Point-shaving rumors deserve to be probed

No evidence ties Stephen Garcia, the recently dismissed South Carolina quarterback, to a point-shaving scheme. But do a Google search and his name is linked to those suspicions.

It appears to be nothing more than reckless rumors and speculation about a quarterback who was wildly inconsistent on the field and constantly wild and in trouble off it.

It's OK to examine these types of stories, because that's what reporters are expected to do. Yahoo! Sports has a far better investigative team than the NCAA. If an innocent player is accused of something shady, his name needs to be cleared.

Is the gossip true about Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore splitting? I don't care. Is it possible a college quarterback, one with a turbulent career, tried to fix a game or two? Let's look into it.

A few betting lines moved in Gamecocks games in which Garcia played poorly this season. Garcia was benched and then booted Tuesday by coach Steve Spurrier after the fifth-year senior failed an alcohol test and violated a zero-tolerance agreement stemming from his five previous suspensions from the team.

Soon after, a story surfaced raising questions about Garcia and game fixing. Steve Fezzik, a professional sports bettor in Las Vegas, reacted to the story and dropped a brief line on Twitter.

"There are a lot of fluky line moves on South Carolina games," Fezzik said. "It has been a pretty volatile market. It could just be a coincidence. I'm not accusing anyone of point shaving.

"If a game was being fixed, you would see there was money coming in the last minute, the night before or the day of the game. I'm a big believer that if a game is fixed, it's going to be a late line move and not an early line move, because it needs to be confirmed."

Navy-South Carolina had a late line move on Sept. 17. While other sports books such as Coast Casinos, the Las Vegas Hilton and MGM Resorts had the Gamecocks posted as 17-point favorites on the morning of the game, Cantor Gaming books went to 14½. Cantor accepts high-limit wagers -- $50,000 minimum -- from the sharpest bettors and syndicates.

Marcus Lattimore's 8-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter lifted South Carolina to a 24-21 victory. Garcia's play was decent, as he completed 18 of 25 passes for 204 yards with an interception. The game was close because the Midshipmen rushed for 274 yards.

I bet Navy plus-17 that week mostly because of a belief that its rushing attack would not be stopped. In this case, sharp syndicates were on the same side.

Garcia was a party guy, so the line move could have been the result of inside information that he was unlikely to play well that week. The Navy play simply was sharp handicapping.

Three sports book directors were asked about the Garcia rumors, and the responses ranged from "silly" to "100 percent false."

The line dropped about two points as South Carolina closed as a 15- to 15½-point favorite over Vanderbilt on Sept. 24. The Gamecocks won 21-3, but they scored a defensive touchdown, and Garcia's play was miserable. He threw four interceptions.

The Commodores were held to 77 yards of offense and five first downs, yet they stayed in the game, and Spurrier apologized to fans for the Gamecocks' "putrid offensive performance."

On Oct. 1, Garcia's last start, South Carolina opened as an 11-point favorite over Auburn, and the line dropped to 10 at several books. The Gamecocks were upset, 16-13. Garcia, troubled by the death of his grandfather, was 9-for-23 passing with two interceptions. He hit a 50-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Alshon Jeffery.

Fixing a college football game would be difficult unless the quarterback was in a gambler's back pocket. To fix a basketball game, a point guard or shooting guard would need to be involved -- or an official, in the case of Tim Donaghy and the NBA.

To say it never happens would be naive. But of the thousands of games played in a year, maybe only a few are part of a fixing scheme. Don't forget what recently was uncovered with University of San Diego basketball games and former star Brandon Johnson.

Las Vegas helped uncover the Arizona State basketball scandal in 1994, but that might have led to a false sense of security that the eyes in Vegas see everything.

"They are not going to catch you every time you speed on the highway," Fezzik said. "I will say Nevada is 99 percent clean on all games."

Garcia looks clean, too. He's not close to Art Schlichter or Richard "The Fixer" Perry. He's guilty only of poor quarterback play, and a game is not fixed every time a line moves or a quarterback stinks. But it's worth sniffing out point-shaving rumors, because occasionally you might stumble upon a skunk.

■ CLOSING NUMBERS -- My handicapping last week was a catastrophe, dropping the season mark to 15-16-2. I lacked inside information, obviously. Here are six plays for Saturday (home team in CAPS):

Miami (+3) over NORTH CAROLINA; PENN STATE (-12) over Purdue; WYOMING (-10½) over Unlv; Western Michigan (-1) over NORTHERN ILLINOIS; TEXAS (+7½) over Oklahoma State; Northwestern (+6) over IOWA.

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts the "Las Vegas Sportsline" weeknights at midnight on KDWN-AM (720) and thelasvegassportsline.com.