College Football Free Picks: Weekly Mid-Major Report and Predictions for Coastal Carolina (Chanticleers vs. Arkansas State)

by Matt Zitt - 10/19/2023

Mid major betting report Week 8 Coastal Carolina Grayson McCall

Date: Saturday, October 21

Game Time: 7:00pm EST

Venue: Centennial Bank Stadium

Spread: Coastal Carolina -9.5

Total/Over-Under: 60.5

As we head into Week 8 of the College Football season, I will use my thorough knowledge of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers to bring you insightful, but more importantly, profitable information on CCU’s current contest. We will dive into the analysis and to maximize our return on investment, we will be utilizing Doc’s trusted “Unit Betting System.”

Doc’s Sports offers college football expert picks for every game on our college football predictions page.

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Report

Coastal Carolina concludes its three-game Sun Belt road trip on Saturday night as the Chanticleers will visit Arkansas State. This stretch of three consecutive conference road games is the first in the history of the program. CCU is riding in with high emotions and confidence after a huge 27-24 win over the Appalachian State Mountaineers last week. That game was played on a Tuesday, so the Chants have had extra time to prepare and rest up.

Quarterback Grayson McCall had his most prolific passing day of his career at App State, throwing for a career-high 373 yards. He completed his first nine attempts in the game and tossed two touchdowns. He was named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts. He was also named a Manning Award Star of the Week. McCall needs just 239 passing yards to become the 146th player in NCAA history to pass for 10,000 yards in a career.

The offense has been consistently getting better and more in sync when it comes to big plays. Wide receiver Sam Pinckney extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 51 against Appalachian State. He posted his second consecutive game with 100+ yards, finishing with 102 yards on seven catches. The offense tallied eight plays that went for over 20 yards against the Mountaineers, including six passes that went over 30 yards. The Chants tied a season-high with an 83-yard scoring drive to open last week’s game.

Arkansas State Red Wolves Scouting Report

The Red Wolves head into this matchup with a 3-3 record and saw its three-game win streak end on October 7 with a 37-3 loss to Troy. True-freshman quarterback Jaylen Raynor has 850 passing yards on the season, averaging 141.7 yards per game. He has completed 63.3% of his passes and has 10 touchdown passes to only one interception.

Redshirt-sophomore running back Ja’Quez Cross has four games with 100+ all-purpose yards to rank 14th in the nation and fifth in the Sun Belt Conference with 131.2 all-purpose yards per game. The Red Wolves go-to receivers include Courtney Jackson, who leads the team with 280 receiving yards and four touchdowns, and Jeff Foreman who has caught 10 passes for 260 yards and three scores.

The Pick

The Chanticleers should be plenty focused heading into their third straight conference road game. The extra few days off will only help them prepare and heal up all the bumps and bruises. McCall and the offense will not overlook Arkansas this week, knowing they have a big home matchup next weekend with Marshall. Look for the offense to come out sharp and pick up their second conference win of the season. Take Coastal Carolina to cover the spread on the road and the defense will do just enough for a double-digit victory.

Series Snapshot with Arkansas State

10/14/17 – At Arkansas – Loss, 51-17

11/10/18 – Home – Loss, 44-16

11/16/19 – At Arkansas – Loss, 28-27

10/3/20 – Home – Win, 52-23

10/7/21 – At Arkansas – Win, 52-20

Prediction: Coastal Carolina 33 – Arkansas State 20

2-unit play on Coastal Carolina -9.5

Season Total: +140

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