College Football Betting Odds – Duke vs. NC State

Duke Blue Devils (2-3 SU, 2-1 ATS) at North Carolina State Wolfpack (3-2 SU, 1-2 ATS)

Saturday, October 10 3:30 p.m.

College Football Betting Odds: NC State -14 1/2, Total Points 55 ½

Here are some BetOnline.com Betting Trends that will be key to this game:

• NC State: 7-3 SU in their last 10 games
• NC State: 5-1 ATS in their last 6 home games
• NC State: 5-0 SU in their last 5 games against Duke
• Duke: 4-2 ATS in their last 6 road games
• Duke: 3-22 SU in their last 25 road games
• Duke: The total has gone UNDER in 8 of last 11 road games

It will be an ACC upstart opposing a perennial doormat Saturday afternoon, when the Duke Blue Devils travel to Raleigh to take on the NC State Wolfpack.

For Duke, it’s been a tough start to what was expected to be a promising season under second year head coach David Cutcliffe. It was just one week into the season that the Blue Devils lost to FCS opponent Richmond, and have had trouble recovering since then. However, things are slowly starting to change in Durham, and if there are such things as moral victories, last week’s 34-26 loss to Virginia Tech might be one. Duke was in the game until very late in the fourth quarter, when the No. 6 ranked Hokies pulled away.

The Duke offense is led by senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis. While Lewis isn’t the most gifted athlete and doesn’t have the strongest arm, he is intelligent in the pocket, having thrown seven touchdowns to just two interceptions on the young season. He also has two rushing touchdowns.

As for the defensive side of the ball, the Blue Devils have struggled so far, as they are ranked in the bottom half of college football in total defense, scoring defense and rushing defense. Although it took 14 fourth quarter points for Virginia Tech to seal the victory last weekend, the Hokies still accounted for 477 yards of total offense, their second highest total of the year.

As for NC State, they are coming off a difficult 30-24 road loss at Wake Forest. The surprise of the game probably came in that North Carolina State Wolfpack starting quarterback Russell Wilson wasn’t his sharpest, throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions. The interceptions were just the second and third of his career, as he had an NCAA record steak of completing 326 passes consecutively snapped.

What’s of greater concern for the Wolfpack, is that a usually stout Tom O’Brien coached defense has struggled the last two weeks giving up 691 yards in two games against Pittsburgh and Wake Forest. Those numbers will need to improve Saturday.

In this one, look for Duke to try and exploit NC State through the air, the main reason being that the Wolfpack gives up next to nothing on the ground. So far this season NC State has only allowed 66 yards per game on the ground.

As for Duke, their defense hasn’t been spectacular, but they too will try to make NC State one-dimensional and force the Wolfpack to throw the ball often. NC State’s running backs struggled a week ago, rushing for just 104 yards on the game.

Although NC State came into this season with high hopes, they have rarely shown the flash that led many to believe that they might be the favorites in the ACC Atlantic. And with Duke playing their best football of the season, look for Blue Devils to keep this game close into the 4th quarter.

College Football Pick: Duke +14 ½