Big East NCAA Football Previews – North Carolina State Wolfpack vs Cincinnati Bearcats
The North Carolina State Wolfpack, out of the ACC, take on the Cincinnati Bearcats, from the Big East this Thursday night at Nippert Stadium in the third of four non-conference games on their schedule.
Date/Time: Thursday, Sept.22 8 p.m. (ET)
Venue: Nippert Stadium, Cincinnati,OH.
Broadcast: ESPN
Wolfpack @Bearcats lines by BetOnline.com
Point spread: Bearcats -7.5
Over/Under: 59
ATS Report
The kick-off for this one is slated for 8 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
NC State (2-1) bounced back from a disappointing 34-27 conference loss to lowly Wake Forest as a 1.5-point road favorite in Week 2 with a 35-13 victory over D-IAA South Alabama this past Saturday, but could not come close to covering the spread as a 28-point home favorite. Needless to say, the Wolfpack will not be one of the powers in the ACC this season.
They do have a pretty decent passing attack that is averaging 256 yards a game. Quarterback Mike Glennon has thrown for 745 yards and eight touchdowns while completing 64.1 percent of his attempts. T.J. Graham and Tobias Palmer have been his primary targets with a combined 25 receptions for 422 yards and three TD’s. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Cincinnati (2-1) is trying to re-establish itself as a power in the Big East, but it failed its only test so far with a 45-23 loss to Tennessee two weeks ago as a four-point road underdog. The total went well ‘over’ the 56-point line in that game.
The main strength of this Bearcat team is a rushing offense that is averaging 239 yards a game behind the running of Isaiah Pead. He is averaging 9.5 yards a carry and so far has rushed for 257 yards and four touchdowns. The offense has tallied 154 points in three games but the majority of them came in wins over Austin Peay and Akron.
NC State is 3-0-1 against the spread in its last four games against the Big East while Cincinnati is just 3-7 ATS in its last 10 non-conference games in general. These two teams played one another last season with the Wolfpack coming away with a 30-19 victory as two-point home favorites. The total stayed ‘under’ the 54.5-point line.
This time around stick with the Bearcats to get the outright win, but the extra half-point on the spread tips the scales in the Wolfpack’s favor.
The Pick: Cincinnati 28 NC State 21
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