moment.

According to league records, Montreal maintains a 39-32-7 advantage over the Blue Bombers in regular-season meetings dating back to 1946, the most recent of those encounters taking place last November with Montreal posting a 48-13 win. A week earlier it was Winnipeg that thumped the Als in a 41-24 decision on its home field.

The teams are scheduled to collide two more times during the regular season, on September 24 in Winnipeg, and back here again in the middle of October.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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