Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Vegas Play of the Day: Temple at Vanderbilt

Football is here.

Nothing more needs to be said as the predominant direction of the Play of the Day, which uses odds from the South Point and $10,000 starting bankrolls, is now determined.

Temple plus-13.5 at Vanderbilt: $550 to win $500

James Franklin got Vanderbilt here, built the program to where it’s respected enough to lay double digits on the opening night of college football. But Franklin’s not around anymore.

He bolted for the coaching gig at Penn State and took his 25-14 against the spread record in three seasons with him. It would be reckless to assume that new coach Derek Mason, the defensive coordinator at Stanford from 2011-2013, will automatically pick up where Franklin left off.

He doesn’t have the luxury of an experienced team, as most of the Commodores from a year ago aren’t around either. They bring back just nine starters, including three on the defense.

Temple, by contrast, has its quarterback and top four rushers back along with eight starters on defense. Signal caller P.J. Walker showed some real potential in his freshman season, throwing for 20 touchdowns to eight interceptions and rushing for 332 yards.

The Owls don’t fall under bet-on whippersnapper status themselves. They went 2-10 last season, but showed some bite with an 8-4 against the spread record.

The Commodores are better, but not two touchdowns better. Let’s hoot in the first cash of the season.

Standings: Bern (44-33-1, $13,427), Keefer (37-41, $9,562), Brewer (30-44-3, $1,200)

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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