Saturday, September 20, 2014

DowdyFicklen Stadium in Greenville

For Updated Odds on This Game Click Here

The "Battle for 2nd Best Team In Carolina" goes down Saturday when the Tarheels of North Carolina head to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium to take on the East Carolina Pirates. Both teams carry with them some momentum with North Carolina rolling in off of two straight wins to start the season. East Carolina is riding a high wave as well after upsetting #17 Virginia Tech last week 28-21 on the road.

UNC had last Saturday off but has put up some points en route to their 2-0 start. In fact, the Tar Heels rank 21st in the FBS putting up an average of 43.5 points thus far. Granted the quality of their opponents hasn't been premier with notches of 56-29 against Liberty and a 31-27 win over San Diego State on the resume. North Carolina is led by dual-threat QB Marquise Williams who fueled that comeback victory over San Diego State on September 6th by throwing for 255 yards and 2 TD and running for another 63 yards on 12 carries.

The East Carolina passing attack looks to exploit a UNC secondary that has given up a 265 yards per game thus far. The Pirate air squadron is 7th in the nation averaging 374 YPG. QB Shane Carden has faced two upper echelon defenses in a row, going 32/46 for 321 yards and a TD in a 23-33 loss to South Carolina followed by a 427 yard 3TD performance to take down 'Beamer Ball' in the win over Virginia Tech. Cam Worthy was just that last week as the 6'3" WR hauled in 6 catches for 224 yards to fuel the upset.

On Saturday afternoon East Carolina will once again lean on their senior QB Carden who was named the Davey O'Brien quarterback of the week after the game against Virginia Tech. The Tar Heel defense has been susceptible to giving up passing yardage but has still only allowed 1 passing TD on the young season.

North Carolina Tar Heels Betting Trends

North Carolina Tar Heels are 0-2-0 Against the Spread

North Carolina Tar Heels are 0-1-0 against the Over/Under

East Carolina Pirates Betting Trends

East Carolina Pirates are 3-0-0 Against the Spread

East Carolina Pirates are 1-2-0 against the Over/Under

Injuries to Watch

North Carolina Tar Heels

09/15/14 OG Landon Turner Undisclosed expected to miss Saturday vs. East Carolina
09/14/14 OL Caleb Peterson Undisclosed "?" Saturday vs. East Carolina
09/14/14 WR Jackson Boyer Concussion "?" Saturday vs. East Carolina

East Carolina Pirates

09/14/14 WR DaQuan Barnes Back "?" Saturday vs. North Carolina
09/14/14 TE Darren Dowdell Leg "?" Saturday vs. North Carolina
09/14/14 LB Desi Brown Leg "?" Saturday vs. North Carolina
09/14/14 LB Kirk Donaldson Knee "?" Saturday vs. North Carolina
09/09/14 LB Devaris Brunson Knee out for season

Guy's Pick: Take North Carolina

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