It’s hard to tell who this Charlotte team is, as they were one of the teams most impacted by COVID last season. Duke beat them down in their matchup last year 53-19, with most of the damage coming on the ground. That tells me Duke was just bigger and didn’t need to air it out. Charlotte should be much improved returning many older starters and welcoming in some Power 5 transfers on the defensive side of the ball.
Looking at Duke, I understand why people are down on the team. Seems they just gave up on their coach towards the end of the season with their L4 games losing by more than 20 points. But when I look at their first half of the season, they were in all of those games in the first half. The Blue Devils had a tough schedule last year and were one of the youngest teams in the ACC. Given that they didn’t have much of an offseason last year, I look for them to improve and come out aggressive with something to prove.
This line opened at 7 1/2 but has been bet down to 6 1/2. With only 61% of the $ so far on the Duke side, I like the value getting them under a TD to win this one before gameday. Duke has a QB off the IL who knows Cutcliffe’s system and a deep backfield. Get this one before it hits 7!
Duke -6 1/2 (-108) 2.16u
