ASA – American Sports Analysts Handicappers

#957/958 ASA TOP PLAY ON Over 9 Runs (-120) – Milwaukee at Cincinnati, Saturday at 6:40 PM ET - Yesterday this match-up resulted in an ultra easy over.  Not only did the game easily fly over the total, both teams totaled at least 7 runs!  We look for more of the same on Saturday.  The Brewers Dustin May had a recent start where he got hit by a line drive and so he had to exit in the first inning.  In his start prior to that he allowed 7 earned runs in just 2 innings.  In his start after that one he allowed 4 earned runs in just 4 and 1/3 innings.  That spells trouble here at hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.  The weather conditions look good for this one as well with high temperatures around 87 today and a light north breeze which helps the hitters a little more as it helps carry fly balls a little deeper at this park.  The Reds are starting Andrew Abbott here and the southpaw is coming off an August where he went 1-4 with a 6.89 ERA.  Also, in his lone start against the Brewers this season, Abbott walked 5 and allowed 5 hits in just 5 innings of work for a 2.00 WHIP.  He was very fortunate he did not allow more than 2 earned runs in that one.  He won't be so fortunate here and, also, the struggles of May should continue for the Brewers right-hander.  Milwaukee has won 7 of 10 and scored an average of 6.3 runs per game in those 10 games.  The Reds have won 5 of 8 and scored an average of 6.3 runs in those 8 games.  Couple confident lineups and all signs point to double digit runs again here just like yesterday.  Take the Over in Cincinnati

English Premier League #200105/200106 ASA PLAY ON Over 2.5 Goals (-115) – Tottenham Hotspur at Nottingham Forest, Saturday at 10 am et - Tottenham was shutout last week but they did generate 17 shots. They just need to do a better job of finishing on their chances and we anticipate that here. Nottingham Forest has allowed multiple goals in B2B matches (one was in EFL Cup) and they did score 2 goals last week at Liverpool. Also, Nottingham has scored multiple goals in 3 straight meetings with Tottenham. The Hotspur were frustrated by Newcastle last week but did score 5 goals in an EFL Cup match prior to that. They will respond off the shutout loss and Nottingham Forest also remains hot in the goal-scoring department. Over gets the call here.

#163/164 ASA PLAY ON OVER 51.5 Points - Marshall @ Penn State, Saturday at 3:30 PM ET - 2 very good QB’s vs potential suspect defenses should push this Over the total. PSU new head man Matt Campbell brought a number of key players with him from Iowa State (potentially 12 or 13 starters) including QB Becht (over 9.000 career passing yards and 64 TDs). He should have a field day vs a Marshall D that finished 131st in the nation allowing almost 280 YPG passing. The Herd defense as a whole last year was poor as they ranked 131st in pass defense, 115th in YPP allowed and 113th in scoring defense (32.4 PPP allowed). The Herd played 3 Power 4 teams over the last 2 seasons and allowed 49, 45, and 31 points in those games. Expect PSU to push 40 here. That means we won’t need much in the way of scoring from the Marshall offense, although we expect them to have some solid success in this one. They return the top QB in the Sun Belt (Carlos Del Rio- Wilson) who as voted offensive player of the year in the conference entering the season. Del Rio-Wilson started 9 games for Marshall last year and they averaged 36 PPG in those contests. He’ll be facing a Penn State defense that could be a bit overrated entering the season. The Nittany Lions allowed 5.2 YPP last year which wasn’t great (40th in the country) and let’s not forget a number of players came over from ISU where the defense allowed 5.7 YPP (78th). The weather looks perfect in Happy Valley on Saturday with temps in the mid 70s and light winds. Offenses dominate here and this one goes Over the total.

#160 ASA PLAY ON West Virginia -21 over Coastal Carolina, Saturday at 12 PM ET - WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez enters his 2nd season in Morgantown coming off a disappointing 4-8 record last year. We look for the Mountaineers to take a big leap in year 2 starting on Saturday. Rich Rod loves to run opposing defenses into submission if he gets a chance and we look for that to happen in this game. Coastal struggled stopping the run last year ranking 131st nationally in RYPG allowed and will have trouble slowing down the Neers’ rushing attack. WVU returns an experienced offensive line with 5,700 snaps back ranking them 3rd nationally in that category. They have a very mobile QB in Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins Jr who threw for 1,000 yards and ran for 260 yards in his 2 seasons with the Sooners. They also added RB Cam Cook who led the nation in rushing last year at Jacksonville State. Coastal is going through a rebuild under new coach Ryan Beard who came over from Missouri State. He’s implementing a new offensive and defensive scheme bring both coordinators with him from Mizzou St. Their QB situation does not look promising and it looks like he’ll be starting Deuce Bailey who was with him at MSU but wasn’t the starter and only played sparingly in 3 games last season. We think the Chanticleers will struggle offensively and won’t be able to keep up here. WVU has one of the better home field atmospheres in college football and they’ve been very good laying points at home with a 22-8 ATS record their last 30. After a 4 win season, Rich Rod will want to lay the wood if he can do so generating some positive momentum around his program. Lay it.