Mendenhall leads way as Illini halt Wisconsin's win streak

NCAA Football Betting Lines

10/06/2007 - Champaign, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns and Isiah Williams threw for 121 yards and ran for 92 more, as the two offensive stars catapulted Illinois past fifth-ranked Wisconsin, 31-26, snapping the Badgers' nation-best 14-game winning streak.

Mendenhall ran for a staggering 8.4 yards per carry and Williams tossed a touchdown pass for the Fighting Illini (5-1, 3-0 Big Ten), who handed Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema just his second loss with the Badgers.

His only other loss came on September 23, 2006 against Michigan.

Tyler Donovan was the offensive star for Wisconsin (5-1, 2-1), throwing for 392 yards on 27-of-49 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. P.J. Hill was held in check for the most part, rushing for 83 hard yards on 21 carries. Lanky tight end Travis Beckum hauled in 11 passes for 160 yards in defeat.

After a three-and-out to start, the Illinois offense got into a steady rhythm during its second possession. The two big play makers -- Mendenhall and Arrelious Benn -- each were a focal point of the series. Benn slashed through the middle for seven yards and caught an out pass for five more later in the drive. Mendenhall took a handoff from the shotgun and patiently carved through the defense for 26 yards to the Badgers 37-yard line and later sprinted down the right sideline and into the end zone from 32 yards out for a 7-0 edge.

Illinois went back to work early in the second quarter, extending its advantage to 10-0. Williams' 26-yard connection to Benn proved to be the big strike in the 10-play, 42-yard march that ended with Jason Reda's 50-yard field goal.

The Fighting Illini again went right through the Wisconsin defense on their next series, marching 75 yards on seven plays to paydirt. A screen pass to Mendenhall for 15 yards preceded a 15-yard sprint by the running back. Williams then threw a dart to Benn for 11 yards and a 31-yard completion to Russ Weil to the Badgers five-yard line then Mendenhall ran tough for the five-yard score.

Trailing 17-0, the Badgers offense finally started to generate points. Donovan found his big tight end Beckum for 40 yards to the Illini 25-yard line, but the march eventually stalled at the 21-yard line. Taylor Mehlhaff booted a 38-yard field goal to get Wisconsin on the board with 3:52 to play in the half.

After stifling Illinois' next drive, the Wisconsin offense went back to work. Donovan worked the sideline to Hill for 11 yards and Kyle Jefferson for 17 yards. Again, the march stalled before the end zone, and Mehlhaff connected from 26 yards away.

Mendenhall rushed for 100 yards in the first half, totaling 133 yards rushing and receiving on 13 touches (nine carries, four receptions).

The Badgers offense continued its efficient approach early in the third quarter, this time resulting in a touchdown. An 81-yard drive included a pair of third-down conversions, including a 19-yard toss to Beckum on 3rd-and-10 from their own 30-yard line. Later in the march, Donovan found a streaking Kyle Jefferson wide open down the seam for a 43-yard touchdown and a 17-13 game.

The Fighting Illini answered right back with a nine-play, 72-yard march and another score. Williams took the snap and rushed around the right end for 24 yards on the first play, and rushed for the identical yardage around the opposite end later in the march. Mendenhall wasn't denied from the five-yard line, breaking several arm tackles on this way to the end zone.

In a back-and-forth third quarter, Wisconsin stormed back with another touchdown on its next possession. The nine-play, 78-yard drive was highlighted by a test of wills inside the 10-yard line. It took Hill three tries from the six-yard line, but he finally crossed the line from one-yard out with 1:30 left in the stanza. Wisconsin went for two points in an attempt to cut the deficit to a field goal, but the try failed.

Illinois extended its lead with 5:28 remaining in the fourth on Eddie McGee's five-yard burst, and Wisconsin cut the deficit to 31-26 late in the fourth on Donovan's second touchdown toss, this one a nine-yard strike to Garrett Graham.

The Badgers then attempted on onsides kick, but the Fighting Illini recovered to preserve the upset.

Game Notes

Illinois holds the all-time series lead 36-33-7 and snapped Wisconsin's four- game winning streak in the series...Wisconsin had won five of six in Champaign...Hill was held about 50 yards below his 133.4-yard average on the ground...The Fighting Illini, who entered the game averaging a Big Ten best 255.6 yards per game on the ground, rolled up 289 rushing yards on 44 carries...Wisconsin racked up 519 total yards to 410 for Illinois.

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.

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