QB squeeze: Lemon to start for Dolphins

Football Betting Lines

12/27/2006 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins will reportedly start Cleo Lemon at quarterback for Sunday's season-finale against Indianapolis.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel cited a source as saying Lemon will get the nod ahead of Joey Harrington.

Dolphins head coach Nick Saban said after Monday's 13-10 loss to the New York Jets that both Lemon and Harrington would likely play against the Colts, but he did not specify who would start.

Harrington struggled against the Jets after also having trouble the previous week in a 21-0 loss at Buffalo. He had a 0.0 rating against the Bills and on Christmas night completed just 7-of-15 passes for 42 yards in wet conditions against New York.

After the Dolphins had played six straight quarters without a point, Saban decided to replace Harrington with Lemon to start the second half against the Jets.

Lemon nearly threw an interception on his first series, but settled down and hit on 11-of-16 throws for 104 yards with his first NFL touchdown pass -- a seven-yarder to tight end Randy McMichael that gave Miami a brief 7-3 lead.

Harrington, in his first season with Miami after four years toiling for the Detroit Lions, posted a 5-6 record as the Dolphins' starter after taking over for the injured and ineffective Daunte Culpepper.

The third overall pick of the 2002 draft has completed 57.5 percent of his passes for 2,236 yards with 12 touchdowns and 15 interceptions for the season.

Lemon, in the last two games, has connected on 20-of-30 passes for 202 yards one touchdown and no interceptions.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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