Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs Tulane Green Wave CFB Betting Preview— 8/30/18
Thursday evening on the college gridiron and the ACC will meet Conference U.S.A as the Wake Forest Demon Deacons rumble with the Tulane Green Wave at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. This contest has a start time of 8:00 PM ET. These teams last met back in 2016 and Wake Forest won that game at home by a score of 7-3.
Lines: Wake Forest -6… Over/Under 56
Game Analysis
The Demon Deacons went 8-5 last year, which included a 55-52 win over Texas A&M in the Belk Bowl. They do have 13 starters back from that team and they should again be in the mix for a bowl bid. Let’s begin with the offense. Wake put up 35.5 ppg last year and they have eight starters back from that group, but the big loss is QB John Wolford. He threw for 3192 yards with 29 TDs and just six INTs a season ago and will be tough to replace. Kendall Hinton is slated to take over and he threw for 399 yards with four TDs and no INTs in limited action last year. Greg Dortch and Scotty Washington return after combining for 1433 yards receiving and 12 TDs last year. Also back is top ball carrier Matt Colburn, who rushed for 904 yards and seven TDs last year. The offense will not be as good as last year’s group, but it may not drop as much as some expect it to. The defense allowed 28.3 ppg last year and has just five starters back from that group. The secondary is loaded with talent, but the front seven is among the worst in the ACC. This is a decent team this year and they will look to get off to a fast start, but Tulane will be no pushover.
The Tulane Green Wave have increased their wins from three to four to five in the last two years and they will look to do so again. Should they do that, then they would have a good shot at getting to a bowl for the first time since 2013. The Green Wave has nine starters back from an offense that averaged 27.5 ppg. It should be better this year, especially with QB Jonathan Banks back. He threw for 1797 yards with 12 TDs and just 5 INTs a season ago, while also rushing for 592 yards and 7 TDs. They do lose top back Dontrell Hilliard, but Corey Dauphine was highly touted and is more than ready to take over. They are led by their ground attack and will be facing a very weak front seven in this one. The defense took some hits as they have just five starters back from a group that allowed 29.3 ppg. Wake does have a good offense but they could be sluggish at the start with a new QB. Still, Tulane will not have a great defense this year, so it will have to be up to their offense to outscore teams. Can they do that here? We shall see.
Trends
Wake Forest is:
8-2-1 ATS in their last 11 games on fieldturf
10-4 ATS in their last 14 road games
The Over is 5-1 in their last six non-conference games
Tulane is:
7-3 ATS in their last 10 non-conference games
7-3 ATS in their last 10 games on fieldturf
The Under is 4-1 in their last 5 Thursday games
