North Carolina Tar Heels vs Florida State Seminoles Predictions, Picks, Odds, and NCAA Football Betting Preview – October 17 2020

The No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels are having success this season and their confidence is on a high following their first win against a ranked team last week. The same can’t be said of the struggling Florida State Seminoles, who are still winless against conference rivals. Will that change, though, when they host the Tar Heels in Tallahassee?

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Betting Preview for the North Carolina Tar Heels vs Florida State Seminoles NCAA Week 7 College Football Game on October 17, 2020

Where: Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium

When: Saturday, October 17, 2020, 7:00 PM ET

Line: North Carolina Tar Heels (-12) vs. Florida State Seminoles (+12) – view all 2020 NCAAF lines

TV Broadcast: ESPN

Betting on the North Carolina Tar Heels (-12)

Record: 3-0 Overall / 3-0 Conference

Sam Howell and the Tar Heels collected their third win in a row to start the season by beating the No. 19 Virginia Tech Hokies at home last week, 56-45. Howell led North Carolina with 257 passing yards and three touchdowns on 18 of 23 pass completions, but the Tar Heels’ ground attack also stepped it up. The Tar Heels got 214 rushing yards and two rushing scores from Michael Carter, while Javonte Williams added 169 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns more. Overall, North Carolina racked up 399 rushing yard and five touchdowns on 43 carries against Virginia Tech. That appears to be a very bad sign for Florida State’s defense, which has been so vulnerable on the ground this season. Florida State is third-worst in ACC play with 194.25 rushing yards allowed per game and worst in the conference with 11.0 rushing scores allowed since the start of the season.

The Tar Heels are 4-1 against the spread in their last five games.

Betting on the Florida State Seminoles (+12)

Record: 1-3 Overall / 0-3 Conference

Quarterback Jordan Travis made his first start of the season last week, and it didn’t turn out to go as well as he wanted to. Travis passed for 204 yards and a touchdown with a pick on 13-of-24 completions in a 42-26 drubbing at the hands of the No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish on the road, though, it’s starting to appear that the Florida State’s offense is showing more signs of life with Travis starting than James Blackman. Travis can run better and extend plays better than Blackman, as evidenced by the 96 rushing yards and a touchdown on 19 carries by the Louisville Cardinals transfer in the loss to the Fighting Irish. Florida State’s offense has shown it can move the chains, even totaling over 400 yards against Notre Dame’s defense, but the Noles have to be better at converting on third downs. While they went 3-of-3 on fourth downs against the Fighting Irish, the Seminoles converted on just two of 14 third-down situations in that game.

The over is 2-0 in the Seminoles’ last two games overall.

Writer’s Prediction

The Tar Heels win, 33-27.

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