College Football Betting – Don’t Count on “Distractions” Causing Problems For Florida State
The Florida State Seminoles are a 10-point favorite over the Notre Dame fighting Irish in the 8 PM ET feature of the college football betting schedule, and that means that Jameis Winston is almost certainly making the start at quarterback for FSU, despite all of the controversy swirling around him right now, including an upcoming student disciplinary hearing at which point his collegiate playing career could come to an end. But those who think that distractions around the program will bring the mood of this FSU team down could be greatly disappointed.
America’s Bookie customers have noticed that anything from within the university that would resemble discipline against Winston hasn’t come from the coaching staff; it has come from the administration. Coach Jimbo Fisher is solidly behind his Heisman Trophy winner right now, and that makes sense, because his mission is not to create great citizens, but to use great football players to win games and championships. Furthermore, the culture around athletics these days seems to be that few people are shocked when stars engage in egregious behavior.
Florida State has a 22-game winning streak coming into this contest, and the last thing Fisher wants to do is disturb that. As the second-ranked team in the country, Florida State needs only to win out to be guaranteed a spot in the four-team college football playoff. As college football bettors at America’s Bookie already know, that is how Fisher views his job – to get his team into that position.
By contrast, Notre Dame isn’t all that hesitant to suspend players. One of them, Everett Golson, will be opposing Winston and FSU as quarterback on Saturday night. Golson, as anyone who follows the Notre Dame program is well aware, had to sit out all of last season due to violations of academic policy. What we heard during the 2013 season and during the offseason was that Golson was using that time to grow as a person and to get his act together. Apparently it has worked; he has become more of a leader, by all accounts, and has improved himself as a passer, completing 63% and being intercepted only four times.
It is very interesting for football bettors to note that neither Winston nor Golson has ever lost a regular season game as a starter. If you recall, Golson led the Irish to an undefeated season in 2012 before they were manhandled by Alabama in the BCS title game.
Advanced statistics show that when Winston is pressured, he has a very low completion percentage; in fact, it is under 40%. And before you go off saying that all quarterbacks are less effective under pressure, Winston completed over 60% of his passes under those circumstances last season. Notre Dame was thought by many America’s Bookie observers to be in something of a transitional year on defense, but they have in fact been extremely effective, holding the opposition to just 59% completions and 3.2 yards per carry. Perhaps they can prevent the Seminoles from gaining the requisite balance they would seem to need to expand a lead. Of course, they might also be able to take advantage of their superior athletes and better depth. But what college football bettors need to know is that Florida State has covered only one out of six games this season. This may not be a cakewalk, under any circumstances.
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