The first bowl game of this very unusual college football season – assuming the bowl game isn’t canceled as many others have been – features Appalachian State against North Texas on Monday in the Myrtle Beach Bowl from South Carolina.

How to Bet Appalachian State vs. North Texas NCAA Football Odds & TV Info

• When: Monday, 2:30 PM ET
• Where: Brooke Stadium, Conway, SC
• TV: ESPN
• Stream: ESPN app
• Radio:com

Series History

• Opening NCAAF Lines: Appalachian State -19 (total TBA)

Bowl/Series History

This is the first-ever Myrtle Beach Bowl and played on the campus of Coastal Carolina University – it’s also the first NCAA-sanctioned bowl game to be played in the state of South Carolina. It will be the first-ever meeting between Appalachian State and North Texas.

Why Bet on Appalachian State? | 2020 NCAAF Expert Analysis

Appalachian State (8-3) finished second to Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt East Division this season. The Mountaineers closed the regular season with a 34-26 win at Georgia Southern last Saturday. The Mountaineers trailed 17-7 at the break but outscored the Eagles by a 24-3 margin in the first 17-plus minutes of the second half.

Immediately after Georgia Southern made a 47-yard field goal to break a 17-all tie in the first minute of the fourth quarter, Jalen Virgil gave App State its first lead of the night with a 100-yard kickoff return. Demetrius Taylor and Brendan Harrington combined for a stop to force a three-and-out punt, leading to a 70-yard touchdown run from Nate Noel on the first play of the next series, less than two minutes after Virgil had scored.

Miller Mosley threw a 78-yard touchdown pass to Dexter Carter Jr. with 5:23 remaining that pulled Georgia Southern to 31-26. Chandler Staton added a 37-yard field goal for the Mountaineers. The Eagles then drove to their 44 before Nicholas Ross picked off a Mosley pass to seal it.

Senior QB Zac Thomas went 18 of 29 for 208 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception. Thomas improved to 31-6 as a starter. His 31 wins are No. 2 among active FBS QBs behind Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence (33-1). Thomas is No. 3 in career wins by an App State starting quarterback, behind just Taylor Lamb (36-13) and Armanti Edwards (42-7).

App State improved to 23-5 in Sun Belt road games and snapped a 10-game home winning streak for Georgia Southern, which was 6-0 at Paulson Stadium this season.

With its eighth win of the season, App State joined Alabama and Clemson as the only FBS programs with eight or more wins every year since 2015. The Mountaineers’ 28 road wins since their jump to FBS competition in 2014 are tied for third nationally in that span, behind just the 29 from Clemson and Boise State.

Why Bet on North Texas? | 2020 NCAAF Expert Analysis

North Texas (4-5) finished fourth in the Conference USA West Division and wouldn’t normally qualify for a bowl with a losing record, but bowls are taking anyone this season.

UNT closed the regular season with a 45-43 win at UTEP on Dec. 11. Senior receiver Jaelon Dardon broke two more school records with a eight-catch, 173-yard, four-touchdown performance. Darden is third nationally this season with 1,190 yards and leads the country with 19 TD catches.

Darden is now the program’s all-time leader in career receptions (230), career receiving touchdowns (38), career receiving yards (2,782) and single-season receiving touchdowns (19). He is also now second on the all-time single-season receiving yards list (1,190) and second in career touchdowns (rushing/receiving/returns) with 39.

Darden almost surely will be picked in the 2021 NFL Draft; UNT hasn’t had a player selected in the NFL draft since linebacker Cody Spencer was selected in the sixth round of the 2004 draft by the Oakland Raiders.

Sophomore QB Austin Aune entered the game on the Mean Green’s second possession and third offensive snap and finished the game with 302 passing yards and five touchdown passes on 16-of-29 passing. His five touchdown passes are a career high. He also added a rushing score.

Defensively, UNT intercepted four UTEP passes, exceeding the Mean Green’s season total entering the game of three interceptions. Two of those picks came from sophomore safety Deshawn Gaddie – both of which led to UNT touchdowns.

North Texas enters the postseason with the seventh-ranked total offense in the nation, and top total offense in Conference USA at 515.0 yards per game. UNT ranks 13th nationally in rushing yards (230.2 yards per game) and 22nd nationally in passing offense (284.8 yards per game).

Expert Prediction

• Appalachian State 33, North Texas 23

 

---

College Football Betting News

Odds and Lines : College Football Betting | Live Betting | Heisman Trophy | Regular Season Wins | Playoffs | National Championship

[su_posts template=”templates/list-loop.php” id=”” posts_per_page=”5″ post_type=”post” taxonomy=”category” tax_term=”ncaaf” tax_operator=”IN” author=”” meta_key=”” offset=”0″ order=”DESC” orderby=”date” post_parent=”” post_status=”publish” ignore_sticky_posts=”no”