Appalachian State vs. Coastal Carolina Best Bet

Appalachian State Mountaineers (5-3 SU, 3-5 ATS) vs. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (7-1 SU, 3-4-1 ATS)

College Football Week 10

Date and Time: Thursday, November 3, 2022 at 7:30PM EDT

Where: Brooks Stadium, Conway, South Carolina

TV: ESPN

Point Spread: APP -2.5/CCU +2.5 (Bovada – Home of the BEST live betting platform on the web! They BLOW AWAY the competition! Check it out!)

Over/Under Total: 61.5

The Sun Belt Conference takes center stage on Thursday night, with the Appalachian State Mountaineers taking on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in Conway. This should be an entertaining game between these two teams. The Chanticleers sit atop the conference, looking good at 7-1. But as we’ve already seen this season, you can’t neglect to take the Mountaineers seriously, or they can get you. Both teams come into this on the short week, having both played on Saturday and each scoring wins. Appalachian State crushed Robert Morris, 42-3, while Coastal Carolina beat Marshall, 24-13, atoning for losing their only game of the season the week prior. Who can get it done at Brooks Stadium on Thursday?

Getting a Sense of the Situation

The Chanticleers looked great and flashed commendable consistency in opening the season with six straight wins. In a conference that can be topsy-turvy, the Chanticleers were a steady force. They featured great balance on offense and always seemed to surface within a certain range of play upon which you can depend. Coming off a one-week break, it was important to see CCU get back on the right track on Saturday with a win over a tough Marshall squad. The prior week, a 49-21 loss to what seemed like a down Old Dominion squad, was a shocking development as the 12-point favorite Chanticleers lost by 4 TDs. The time off and a nice win last week may have helped restore order.

Appalachian State’s season has been all over the place. People may have expected better results within the conference after they started off hanging in there in a mega-shootout in a loss to UNC before scoring an upset over Texas A&M. With winnable non-conference games lying ahead, in addition to playing some of the more manageable teams in the Sun Belt, things looked promising. A win over a Troy team that has been really good ever since was nice, but a loss to James Madison cooled their jets. A win last week over Robert Morris was more a glorified scrimmage, and in their two prior games against low-end conference fodder Georgia State and Texas State, the Mountaineers went just 1-1 against that pair.

Daylight for the Mountaineers

For the most part this season, we’ve seen Coastal Carolina use a balanced offense to good effect. Between QB Grayson McCall and all his weapons, they can usually make it work. With running back CJ Beasley and WR Sam Pinckney, among others, they can control games in this conference, and except one time this season, it has surfaced enough to get the Chanticleers to the winner’s circle. But as we get into the latter part of the season, we have seen that it’s likely going to take more than that to ensure a smooth road for Coastal Carolina.

In other words, the Mountaineers have seen some things not go their way this season, but they still bring things to the table that could trouble a Coastal Carolina defense that lags a bit behind the other side of the ball. QB Chase Brice has been efficient behind center, working with a nice backfield led by Camerun Peoples, along with receiving talent like Christian Horn. They’ve put up 42 points apiece in their last two games and are in a bit of a groove now, ready to try their luck against a Coastal Carolina “D” that might not be getting better as the season carries on, particularly against the opposing aerial game. While the Mountaineers feature more of a running offense, they are balanced enough to take advantage of any defensive deficiencies the Chanticleers are experiencing.

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Clues from Last Season

With a lot of the same faces, I’d tend to think there is something to be gleaned from Appalachian State’s 30-27 win at home over Coastal Carolina last season. This was an 11-win Coastal Carolina team they beat. And granted, the Mountaineers won’t approach their status of last season when they won ten games, their division, and got a shot at the conference title. It’s not really the same team. Still, we saw App St. quarterback Chase Brice throw for 347 yards, while Peoples scored two TDs on the ground. Chanticleers QB McCall had a good game, but their run game was shut down, and the lack of balance they had on offense was a big part of the defeat, in addition to a defense that is sometimes a little more exploitable than people tend to think.

Take the Points

Part of me thinks the matchups favor Appalachian State and that their win last season reflects that to a certain degree. The Mountaineers have balance on offense, with a run game that is maybe a bit more dependable in this context. Something just tells me that the greater balance and consistency of Coastal Carolina will surface this week. I think they’re a team where a higher-end version of what they can do is a more-dependable equation to realize at home. In contrast, we’ve seen an Appalachian State squad more all over the place away from home, capable of hitting some pretty low valleys in certain spots. Not that the Chanticleers are beyond rolling out a dud, but I just find them more bankable in this spot. I’ll take Coastal Carolina.

Loot’s Pick to Cover the Point Spread: I’m betting on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers plus 2.5 points. Bet your Week 10 CFB predictions for FREE by scoring a 100% bonus from one of the bookies on our sportsbook bonuses list!