Quick Lane Bowl:Scarlet Knights vs Tar Heels Pick
NCAA Football Bowl Season Betting action sees the Rutgers Scarlet Knights taking on the North Carolina Tar Heels on Friday December 26th at Ford Field. Cappers Picks provides free college football handicapping tips all season long.
Rutgers (7-5) has acquitted itself well in its first season in the Big Ten.
NCAA Football Wagering
2014 Military Bowl
Rutgers vs UNC
Date/Time: Friday, Dec. 26 2014, 4:30 pm EST
Venue: Ford Field, Detroit MI
Broadcast: ESPN
Rutgers +3, North Carolina -3
Over/Under: 66.5
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The bowl trip to Detroit can be made all the more useful, for the exposure it will get for recruits in the Rust Belt.
North Carolina (6-6) is just looking to not give up a million points.
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The game’s ACC representative, North Carolina has a potent offense: The Tar Heels rank in the upper third of the country in passing yards (280 per game) and points scored (34.3 per, on average).
However, the shine rubs off the apple when you look at the nation’s 119th ranked defense and a school embroiled in academic scandal. Oh yeah, there’s also the .500 record, barely becoming bowl-eligible.
If the Heels are to get it done in the Motor City, it will be thanks to junior QB Marquise Williams. The dual-threat signal-caller led UNC in passing and rushing, with 32 total TDs to boot (a remarkable 12 rushing scores).
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The Scarlet Knights must spend considerable time in the film room preparing for the talents of Williams.
On Rutgers’s side of the ball, it finished middle of the pack in the Big Ten East division, thanks largely to an impressive non-conference showing (the Knights were 3-5 in the Big Ten, but 7-5 overall).
The Knights don’t do anything outstandingly well, but they often find a way to get the job done. Senior QB Gary Nova is a savvy vet, while much of the offensive explosiveness came from New Jersey native Leonte Carroo.
The junior WR had 53 receptions of 1,043 yards and 10 TDs on the campaign.
A lot of good players from the Eastern Seaboard are tempted to travel further south to an ACC program to go to school (think Florida State, Clemson) so this bowl game definitely has implications for Rutgers’s future talent base.
The Knights can improve their roster’s depth and overall talent level by grabbing more prospects from Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The recent move to a “Power Conference” (though the Big Ten doesn’t feel like that lately) further cements this as reality for the nation’s “Oldest College Football Program”.
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Still, UNC won’t be an easy beat for this Rutgers team. The Knights should score on the Tar Heels without problem, but they’ll also have a tricky time containing Carolina’s dual-threat pivot.
Sophomore receiving duo Mack Hollins and Ryan Switzer are effective pass-catchers for Williams, with Switzer’s diminutive size (5″10, 175 lbs) he’s great working out of the slot.
A mobile QB like Williams can always keep defenses guessing in head coach Larry Fedora’s offense.
NCAAF Trends
* RUTG are 6-1-1 ATS in their last 8 bowl games.
* RUTG are 6-1-1 ATS in their last 8 Bowl games.
* Under is 6-2 in RUTG last 8 non-conference games.
Rutgers 38, North Carolina 28
It should be a close game, but I like Rutgers’s regional relevance to give them that little boost they need to win the Quick Lane Bowl. Plus, scoring points won’t be an issue.
Check out our Updated CFB Bowl Game Odds.
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