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College Football Odds: Nebraska at Missouri

Written October 7, 2009 by Rock Henderson

A key Big 12 North showdown between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Missouri Tigers takes place Thursday night and could go a long way in determining who will represent the North in the Big 12 championship game. The 21st ranked Huskers enter the game with a 3-1 record with their only loss coming at Virginia Tech on a late touchdown pass. Missouri has raced to a 4-0 record behind strong armed QB Blaine Gabbert and have finally cracked the top 25. Both teams are coming into the match-up off of bye weeks which should provide ample time to get healthy for this rivalry game. Nebraska opened as a one point favorite but the money came in heavy on Big Red’s side and our live college football lines currently show Nebraska -3 at Missouri while the total sits at 53.5 points.

A transition year was expected in Columbia after QB Chase Daniels and electrifying WR Jeremy Maclin departed for the NFL. Head coach Gary Pinkel has done a nice job with this team early on, but they haven’t exactly played stiff competition as the combined record of the four teams they have defeated is 6-12. Gabbert has been as good as advertised, throwing for 1161 yards and 11 touchdowns with no interceptions. Jared Perry and Danario Alexander have been the two main targets of Gabbert’s passes. The two have combined for almost 800 yards and nine touchdowns through four games. The Tiger offense is far from one dimensional as junior running back Derrick Washington has totaled over 300 yards and two scores on the ground. Missouri’s defense has been a pleasant surprise as they are led by LB Sean Weatherspoon who has been the anchor in the middle of the unit. The senior backer has racked up a team high 38 tackles including three for loss. If you plan to do any football betting this season, get in the action with BetUS now and get a piece of their $500 match bonus.

It might be too early to say that the Black shirt defense of Nebraska is back for good, but they are making a strong case in the early going of 2009 under Bo Pelini. The Huskers are first in scoring defense and notched their first shutout since 2006 against Louisiana-Lafayette. DT Ndamkong Suh is the heart of the soul of the defense and a can’t miss first round NFL draft pick. He leads the team in tackles, tackles for loss and sacks which just shows how disruptive of a force he can be on the defensive side of the ball. Junior college transfer Zac Lee has taken the reigns of the Cornhusker offense and has fit in nicely to their scheme. Lee has throw for 927 yards and seven touchdowns while completing almost 65% of his throws. Long gone are the days of the triple option attack that Tom Osborne famously ran in the 90’s, but running back Ray Helu has been a key cog in their offensive attack gaining 464 yards and scampering for five touchdowns.

This is a classic high powered offense against a stingy defense Big 12 clash. Mizzou has dominated the series recently, winning the last two games by a combined score of 93-23 and out gained the Huskers by over 400 yards. Nebraska showed a lot of fight in their loss against a talented Virginia Tech team and finally has the athletes on defense to slow down Missouri’s offense. Play: Nebraska -3

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