Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at Appalachian State Mountaineers Betting Preview
College football’s new group of five darlings takes on the original group of five darlings in a Sun Belt showdown. Appalachian State won over the nation’s hearts in their upset win against Michigan back in 2007 and has since made the jump to the FBS level and continued to build their team into one of college football’s fastest-rising programs.
Coastal Carolina has followed a similar trend with just a touch more flare. The Chanticleers made the jump to the FBS level in 2017 and have quickly become a nationally recognized program.
The mullets, party atmosphere, and teal turf certainly help the recognition, but the 17-1 combined record since the start of 2020 has more to do with it. Jamey Chadwell’s group has become nationally recognized but faces arguably their toughest test yet when they visit the Mountaineers.
TOP #3 Sports Betting Sites to Bet on NCAAF
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Team Preview
There can’t be a conversation about the Chanticleers without talking about the quarterback, Grayson McCall. The sophomore signal-caller is currently on a record-breaking pace in terms of quarterback rating.
His current 234.28 rating would surpass Mac Jones’ mark last year by a large margin. He’s completed nearly 80% of his passes with 14 touchdowns and only one interception on the season and is the main reason the Coastal Carolina offense operates as efficiently as it does.
McCall isn’t the only reason the offense is clicking. The Chanticleers have three running backs, all averaging over 7 yards per carry, who have found the end zone a combined 15 times. The pass catchers aren’t bad either. Jaivon Heiligh and tight end Isaiah Likely each average over 19 yards per reception and have hauled in 12 touchdowns in their own right.
If the offense wasn’t enough, the Chanticleers defense leads the conference in scoring defense as well and ranks 8th nationally at 15 points per game.
The Chanticleers are 5-1 against the spread this season, with the outlier coming in a three-point win over Buffalo, where the offense was only able to come up with 28 points. The team has reached the over total points betting spread on three occasions and played to the under three times as well.
Appalachian State Mountaineers Team Preview
The Mountaineers are 4-2 this season with losses at Miami and a blowout loss to Louisiana last Thursday. A credit to the Appalachian State scheduling the out-of-conference matchup with the Hurricanes, and the team almost pulled off another upset of a historic program.
Appalachian State is also led by their offense and checks in at second in the Sun Belt Conference behind the Chanticleers. The passing game is the strong point of the offense led by Clemson transfer Chase Brice. The passing offense ranks third in the conference behind Arkansas State and Coastal Carolina.
Defensively the Mountaineers rank in the middle of the pack of the conference in rushing, passing, and scoring allowed. The lack of turnovers is a concern and has led to the league-worst -3 turnover difference on the season. That will have to be cleared up if Appalachian State hopes to pull the upset.
Betting Preview
If we take a look at the betting odds, we can see that both BetUS and Bovada have the Chanticleers as 4-point favorites on the road this Wednesday. The total points spread is set at 59.5 points on each side as well.
The oddsmakers must be factoring in the Wednesday night kickoff when setting up this betting line. That or they’re privy to some mysterious injuries for the Chanticleers that the public is unaware of. To be frank, the line doesn’t make much sense.
Coastal Carolina has been a buzz saw and is coming off a week of rest, while Appalachian State took a beating at the hands of Louisiana just eight days ago.