Thursday NCAA: North Carolina Tar Heels at Virginia Tech Hokies
When you play Virginia Tech on a Thursday night, your chances of winning simply are not good.
The Hokies love the ESPN spotlight on Thursdays, as they are 15-4 all-time in those games and 9-2 at home. Thus it’s not a big surprise that Virginia Tech (5-2) is a big 16.5-point WagerWeb.com favorite this week over North Carolina (4-3).
It’s the Heels’ second straight Thursday night game (interestingly, the Hokies will play a second Thursday game in a row next week), and last week’s didn’t go so well. UNC blew a 24-6 lead and lost 30-27 in the school’s first-ever Thursday night game at home. The North Carolina defense was blistered by FSU QB Christian Ponder as the Noles rallied.
If the Heels don’t play good defense, they aren’t going to win because their offense is lousy, ranking No. 114 in the country in total offense. QB T.J. Yates has been under fire in Chapel Hill all week after going 12-for-25 for 64 yards with a TD and a crucial pick last week. He hasn’t thrown for more than 137 yards in the past four games and has two TD passes and five interceptions in that stretch. He’s averaging 146.9 passing yards a game, down from 166.9 last season when an ankle injury limited him to seven games, and his efficiency rating is 110.08, down from 153.64.
“I get pretty down on myself from time to time,” Yates said. “It helps a lot for my teammates to give me confidence and get back on the horse and just go back at it.”
North Carolina, last in the ACC Coastal, must win three of its final five games to become bowl eligible – the Heels must win seven games because they have two wins against FCS competition, and only one of those counts.
The Hokies must win out in conference play and hope that Georgia Tech is upset along the way, or else the Jackets will be Coastal champs and reach the ACC title game. Virginia Tech’s defense has been great at home, allowing just 241.8 yards and 11.5 points per game. Hard to see an inept UNC offense scoring more than around 10 tonight. However, Hokies freshman RB Ryan Williams, who looks like a future Heisman candidate, will be hard-pressed to add to his freshman school record of five 100-yard rushing games because the UNC defense is terrific against the run. Only two teams (that’s teams, not backs) have gained 100 yards rushing against the Heels so far this year.
UNC has never beaten Virginia Tech since the Hokies joined the ACC and hasn’t beaten a ranked team on the road in eight years.
NCAA Betting at WagerWeb.com
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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