The East Carolina Pirates and Cincinnati Bearcats will do battle on the turf at Nippert Stadium. Fans can catch the action live on CBS Sports Network and kickoff for this Friday showdown is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.
East Carolina Pirates vs. Cincinnati Bearcats Betting Preview
East Carolina is a big road underdog in this AAC matchup and is currently getting 18 points. If they are wanting to play the moneyline, gamblers would currently need to put up $1,500 in order to win $100 back on the Bearcats (-1500). The Pirates are getting +810 moneyline odds. Oddsmakers have placed the over/under (O/U) at 52 points. Should the underdog strikes early, it’ll likely generate a nice betting scenario in-game.
The Pirates are down 3.0 units so far in 2018 and 4-6 against the spread (ATS). The team has recorded an O/U mark of 5-5. The surprising Bearcats are up 10.0 units this season. They’re 6-5 ATS and own an O/U record of 3-7.
The Pirates have gone a lousy 3-7 straight up (SU), including 1-6 SU against conference opponents. The Bearcats are 9-2 SU overall and 5-2 SU in conference play.
These two schools faced off a year ago with the final outcome being a 48-20 win for East Carolina.
The Pirates are trying to keep things going following a solid 55-21 win over Connecticut last week. The Pirates allowed the Huskies to pass for 183 yards and run for 91 yards. On the offensive side, Holton Ahlers completed 22 passes on 31 attempts for 242 yards and four touchdowns. Trace Christian (102 rushing yards on 13 attempts, one TD) and the signal-caller Ahlers (130 yards on 12 carries, one TD) led the ground attack. Tyler Snead (six receptions, 62 yards, three TDs) and Trevon Brown (four catches, 31 yards, one TD) handled the receiving duties in the win.
One week ago, UCF knocked off this Cincinnati team by a score of 38-13. Desmond Ridder completed 11-of-26 passes for 127 yards. Ridder (70 rushing yards on 20 attempts) and Michael Warren II (81 yards on 18 carries) handled the running game as Kahlil Lewis (five receptions, 75 yards) and Warren II (three catches, 27 yards) led the pass-catching corps in the loss.
East Carolina has run the ball on 41.7 percent of its offensive possessions this year while Cincinnati has an overall rush percentage of 63.5 percent. The Pirates have rushed for 144 yards per game (including 139 per game against American Athletic Conference opponents) and have 13 touchdowns on the ground this year. The Bearcats are logging 237 rush yards per game (238 in conference) and have 32 total rushing TDs.
It appears that the Bearcats might hold an edge in terms of efficiency in the ground game, since their backfield has produced 5.0 yards per carry while their defense has allowed a YPC of 3.3 to opponents. The Pirates have rushed for 3.9 yards per carry while allowing a YPC of 3.9 to opponents.
The Pirates offense has tallied 312 yards per contest through the air overall (315 per game against conference opposition) and has 17 passing TDs so far. The Bearcats have produced 204 pass yards per outing (212.3 against AAC foes) and have 16 total pass scores.
East Carolina has allowed opponents to run for an average of 156 yards and pass for 243 yards per game. The Cincinnati D has allowed 185.3 yards per game to opposing passers and 105.6 yards per game to opposing runners. The Bearcats are allowing an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of just 4.88 to opponents, while the Pirates have given up a 7.57 ANY/A.
Offensively, Ahlers is up to 1,241 passing yards this season. He’s connected on 56 percent of his 174 attempts with nine scores through the air and only one interception. Ahlers has a 7.29 adjusted net yards per pass attempt, including 6.27 over the last two games.
Look for Ahlers to attack all areas of the Cincinnati secondary. Holton Ahlers (112 receiving yards), Trevon Brown (869 yards, seven TDs) and Tyler Snead (112 yards, four TDs) have all been heavily involved recently.
Desmond Ridder has completed 153-of-251 passes for 1,830 yards, 13 TDs and five INTs for Cincinnati. His ANY/A stands at 6.51 for the year and 5.67 across his past two games.
Look for a balanced offensive approach from Cincinnati in this one. Michael Warren II (1,012 rushing yards, 14 rush TDs, 195 receiving yards on the year), Desmond Ridder (507 rush yards, five rush TDs, zero receiving yards) and Kahlil Lewis (528 receiving yards, five receiving TDs) have each played significant roles recently. The trio’s combined to account for 528 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns over the past two games.
NCAA Pick: East Carolina Pirates vs. Cincinnati Bearcats
SU Winner – Cincinnati, ATS Winner – East Carolina, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Notes
The East Carolina defense has sacked opposing QBs 32 times this year. Cincinnati has recorded 27 sacks.
Cincinnati has lost 12 fumbles this season while East Carolina has lost seven.
The Pirates have made 16 pass plays of 30+ yards while the Bearcats have accounted for 12 such plays.
The East Carolina defense has allowed 11 pass plays of 40 yards or more, while Cincinnati has given up eight such plays.
The East Carolina offense has created 16 rushing plays of 20+ yards, while Cincinnati has created 24 such runs.
The Pirates defense has allowed 15 rushing plays of 20+ yards, while the Bearcats have given up eight such runs.
The Over/Under for Cincinnati’s last game going into it was 60. The under cashed in the 38-13 loss to UCF.
In its last three games, Cincinnati is 1-2 ATS and the under cashed in two of those three.
Over its last three games, East Carolina is 2-1 ATS and the over cashed in two of those three.
The O/U for East Carolina’s last game going into it was 70. The over cashed in the team’s 55-21 victory over Connecticut.
As a team, East Carolina has averaged 5.6 yards per rush attempt over its past three outings and 6.3 over its last two.
Cincinnati has averaged 5.1 yards per carry over its last three contests and 4.6 over its last two.
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