Monday, May 21st, 2012
It will be a college football week 1 blockbuster game when the Oregon Ducks the defending PAC 12 champions will battle the LSU Tigers from the SEC conference on Saturday night September 3rd.
Kick off time from a neutral field at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington Texas is scheduled for 8PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by ABC.
The betting odds opened up in this early season key college football game at the Golden Nugget sportsbook in Las Vegas with the Oregon Ducks favored by –3 points.
The money early from the NCAA college football bettors has come on the side of the underdog LSU Tigers as the Oregon Ducks are lined as a -2 point favorite at the Golden Nugget.
The over under and money line will be updated as soon as these numbers are released to the betting public.
There have been no recent meetings between the schools.
The Oregon Ducks are coming off a successful 2010 campaign where they went 12-1, won the PAC 12 championship and fell in the BCS Championship game to the Auburn Tigers 22-19 as a -1 point betting favorite.
The team will return 6 starters on offense and 5 to their defense.
A concern is only two starting offensive lineman return for the Ducks.
Oregon was an offensive machine last season ranking first in college football in scoring as they averaged 49.3 points per game.
The Ducks were the fourth leading rushing team in 2010 with an average of 303.8 yards on the ground per game and 6.1 yards per run average.
Starting quarterback Darron Thomas returns under center for his junior season. Thomas completed 61.5% of his passes for 2881 yards with 30 touchdown passes and 9 interceptions in his first year as starter.
Thomas showed great composure under center for the Ducks in his first season.
He is a major threat to run as he rushed for 570 yards and 5.2 yards per carry average.
Running back LaMichael James returns for his junior season. He led the Ducks on the ground with 1840 yards and a 5.9 yards per rush average.
The teams second leading rusher junior Kenjon Barner also returns and he produced a 6.1 yards per rush average in 2010 on 91 carries.
The team loses their two top receivers from last season that combined for nearly half the teams passing yardage and touchdown receptions.
On defense the club must replace 7 starters from the 2010 club. They were decimated in their front four and linebacker positions where only 3 starters return combined.
The Ducks strength on defense came in the fourth quarter of their games where they allowed opponents an average of just 2 points per game ranking first in major college football.
The club gave up an average of 18.4 points per game last season ranking 14th in college football. The team was stingy against the run allowing just 3.3 yards per rush against average.
In the 2010 campaign the LSU Tigers completed play with a record of 11-2. Their two losses all came in road contests against SEC opponents the Auburn Tigers and Arkansas Razorbacks.
The team landed in the Cotton Bowl where they defeated the Texas A&M Aggies 41-24 as a -2 point betting favorite.
The Tigers return 8 players on offense and 7 to their defense.
Starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson returns for his senior season. He has been playing well below expectations for the Tigers supporters.
He completed only 55.7% of his passes last season for 1411 yards with 7 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Jefferson ran 123 times last season for 607 yards.
The team must replace leading rusher Stevan Ridley who was drafted into the NFL.
Sophomore Spencer Ware is number one on the depth chart and in 2010 he rushed it 24 times for 175 yards. Sophomore Michael Ford will compete for carries and in his freshman campaign the ball carrier had 45 carries for 256 yards and three touchdowns.
Three of the top four pass catches are back in 2011 for the LSU Tigers.
Wide out Rueben Randle the junior had an impressive 16.5 yards per catch average on his 33 receptions in 2010.
LSU averaged 28.8 points per game a year ago to rank 50th in college football. The club was 107th in college football in 2010 in passing yards with just 155.4 yard per game.
On defense the Tigers are experienced in their back end with three of four starters back.
The team was excellent defending the run allowing just 135 rushing yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry average.
LSU has experience facing this type of offense as Auburn in 2010 and Florida during the Tebow years had a running quarterback under center.
For the Latest CFB Odds Please Visit our CFB Odds Page
CFB Trend: Oregon Ducks are 1-3 ATS in their past four games
Tags: abc tv, betting, college football, lsu tigers, Odds, oregon ducks, pick, preview, saturday, september 3rd 2011
