Bradford helps Sooners hold off Longhorns

NCAA Football Betting Lines

10/06/2007 - Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sam Bradford threw three touchdown passes to lead 10th-ranked Oklahoma over 19th-ranked Texas, 28-21, in the annual Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl.

Bradford completed 21-of-32 passes for 244 yards without an interception and DeMarco Murray ran for 128 yards and a touchdown for the Sooners (5-1, 1-1 Big 12), who rebounded after suffering a 27-24 loss at Colorado last weekend.

Malcolm Kelly added 105 yards and a score receiving and Jermaine Gresham had two TD catches for Oklahoma, which ended a two-game slide to the Longhorns.

Colt McCoy went 19-of-26 passing for 324 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for Texas (4-2, 0-2), which has now lost two straight after also falling to Kansas State 41-21 last weekend.

Jermichael Finley had four catches for 149 yards with a touchdown for the Longhorns, who couldn't get back into the game after falling behind in the fourth quarter.

After Texas tied the game just three seconds into the fourth quarter, the Sooners went ahead on the ensuing possession. Bradford hit Kelly for a 35-yard touchdown pass on a 3rd-and-5 with 10:42 left, putting Oklahoma ahead 28-21.

Oklahoma then came up with what could have been a back-breaking turnover, but an illegal blocking penalty cost the Sooners great field position. After McCoy's pass went off the hands of Jamaal Charles, Reggie Smith picked it off at the Sooners' 30-yard-line and returned it all the way to the Texas 20. However, the penalty gave Oklahoma the ball at its own 46 instead and the offense ending up having to punt, giving the Longhorns the ball at their own 20.

Texas, however, didn't mount much offense on its drive and later, after regaining possession, turned it over on downs with 1:50 left.

Oklahoma was able to run the clock down to 19 seconds before Garrett Hartley missed a 38-yard field goal, but Texas again failed to move the ball to end the game.

Charles led the Longhorns with 79 rushing yards.

The Sooners started the scoring with just 39 seconds left in the first quarter when Bradford hit Gresham in the back of the end zone for a 7-0 lead. There were two big plays during the drive, as Juaquin Iglesias hauled in a 40- yard pass and Kelly's 41-yard reception that immediately followed brought the ball down to the one-yard-line.

Texas responded with a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter. First, McCoy hit Jordan Shipley with a six-yard TD pass at the 11:36 mark and followed that just over 4 1/2 minutes later with a 22-yard scoring pass to Finley for a 14-7 edge. Finley hauled in a 55-yard pass to setup the first touchdown as well.

The Sooners rallied to go into halftime tied, however, answering with a seven- yard TD pass from Bradford to Gresham with 4:03 remaining until the break. Oklahoma converted three third downs, including the touchdown play, on the drive.

In the third quarter, Murray took the handoff on the first play of the drive, broke around the left end and scampered 65 yards down the sideline for a touchdown with 4:24 left until the fourth.

Texas, though, answered on its ensuing possession, taking the ball 70 yards on nine plays with Vondrell McGee running in from a yard out on the first play of the fourth quarter to tie the game 21-21 just three seconds into the stanza.

Game Notes

Oklahoma was outstanding on third down in the game, converting 9-of-18 third downs for first down...OU also won the time of possession battle, 32:11-27:49...Texas continues to lead the all-time series 57-40-5.

Wwwrichsex NCAA Football Betting News

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.