New Orleans Bowl Prediction
The Appalachian State Mountaineers are laying a touchdown to the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders in Saturday night’s R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl at 9:00 p.m. ET. Will the favorite cover the number for bettors?
Game Snapshot
209 Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders vs. 210 Appalachian State Mountaineers
9:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, December 15, 2018
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Mountaineers is a 7-point favorite to beat the Blue Raiders. The total, meanwhile, sits at 47.5 points. As of this writing, 60% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Mountaineers.
Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders
Middle Tennessee senior QB Brent Stockstill completed 29-of-45 passes for 362 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in Saturday’s 27-25 loss to UAB in the Conference USA Championship Game. Stockstill burned UAB for the most passing yards they have allowed since the program was rebooted in 2017, but his was not a completely clean game and the Blazers were able to overcome the hefty yardage total when all was said and done. For the campaign, Stockstill has now thrown for 3,203 yards with a 28/8 TD/INT ratio across 13 games played. He has thrown for at least 30 touchdown passes in two seasons to date and will try to hit that mark one last time when Middle Tennessee takes part in their bowl game later this winter.
Appalachian State Mountaineers
Appalachian State redshirt sophomore QB Zac Thomas completed 6-of-13 passes for 63 yards, adding 59 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries in Saturday’s 30-19 win over Louisiana. Appalachian State is your 2018 Sun Belt Champion, and the students have stormed the field. The Mountaineers will go into their bowl game with a 10-2 record with their only losses coming on the road against Penn State, 45-38, and on the road against Georgia Southern, 34-14. For Thomas, it was his fifth straight game without an interception and third straight game with at least one rushing touchdown. Thomas will head into the bowl game with 28 total touchdowns and just four interceptions.
Betting Trends
Middle Tennessee
The over is 5-1 in the Blue Raiders’ last six bowl games and is 4-0 in their last four games played in the month of December.
Appalachian State
The under is 4-1 in the Mountaineers’ last five games overall but the over is 4-1 in their last five non-conference games.
Prediction
The Blue Raiders are just 1-4 against the number in their last five bowl games and have failed to cover the spread in six of their last seven games played in the month of December. Meanwhile, the Mountaineers are 4-0 against the spread in their last four non-conference games, are 12-4 ATS in their last 16 games overall, and are 7-3 at the betting window in their last 10 games versus a team with a winning record.
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Prediction: Appalachian State Mountaineers -7