In a display of two schools that like running the football, Head Coach Dave Clawson and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (-7) are ready to play host to their ACC rival Duke Blue Devils at BB&T Field. ACC Network owns the TV rights and kickoff will take place at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Betting Preview: Duke Blue Devils at Wake Forest Demon Deacons
In this Saturday Atlantic Coast matchup, Wake Forest is tabbed as the favorite and the team’s currently giving up 7 points. If they want to take the moneyline, gamblers would currently need to wager $300 in order to win $100 back on the Deacs (-300). The Blue Devils are getting +220 moneyline odds. Oddsmakers have set the over/under (O/U) at 51 points, and if one side catches a lucky break early, it’ll probably lead to a decent in-game betting scenario.
The game’s total was initially placed at 53.5, but the sharp action is siding with the under.
The hapless Blue Devils are down 5.0 units so far and 3-5-2 against the spread (ATS). The team’s posted an Over-Under record of 7-3.
The Demon Deacons are up 1.8 units this season. The team is 4-5-1 ATS and has an O/U record of 3-7.
The Blue Devils have gone only 4-6 straight up (SU), including 2-4 SU against ACC opponents. The Demon Deacons are 7-3 SU overall and 4-3 SU in conference play.
The Blue Devils lost to Syracuse 49-6 in a blowout where the passing game wasn’t where it needed to be as Quentin Harris completed just 19-of-36 passes for 157 yards and two interceptions. Deon Jackson (32 yards on 13 rush attempts) and the signal-caller Harris (four yards on 12 carries) led the running attack. Noah Gray (six receptions, 39 yards) and Aaron Young (five catches, 63 yards) handled the receiving duties in the defeat.
Back on November 16, Clemson got the win against this Wake Forest team by a score of 52-3. The Deacs defense let the Tigers pass for 348 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for 168 yards and two scores. Travis Etienne was a force to be reckoned with, recording 121 rushing yards and a score on 16 attempts for Clemson. For Wake Forest, Jamie Newman completed six-of-14 passes for 41 yards and two interceptions. Newman (19 rushing yards on 12 attempts) spearheaded the running game as Kendall Hinton (two receptions, 17 yards) and Donavon Greene (two catches, 12 yards) led the Wake Forest pass-catchers in the loss.
Each team has a similar run-pass ratio on the season. Duke’s run the ball on 55.8 percent of its offensive possessions while Wake Forest has an overall rush percentage of 54.8. The Blue Devils have rushed for 154.6 yards/game (including 151.3 per game against Atlantic Coast opponents) and have 14 touchdowns on the ground this year. The Deacs are putting up 162.3 rush yards per game (147.1 in conference) and have 14 total rushing TDs.
The Blue Devils offensive scheme has tallied 183.3 yards/game in the air overall (172.2 per game against conference opposition) and has 16 passing scores so far. The Deacs have put up 286.8 pass yards per contest (252 against ACC foes) and have 25 total pass TDs.
Defensively, Duke appears to have the upper hand when it comes to limiting the pass. The team has let opponents rush for an average of 173.5 yards and pass for 194.3 yards per game. The Wake Forest defense has allowed 254.2 yards per game to opposing passers and 164.4 yards per game on the ground. The Blue Devils are giving up an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of only 5.62 to opponents, while the Deacs have allowed a 6.76 ANY/A.
Offensively, Harris is up to 1,657 passing yards this season, and has connected on 169-of-282 attempts with 13 passing scores and nine interceptions. Harris has a 4.74 adjusted net yards per pass attempt overall, although that number is 1.80 over the past two games.
The Blue Devils have tried to control tempo by getting the ball into the hands of their running backs. Along with Aaron Young (297 yards, two TDs), Deon Jackson (519 rush yards, five rush TDs, 159 receiving yards, two receiving TDs) and Mataeo Durant (302 rush yards, one rush TD, one receiving TD) have brought significant production to the Duke offensive scheme.
Jamie Newman has completed 172-of-261 passes for 2,100 yards, 20 TDs and seven INTs for Wake Forest. His ANY/A sits at 7.76 for the year and 1.94 over his last two games.
The Deacs also like to heavily feature their backfield. In addition to Kendall Hinton (514 receiving yards, one receiving TD), Cade Carney (385 rush yards, three rush TDs) and Sage Surratt (1,001 receiving yards and 11 TDs) have seen a lot of looks lately.
When these two schools faced each other last year, Wake Forest won handily 59-7.
Duke Blue Devils vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons Free NCAA Betting Tip
SU Winner: Wake Forest, ATS Winner: Wake Forest, O/U: Under
Team Betting Notes
- The Blue Devils offense has tallied three pass plays of 40 or more yards, while the Demon Deacons have accounted for 10 such plays.
- The Duke defense has allowed five pass plays of 40+ yards, while Wake Forest has given up seven such plays.
- The Duke offense has created nine rushing plays of 20 yards or more, while Wake Forest has created 13 such runs.
- The Blue Devils defense has allowed 22 rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while the Demon Deacons have given up 14 such runs.
- The Duke defense has sacked opposing QBs 23 times this year. Wake Forest has recorded 22 sacks.
- Duke has averaged 2.8 yards per carry over its last three games and 2.9 over its last two.
- Wake Forest has averaged 2.2 yards per carry over its last three contests and 1.9 over its past two.
- Over its last three matchups, Wake Forest is 1-2 ATS and the under cashed in each of those three.
- The Over/Under for Duke’s last game was set at 49. The over cashed in the team’s 49-6 loss to Syracuse.
- Over its last three matches, Duke is 0-2-1 ATS and the under cashed in two of those three.
- The Over/Under for Wake Forest’s last match was set at 58.5. The under cashed in that 52-3 defeat to Clemson.
- Duke has lost six of its last seven games SU, with an 18-point win over Georgia Tech on October 12th representing the only victory over that span.
