SMU Mustangs vs East Carolina Pirates Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 10/12/2023

Game Time: 7:30 pm ET, Thursday, October 12, 2023

Venue:  Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, NC

Where to Watch:  ESPN

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  SMU -11, ECU +11; Over/Under:  50.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  SMU -11, ECU +11; Over/Under:  50.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  SMU -11.5, ECU +11.5; Over/Under:  50.5 points

SMU Mustangs:  3-2 (1-0) (3rd place, AAC)

East Carolina Pirates:  1-4 (0-1) (13th place, AAC)

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SMU Mustangs:  won their last game at home against the Charlotte 49ers 34-16.

East Carolina Pirates:  lost their last game on the road against the Rice Owls 24-17.

SMU is entering this game with a 3-2 record overall and they have a 1-0 record in their conference games too. They are 3-0 in their home games, 0-2 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be on the road for this game. They won their last game against Charlotte 34-16. Preston Stone was the starting QB and he completed 14/23 passes for 135 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Jaylan Knighton led the team in rushing yards with 150 and 2 TDs. Jake Bailey led the receivers with 34 receiving yards on 3 receptions. Isaiah Nwokobia led the defense in that game with 7 solo tackles and 2 assisted tackles while Nelson Paul and Kori Roberson each led the defense in sacks with 1. Cale Sanders Jr. came away with the only interception for them in that game.

 

 

 

East Carolina is entering this game with a 1-4 record overall and they have a 0-1 record in their conference games too. They are 1-1 in their home games, 0-3 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be at home for this game. They lost their last game against Rice 24-17. Alex Flinn was the starting QB and he completed 21/44 passes for 246 passing yards, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Javoius Bond led the team in rushing yards with 72. Chase Sowell led the receivers with 88 receiving yards on 7 receptions and 2 TDs. Antoine Jackson led the defense in that game with 4 solo tackles and 3 assisted tackles while Chad Stephens led the defense in sacks with 1. Teagan Wilk came away with the only interception for them in that game.

The current betting odds have SMU listed as an 11 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. SMU is only 3-2 this season but they have been playing a lot better since their last loss against TCU. They are 1-0 in their conference games this year while East Carolina is 0-1. East Carolina is also 1-4 overall and has been having a terrible season as they are only 1-1 in their home games too. East Carolina has had trouble moving the ball on offense all year as their starting QB hasn't been good at all. SMU doesn't have the best defense but they do have a really good offense that is going to put up points in this game and eventually they will pull away in this game where there will be no way back in for ECU. The best way to place a bet here is on SMU to cover the spread in this game. 

SMU East Carolina Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Thursday, October 12, 2023 (7:30 pm ET start time) is SMU 42 ECU 17.

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SMU Mustangs: 4-10 ATS in road games. 5-11 ATS off 1 or more consecutive unders. 17-37 ATS off a win by 10 points or more over a conference rival. 9-5 UNDER in road games. 14-5 UNDER off a home no-cover where the team won as a favorite. 

East Carolina Pirates: 9-3 ATS when the total is between 49.5 and 56. 5-1 ATS off 2 or more consecutive unders. 11-5 UNDER as an underdog. 9-5 UNDER in home games. 9-5 UNDER after playing a conference game.

SMU Mustangs:  C. Wheaton (RB) Ques Thurs - Hamstring. L. Johnson Jr. (RB) Ques Thurs - Ankle.

East Carolina Pirates:  M. Gunn Jr (RB) Ques Thurs - Undisclosed. K. King (WR) out for season - Knee. T. Savage (TE) Out indefinitely - Undisclosed.

“Well there’s no transition for us right now, not in football. Not me, and not the players. We’ve handled it by obviously having a really tough non-conference slate and our goal, well before any of that stuff happened, was to try to put ourselves to compete in the American, which is a really good league, and we would love to see if we can put ourselves in contention down the stretch.” - Rhett Lashlee and his focus on winning the AAC this season.

“Now, the kids, we’ve talked about it a lot, we talked about it in the summer, we talked about it in preseason camp. I talk about it every year because if we win and we play well and they’re looking at anything that anybody’s saying out there, they’re going to have an inflated ego for themselves and it’s gonna be too much for them. They can’t have that much patting on the back. And the same thing for the negativity. If you’re reading all that stuff and you’re listening to people that have no clue what they’re talking about, and you’re actually valuing their opinion, it’s not going to help you. You got to make sure that you keep yourself focused on listening to people that actually know what’s going on and what reality is. You can’t get caught up in that stuff.” - Mike Houston on ignoring the outside noise and focusing on improvement.

WR Kerley, Jordan 

WR Dixon, Moochie  

WR Bailey, Jake 

TE Maryland, RJ 

QB Stone, Preston 

RB Wheaton, Camar 

WR Garner, Jarett  

WR Hatfield, Jsi 

WR Johnson, Jaylen 

TE Calhoun, Shane 

QB Garcia, Mason 

RB Harris, Rahjai 

Passing: P. Stone (1191)

Rushing: J. Knighton (332)

Receiving: J. Hudson (178)

Touchdowns: J. Hudson (2)

Passing: A. Flinn (611)

Rushing: R. Harris (217)

Receiving: J. Johnson (206)

Touchdowns: R. Harris (5)

Coaches:

SMU Mustangs: Rhett Lashlee (2nd season)

East Carolina Pirates: Mike Houston (5th season)