East Carolina at UAB Odds
Written by Matthew Martz - Google +
This is a fairly equal matchup between two teams struggling to finish out the season on a positive note as ECU visits UAB on Thursday November 11 at Legion Field. Game time is 8:00 PM ET.
ECU beat UAB last November by a score of 37-21.
Our latest odds show the Blazers as -2 over the Pirates.
The East Carolina Pirates are coming off an embarrassing 76-35 loss to Navy their last time out. The game set a single game scoring record for the Midshipmen as the cadets dominated the game, scoring at least 14 in each quarter, capitalizing on a series of third-quarter turnovers.
ECU scored 14 in the first to keep pace, but the defense fell apart after that, and the offense was never able to support it scoring only seven in each of the last three quarters.
Navy QB Ricky Dobbs and his Navy teammates just kept running right at East Carolina’s struggling defense racking up 521 yards rushing — the most by an opponent here and the second most allowed by the Pirates ever. RB Alexander Teich had 14 carries for 157 yards while Dobbs ran for 100 of his own on 17 carries, tearing up the Pirated front seven.
Meanwhile, ECU’s main weapon, running back Jonathan Williams, managed only 94 yards on 12 tries.
The loss brought the ECU record to 5-4, 2nd in C-USA East.
Passing has been the main weapon from the offense with 316 a game to rank 7th. Dominique Davis has been a strong presence with 2,746 yards and 26 touchdowns. Rushing has been solid with 94 a game (94th) led by Williams with his 577 yards and six touchdowns. The Pirates have averaged 36.4 points a game which is 14th overall, but the defense continues to undermine that effort by allowing 41.3 (117th).
For UAB, they lost to Marshall last week, 31-17. The Thundering Herd outscored the Blazers 14-7 in the first, and those two touchdowns would prove to be almost enough.
QB Brian Anderson threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Marshall while UAB’s Bryan Ellis would manage 235 yards for the day with two touchdowns.
The loss brought the Blazers record to 3-6, 4th in C-USA East. The team has averaged 24.4 points a game; passing and rushing have been equal parts of the offense as both are ranked 43rd overall. UAB has passed for 241 yards per game, and Ellis has thrown 14 touchdowns on 1,910 yards. While the running game puts up a nice average of 116 yards a game.
Running back Pat Shed has 110 carries for 607 yards and two touchdowns. Isabelle has chipped in with four more touchdowns. Main receivers Forrest and Jones have combined to average just over 14 yards a carry and 11 touchdowns.
Matt’s Free Prediction: ECU Pirates +2 – Neither of these teams are a guaranteed win or have a distinct advantage over the other. East Carolina looked horrendous against Navy, but the team isn’t really as bad as the final score would indicate. It has a better offensive capability than UAB, and a much stronger option at QB in Davis with his 26 touchdowns. Harris and Lewis have also been strong receivers combing for 17 touchdowns. That presence in the air makes me give the edge to the Pirates, though not by much.
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