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The Appalachian State Mountaineers will play host to the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday to open up their season. The Tar Heels won their opener over Florida A&M 56-24. Drake Maye tossed five TDs in the win to go with his 294 yards in the air. Still, though, UNC failed to cover the 45-point spread, but they'll take the victory.
Appalachian State finished 10-4 last season, while North Carolina finished 6-7. Appalachian State had a pretty good year, but their Sun Belt Conference is a lot weaker than the ACC.
The Mountaineers were bested by Western Kentucky in the Boca Raton Bowl, 59-38, to conclude their season. Still, they'd gladly take another double-digit win campaign. Vegas set their winning line at 8.5, though; they'll need to grab some upset victories to get to where they were in 2021.
North Carolina had a decent season, losing Duke's Mayo Bowl 38-21 versus South Carolina. The Tar Heels ranked #10 last season, but disappointingly finished unranked at the end of the year. Vegas thinks they'll win around 7.5 games, which would mark an improvement from last year.
Appalachian State did defeat the Tar Heels back in 2019 on the road by a score of 34-31. We'll see if they can do it again, but this time on their home field. Their QB Chase Brice, who previously played for Clemson and Duke, will be starting for the home side in his sixth season. North Carolina was slightly below average defensively last year, and they didn't look great last week considering the competition. Brice threw 27 TDs and accumulated 3,337 yards in 2021. He'll be looking to start the year on a high.
Tar Heels' wideout Josh Down caught two touchdowns in last week's win, and he's coming off of a year where he had 1,335 receiving yards. Look for QB Drake Maye to target the Junior receiver once again on Saturday.
These teams are pretty evenly matched, with the visitors probably holding a slightly more talented roster. Both offenses are solid, and looking at the Mountaineers, they do boast two running backs who have recorded 1,000-yard seasons. These defenses aren't too menacing, though. We'll likely see some quality offense on Saturday.
"Who’s ready for Saturday?" - @UNCFootball
Appalachian State Mountaineers vs. North Carolina Tar Heels Match Details
Fixture: North Carolina Tar Heels @ Appalachian State Mountaineers
Date & Time: Saturday September 3, 12:00 p.m. EDT
Venue: Kidd Brewer Stadium, Boone, NC
Appalachian State Mountaineers vs. North Carolina Tar Heels Betting Odds
Appalachian State Mountaineers vs. North Carolina Tar Heels Betting Prediction
The Tar Heels come in having failed to cover five of their past six road games. The over has been hit, though, in six of their previous eight. It has also been hit in five of Appalachian State's last seven non-conference matchups. Back the home side to put up a lot of points in this one.
Prediction: Appalachian State Mountaineers Team Total Over 29.5 Points (-115)
