Sports Betting Professor

Posted by ESPN.com’s Tim Graham



Chad Pennington is being realistic about his career outlook, but he’s not ready to say he has quarterbacked his last down.



“I’m certainly not going to close the book,” Pennington told reporters Wednesday. “People have tried to close the book on me before, and I have kept it open.”



Still, his career most certainly is in jeopardy. He’s facing the third surgery on his throwing shoulder, and his contract with the Miami Dolphins expires after this season. He will turn 34 before the start of next season.



Pennington injured his right shoulder in Sunday’s road loss to the San Diego Chargers. The initial diagnosis is that Pennington requires surgery. He will seek a second opinion from sports orthopedist Dr. James Andrews on Thursday.



“I think you guys know how competitive I am and how driven I am,” Pennington said. “So I am going to map out a plan and take it one step at a time. The plan will probably change throughout the time, and I will take different roads here and there, but I will definitely have a plan from here on out.”



Pennington sounded like he was contemplating the possibility his career might be over. If he doesn’t return to the field, he can look back on some fine achievements. Pennington was runner-up to Peyton Manning for league MVP last year and was named Comeback Player of the Year a second time.



“My wife and I have been through this before,” Pennington said. “We are trying to draw upon our previous experiences and understand that we have been truly blessed and have had some amazing opportunities to meet some amazing people and experienced some really neat things as a professional athlete.



“There are some worse things going on in this world than a bum shoulder; that’s for sure. Things will be fine, and we know that. In the meantime, in the short term, we have a lot of things to focus on and reevaluate and map out and make sure we are leading our family in the right direction.”

Posted by ESPN.com’s Ted Miller



The vogue — and slightly snarky — question among Pac-10 football fans this week is which Bay Area matchup truly is must-see TV on Saturday?



Is it No. 7 USC at No. 24 California, the ballyhooed showdown between two preseason conference favorites who both already got their faces bloodied by presumed conference underdogs?



Or is it the game that will be played in leafy, pricey Palo Alto, a matchup between the conference’s only unbeaten team — 3-0 UCLA — and Stanford, which sits atop the standings with a 2-0 mark in Pac-10 play?



Hard to say. The winner of the former announces its reemergence. The winner of the latter announces its arrival.



But UCLA’s always colorful inside linebacker Reggie Carter isn’t so sure his Bruins want your love. Sure, they’ve pushed three opponents around. Sure, they will equal their 2008 win total with their next victory.



Just don’t rank them, said Carter.



“No! Leave me at the bottom of the barrel,” he said. “We’ve seen what happens to teams up in the rankings. Cal goes up in the rankings and what happened? They lost. They put Washington in the Top 25? They lost. I think everybody feeds you all that candy and ice cream and you get excited and you lose focus. So leave me unranked. Just tell me we’re a terrible team. Don’t give us any respect. Let us earn it. I don’t want guys to get excited and happy — ‘Oh, yeah, we’re ranked!’ As soon as you lose, you’ll be unranked. So let’s not be ranked. Let’s just try to win every week.”



Of course, Carter also wrote a few amusing sonnets for reporters about the magical wonderfulness of Tennessee before the Bruins defense throttled the Volunteers, so it’s likely that Carter was just doing what he normally does: Answering a reporter’s question with a twinkle in his eye.



But Stanford running back Toby Gerhart gets no such twinkle.



“You’ve got to get bodies on him,” Carter said. “He’s a strong guy. Everybody’s got to do their job. Stay in their gap, then gang tackle him. Keep him closed in and don’t let him get into the open field and get one-on-one with our DBs.”



Gerhart wins most of those one-on-one battles beyond the line of scrimmage. He’s 6-foot-1, 237 pounds and he has better speed that he’s often given credit for. He presently ranks third in the nation with 129 yards rushing per game.



Which raises a question: Should he be a rising Heisman Trophy candidate?



“Yes, I believe so,” Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said. “He’s a shining star on our team.”



Carter and Gerhart are both All-American candidates. And the matchup of their units could be one of the most physical of the season anywhere.



