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N.C. State v. Florida State Football Betting Lines & Predictions

Written by Jimmy Boyd

Week 8 NCAA football action gets started Thursday night when the N.C. State Wolf Pack host the Florida State Seminoles in an ACC matchup on ESPN. The 4-1 Seminoles are listed as the 11.5-point favorite despite struggling at N.C. State of late.

The Seminoles went into their bye week off a big win at Miami and they are hoping to come out of it with a big Thursday night win at ACC rival N.C. State. Florida State has to be feeling good about its 4-1 start as the kicking game, penalties, turnovers, and suspended players have tried their best to derail this season. With four of their last seven games at home, the Seminoles are ready to get right back into some ACC title talks.

While odds makers are predicting a double digit blowout, FSU knows this is no game to take lightly as it is just 2-3 in its last 5 games played at Carter Finley Stadium.

Once encouraging aspect of the Seminoles offense in the reemergence of the running game which has left them in recent years. FSU gained 310 yards on the ground in its 41-39 shootout win with Miami. It marked FSU’s third 200-plus yard rushing performance of the season.

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Running back Antone Smith has been doing a great deal of the damage with 394 yards and nine touchdowns on the season. QB Christian Ponder has proved to be a threat with his legs as well and has 262 rushing yards on the season. And now teams can’t sleep on true freshman Jermaine Thomas either. He has 213 yards on just 29 carries this season and showed great explosiveness against Miami with 51 yards on just two carries.

But QB Christian Ponder has been the real reason for the early season success. He’s bounce back from a terrible performance at Wake Forest and has been the steady leader of the offense. While his ability to run and scramble keeps the defense on its toes, he has also shown the ability to throw the football. Wide receiver Greg Carr is his favorite target and can move into the FSU top 10 all-time receptions list just five more catches and its top five receiving yards list with just 161 yards.

The Seminoles are not out of the woods yet and they must become a more disciplined team if they want to make a run at the ACC title or even a major bowl game. They have amassed 450 yards in penalties this season for a 90 yards per game average. A lot of these costly penalties have come on special teams. If you think the Seminoles can continue to roll, bet Florida State at -11.5 at BetUS.

N.C. State has had some success against the Seminoles of late and they will look to continue that run of fortune on national television. If they are going to pull off the upset, they are going to have to do a much better job in the trenches, especially on offense. Boston College was able to hold the Wolf Pack to just 35 yards rushing and sacked QB Russell Wilson five times.

The Pack’s defensive line is going to have to better too if they want to stop the FSU ground attack. They need to get some heat on the opposing QB’s. Boston College QB Chris Crane led an attack which hit N.C. State up from nearly 600 yards.

Running the football was supposed to be the strength of the Wolf Pack, but that has not been the case the past two weeks. Opening up some holes for running backs Jamelle Eugene and Andre Brown is vital to getting defenses to respect the running attack enough to open things up for Russell Wilson and the passing game.

The defense is really hoping the big play linebacker Nat Irving will be back in the lineup. It’s been tough without him the past two weeks.

N.C. State has already shown its upset potential this season with a big win over an East Carolina team which came storming out of the gates and the Wolf Pack have played the Seminoles tough in recent years. If you think this trend will continue, bet N.C. State at +11.5 at BetUS and receive up to a 50% sign up bonus.

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Written by Jimmy Boyd on October 13, 2008 · Filed Under College Football Betting Articles, News & Previews

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