The lone Thursday college football game features an American Conference matchup between the Golden Hurricane and Pirates at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN. SBR's Mike Spector offers his best bets in his Tulsa vs East Carolina prediction:
Over/Under pick: Under 55.5 (-115 via FanDuel)
Game prediction: East Carolina -16.5 (-110 via BetMGM)
"Before last week’s seven-point loss to American Conference contender Tulane, East Carolina had been 8-3 under head coach Blake Harrell, who was hired after serving as interim coach in the middle of last season. That .727 winning percentage was tied for the most wins and best winning percentage by a head coach through 11 games in program history.
Despite converting 10 of 19 third-down opportunities and totaling 22 first downs against Tulane, the Pirates lacked in the big play department, being held to 3.7 yards per carry and 6.0 yards per pass attempt. But they should see positive regression at home this week, as they had totaled at least 400 yards of offense in 10 of the first 11 games under Harrell."
Player prop bet: Marlon Gunn Jr. anytime touchdown scorer (+135 via DraftKings)
"One can usually find value backing an East Carolina player’s anytime touchdown odds given how balanced its offense is. Case in point: as of Oct. 4, the Pirates were one of 11 FBS teams to have at least seven different players score a touchdown in a game. And in their season opener against Campbell, they set a single-game record with 15 players recording a reception.
Marlon Gunn Jr. is one of three East Carolina running backs with at least 41 carries, 163 rushing yards, and two rushing touchdowns on the season. Gunn scored in back-to-back games to open the season but should earn more red-zone carries given how explosive he has been of late.
Gunn has seen a season-high 10 rushing attempts in each of the last two conference games against Army and Tulane. He parlayed that extra work into two of three games this season where he averaged at least 5.2 yards per carry."
Over/Under pick: Under 55.5 (-115 via FanDuel)
Game prediction: East Carolina -16.5 (-110 via BetMGM)
"Before last week’s seven-point loss to American Conference contender Tulane, East Carolina had been 8-3 under head coach Blake Harrell, who was hired after serving as interim coach in the middle of last season. That .727 winning percentage was tied for the most wins and best winning percentage by a head coach through 11 games in program history.
Despite converting 10 of 19 third-down opportunities and totaling 22 first downs against Tulane, the Pirates lacked in the big play department, being held to 3.7 yards per carry and 6.0 yards per pass attempt. But they should see positive regression at home this week, as they had totaled at least 400 yards of offense in 10 of the first 11 games under Harrell."
Player prop bet: Marlon Gunn Jr. anytime touchdown scorer (+135 via DraftKings)
"One can usually find value backing an East Carolina player’s anytime touchdown odds given how balanced its offense is. Case in point: as of Oct. 4, the Pirates were one of 11 FBS teams to have at least seven different players score a touchdown in a game. And in their season opener against Campbell, they set a single-game record with 15 players recording a reception.
Marlon Gunn Jr. is one of three East Carolina running backs with at least 41 carries, 163 rushing yards, and two rushing touchdowns on the season. Gunn scored in back-to-back games to open the season but should earn more red-zone carries given how explosive he has been of late.
Gunn has seen a season-high 10 rushing attempts in each of the last two conference games against Army and Tulane. He parlayed that extra work into two of three games this season where he averaged at least 5.2 yards per carry."