North Carolina Tar Heels vs Duke Blue Devils Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 09/28/24

One of the best school rivalries in all of collegiate sports will take place Saturday on the football field as the North Carolina Tar Heels take on the undefeated Duke Blue Devils. North Carolina is coming off an embarrassing loss against James Madison last week. It is not embarrassing because of the talent of their opponent. James Madison has proven themselves within the last couple of seasons as a legitimate football program. It was embarrassing because North Carolina allowed 70 points on their home field and 53 points came in the first half. The Tar Heels will need to rebound as they travel to their rival’s stadium this Saturday. Duke has started the season 4-0. Critics will say Duke’s schedule hasn’t been too difficult to start the season, but the Blue Devils were still able to get the job done. Their best win came at Northwestern, where Duke was able to prevail 26-20 in double overtime. Sophomore quarterback Maalik Murphy has impressed fans, already throwing for over 1000 yards and 11 touchdowns.

If you had to take a positive from last week’s performance for North Carolina is that they were able to get a lot of production from back up quarterback Jacolby Criswell. Criswell is the third quarterback under center this season for North Carolina after its starting quarterback Max Johnson went down with an injury in Week 1. This Tar Heel offense has a lot of weapons including tight end Bryson Nesbit and wide receiver JJ Jones, and for one week it looked like they found a quarterback who can deliver them the ball. North Carolina also should have an edge in the running game in this matchup with junior running back Omarion Hampton. Hampton will be the best player on the field on Saturday. Look for the Tar Heels to get him the ball early to set the tone early. North Carolina head coach Mack Brown has coached in college football for a long time. He knows how to rally his team after a game they didn’t show up. I have North Carolina as the more talented team and getting back on track this Saturday.

North Carolina vs Duke prediction: North Carolina +2.5 available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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