The Bruins rank ninth in the nation in run defense (74.33 yards per game) and Stanford, despite starting two redshirt freshmen on its line, ranks 11th in the nation in run offense (233.75 ypg).



“You better put on your big-boy pads,” UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. “They come at you. They make no bones about it. They come at you and say they can win in the trenches.”



The admiration is mutual.



“This is the best defensive line we’ve played, no question about it,” Harbaugh said. “This is the best three linebackers we’ve played against. And this is the best secondary we’ve played against. Without a doubt, this is the best defense we’ve played against.”



So that’s the headlining, strength-on-strength matchup. Perhaps even more telling will be how the Bruins offense handles itself against the Cardinal defense. Both units are improved from last year. Neither, at present, will scare anybody.



Kevin Craft will make his second consecutive start at quarterback in place of Kevin Prince, who’s out at least another week with a broken jaw. Craft, much maligned as the starter last year, had his best game against Stanford in 2008, completing 23 of 39 passes for 285 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Despite being sacked seven times, Craft had enough gas in the tank to lead the Bruins on a 10-play, 87-yard drive for the game-winning touchdown in the waning moments.



“From my perspective, and I’ve watched him a lot, I believe he’s their best quarterback,” Harbaugh said.



Neuheisel was asked which Bay Area game was the biggest. Not surprisingly, he professed that nearly all of his attention will be focused inside Stanford Stadium.



The Pac-10 won’t be about one big game this year. Playing a round-robin schedule in what might be the nation’s deepest conference means every game will be big.



“Every week is a fight,” Harbaugh said. “We’re real aware of how good the Pac-10 is.”

Posted by ESPN.com’s Graham Watson



Sixth-year senior running back Luke Lippincott will start for Nevada against UNLV this weekend.



Lippincott replaces starter Vai Taua, who suffered a shoulder injury against Missouri last weekend. Coach Chris Ault said although Taua had his arm in a sling during that game, the injury wasn’t as serious as originally thought.



“Vai is doubtful for this week,” Ault said. “Hopefully he’ll be OK the following week, but he’s doubtful this week at this particular time.”



Lippincott has 32 carries for 166 yards so far this season and 114 of those yards came against Missouri last week. However, Lippincott fumbled on the 3-yard line with Missouri leading 21-13 in the fourth quarter. The Tigers scored on the subsequent drive and pushed the game out of reach.



Still, Ault was pleased with Lippincott’s play and the play of sophomore running back Lampford Mark, who had three carries for 16 yards.



“Luke came in and really did a great job for us,” Ault said. “He fumbled on the 3-yard line going in, which is uncharacteristic of him, but I thought Luke played very well and I thought our sophomore running back Lampford Mark did a real nice job.”

Posted by ESPN.com’s Tim Graham



We all know the New York Jets love to blitz.



But until you see a breakdown of the numbers, it’s hard to quantify how much the Jets get after it compared to every other team.

	Aristide Economopoulos/US PRESSWIRE
	The Jets are blitzing more than any other team in the league.

ESPN Stats & Information tracks every snap and has determined the Jets have sent added pressure a whopping 62.6 percent of the time through the first three weeks. They have recorded only four sacks, but anybody who has watched the Jets’ defense can’t deny how their disruptive ways have rattled quarterbacks and short-circuited opposing offenses.



That’s far and away the largest percentage in the league. The Chicago Bears are next when it comes to sending added pressure at 47.5 percent.



The NFL average is 35.6 percent.



The Oakland Raiders are the most conservative team at 11.0 percent.



Stats & Information defines “standard pressure” as four pass-rushers. But if, for example, only three advance and a fourth comes from the secondary, then that would be considered “added pressure.”



This might not jibe with how individual teams define extra pressure, but as long as it’s being applied uniformly, you get a good idea how active each defense is.



The rest of the AFC East is closer to the average.



