Thursday, February 9th, 2012
The Duke Blue Devils will face in state rival the North Carolina Tar Heels in an ACC conference college football game on Saturday afternoon. Kick off time at North Carolina is scheduled for 3:30PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by ESPNU. The LVSC college football odds makers have set the opening point spread in this game and the North Carolina Tar Heels have opened as a 7-½ point favorite. The early money from the college football betting public has come in on the favorite, as the North Carolina Tar Heels are currently a 10-½ point favorite. The over under is currently lined at 45 ½ for the bettors to play into. College football money line gamblers can make a play on the favored North Carolina Tar Heels at –375 with the road underdog Duke Blue Devils bringing back +315 to win straight up without the points a factor in the money line bet.
North Carolina is 5-3 on the season and just 1 win away from being bowl eligible after their 20-17 upset victory at Virginia Tech last week. North Carolina’s defense was outstanding limiting the Hokies to just 95 rushing yards on 33 carries and only 161 yards through the air. Junior running back Shaun Draughn had a good game against Virginia Tech with 77 yards on 12 carries. Draughn on the season has 4.5 yards per carry average on the season. Quarterback T.J. Yates has had an up and down season and last week against the Hokies was an up week as the junior hit on 64% of his passes with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Yates’ work tab on the season is all over the place with games with 70% accuracy one week and in the 40’s the next. North Carolina is the top defense in the ACC as the team gives up only 265 yards per game and just 4.1 yards per play against average. North Carolina is very difficult to run against as they have a huge defensive line. Their opponents have only averaged 2.82 yards per rush against the Tar Heels. Duke is one of the surprises this season and the team sits with a 5-3 record this season and just 1 win away from being bowl eligible. The Blue Devils are winners of three straight games and all in ACC conference play with victories against NC State, Maryland and last week at Virginia. Duke has gotten great play from the passing game this season and the team averages 325 yards per game on the year, which is #1 in the ACC conference. Senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis has been outstanding hitting on 63.5% of his passes with 15 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions on the year. He has passed for 342 yards or more over his past 4 games including a 359 yards passing performance against Virginia Tech. Defensively the Blue Devils allow 24.1 points per game. Duke is pretty good on the defensive end as well as the team is 4th in the ACC giving up just 324 yards per game on the season.
For the Latest CFB Odds Please Visit our CFB Odds Page
CFB Trend: Duke Blue Devils are 3-0 ATS versus ACC Conference opponents this season
The Wagerline consensus has 56.3% of the CFB bettors on North Carolina –10 1/2
The Wagerline consensus has 53.3% of the CFB bettors playing over 45 1/2
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