Thursday News and Notes


CanBet.com : NFL

Thursday, October 5,
2006

Remember all the top Freescoreboard handicappers are now
at OffshoreInsiders.com

CFB

Florida State-NC
State

Seattle Post Intelligencer

N.C. State
is the only Atlantic Coast Conference team with four wins against Florida
State
since the Seminoles joined
the league 14 years ago. Three have come under Amato, now in his seventh season
at his alma mater after spending the previous 18 years at FSU as an assistant
to Bobby Bowden. No matter the reason, the Wolfpack (2-2, 1-0 ACC) has always
found a way to match up with the Seminoles (3-1, 1-1) under Amato. N.C.
State
was the first ACC team to
beat Florida State
on the road in 2001, then followed that with a 17-7 win here the following season.
Last year, Andre Brown ran for 179 yards and two touchdowns to lead the
Wolfpack past the Seminoles 20-15 on the road, becoming the first ACC team to
win twice at Doak Campbell Stadium. Even the recent
losses have been close, with N.C. State
losing in double-overtime on the road in 2003 and 17-10 here in ‘04. The
Seminoles are more worried instead about coming out of a bye week with a league
win. Florida State
opened the year by beating league rival Miami,
but lost to Clemson 27-20 three weeks ago to drop in the ACC’s Atlantic
Division standings. Now it’s N.C. State
sitting atop the division – along with unbeaten Wake
Forest
– after a last-second win
against Boston College
two weeks ago.

MasterLockLine.com

Florida State
will be starting three players in the secondary with a combined one start. NC
State QB Daniel Evans will be making just his second start

TCU-Utah

Associated Press

TCU went from having the nation’s
longest winning streak to dropping out of the Top 25.

The defending Mountain West Conference champions are
trying to keep the damage from getting even worse when they visit Utah
on Thursday. Until a week ago, the Horned Frogs (3-1, 0-1 MWC) had won 13 straight and had the longest winning streak
in Division I-A.
That ended with a 31-17 loss to Brigham Young last
Thursday in Fort Worth. The Utes
(3-2, 1-0) can sympathize. Utah
had an 18-game winning streak – the nation’s longest at the time – before
losing to the Horned Frogs 23-20 in overtime in TCU’s
Mountain West debut. After going unbeaten in the league a year ago, TCU is 0-1 in the Mountain West and out of the AP poll for
the first time this season. A loss to the Utes on Thursday could all but knock
the Frogs out of contention to defend their conference title even with six more
games to play. Patterson said quarterback Jeff Ballard, who injured his
shoulder against BYU, will start Thursday. He rested
this week as backup Marcus Jackson worked with the first team. TCU is 11-1 with Ballard starting.

TCU running back Aaron Brown did
not make the trip because of a sore right ankle. Lonta
Hobbs, who returned last week after missing a year with a groin injury, is the
probable starter Thursday. Utah
had won three straight before the Boise
State
game, which was the Utes’
worst home loss since 1989.

Star Telegram

An MRI exam showed no
significant damage to the throwing shoulder of TCU
quarterback Jeff Ballard, and coach Gary Patterson
said Tuesday that the senior will start Thursday night, when the Horned Frogs play
at Utah. However, Patterson said,
TCU will be without three key players in another
important Mountain West Conference game as the Frogs try to rebound from their
first loss since early 2005. Sophomore Aaron Brown, TCU’s
leading rusher, won’t travel to Utah
after injuring his right ankle against BYU. Brown,
whose injury originally was thought to be minor, didn’t take any snaps during
practices this week.Senior running back Robert
Merrill also will not travel with the team as he continues to rehabilitate from
off-season back surgery. The rushing load will fall to senior Lonta Hobbs, who played against BYU
for the first time since last season.

On defense, junior safety David Roach will remain in Fort
Worth
with an injured right ankle. Defensive end Chase
Ortiz, however, practiced with the first-team defense Tuesday and is expected
to play with a shoulder injury.


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