Tonight we get a clash of Conference USA foes when the Florida Atlantic Owls travel to Greenville, North Carolina to take on the East Carolina Pirates. The start time is 7:30 pm (Eastern) and the game will be televised on Fox Sports 1. Current Odds have East Carolina listed as 20.5 point favorites, while the total sits at 54.5.
Analysis: Florida Atlantic is set to make their Conference USU debut after spending their 9 years at the FBS level in the Sun Belt Conference. FAU had a tough game to open their season as they took on the Miami Hurricanes and lost the game 34-6. FAU has now lost three straight games dating back to last season and has allowed at least 30 points in each of those setbacks. Thee Owls were able to manage just 250 yards of offense vs the Canes on just 3.3 yards per play. The running game had a decent showing with 133 yards on the ground, but the passing game struggled putting up just 117 yards on 16 of 31 passing. The defense was the real problem for the Owls as they allowed 503 yards to a Miami offense that was playing pretty vanilla, so they didn't show much heading into this week's game vs Florida. The Owls have many problems on both sides of the ball.
East Carolina had a nice win on opening weekend as they beat Old dominion 52-38. Though a number of FBS programs would fall to FCS schools during the weekend, the Pirates remained unscathed. The win came in the first of a three-game homestand for the Pirates. ECU went 8-5 a year ago and has won four of its last five games, though it fell, 43-34, to Louisiana in the New Orleans Bowl. The offense for the Pirates has carried them the last few years and this year started out no different as they scored 52 points but allowed 38 points in their opener. The Pirates passed for 447 yard in the win, but could only muster 34 yards on the ground. That is ok with them as they would rather just throw the ball all over the field This is a loaded offense and will score plenty of points this year and they will need to as their defense looks just as bad as last year's group that allowed 31.6 ppg. The 52 points the team scored marked the second time in the last two seasons the Pirates have reached 50 points in a game. ECU went 8-5 a year ago and has won four of its last five games, though it fell, 43-34, to Louisiana in the New Orleans Bowl.
Pick: I like the Over in this game. Last year the Pirates were involved in many high scoring games, and it started out the same way this year as well. Ruffin McNeill is not the kind of coach that worries too much about defense as his first 3 years have shown. The Pirates allowed 44 ppg back in 2010 and still made a bowl game. They did miss out on a bowl in 2011 and allowed 32.3 ppg that year. Last year they allowed 31.6 ppg and went 8-5 on the year. ECU has actually been outscored in each of those 3 years, and those last 3 years have averaged 80.8 ppg, 58.5 ppg and 63.1 ppg respectively. This is not a team that cares about defense as they have been able to win without it. The ECU offense will be fine once again as they have 9 starters back from a group that put up 31.5 ppg last year, while in their opener vs ODU they put up 52 points and allowed 38 points. Same philosophy as in year's past. Just out score the other team. FAU does not have an offense that can scare many people, but they're playing a team that will give up points. Even if they score just 20 points in this one, their defense won't be able to stop ECU from putting up at least 40. FAU does have 9 starters back on defense, but still started out by allowing 34 points and 503 yards to a Miami offense that didn't show a whole lot. This is a nationally televised game and I really see ECU looking to put on a show, so putting up 40+ should be easy from them here, while FAU Should grab no lee than 17 points of their own vs a team that really could care less about playing defense. This game should hit the high 50 at the very least.
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College Football Free Picks: Florida Atlantic at East Carolina
What college football bettors need to know about betting Florida Atlantic Owls at East Carolina Pirates on Thursday (9/05/13) -- a free pick from Pregame.com's Steve Fezzik with Bryan Leonard.