The New England Patriots rank 12th in added pressure at 34.6 percent. The Buffalo Bills are 14th at 36.9 percent, while the Miami Dolphins are 19th at 40.6 percent.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Tim Griffin



Here’s a look at some of the under-the-radar topics that people are talking about across the Big 12:

• Colorado coaches are hopeful the insertion of cornerback Ben Burney into the lineup at strong safety with cornerbacks Cha’pelle Brown and Jimmy Smith will provide the Buffaloes with a more athletic secondary that will be more productive as it prepares for the Big 12’s high-powered passing attacks. The retooled group will get its first big test Thursday night when it challenges West Virginia’s talented pitch-and-catch tandem of quarterback Jarrett Brown and receiver Jock Sanders.
• The versatility of Texas’ offense was shown against UTEP when the Longhorns produced 300 rushing and passing yards for only the second time in school history. The only other time came against Houston in 1990. It showed the versatility and depth of Texas’ running and passing offense. The Longhorns’ ability to effectively do both was what UTEP coach Mike Price was raving about after the game — shortly after he called Texas the best team in the country.
• It might be time for Harris Interactive Poll voters to take a sobriety test after their first poll results were released this week. Is it my imagination, or could you think of a less-likely team to receive votes in a national poll than Kansas State, which is tied for 42nd in the most recent Harris poll with two points? Yes, that would be the same Kansas State that has yet to beat an FBS opponent this season with its only victories over FCS teams Massachusetts and Tennessee Tech.
• Concern for Kansas’ offensive line remains the Jayhawks’ most worrisome problem during their week off. The Jayhawks allowed five sacks of Todd Reesing against Southern Mississippi. Considering Reesing’s slight size, his health could be in risk unless the Jayhawks improve their pass-blocking tendencies pronto. But the return of Jake Sharp to the starting lineup could improve some of the blitz pickups by Kansas’ running backs.
• Nebraska’s pass-rushing packages are rounding into shape after they notched two sacks against Louisiana-Lafayette — the first sacks against quarterback Chris Masson this season. After being shut out in the season opener, the Cornhuskers have rebounded to notch 10 sacks over the last three weeks. Most impressively, nine different players have shared in that largesse of sacks.
• The loss of top Iowa State pass rusher Rashawn Parker with a season-ending knee injury could have some serious consequences for the Cyclones. Parker had provided the most consistent pass-rushing threat and will be missed during the rest of the season. His replacement will be sophomore Patrick Neal, a converted tight end who snagged a touchdown grab last season against Missouri.
• Oklahoma State’s offensive line showed some continuity against Grambling, playing with the same group as it had last week. It marked the first time this season that the Cowboys have started the same five players along the offensive front in back-to-back weeks.
• One underrated impressive trend for Texas A&M in their blowout victory over UAB was that the Aggies were penalized only three times. That effort came after the Aggies came into the game leading the nation with 30 penalties in their first two games. A&M coaches made a special efforts in game preparations last week to limit mental mistakes. The results were seen in the Aggies’ clean performance over the Blazers.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson



The San Diego Union Tribune is reporting that star running back LaDainian Tomlinson is back on the practice field.



The newspaper reported that Tomlinson appeared to moving around the field well. He has missed past two games with an ankle injury. They are the only two regular-season games Tomlinson has missed in his nine-season career.



I will check back later Wednesday when the Chargers release their practice participation list, which will reveal how much Tomlinson practiced. Tomlinson’s availability would spark the Chargers in a pivotal game at Pittsburgh on Sunday.



The newspaper reported that rookie guard Louis Vasquez was practicing Wednesday. He missed the past two games with a knee injury. Linebacker Shawne Merriman was not on the practice field Wednesday. His has missed significant parts of the past two games with a groin injury. Merriman could be held out of the Pittsburgh game to rest. The Chargers have a bye the next week.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Tim Graham



Terrell Owens had a much more productive encounter with the media Wednesday certainly than he did Sunday.



Owens chose to parry with reporters who cover the Buffalo Bills after his no-catch, 27-7 home loss to the New Orleans Saints.



Speaking with them for the first time since that controversial news conference, Owens began the interview similar to Sunday’s news conference but loosened up and became more forthright. He shared some of his thoughts on the offense, his role on the team and his burgeoning feud with NBC Sports analyst Rodney Harrison.



