College Football Odds & Game Preview for Week 4: NC State at Florida State

The 11th-ranked Florida State Seminoles will get their first taste of life without their starting quarterback (Deondre Francois) when they host the NC State Wolfpack in their ACC opener on Saturday. The Noles have been off the field since their regular season opener because of Hurricane Irma while the Wolfpack will look to extend their winning ways at the expense of a Florida State team that was hoping to contend for the national championship under the guidance of their gifted dual-threat former starter. Now, let’s find out where the value lies in this intriguing ACC match-up. Don’t forget to check out the rest of betting lines for College Football Week 4.

College Football Odds & Game Preview for Week 4: NC State at Florida State

There are only two matchups of ranked teams this weekend—but don’t sleep on the Week 4 slate (@bychrisjohnson) https://t.co/eIgCennBXi

— SI College Football (@si_ncaafb) 19 de septiembre de 2017

When: Saturday, September 23, 2017at 12:00 PM ET Where: Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida TV: ABC, ESPN2 NCAAF Odds: NC State +12

Why take NC State Odds at +12?

North Carolina State moved to 2-1 after three games by pounding overmatched Furman completely senseless in their 49-16 Week 3 win on Saturday, despite failing to cover the college football betting line as 36.5-point home favorites to fall to 0-3 ATS on the year. Quarterback Ryan Finley completed 22-of-27 passes for 231 yards and one touchdown in the win while running back Nyheim Hines rushed for a team-high 92 yards and one score on 11 carries. Backup running back Jaylen Samuels rushed five times for just 16 yards, but found the end zone on three of those carries. On the season, Finley has passed for 987 yards and six touchdowns while Hines has rushed for a team-high 202 yards and two touchdowns on 39 carries. Wide receiver Kelvin Harmon has racked up a team-high 268 yards and one score. Now, North Carolina State coach Dave Doeren said that the Seminoles playing only one game and having a new quarterback makes preparations similar to a season opener. “It wouldn’t be if Francois was the quarterback because you could rely on all last season’s film with him,” Doeren said. “You have to talk about all the what-ifs, which maybe in game four normally you wouldn’t have to do that.”

Series History

• Total Meetings: 36
• First Meeting: FSU 7 – NCSU 13 (1952)
• Last Meeting: FSU 24 – NCSU 20 (2016)
• All-Time Series: FSU 25-11
• Largest Margin of Victory: FSU +60 (1995)
• Longest Win Streak: FSU W8
• Current Win Streak: FSU W4

Why take Florida State Odds at -12?

Florida State has not played at all because of Hurricane Irma since suffering a 24-7 loss against No. 1 Alabama in their regular season opener. Florida State resumed practices last Tuesday and head coach Jimbo Fisher used last Friday as a walkthrough to simulate preparing for Saturday’s matchup. “It feels weird to know that other people are playing and you’re not playing. There’s no doubt about that,” Fisher said on Monday. “It was for a reason. It was a lot bigger than football.” In that affair, star quarterback Deondre Francois was lost to a season-ending patella tendon injury and now the Noles are preparing to move forward behind true freshman James Blackman. “He’s gotten a lot of fast ball looks against good people,” said Fisher of Blackman. “We’ve thrown every blitz you can think of and he’s done a really nice job.”

Statistic Head to Head

Total Score: NCSU 38 / FSU 7 Passing Yards: NCSU 334.6 / FSU 210 Rushing Yards: NCSU 158.3 / 40 Time on Field: NCSU 32:18 / 27:13 Number of Plays: NCSU 79 / FSU 60 Yards per Play: NCSU 6.2 / FSU 4.1

Expert Analysis and Prediction

This Week 4 matchup is a bit of a tough call if only because no one knows what to expect out of Florida State and their new starting quarterback. For me however, having an inexperienced starter that is making his first career start, just doesn’t bode well for Florida State, even at home. While Florida State has gone 6-0 ATS in their last six games following an ATS loss and 4-1 ATS in the last five home games, NC State is a robust 20-4 ATS in their last 24 games following a bye week and 4-1 ATS in their last five road games. I like North Carolina State to keep the final score well inside the nearly two-touchdown spread. Pick: NC State +12

College Football Week 4 Latest Betting Trends:

-North Carolina State is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games -North Carolina State is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games -The total has gone UNDER in 5 of North Carolina State’s last 7 games when playing Florida State -Florida State is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games -Florida State is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games -The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Florida State’s last 10 games