Iowa State -7.5
Not a good spot at all for HC Tom Amstutz and his Toledo Rockets as they head west to take on the Iowa State Cyclones.
ISU is a solid 19-2 SU and 9-4 ATS all time against the MAC Conference, and they won and covered 5 of their 6 home games a year ago. In fact, the Cyclones have gone a stellar 9-3 SU and 7-3 ATS in Jack Trice Stadium the L/2 seasons.
Toledo HC Amstutz has a very fine squad returning in ’06, but it’s without the programs all time career-passing leader Bruce Gradkowski who moved on to the NFL. His offense returns eight starters from a year ago, and has some fine skilled position players and a solid O-Line. However, what it doesn’t have is an experienced field general. Clint Cochran only got in one start a year ago, and played his role during mop up duty. That one start saw the Rockets get pummeled at Fresno State to the tune of 44-14. Now, he’ll be facing a much less experienced Cyclone stop unit, but it is of Big 12 caliber nonetheless and is fast.
ISU on the other hand has a tremendous offense with an exciting QB leading them by the name of Bret Meyer. He’s thrown for over 4800 yards, rushed for nearly 1000, and has a TD/INT ration of 29-16 in his two years as the Cyclones starting QB. Toledo’s defense made huge strides a year ago under new DC Tim Rose, but I’ve got a feeling his unit will be beat up tonight due to the Rockets offense failure to eat up clock and put points on the board. Ames is a very tough place to go into and succeed. Toledo will have a hard time executing on either side of the ball early, and might find itself to far down to make any type of comeback late in the game.
Look for the ISU offense to control this game form the opening kick-off, and rally the Cyclones to their first home win and cover of the year.
Game Time: Thursday Aug 31 '06 8:00PM (ET)
By: Mike Rose
Not a good spot at all for HC Tom Amstutz and his Toledo Rockets as they head west to take on the Iowa State Cyclones.
ISU is a solid 19-2 SU and 9-4 ATS all time against the MAC Conference, and they won and covered 5 of their 6 home games a year ago. In fact, the Cyclones have gone a stellar 9-3 SU and 7-3 ATS in Jack Trice Stadium the L/2 seasons.
Toledo HC Amstutz has a very fine squad returning in ’06, but it’s without the programs all time career-passing leader Bruce Gradkowski who moved on to the NFL. His offense returns eight starters from a year ago, and has some fine skilled position players and a solid O-Line. However, what it doesn’t have is an experienced field general. Clint Cochran only got in one start a year ago, and played his role during mop up duty. That one start saw the Rockets get pummeled at Fresno State to the tune of 44-14. Now, he’ll be facing a much less experienced Cyclone stop unit, but it is of Big 12 caliber nonetheless and is fast.
ISU on the other hand has a tremendous offense with an exciting QB leading them by the name of Bret Meyer. He’s thrown for over 4800 yards, rushed for nearly 1000, and has a TD/INT ration of 29-16 in his two years as the Cyclones starting QB. Toledo’s defense made huge strides a year ago under new DC Tim Rose, but I’ve got a feeling his unit will be beat up tonight due to the Rockets offense failure to eat up clock and put points on the board. Ames is a very tough place to go into and succeed. Toledo will have a hard time executing on either side of the ball early, and might find itself to far down to make any type of comeback late in the game.
Look for the ISU offense to control this game form the opening kick-off, and rally the Cyclones to their first home win and cover of the year.
Game Time: Thursday Aug 31 '06 8:00PM (ET)
By: Mike Rose
