College Football Bowl Season Navy vs Wake Forest
The Midshipmen of Navy (8-4 SU, 6-5 ATS) are coming off two straight shutout wins as they cruise into the first-ever Eagle Bank Bowl. They will take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (7-5 SU, 5-7 ATS), a team they vanquished during the regular season, in NCAA college football sports betting action scheduled to take place at 11 AM ET on December 20 (Saturday) at RFK Stadium (natural turf) in Washington, DC.
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: WAKE FOREST -3, Total 43
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* NAVY has covered six of its last nine games
* NAVY has won four of its last five games SU
* NAVY has played four of its last five games UNDER the total
* WAKE has covered two of its last seven games
* WAKE has won 16 of its last 23 games SU
* WAKE has played seven of its last ten games UNDER the total
* WAKE has won four of the last five meetings SU
It is a rarity when the teams meeting in a college bowl game have previously met in the regular season, but that is exactly the case in the inaugural Eagle Bank Bowl. These two teams met back on September 28, a game that is well worth examining. Riley Skinner, Wake Forest’s quarterback, would rather not remember that contest. He was picked off four times, he killed drives and didn’t let his team get on track until the second half which was not enough and they came up short. Wake Forest did not run the ball well either, averaging just 1.4 yards a carry. Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada went out of the game with an injury, but had already done his damage by then with a couple of touchdown runs.
With all that ineptitude, not to mention five costly penalties and less than 25 minutes of possession time, Wake Forest only lost the game by a touchdown. Things could be dramatically different this time around, as a lot of that negative stuff on the Wake side was an aberration. For example, Skinner only threw three other interceptions ALL YEAR and while the running game lacked pop (only 2.9 yards a carry), it did post some decent numbers when it had to, like the season finale against Vanderbilt (158 yards).
These teams played last year as well, with many of these same players involved. In that game, Wake did a better job moving against the Middies defense, gaining 196 yards on the ground. And without those foolish turnovers they rolled to a 44-24 win at Annapolis. At the very least, Wake should have enough to inject some balance into its offense. The same cannot be said for Navy, which is strictly one-dimensional (44 completions all year). Seeing the triple option twice in one season has to be an advantage, and as most people who follow college football know, Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe is one of the more resourceful coaches in the country.
Skinner, a wily veteran as a junior (37 career starts) is generally pretty efficient (67% career completion rate) if not overly prolific (174 passing yards/game). Don’t expect another meltdown from him. If Wake can keep Shun White and Eric Kettani – the first pair of 2000-yard career rushers Navy’s ever had at the same time – under even reasonable control (and they should, given the fact that they allowed just 3.4 yards an attempt) – the Demon Deacons will have their revenge.
We’re going to lay the three points with Wake Forest, the favorite in the BetUS NCAA college football bowl betting odds.
