Cincinnati Bearcats at North Carolina State Wolf Pack 2010 NCAAF Week 3 Odds, Preview, and Predictions: The Cincinnati Bearcats are already missing head football coach Brian Kelly as they travel to Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, North Carolina on Thursday at 7:30 PM ET to take on the North Carolina State Wolf Pack. Under Kelly the Bearcats ran the spread offense seemingly to perfection as one of the top offensive units in the nation, but under first year head football coach Butch Jones Cincinnati is at 95th in the FBS in total offense after just two games. Where is the “easy button”? It isn’t going to get any easier as they travel to NC State and get Oklahoma on September 25th at home. “This is going to challenge us,” Jones said. “We need to continue to improve and become a better football team.” Vegas odds makers have the North Carolina State Wolf Pack a -2 1/2 point favorite at home against the Cincinnati Bearcats.
North Carolina State comes in 2-0 with wins over Western Carolina and last week 28-21 on the road against UCF. Nothing spectacular, but wins are wins in this era of parity in college football. The Wolf Pack is led by quarterback Russell Wilson who was a meager 10/30 for 105 yards and a touchdown in a defensive dominated game. UCF’s quarterback Rob Calabrese was picked off 3 times, one being returned for a touchdown, after going nearly 100 passes without an interception. Cincy quarterback Zach Collaros hasn’t been picked this year; he’ll need that to continue to have a chance to win. Vegas odds makers have the North Carolina State Wolf Pack +9000 odds to win the 2011 BCS National Championship.
Cincinnati comes in at 1-1 after a season opening loss to Fresno State and a 40-7 win last week at home against Indiana State, best known for Larry Bird. Collaros went 11 for 17 for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns along with 11 rushes for 32 yards and another touchdown on the ground in the easy win. Running back Darrin Williams ran the ball just 13 times for 117 yards a whopping 9 yards per carry average. The total has gone OVER in 8 of Cincinnati’s last 12 games on the road but that is trending down this season with the mediocre offensive performance. Odds makers at BoDog have the over/under for the total score at 55 points combined of the Cincinnati Bearcats and North Carolina State Wolf Pack.
I predict a NC State win and cover at home! Go Wolf Pack! Note: Rich Fritz is a Blog Writer on NSAwins.com and not a pro handicapper. For expert NCAA Football Predictions against the vegas spreads please visit the NSAwins.com homepage for top predictions today from the National Sports Advisors.