Busy Friday with five bowl games this week and the first of them features North Carolina of the ACC facing Temple of the American Athletic Conference in the Military Bowl. The Heels are favored on the college football odds.

How to Bet North Carolina vs Temple Military Bowl Betting Lines & Game Info

• When: Friday, noon ET
• Where: Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, Md.
• TV: ESPN
• Live Stream: WatchESPN
• Radio: SiriusXM
• Military Bowl Betting Lines: North Carolina -4.5 (Total 53)

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Series History

First-ever meeting between UNC and Temple.

Why Bet on North Carolina?

This will be the 34th bowl game in Carolina football’s history. North Carolina (6-6) will be making its first appearance in the Military Bowl, ending a two-year postseason absence by beating Mercer and North Carolina State to close the season and become bowl-eligible. Becoming bowl-eligible was a sweet accomplishment for a team that went 2-9 in 2018 under Larry Fedora, who was replaced by Mack Brown after the season.

Carolina allowed only 17 points in the last two games to close out the regular season. It’s the fewest points allowed by UNC over a two-game span since the 2012 season when the Tar Heels gave up a combined six points against ECU (6) and Idaho (0). The Heels stomped the rival Wolfpack 41-10 on Nov. 30. It was the largest margin of victory ever for North Carolina in Raleigh.

Coming Back

The Tar Heels trailed 10-6 at halftime before Javonte Williams busted free up the middle for a 26-yard scoring run on UNC’s second possession of the second half to give his team the lead for good. On the Tar Heels’ next two possessions, Williams caught an 11-yard flare pass for a touchdown and scored on a 6-yard run as UNC stretched its lead.

A four-touchdown outburst by the Tar Heels in the third quarter turned the game into a rout. UNC intercepted Devin Leary twice and recovered a Zonovan Knight fumble for three takeaways in the quarter.

UNC QB Sam Howell was 23-for-33 passing for a career-high 401 yards and three scores with one interception. Howell become only the fifth Tar Heel quarterback to throw for 3,000 yards in a season. He has 3,347 yards in 2019, the fourth most in a season at UNC. He joins an exclusive list that includes Mitch Trubisky (3,748, 2016), T.J. Yates (3,418, 2010), Bryn Renner (3,356, 2012 & 3,086, 2011) and Marquise Williams (3,072, 2015 & 3,068, 2014). Howell has tied Deshaun Watson (Clemson, 2015) for the fourth most TD passes (35) in a single season in ACC history. Howell was the ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Team Stats

Offense

• Points per Game: 31.25
• Passing Yards: 285.00
• Rushing Yards: 184.00
• Yards per Play: 6.37

Defense

• Points per Game: 24.58
• Passing Yards: 232.58
• Rushing Yards: 149.00
• Yards per Play: 5.54

Why Bet on Temple?

Temple (8-4) will appear in a bowl game for the fifth consecutive year, a stretch that includes a loss to Wake Forest in the 2016 Military Bowl. Temple has been bowl eligible for six consecutive seasons, tied with Memphis for the longest streak in the American Athletic Conference, and nine times in the past 11 years.

The Owls finished third in the AAC East. Their star on defense is end Quincy Roche, who was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. The Owls’ pass defense is among the Group of 5’s best, and Roche and the Temple pass rush are big reasons for its success. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound junior has 18 tackles for loss and 13 sacks. He is also two sacks away from owning the conference record for sacks in a season. Roche has 26 sacks in his career which is second all-time in the Temple record books. Temple ranked third in the AAC in total defense, allowing 364.8 yards per game, while posting 3.25 sacks per game and 7.8 TFL.

Key Players

QB Anthony Russo has thrown for 2,733 yards and 21 touchdowns this season. Both rank third all-time for a single-season performance in program history. Russo also moved into fourth place on both of those career lists with 5,296 yards and 35 TD passes. Fellow QB Todd Centeio completed 28 passes for 378 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed 42 times for 185 yards.

True freshman RB Re’Mahn Davis had the second-best season for a Temple running back in program history. He rushed for 900 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games played. WR Jadan Blue set Temple single-season records with 87 catches for 975 yards and he also added four touchdowns. The offensive line ranks first in the conference in fewest QB pressures allowed. Temple QBs have had a clean pocket on 86.29% of dropbacks, which ranks the best in the conference.

Temple went 1-0 vs. ACC opponents this season with a 24-2 win over Georgia Tech. The American is 3-2 vs. the ACC in the Military Bowl since 2014.

Team Stats

Offense

• Points per Game: 27.42
• Passing Yards: 259.83
• Rushing Yards: 142.17
• Yards per Play: 5.45

Defense

• Points per Game: 23.50
• Passing Yards: 212.50
• Rushing Yards: 152.33
• Yards per Play: 4.75

North Carolina vs Temple 2019 Military Bowl Betting Trends

• Tar Heels are 1-5 SU in their last 6 games played in December
• Tar Heels are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games against an opponent in the American Athletic Conference conference
• Owls are 6-1 SU in their last 7 games played on a Friday
• Owls are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games this season
• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Temple’s last 7 games played in December

Expert Final Score Prediction for North Carolina vs Temple

North Carolina 27 – Temple 24