Opening odds for UNC Football’s in-state rivalry game vs. Wake Forest
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Despite a lack of improvement on the offensive side of the ball, the Tar Heels have are suddenly on a two-game win streak after taking down Stanford this past Saturday. The Cardinal struggled against the Heels’ defense for most of the night, and it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that they finally started to make things interesting. By then it was too little too late, though, and Bill Belchick left Kenan Stadium with another conference victory to add to his resume.
Things will not be that easy this weekend when they face off against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons are playing much better than Syracuse and Stanford are, and on top of that it is an in-state rivalry game that I’m sure has been marked on their calendar. Right now the Deacons have a 6-3 record with losses against NC State, Georgia Tech, and Florida State. Against Power Four competition, their offense has looked good but not incredible, and their defense had an impressive performance against Virginia over the weekend. This team has some teeth, and it will be the Heels’ job to make sure they don’t get to use them.
Aside from having a target on their backs in this one, this will be an uphill battle from a pure football standpoint for UNC. The offense really hasn’t shown any convincing improvement, and while there has been a lot of positive things said about the defense, it is worth noting that Syracuse rolled out a really bad quarterback and Stanford’s offensive line has been pretty bad this season. It’s reasonable to put some faith in the defense given the fact that they’ve been able to take care of the teams in front of them, but it’s truly the offense that is the most concerning. Wake Forest ranks 35th in the country in total defense, which to put that into context: Stanford ranks 105th in that same metric. Freddie Kitchens has his work cut out for him to make sure that he can roll out a game plan that will actually be able to put points on the board in this one.
Regardless of concerns on the offensive side of the ball, Vegas does think this game will be somewhat close. Per FanDuel, the odds opened yesterday with Wake Forest as the 5.5-point favorite, and the over/under is set at 39.5. I have a feeling that fans will want to take the over with this one, and as far as the overall odds for the game, the Deacs could comfortably clear that number. Let’s hope that the Heels are the ones that can actually pull this off, but a road game against one of the better defenses that they’ve faced since the Virginia game doesn’t leave a lot of room for optimism.
What do you think of this week’s betting odds? Do you think the Heels have a chance to pull off a win this weekend? Let us know in the comments below.
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