Barkley leads Trojans to win over Hawaii in Kiffin's USC debut

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/03/2010 - Honolulu, HI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Barkley tied a school record by throwing for five touchdowns, as 14th-ranked Southern California beat Hawaii, 49-36, giving Lane Kiffin a victory in his coaching debut with the Trojans.

Ronald Johnson caught three scoring passes and returned a punt 89 yards for another TD for the Trojans, who posted their 13th straight win in a season opener.

Despite being ranked to start the season and with high aspirations, the Trojans won't be going to a bowl game. They were hit with a two-year postseason ban as a result of violations stemming from former USC standout football player Reggie Bush and basketball star O.J. Mayo.

Marc Tyler ran for 154 yards and a touchdown for the Trojans (1-0), who are 7-0 all-time against Hawaii.

Barkley, who led USC to an Emerald Bowl win over Boston College last December, completed 18-of-23 passes for 257 yards.

Kiffin, previously an assistant at USC, left Tennessee unceremoniously after just one year and took over for Pete Carroll who once again has jumped to the NFL, this time with the Seahawks.

Bryant Moniz connected on 18-of-36 passes for 269 yards and a score for the Warriors (0-1), but he left the game in the third quarter after taking a blow to the head on a hit from USC linebacker Michael Morgan.

The Warriors rolled up 588 yards of offense, but couldn't give head coach Greg McMackin a win as he began a third season with Hawaii, which is coming off a 6-7 campaign. Included in the big offensive showing were three receivers going over 100 yards. Greg Salas caught eight balls for 124, Royce Pollard seven for 106, and Kealoha Pilares five for 176 and three touchdowns.

Moniz suffered a cut to his right elbow after being hit hard by Morgan during a 13-yard scramble to the USC five. Brent Rausch replaced Moniz and the Warriors scored on a one-yard run from Alex Green, getting Hawaii within 34-23 with 1:54 left in the quarter.

Barkley, though, quickly struck back, hitting Stanley Havili for 49 yards, and then finding Johnson for a three-yard score with 27 seconds left in the third. Mitch Mustain's run accounted for the two-point conversion.

Shane Austin's 65-yard TD pass to Pilares had Hawaii knocking on the door again with 6:48 left in the game, but just 13 seconds later, Tyler broke off a 44-yard TD run.

Pilares and Austin hooked up from 30 yards away with under four minutes left.

Barkley threw 46 yards to David Ausberry for a TD nearly five minutes into the game. Kiffin brought out an odd formation for a two-point conversion try, but Mustain's pass went awry.

Scott Enos kicked a 24-yard field goal, but Barkley's one-yard TD pass to Johnson and the subsequent two-point conversion by the pair widened USC's lead to 14-3 with 1:38 left in the opening quarter.

It became 20-3 when Barkley passed to Rhett Ellison for a six-yard score early in the second.

Enos kicked a 40-yard field goal and the Warriors made it a seven-point spread after Pilares broke a tackle on the way to a 56-yard catch-and-run for a TD with nearly three minutes left in the half.

Hawaii's defense again failed, though, as Barkley hit Johnson for a 13-yard score with 1:06 remaining.

A big replay with 12 seconds left in the first half was the difference between a touchdown and a field goal for the Warriors. Salas caught a short pass and was tackled by linebacker Malcolm Smith near the goal line. Salas seemed to reach the ball over the plane, but officials ruled the ball short after the replay. The crowd of 44,204 went wild when they thought referee Bill Athan signaled touchdown, but instead he was showing how short the ball was from the goal line. Enos ended up kicking an 18-yard field goal for a 27-16 margin.

Johnson bolted down the right sideline for his TD punt return midway through the third quarter.

Game Notes

USC is 30-1 against current Western Athletic Conference teams...The Trojans have won 17 straight non-conference games...This was the first of a school- record seven road outings for the Trojans this year...Hawaii is 15-35 all-time against members of the Pac-10 Conference...Austin completed 6-of-9 passes for 141 yards...Johnson ended with seven catches for 59 yards.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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