The Stanford Cardinal will be making their eighth consecutive bowl appearance when they take on the UNC Tar Heels in the Sun Bowl. The Cardinal have consistently been a safe team to back during bowl season, as they have gone 6-1 ATS in their past seven bowl games.
- UNC is 3-1 ATS in its last 4 games against the Pac-12.
- The total has gone OVER in 10 of Stanford's last 14 games against teams with winning records.
- Stanford is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games on Friday.
How will Stanford's offense do without Christian McCaffrey? The running back, who has decided to skip the Sun Bowl in order to work on his draft preparations, lead the team in rushing attempts, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, pass receptions and was the primary punt returner. The rushing game was vital to Stanford's success, as they are 9-0 SU when they surpass 100 rushing yards in a game and 0-3 when they fail to. If the Cardinal are going to get the offense going, fullback Daniel Marx will need to have a big game blocking for whoever is running the ball.
The Cardinal defense ranks 32nd in the nation in yards allowed and 17th in points allowed. They have been a little better against the run thanks to a penetrating front seven that features defensive end Solomon Thomas, who ended the season with 12 tackles for a loss and 7.5 sacks.
The Tar Heels stumbled to close out the season, as they went 1-2 in their final three with losses to Duke and NC State. Everyone is on the Mitch Trubisky hype train, as the UNC quarterback is being talked about as perhaps the first quarterback to be selected in the upcoming NFL draft. Trubisky has been ridiculously efficient, completing 68.9 percent of his passes for 28 touchdowns and four interceptions. Running back Elijah Hood has been a big-play machine to close out the season, as the junior has averaged 7.6 yards per carry in the past five games, but has only been given 13 carries per game.
UNC’s defense has been terrible at stopping the run, ranking 113th in rushing yards allowed. The Tar Heels are also one of only 30 teams in the nation to allow more than 27 rushing touchdowns this year. Because of this, teams simply haven’t passed against UNC, which has a nation-worst one interception on the year.
North Carolina Tar Heels vs Stanford Cardinal Matchup
Team Betting Records & Power Rankings
The Stanford Cardinal are 9-3 so far on the season, and 7-5 ATS vs the point spread. The North Carolina Tar Heels, meanwhile, are 8-4 and 7-5 ATS. Those over under betting have seen Stanford go 5-7 and the North Carolina Tar Heels go 4-8 on the totals. Stay Informed: follow us on Twitter for odds specials, betting line moves and Stanford vs North Carolina injuries news.
The OddsShark Power Rankings have the Stanford Cardinal at No. 49 and the North Carolina Tar Heels at No. 39 heading into this contest.
Statistical Matchup
The game also pits Stanford's No. 83-ranked offense, averaging 26.42 PPG, against a North Carolina defense that ranks No. 46 this week at 24.92 PPG. The Stanford aerial game is averaging 159.08 yards per game, less than the North Carolina Tar Heels secondary allows through the air, 186.33 YPG per game.
Defensively, the North Carolina Tar Heels feature the league's No. 56-rated road run defense, allowing 176.2 yards per game. Stanford, meanwhile, ranks No. 44 in rushing offense at home.
Recent Outings Betting Recap
In their last gridiron battle, Ryan Switzer did much of the damage, producing 171 receiving yards but NC State managed to defeat the Tar Heels 28-21 at Kenan Stadium.
Christian McCaffrey ran through the Rice defense for 204 yards in Stanford's last game, handing the Owls a 41-17 setback on Saturday at Stanford Stadium.
- North Carolina is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games
- North Carolina is 19-6 SU in its last 25 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 7 of North Carolina's last 8 games
- Stanford is 17-8 ATS in its last 25 games
- Stanford is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
