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North Carolina Rutgers Odds

Written by Jimmy Boyd on September 9, 2008

The ACC’s North Carolina Tar Heels head to New Jersey Thursday night to take on the Big East’s Rutgers Scarlet Knights on ESPN. JustBet Odds makers have listed the home Scarlet Knights as 4.5-point favorites for the Big game. Jimmy Boyd’s North Carolina/Rutgers preview will help you better handicap the big game and do better with your college football betting. Jimmy Boyd offers his winning selection on this matchup on the premium side, tagged his ESPN Game of the Week. There’s nothing Jimmy likes better than to take the sportsbooks to school in televised action and he’ll do just that with this Thursday night winner.

North Carolina found a way to avoid the dismal performances which plagued the rest of the ACC last week – the Heels didn’t play. While its league rivals were losing to Middle Tennessee State and struggling with championship-subdivision programs, the Heels were on the practice field trying to right the wrongs from its own opening week struggles with McNeese State. The Heels needed a third-quarter rally to finally take the lead for good against the championship-subdivision Cowboys.

Perhaps the young Tar Heels felt the pressure of their expectations to contend in the wid open ACC Coastal or perhaps they just aren’t that good. With nine freshman and sophomores listed as starters on the UNC depth chart, these boys are going to have to grow up in a hurry if they want to beat a solid Rutgers program on the road. If anything can help them do that, it’s a bye week.

UNC allowed McNeese State to amass 391 total yards and to rack up more than 35 minutes of possession time. That means the defense just wasn’t up to snuff. I do expect the well-rested and eager-to-play Heels to be better in week 2. One way they can be better for certain is to get the ball into the hands if wide receiver Brandon Tate as often as possible. Tate carried the ball three times and racked up 106 yards. If nothing else, his big play ability gives Rutgers something to worry about. Tate set a school record in the game with 397 all-purpose yards. He also scored on a 57-yard pass play and an 82-yard punt return.

QB T.J Yates led all ACC passers in week one and he will also be looking Hakeem Nicks’ way, who he hooked up with for a 71-yard pass play. Bet the Tar Heels at +5 at Bookmaker.

The first game of the post-Ray Rice era did not go as planned for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Rutgers could have cause for concern on the offensive side of the football following its loss against Fresno State. The team had seven possessions that started in Fresno State territory and it didn’t score on any of them. The worst of those was when Rutgers was stopped on the three yard line on third-and-goal and then was stopped again running the same play on fourth down instead of kicking the field goal. The good new is that they had chances, the bad new is that they didn’t convert. One would think the execution will be much better this week.

Running backs Kordell Young and Mason Robinson combined for 106 yards against Fresno State looking nothing like the Ray Rice running game we have seen the past couple seasons. The team is going to have to call QB Mike Teel’s number more if they want to have success this season, but he wasn’t sharp either, throwing a pair of interceptions.

Wide receiver Kenny Britt is a guy who the UNC secondary could struggle to stop. Britt led the Knights with 89 yards on six catches and is a playmaking threat every time he touches the football.

If Rutgers does have an edge, it appears to be on the defensive side of the football. Linebacker Ryan D’Imperio is finally healthy and played well against Fresno State with eight tackles. Defensive tackle Perter Tverdov began his senior campaign with a sack, two tackles for loss, a pass breakup, a QB hurry, and seven total tackles. If you think the Scarlet Knights defense is good enough to stone the Heels at home, you can bet Rutgers at BetUS sportsbook.

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