Highlights from a transcript provided by the Bills:



On Sunday’s game:

“We had some opportunities there to win the game. It was 10-7, and we missed some connections there, where we could have gone up on them and then probably put them in a situation where they have to pass a lot.

“I really don’t think enough credit has been given to our defense because they played a hell of a ball game. When you think about what [the Saints] have done the last two weeks prior to playing us, they have put up big numbers. [Drew] Brees has put up some big numbers as far as yardage, and we eliminated the things that they did in getting into the end zone.

“So [the Bills defense] played a tremendous ballgame and, offensively, we didn’t help the defense out. We took some knocks all the way around with the game and with some injuries. So we just have to keep getting better, keep plugging away and I think the guys are doing that.”

On his tweets in response to Harrison calling him “a clown” on TV:

“I have already responded to that. It is what it is. Those guys are going to say what they want to say and I can only take so much of being the butt of someone’s jokes. They want to try to get on there and make a name for themselves, but I’m not going to allow someone to just call me a clown and just run all over me. I have been taking enough heat as it is with the media. When you have someone who as played this game, but I have responded the way I knew how, said what I had to say and left it at that.”

On claiming his comments get taken out of context:

“It is very frustrating because I think that some of the guys and the coaches want to me step up and be more vocal and say things as a leader. I feel like sometimes I try to do that, try to say things in a subtle way without being harsh, but other outlets are taking those quotes, making them headlines and making them more of an issue than they really are. I think that that is why the first couple of games I tended not to say anything after the games.”

On why subtlety is important:

“That is because I have always been vocal and always spoken honestly, and I think over the years that has gotten me in trouble and created some sort of division in the locker room with some of the guys on the team, and I just try to do the right thing now. Even when I try to do the right thing, it is not the right thing. I am in a situation where I am in a no-win situation. So I just try to be the best I can be without offending someone.”

Posted by ESPN.com’s Chris Low



Chad Jones has seen the black-and-white footage of Billy Cannon’s legendary punt return plenty of times.



It just so happens that this year is the 50th anniversary of Cannon’s 89-yard return for a touchdown on Halloween night, one of the most famous plays in SEC history.



“He definitely broke more tackles than I did, but we were both moving at the same speed because we were both so tired,” quipped Jones, whose 93-yard punt return for a touchdown last week against Mississippi State saved LSU in a 30-26 victory.

	Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE
	LSU’s Chad Jones thinks the Tigers can be even better than their 4-0 record indicates.

It wasn’t the only time Jones saved the Tigers in that game, either. He deflected away a pass in the end zone that would have been a sure touchdown in the final minutes had he not seen the tight end out of the corner of his eye at the last moment.



“I’m just glad he tried to line-drive the pass,” Jones said. “If he lobs that ball, we’re definitely in trouble.”



It’s been that kind of season for the Tigers so far, too close for comfort.



They’re unbeaten, ranked fourth nationally and loaded with talent.



But as Jones says himself, they’ve just sort of been getting by.



“We’re definitely nowhere close to being as good as we’re supposed to be,” Jones said. “We’ve been getting by lately and have been at our best at times. But we haven’t played our best ball. That’s still to come.”



This Saturday would be as good a time as any for the Tigers (4-0) to put it all together. They face a Georgia team in Sanford Stadium that opened the flood gates for LSU’s collapse last season with a 52-38 beatdown of the Tigers in Baton Rouge.



“To get beat like that at home and give up that many points isn’t a good memory for anybody,” Jones said.



But, then, Jones is all about creating new memories. He’s coming off a national championship in baseball where he stepped up in several key relief appearances for the Tigers.



The collateral damage for football was that he gained too much weight and got out of shape coming into the summer. He ballooned up to 242 pounds.



“Just being a lazy pitcher,” Jones cracked.



In Tommy Moffitt’s strength program, it didn’t take Jones long to get back into shape, and he’s now back down to 227 pounds. And more importantly, he’s settled into a position that feels like home — free safety.



