Montana football coach Bobby Hauck asserted his team as the “underdog” going into Saturday’s game at Cal Poly.
That statement came despite all of this: Montana finished 11-1 last season, while Cal Poly was 7-4. The Grizzlies are 11-1 all-time against the Mustangs, including a 10-9 win in the most recent meeting in 2006. Montana is ranked at No. 5, while Cal Poly is 11th. And the Grizzlies had two weeks to prepare for the Mustangs. They even canceled a scrimmage to spend more time on Cal Poly’s schemes.
Maybe Hauck is just dying to use the “no respect” speech for once. His team hasn’t been an underdog since the 2006 season opener. He said he’s unsure of his team’s youth. The Grizzlies only return three starters on defense.
Saturday’s game could be another down-to-the-wire affair between the two teams, and the reality in close games is nobody wants to be favored. Look how it worked out for San Diego State last week.
Aztecs coach Chuck Long’s week-long string of pleas that Cal Poly was a good team fell upon deaf ears. San Diego State was favored. That’s all there was to it. Now he’s fighting for his job.
The Mustangs returned 10 starters from the best FCS offense in the country last year and are coming off that emotional 29-27 last-second win against San Diego State. Monstrous receiver Ramses Barden makes it near impossible to focus on Cal Poly’s option running attack with three experienced seniors running behind four returning starters on the offensive line.
But how much can Cal Poly really be “favored” against a team with 10 returning starters of its own, a senior-dominated offensive line, a Buck Buchanan Award candidate at safety and a senior quarterback who led the team to an undefeated regular-season record last year?
Well, I searched long and hard online until I found a web site that actually posted betting lines on FCS games, and Cal Poly is indeed giving three points to Montana.
What’s three-points-worth of a no-respect speech?
September 4th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
[…] DEVASISH wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptWell, I searched long and hard online until I found a web site that actually posted betting lines on FCS games, and Cal Poly is indeed giving three points to Montana…. […]
September 5th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
enterbet has Montana favored by 3.
http://www.enterbet.com/betncaafootball/ncaa-football-betting-odds.html
September 5th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
make that http://www.enterbet.com/LiveLines.aspx?lg=2
September 5th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
now it’s Montana by a point and a half
September 5th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
I cannot wait for Bromely to be “fighting for his job”. Can some schedule the bball team to play Cuesta so Poly can lose and they can finally fire Bromely?
September 5th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Then get Cuesta’s coach to take the job.
September 7th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Blair would be a step back…. he can’t even win a jc conference title let alone coach D1, thers a reason why hes been at Cuesta for as long as he has