Cincinnati Bearcats at North Carolina St Wolfpack, Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC
Thursday, September 16, 2010, 7:45 pm EST, TV: ESPN
Opening Line: Cincinnati -3
Current Line: North Carolina St -2
Opening Total: 54.5
Current Total: 55
Money Line: NC St -130/Cincinnati +110
Betting odds taken from Bookmaker Sportsbook who is offering a 25% signup bonus to all new wagering accounts.
Both of these teams have played two games so far this season. Cincinnati lost at Fresno St 28-14 but beat lowly Indiana St 40-7. North Carolina St is 2-0 with victories against Western Carolina 48-7 and last week at Central Florida 28-21. Bettors think that NC State is the bettor team driving this line from +3 all the way to -2 now. You can track these moves on our college football point spread page.
The Bearcats passing game has gotten off to a slow start under Zach Collaros averaging only 175 yards a game. Collaros has thrown 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions so far. the problem is the offensive line is not protecting him, as he has been sacked 10 times in two games. The running game is only slightly better averaging 139 yards a game lead by Darrin Williams and John Goebel. The Bearcats only have 4 rushing TD”s and Collaros has two of them. They are only averaging 27 points a game so far. Against Indiana St Cincinnati was only up 12-7 at halftime, before scoring 4 touchdowns in the third to put the game away. The rushing game accounted for most of the offense with 263 yards and three touchdowns. Collaros had one of the rushing TD’s to go along with only 130 yards passing and two scoring throws. The Bearcats did fumble twice against the Sycamores. Cincinnati should be seriously concerned about it’s lack of offense as they travel to Raleigh this week and welcome powerful Oklahoma to Cincinnati next week. The defense has played decently so far giving up less than 300 yards in both games. They have forced turnovers in both games.
North Carolina St went down to muggy Orlando and escaped with a hard-fought victory over a game Central Florida 28-21. The Wolfpack are not too happy about the short turnaround for this game after playing on the road last week. Coach Tom O’Brien was quoted as saying, “The ACC and television decided we are playing on Thursday night. It’s someone else’s fight. It isn’t my fight.” The defense has been pretty dominant so far giving up less than 248 yards a game and forcing 8 turnovers and 6 sacks. They are leading the ACC in total defense so far. The offense has been solid but not spectacular so far. Quarterback Russell Wilson has throw for 411 total yards, 5 touchdowns, no interceptions and has been sacked 6 times in two games so far. The running game is led by Dean Haynes and Mustafa Greene. averaging 131 yards a game. Both have two rushing td’s for the season. Against Central Florida the Wolfpack jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first half and held on for a 28-21 victory. the humidity took it’s toll on the Wolfpack in the second half as the Knights ground out two rushing touchdowns by Jeffrey Godfrey. UCF turned the ball over 5 times which led to their demise.
The Wolfpack improved to 2-0 for the first time under coach O’Brien and look to go 3-0 for the first time since 2002. The weather is expected to be hot and humid with game time temps in the 80’s. The Bearcats offense will certainly be tested in the next two weeks and they have to play much better if they hope to compete with two strong defenses like NC St and Oklahoma.
At the time of publish Maddux Sports hasn’t released a pick on this game but we have released some Saturday college football picks. We are currently on a 13-3 football pick run and expect to hammer the books once again this week. Dont miss anymore of these winners.