After shuffling around between several different spots last season, Jones has locked in at free safety this season. As a result, he’s moving in the direction of locking in as the player everybody expected him to be when he came to LSU as the No. 1 safety prospect in the country in 2007.



“I enjoy Chad in his progression and how he’s developing at safety,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “There’s always room for improvement, and I think Chad understands that. But he plays with as much passion and want and anticipation of big plays as any safety I’ve been around.”



Jones has two interceptions through four games and is fifth on LSU’s team with 20 tackles. He’s part of a secondary that will get its stiffest challenge yet this weekend against A.J. Green and the Bulldogs.



“We’re a run-stopping team, and I think that’s going to continue,” Jones said. “I think the game’s going to come down to our defensive backs.



“They’ve got some guys who can go get the ball, but we can go get it, too.”



What this LSU team hasn’t done is get off the field consistently on third down. The Tigers are 11^th in the SEC in third-down conversion defense, something Jones says has to improve.



“Just too many busts. That’s how Mississippi State scored one of its touchdowns,” Jones said. “We’re playing aggressively and forcing some turnovers, so I like how we’re getting after teams.



“People better keep their eyes open when they come across the middle against us, but we’ve still got to put it all together. And that means getting off the field on third down.”



Jones thinks the Tigers can build off their goal-line stand against Mississippi State. He also thinks there’s something to be said for finding ways to win despite not playing a complete football game.



“We definitely haven’t played our best football yet, but we’re on our way … slowly but surely,” he said.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Tim Graham



Drew Brees hasn’t encountered a defense he hasn’t been able to shred.



Buffalo Bills fans might want to point to Sunday’s game in Ralph Wilson Stadium, where Brees and the New Orleans Saints were limited to a respectable 172 passing yards. But with Pierre Thomas maintaining a 9.0-yard rushing average and two touchdowns in the second half, Brees didn’t need to cock his arm.



But Brees will meet his defensive match Sunday in the Superdome.



The New York Jets have give all three quarterbacks they’ve faced fits.

As the accompanying chart shows, Brees and the Jets’ passing defense rank either No. 1 or No. 2 in completion percentage, yards per attempt and passer rating.



“The thing about this kid — and we’ve played him before — if you run a traditional coverage against this guy, he’ll carve you up,” Jets head coach Rex Ryan said.



Traditional never has described Ryan’s defense.



The Jets are the NFL’s only team to keep opponents from completing less than half of their attempts. They’ve held Matt Schaub, Tom Brady and Kerry Collins to 47.9 percent, more than 21 points below Brees’ completion percentage.



The last defense to have allowed fewer than 50 percent of passes completed through three games is last year’s Baltimore Ravens, who were at 43.5 percent. Ryan was the Ravens’ defensive coordinator.



The Jets have kept opposing quarterbacks to 4.7 yards per attempt, nearly half of what Brees gains every time he throws.



“They have the best offense,” Jets linebacker David Harris said. “They’ve got a lot of weapons. They spread the ball out and they’re lead by Drew Brees who is kind of lights out right now. They put up points on everybody, so we’ve got a handful this week.”

Posted by ESPN.com’s Graham Watson



BYU running back Harvey Unga played most of last week’s game against Colorado State with a broken pinkie finger on his right hand, and now he’ll play the rest of the season with it.



Unga suffered the injury during the second play of last week’s game, but still rushed for 113 yards and three touchdowns. He wore a soft cast during Tuesday’s practice, but expects to play this week against Utah State.



“It hurts like any other broken finger, I’m assuming,” Unga told reporters after Tuesday’s practice. “I’ve got four other good ones. That helps out.”



BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said the team ruled out surgery because it would likely keep Unga from playing. The surgery would require pins placed in the pinkie to allow the bones to reconnect and grow back in place.



“The injury doesn’t seem to bother him, so it’s not going to bother us,” Mendenhall said. “He would like to play.”



If the injury is not healed or is still bothering Unga at the end of the season, he could still undergo surgery in the offseason.