Points should be fast and furious on Saturday in the Birmingham Bowl, as the Memphis Tigers take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in a game that can be seen on ESPN. The Tigers finished the regular season in the top 10 in scoring at 43.6 points per game, while the Demon Deacons were 39th in the country, averaging 32.5 points per contest. Neither team has much of a defense, as they both allowed more than 30 points per game this year. Let’s look at this game and live betting at BookMaker.eu.
This contest will take place on Saturday, December 22, 2018 at 12:00 p.m. ET at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama
NCAA Football Betting at BookMaker.eu
Memphis -3, O/U 75.5
Odds Analysis
The Tigers opened up as a 4-point favorite and they were bet up to -6 at one point, but money has poured in on the Demon Deacons since that time and Memphis is now just a 3-point choice. The total has been pounded up from 73 to the current 75.5.
Memphis went 8-5 SU and 8-5 ATS this season. The Tigers went over in eight of their 13 games. They averaged 43.6 points per game and allowed 31.5 points per contest.
Wake Forest went 6-6 SU and 4-8 ATS. They averaged 32.5 points per game but gave up over 33 points per contest. They went over in seven of their 12 games this season.
Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson said that he knows his defense will have to step up. “Offensively, they are one of the top teams in the country. They are fourth in total offense, fourth in rushing offense and seventh in scoring offense.” Clawson said to the media, “They average 43 or 44 points per game. Their offense has put up video game numbers. Brady White is an efficient quarterback for them. He has a lot of weapons. I really like their offense line. This is as good of an offense as we have seen. This is one of the nation’s elite offenses. They move the ball against everybody. This is going to be a challenge for our defense. Any time you get to a bowl game, you are going to play a good team.”
Missing Man
A big part of the reason for the line movement toward Wake Forest is the fact that Memphis All-American running back Darrell Henderson will not play. Henderson said that he is skipping his senior season to enter the NFL Draft and he decided not to play in the bowl game. Henderson had 2,328 all-purpose yards and 25 total TDs to lead all players in the country.
Key Stats
The Tigers are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 non-conference games. The Tigers are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 bowl games. The Demon Deacons are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 bowl games. The Demon Deacons are 2-7 ATS vs. a team with a winning record. The Demon Deacons are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games.
Looking at the total, the Over is 10-1 in the Tigers last 11 non-conference games. The Over is 8-3 in the Tigers last 11 games in December. The Over is 5-1 in the Demon Deacons last 6 non-conference games.
Game Picks
If the Tigers had Henderson I would definitely back Memphis. I still lean to the Tigers simply because the Wake Forest defense is terrible. I just can’t see any way that the Demon Deacons can make a lot of stops against this Memphis offense. The Memphis defense also isn’t any good, so this should be shootout. I know that the total is really high, but I can’t either of these teams getting stopped by the opposing defense. I will go over the total in this contest.
NCAA Football Odds: Memphis 42, Wake Forest 38
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