North Carolina vs Appalachian State prediction, game preview, how to watch. Week 1, Saturday, September 3
North Carolina vs Appalachian State How To Watch
Date: Saturday, September 3
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Venue: Kidd Brewer Stadium, Boone, NC
How To Watch: ESPNU
Record: North Carolina (0-0), Appalachian State (0-0)
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North Carolina vs Appalachian State Game Preview
Why North Carolina Will Win
The North Carolina defense should be better.
The talent is in place, the transfer portal helped, and the defensive tackles are terrific. Now it all needs to come together against the Appalachian State running game.
The Mountaineers are balanced and efficient, but they need their receivers to step up right away – this is one of their biggest areas of need – but that might not be the real problem.
The defense is replacing way too many parts with five of the top seven tacklers gone. The overall production won’t fall off the map this season, but North Carolina’s offense should be able to explode. WR Josh Downs should have a big day, the running game should be fine, and …
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Why Appalachian State Will Win
The North Carolina offensive line has to prove it can keep teams out of the backfield.
Appalachian State might be missing a slew of its top tacklers from last year, but the D that led the Sun Belt against the run and was great at generating tackles for loss should be dangerous again.
The Tar Heels offensive front can spring the big, gashing runs, but it was among the worst in the nation in pass protection, and this year’s version is working in almost an entirely new starting group.
North Carolina’s defensive front has to hold up better. Again, it has the talent, and it has the right parts, but it’s coming off a miserable year that got hammered on regularly.
That’s where new defensive coordinator Gene Chizik comes in, but the Appalachian State running game should still be able to rumble as much as it wants to. It all starts with …
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What’s Going To Happen
The Appalachian State offensive line. It’s got as much talent as any in the Sun Belt.
The home game environment will play a big role, intimidation won’t be a problem – Appalachian State beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 2019 – and the offense should come out with an attitude right away.
Will Mountaineer QB Chase Brice keep the turnovers to a bare minimum? Even if he doesn’t the devastating group of running backs will pick up the slack in a fun shootout.
North Carolina vs Appalachian State Prediction, Line
Appalachian State 34, North Carolina 31
Line: North Carolina -1.5, o/u: 55.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 1.5
North Carolina vs Appalachian State Must See Rating: 4
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