Here are two coaches whose fans are not exactly enamored with the take to the field on Thursday in North Carolina. Bobby Bowden and his son Jeff are as usual having the finger pointed at them by irate fans who always want more. On the NC State sidelines will be Chuck Amato who received a stay of execution after upsetting undefeated Boston College last week.
Amato spent 18 years as an assistant under Florida State coach Bobby Bowden before taking over at his alma mater in 2000. He's 3-3 against his mentor since joining N.C. State, including a 20-15 victory last season at Tallahassee.
Wagering on this tilt is available at my favorite sportsbook www.sportsbook.com, where America loves to wager on football and every other sport played on this continent.
Last week NC State caught the Boston College team in a bad spot as they were coming off emotional overtime wins against BYU and Clemson and were due for a letdown. However, FSU may be sitting on a dominant performance here!
The Seminoles feel they have an advantage against inexperienced Wolfpack quarterback Daniel Evans, who will be making his second career start.
Evans relieved a struggling Marcus Stone in a 37-17 loss at Southern Mississippi on Sept. 16 and earned the start the next week against Boston College. He capped a 72-yard drive in the final minute with no timeouts against the Eagles by throwing a 34-yard touchdown pass to John Dunlap with 8.5 seconds left to give N.C. State the win.
Once one of the most feared offenses in the country, FSU has struggled just to be mediocre in 2006. The team is averaging just 315.2 yards of total offense, failing to distinguish itself either on the ground (108.8 ypg) or through the air (206.5 ypg). Quarterback Drew Weatherford's completion percentage looks good (61.3 percent), but he has only thrown for 715 yards, with three TDs and two interceptions in four games. Wideout De'Cody Fagg leads the team in receptions (15) and receiving yards (189), but it is sophomore Greg Carr who has three of the team's four receiving scores. Against Rice, Carr recorded two of those TDs, on five catches for 107 yards. The backfield has talent in the form of sophomore Antone Smith (5.3 ypc) and senior Lorenzo Booker (5.0 ypc), but neither player is a workhorse that wears teams down as they are combining for just 94.6 yards per game.
While I was impressed with Evans last week, this is a down year for NC State as major defections to the NFL, it will result in Amato's dismissal at the seasons end!
Bob Acton
Sports Betting |
