Army Black Knights vs. North Texas Mean Green – Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl Predictions, Odds, Picks and NCAA Football Betting Preview – December 27, 2016
Army has gone to war more the last 20 years than to a bowl game as the Black Knights have played has participated in just one bowl season during that span. And with the program booking a rare trip to a bowl game, expect the Black Knights to be all fired up.
The Black Knights was last seen on the field celebrating a 21-17 upset win over archrival and then No. 25 Navy on December 10. Army used its elite rushing game to overpower Navy, as the Black Knights racked up 316 rushing yards to go with three rushing touchdowns.
Expect Army to stick to dumping the ball to its backfield against the Mean Green, whose defense the Black Knights punctured for 302 rushing yards, albeit in a 35-18 loss back in October. Army turned the ball over seven times in that game and that’s unlikely to happen again this coming Tuesday. Overall, the Black Knights are second in the nation with 327.7 rushing yards per game.
Aside from their rushing game, another elite part of the Black Knights’ game is their defense, particularly against the pass. They allow just 158.3 passing yards per game, which is fourth in FBS.
North Texas will look to beat the Black Knights twice this season. That’s going to be easier said than done, considering that the Mean Green are pegged as underdogs by double-digits in next Tuesday’s game.
The Mean Green are coming off a demoralizing 52-24 loss to UTEP on November 26 but at least they’ve clinched a bowl game ticket. How the Mean Green will limit Army’s ground attack will mostly determine their fate in Dallas. But even if they had a hard time doing it, the Mean Green could still keep in step with the Black Knights by simply forcing turnovers.
As mentioned earlier, Army shot itself in the foot with seven miscues in the first meeting with North Texas and while that’s a long shot of ever happening in this game, a couple of errors from Army’s side could dramatically shift the tide to the Green Mean’s favor. In the October matchup, North Texas intercepted Army quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw four times.
As for their own offense, the Green Mean will try handing the ball to Jeffrey Wilson, who was effective the last time out against Army. Wilson rushed for 160 yards with three touchdowns on 15 carries in that game.
North Texas is 5-4-1 ATS in its last 10 games as an underdog by at least eight points.
