2022 NCAAF Betting Prediction: Charlotte vs Florida Atlantic

Charlotte and Florida Atlantic open Conference USA college football action on Saturday from south Florida, but it’s the last season in the conference for those two schools as they will head to the AAC next season. FAU is a solid favorite on the NCAAF odds.

How to Bet Charlotte at Florida Atlantic NCAA Football Odds & TV Info

When: Saturday, 7 PM ET
Where: FAU Stadium
TV: CBS Sports Network
Stream: https://www.cbssports.com/cbs-sports-network/
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAF Lines: FAU -7.5 (total 59.5)

Last Meeting

Last year, FAU won at Charlotte 38-9. N’Kosi Perry set up three touchdowns on as many drives in a breakaway third quarter for the Owls. Perry was a crisp 9 of 11 passing for 225 yards and three TDs. Johnny Ford rushed for 92 yards and a touchdown and caught one pass for 32 yards and another score. Charlotte led 9-7 at halftime as Chris Reynolds found Grant DuBose at the front of the end zone with a pass from the 1-yard line on the last play of the second quarter. Reynolds was 22-for-31 passing for 219 yards overall with a touchdown and two interceptions for Charlotte, which was held to 77 yards on the ground. The Owls hold the all-time series at 5-2.

Why Bet on Charlotte?

On offense, Charlotte returns its starting QB (Chris Reynolds), top two running backs who split starting duties (Shadrick Byrd; Calvin Camp) three starting receivers (WR: Victor Tucker, Grant DuBose TE: Taylor Thompson) and three offensive linemen (Panda Askew, Ashton Gist, T.J. Moore).

Reynolds holds the 49ers’ single-season and career records for passing yards, passing TDs, completion pct. and passing efficiency. In 2021, he threw for 2,684 yards and 26 touchdowns. He threw for 300+ three times in 2021 including a school-record 448 at Louisiana Tech.

A four-year starter, Reynolds has thrown for 7,726 yards in his career with 62 TD passes. He has earned All-Conference USA Honorable Mention honors in each of the last three seasons. He has engineered five game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime in his career and has thrown three game-winning TD passes in the final minute or overtime.

Charlotte’s wide receiving unit boasts a 2020 Biletnikoff Watch Lister in Tucker, the program’s second all-time leading receiver; a 2022 Biletnikoff Watch Lister in DuBose, the team’s leading receiver in 2021; and the 2021 C-USA Freshman of the Year in Elijah Spencer, who shared the team-lead with DuBose with six TD catches in 2021. DuBose (892 yds) and Tucker (639 yds) became the 49ers’ first duo to both put up over 600 receiving yards in the same season.

Kick returner Shadrick Byrd, a 2022 Hornung Watch Lister, was 3rd in C-USA with 616 return yards. His 22.8 kick return avg. was second all-time in 49ers history. Charlotte averaged 37.4 points in its five wins with a 10.6 avg. margin of victory last year. It scored 30+ points in seven games overall.

On defense, Charlotte returns its two defensive ends (Markees Watts; Kofi Wardlow), one defensive tackle (Jalar Holley and three defensive backs (S Solomon Rogers; CBs Trey Creamer and Geo Howard). In addition, Charlotte will welcome back safety Tank Robinson, who started game one in 2021 but suffered a season-ending injury.

Aug. 27 is the earliest date that the 49ers have played a game in its history. Charlotte is 3-0 all-time in August. Charlotte will be competing in its 10th season of football in 2022. Charlotte’s program began in 2013 as an FCS Independent.

Why Bet on FAU?

Last year, FAU started 5-3 and needed just one win in its final four games to get bowl eligible, but the offense flopped in November, the defense struggled, and four double-digit losses – hurt most by the 27-17 home season finale against Middle Tennessee – made it three losing seasons in the last four for Coach Willie Taggart since leaving Oregon.

Taggart will return an offensive line that features seven of the 10 listed on the two-deep having started for the Owls. QB N’Kosi Perry is back and it marks the first time since the summer of 2014 that the Owls entered a season with no quarterback competition. Last year, Perry passed for 2,771 yards, 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

“It’s huge to have him (N’Kosi) back,” Taggart said. “He knows the offense and this football team a lot better. Last year, when he came in August, he really didn’t know anybody. He had to come in and learn a system that he was competing with other guys for and trying to learn his teammates as well. That was one of the experiences and challenges we had to go through last year. I thought he handled it well. This offseason, he’s been on another level when it comes to leadership, off the field, in the classroom, and then studying football, he’s become a gym rat in the film room and that’s great to see.”

Running back Johnny Ford averaged over six yards per carry with a team-high 831 yards and is back, and Nebraska transfer Marvin Scott comes in to add even more speed. Scott appeared in four games for Nebraska, rushing for 66 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, while also adding one catch for nine yards.

“Our job is to get Johnny Ford the ball in his hands in space,” new offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon said. “Our job is to figure out creative ways to use his special ability. He’s a tough guy to bring down. I grew up in the south and the Saints are my team. All of the different ways the Saints try to use Alvin Kamara as not just a running back but getting the ball in his hands, we have to do creative things to get #5 the football.”

LaJohntay Wester was the Owls top receiver in 2021 with 65 receptions for 702 yards and four scores. Je’Quan Burton is also back as their No. 2 receiver after almost 500 yards receiving. This is an offense that has the potential to be pretty impressive if things work.

Defensively, the Owls gave up just over 25 points per game in 2021. Most of their numbers were pretty average, giving up about 150 yards per game on the ground and about 250 through the air. They will benefit from a pair of SEC transfers in Missouri’s Jamie Pettway and Tennessee’s Morven Joseph. The Owls’ secondary will be anchored by fifth-year senior Teja Young, who returns as one of the team’s most productive playmakers. In 2021, Young registered 57 tackles, five pass deflections, a forced fumble, and three interceptions, including two pick-sixes.

The Owls have opened the season with conference play just once before, and coincidentally, that too was versus the 49ers. That matchup was played on Oct. 3, 2020, a year that schedules were altered due to COVID-19. The last time FAU opened the season in August and at home was versus Wagner on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2012.