Nate Montana tries to make own name at Notre Dame
NCAA Football Betting Lines
08/14/2010 -
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -The questions about his famous dad don't come nearly as often these days for Nate Montana as he tries to carve out his own path of success at Notre Dame.
``It's old stuff now,'' Montana said after a recent steamy practice on the same campus where his father, Joe Montana, helped Notre Dame win a national title in 1977.
Joe, of course, was a third-round draft pick who went on to become a Hall of Famer, leading the 49ers to four Super Bowl wins. Nate came to South Bend two years ago as a preferred walk-on.
He wears his dad's No. 16 from his days in San Francisco - Joe wore No. 3 at Notre Dame and later No. 19 with the Kansas City Chiefs. And father and son talk daily.
``He just said, 'Study, study, study.' That's it,'' Nate Montana said. ``Like, learn your plays and make sure you're ready to go if they need you.''
That's the question for the younger Montana this season as he battles to be the backup to Dayne Crist. There are three promising freshmen also in the mix, with early enrollee Tommy Rees ahead of Andrew Hendrix and Luke Massa.
Montana, who at 6-foot-4 is two inches taller than dad, didn't participate in football until he was a freshman in high school. As a senior, he attempted only 19 passes. And after coming in as a walk-on at in 2008, he spent last season at Pasadena Community College, where he was a backup, before returning to South Bend.
In new coach Brian Kelly's no-huddle spread offense, Montana had a strong spring game, completing 18 of 30 passes for 223 yards and three touchdowns.
``Nate does some things really well, and then I'll lose him for a couple of plays,'' Kelly said. ``He hasn't played a lot of college football, obviously, and consistency is the one area that he has to show.''
That's exactly the point his dad has tried to make with his oldest son. Younger brother Nick is a freshman quarterback at Washington, and Nate's two sisters, Alexandra and Elizabeth, are Notre Dame graduates.
``It's great for him,'' Joe Montana said in a phone interview, adding that he and wife Jennifer were initially ``surprised he chose Notre Dame because of the extra pressure that would be there.''
But now Joe is a proud pop - his son says he is ``really excited'' - who has emphasized the qualities that made him so great over his NFL career.
``The fundamentals are an important part. It's what guides you through the tough times,'' Joe Montana said. ``If your fundamentals are sound, it will carry you.''
Nate is trying to find the rhythm he had last spring in Kelly's hurry-up system, knowing that if he does win the backup job, he's one play away, one injury away, from being the quarterback at Notre Dame.
``It's getting used to the tempo and picking it back up basically from where we left off in the spring,'' Nate Montana says. ``I think I'm starting to calm down and getting back in the groove. I need some more time. Purdue (the season opener) is not tomorrow so we got a little time.''
Kelly's offense also calls for the quarterback to be a ball carrier at times. That's OK with Nate.
``I like to run. I mean it's fun, but I'd like to throw touchdowns more. It's a good place to do that, too,'' he said.
And the pressure of being Joe Montana's son doesn't bother Nate.
``I don't think about it too much, so I try not to let it bug me,'' he said. ``I just try to do what I came to do and that's compete and play. So I don't think about outside things too much.''
Joe Montana plans to watch both of his sons play or at least suit up this season. That could be a lot of travel from California to the Northwest or to familiar grounds in the Midwest.
``We're trying to plan the first month of the season right now,'' Joe Montana said. ``We'll probably have a lot of frequent flier miles.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.