Teams looking to earn their first wins of the season meet when the North Carolina A&T Aggies face the Duke Blue Devils in non-conference action on Friday night. The Aggies (0-1) opened their season with a 29-18 loss at Furman last week, falling behind by as much as 20 points before rallying. The Blue Devils (0-1), meanwhile, took the lead with 1:44 remaining but could not hold on in a 31-28 loss at Charlotte. The 49ers marched 75 yards in seven plays in one minute, 11 seconds to post the winning score. Duke also lost redshirt sophomore tight end Matt Smith, who will miss the rest of the year with a torn right ACL.
Kickoff from Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C., is set for 8 p.m. ET. This will be the second meeting between the schools. Duke rolled to a 45-13 win over A&T in 2019. The Blue Devils are 21-point favorites in the latest Duke vs. North Carolina A&T odds, while the over-under for total points scored is set at 57.5. Before making any North Carolina A&T vs. Duke picks, check out the college football predictions from the SportsLine’s Emory Hunt.
Hunt is the founder and CEO of Football Gameplan, which has been supplying analysis of all levels of football since 2007, and a former running back at Louisiana-Lafayette. He knows the game from a player’s perspective.
Hunt went 178-149 on his college football picks over the past two seasons, returning $1,477 to $100 players. Anybody who has been following him is way up.
Now, he has set his sights on North Carolina A&T vs. Duke. You can visit SportsLine now to see the picks. Here are the college football odds and trends for Duke vs. North Carolina A&T:
- North Carolina A&T vs. Duke spread: Duke -21
- North Carolina A&T vs. Duke over-under: 57.5
- NCAT: The Aggies’ 71 rushing yards in the opener were the fewest since compiling just 38 against Alcorn State on Dec. 15, 2018.
- DUKE: Totaled 580 yards of offense against Charlotte, the eighth-most in a single game under coach David Cutcliffe.
Why Duke can cover
Senior running back Mataeo Durant displayed his explosiveness in the opener at Charlotte. Durant carried 29 times for 255 yards (8.8 average) and three touchdowns, and caught two passes for 37 yards. For his career, he has now carried 263 times for 1,576 yards and 12 scores, while catching 30 passes for 261 yards and two TDs. He earned team MVP honors a year ago and was a preseason All-ACC honoree.
Graduate quarterback Gunnar Holmberg is also off to a fast start to the season, completing 20 of 29 passes (69 percent) for 228 yards and one touchdown. He was sacked three times but has a rating of 146.4. He came into the year having played in just seven games, completing 18 of 25 for 161 yards and two interceptions. He saw action in six games a year ago, and played in one game in 2018.
Why North Carolina A&T can cover
Despite that, the Blue Devils are not a lock to cover the North Carolina A&T vs. Duke spread. That’s because the Aggies have a dual threat at quarterback in redshirt junior Jalen Fowler, who was a backup behind Kylil Carter in 2019 and Lamar Raynard in 2018. The Aggies did not field a squad in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In last week’s loss to Furman, Fowler completed 14 of 29 passes for 268 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He also rushed 11 times for 29 yards, including a long of 14 yards.
Graduate wide receiver Ron Hunt is back after missing a majority of the 2019 season due to injury. In the season opener, he caught five passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns. He has played in 34 career games with 16 starts with 44 receptions for 723 yards and six touchdowns. He has been a part of a lot of success with North Carolina A&T, including three MEAC championships, four postseason appearances, three national championships and three Celebration Bowl wins.
How to make Duke vs. North Carolina A&T picks
Hunt is leaning over on the point total. He has also found a critical x-factor that has him jumping all over one side of the spread. You can only get the pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Duke vs. North Carolina A&T? And which side of the spread hits hard? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the expert who has crushed his college football picks, and find out.
