Week 7 action starts early as Appalachian State heads to Jonesboro to face Arkansas State. Here’s how to catch the Sun Belt action on Tuesday night.
Appalachian State and Arkansas State match up to kick off Tuesday night action in the Sun Belt. The Mountaineers come into the game as one of the hottest teams in the country, rolling on a three-game winning streak after falling by only seven points in the season opener against Penn State.
Scott Satterfield’s squad ranks second in the country in scoring, slotting in behind only top-ranked Alabama as they score 51.8 points per game. Zac Thomas leads the Mountaineers offense as one of the 10 most efficient quarterbacks in the FBS. On the other side of the ball, Appalachian State also ranks in the top 15 nationally, holding opponents to only 17 points and fewer than 280 yards on average.
They hit the road to play an Arkansas State team that allows just under a field goal more than they manage to score each game. The Red Wolves have struggled to maintain discipline, as they rank in the bottom 10 in both penalties and yards lost. Arkansas State sees an average of 9.8 penalties for 86 yards conceded.
One place where Arkansas State has excelled is defending kickoff and punt returns. The Red Wolves rank first overall in the country in punt return defense, holding teams to negative-3.25 yards per game. When they are kicking the ball off, teams gain on average only 16.61 yards per return against the Red Wolves. That puts Arkansas State 18th nationally.
Considering they are at home, do the Red Wolves have any shot of pulling off an upset and turning the Sun Belt race on its head? Here’s how you can watch the Tuesday night game between Appalachian State and Arkansas State:
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 9
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Location: Jonesboro, Ark.
Venue: Centennial Bank Stadium
TV: ESPN2
Live Stream: WatchESPN | FuboTV
Keys to Victory
For Arkansas State to pull off the upset at home as a two-score underdog, they need to cut back significantly on the number of penalties they incur. Further, the Red Wolves will need to be more efficient at generating points when they get into the red zone. Without managing to improve in both of those areas, any hopes of taking down the Mountaineers are highly improbable.
Appalachian State needs to win the field position battle against a team that has certainly been good at pinning teams back and forcing long drives. Otherwise, the Mountaineers have a clear advantage in pretty much every other facet of the game. As long as they don’t beat themselves, Appalachian State should have little trouble taking care of business.
Betting Odds
Odds courtesy of oddsshark.com
Point Spread: Appalachian State -9.5
Over/Under: 59.5
Prediction
There is little reason to think that Arkansas State can put together the perfect game to take down the Mountaineers. Justice Hansen will manage to drive the Red Wolves for a couple of touchdowns, but several other drives will stall out as the hosts fail to keep pace with one of the nation’s top offenses.
Final Score: Appalachian State 52, Arkansas State 23