The Charlotte 49ers are feeling great right now. Everyone knew that Charlotte would struggle in its first season as an FBS side, but the 49ers have progressively gotten through and broke through for their first ever Conference USA win last week against Florida Atlantic. In Week 7 of college football, the 49ers will attempt to get their first home Conference USA win when they take on FAU’s close rival, the Florida International Golden Panthers.
Kickoff for this Week 7 game is set for Saturday, October 15, 2016, at 6 p.m. ET at Jerry Richardson Stadium.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Charlotte +5.5
Florida International -5.5
Over/Under 59.5
Odds Analysis
The 49ers are 2-4 SU and 2-4 ATS on the season, but their win last week was huge for moneyline bettors. Charlotte was a 13-point underdog playing in Boca Raton against FAU but used a great first-half start to ride out a victory.
Florida International was the first team to fire its coach this season, dispatching of Ron Turner after a dreadful 0-4 start both SU and ATS. The team has responded since, defeating both Florida International and UTEP in games where the Golden Panthers were short underdogs and the offense has been great. That has led to the over hitting in three consecutive games.
Player to Watch
After Greg Olsen’s little brother Kevin Olsen was ineffective as Charlotte’s quarterback through the first part of the season, the 49ers turned to Hasaan Klugh last week. Klugh had looked promising in mop-up duty against Eastern Michigan and Old Dominion, but there were questions of whether he was just shining against reserves or if there was actually something there.
The 49ers started Klugh on Sunday against the Owls and he impressed from the outset. Klugh ended up completing over 80 percent of his passes and threw for three touchdowns against just one interception. He was also able to make plays happen with his legs adding 54 yards and a touchdown on the ground. The jury is still out over whether he can do this week-to-week, but he has a confidence that Olsen lacks and should get plenty of reps this season as he is just a sophomore.
Key Stat
Turnovers are somewhat of a luck based stat, but one of the major reasons that FIU has struggled this season is because of its inability to force turnovers. The Golden Panthers defense has forced just four turnovers in 420 plays and it’s hard for a team without a great offense to get wins without those huge plays.
The defense hasn’t been able to force teams off the field either, allowing almost 6 yards per play. This unit has been better the last two weeks, but it is still a group that is not forcing enough turnovers and failing to stop offenses.
Free ATS Pick
Can Klugh succeed again? FIU has allowed opponents to complete almost 70 percent of their passes on them and have allowed some big plays through the air. However, that pass defense has gotten a lot tougher to beat since Turner was fired and has held its last two opponents to under 50 percent passing and less than 300 yards through the air. Klugh put up those numbers against a defense that is slightly worse than FIU, but could still have a decent day here.
On the other side of the ball, Alex McGough came into this season with a lot of promise after a stellar 2015, but didn’t deliver through his first five games. McGough was atrocious, failing to complete more than 60 percent of his passes in any of those affairs and tossing six interceptions. However, last week against UTEP, he was once again the McGough we were expecting at the start of the season. If that’s the McGough we see again, FIU will likely win.
Although the Golden Panthers have looked better under new coach Ron Cooper, making them a road favorite seems a bit of a stretch so far. These teams seem pretty even and Klugh should be able to keep this close.
College Football Odds: Golden Panthers 24, 49ers 21
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