Arkansas St. at Western Kentucky Dec 3 2009 7:00PM
PICK:Western KentuckyEXPERT: Ted Sevransky TITLE: Big Ticket: Thursday Night Game of the Year REASON FOR PICK: We cashed a ticket with Western Kentucky last Saturday as they travelled to Florida Atlantic as double digit underdogs. The Hilltoppers led in the second half before falling short of the outright victory, still covering with ease in a six point defeat.
At 0-11, losing is nothing new for Western Kentucky – let’s not forget that they ended last year on an eight game slide. Head coach David Elson was fired following their loss to Troy four weeks ago, but he’s stayed through the end of the season. Since Elson’s dismissal, we’ve seen nothing but effort and energy from this downtrodden squad. They hung tough as 22 point underdogs at Louisiana-Monroe, losing by only three points, prior to last week’s game against FAU.
Do not expect the Hilltoppers to go quietly here either. This may be a winless team, but they don’t intend to stay that way. Here are some relevant quotes from Elson earlier this week:
“When times get tough, there’s only one thing you can do and that’s work - keep working. And when you really think about it, what that does is keep your mind from wandering places and let it be affected by things it doesn’t need to be affected by…..I’ve been very proud of how these guys have handled this. It’s really, really frustrating that we haven’t been able to win one of these two, but you’ve got to look at the big picture. The effort’s there, I still believe it’s going to come and I still believe it’s going to come. And I really hope it does Thursday night, so those (seniors) can sing that fight song one last time.”
Elson also talked about the pressure that Western Kentucky’s 13 seniors were likely to feel as they strive for that elusive victory. “I can see that being a potential issue come Thursday night - they want to win so bad. We’ll guard against (pressure) and say, ‘Relax and play.’ We’ve made some strides in some areas. Stay the course, keep improving at the things we’ve tried to improve at. It hasn’t worked on the scoreboard, and that’s the most frustrating thing. But we know it’s starting to click for certain guys.”
While Western Kentucky can be expected to play with pride and energy for their departing coach, things aren’t quite so rosy for Arkansas State. The Red Wolves came into the season expecting to compete for a Sun Belt title. Instead, they’ve slumped to a 3-8 record; just 2-5 in Sun Belt play. Steve Roberts squad is winless on the road this year; losers of 18 of their last 20 on the highway. They did their best to blow a 27-0 halftime lead against lowly North Texas last week, barely hanging on for a six point win as 12 point favorites.
Arkansas State senior quarterback Corey Leonard has been benched for injuries and ineffectiveness, leaving frosh Ryan Aplin to lead the offense. Aplin threw two interceptions deep in North Texas territory last week, with a 2-6 touchdown to interception ratio for the season. Senior running back Reggie Arnold has been banged up all year as well. The Red Wolves have been besieged by injuries on the offensive line; forced to use three different starting centers in recent weeks. Defensively, we’ve seen the Red Wolves struggle in every recent road game, allowing 35+ in each of their last two Sun Belt road games.
After snapping their own four game skid with a home win on senior day last week, it’s simply not realistic to expect Arkansas State to bring the same level of energy and enthusiasm for their season finale as their opponent will bring. The Red Wolves certainly have a lousy track record in season ending games under Roberts, winning only once in their last six tries. This team has absolutely no business as a road favorite in this price range. Big Ticket: 7* (#306) Take Western Kentucky.
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Teddy Covers 12/3 BIG TICKET NCAAF
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ill have ness legend up saturday, i already bought it so ill post it up on the right day
