Wake Forest
vs.
Louisiana Monroe
Week 1
College Football Pick
8/28/14
Wake Forest visits UL Monroe on August 28th to get the 2014 College Football season rolling. This is the first Game on the betting board for the 2014 season and Wake Forest is a -4 point road favorite at 5 dimes sportsbook. Note that this is being written several weeks before kick off and the odds may have changed by the time you read this.
Neither of these teams was very good a year ago and neither figures to be very good this year. ULM finished to year 6-6 and did not receive a bowl bid. They were hammered when they stepped up in class last season against non Conference opponents like Oklahoma and Baylor and they were also hammed by Conference opponents such as Arkansas State and South Alabama. They DID however, beat Wake Forest.
As mentioned, Wake Forest lost to ULM last year, 21-19, in a Game that really wasn’t as close as the Scoreindicated. ULM won the stat battle handily in just about every category. Though to Wake Forest’s credit, they had a chance to win it on the final play of the Game.
That being said, several key players from last years Game have moved on. QB Tanner Price for Wake is gone along with just about the entire offense as the Demon Deacons return just 3 to that unit. Wake Forest also has a new head coach in Dave Clawson. New coach, new schemes, new players. Wake Forest is rebuilding.
Louisiana Monroe lost some spark of their own. Super Star QB Kolton Browning is gone and the Warhawks return just 5 starters to the offense. But where they are in great shape is on the defensive side of the ball. They return just about their entire defense, 9 starters, including 4 defensive backs.
This is a revenge Game for Wake Forest and normally in this spot, we’d be on the ACC over a Sun Belt team. With both teams having key spots to fill, the better talent is going to be in the ACC.
Instead, we’re going to side with the ULM defense and those 9 returning starters. That unit held Tanner Price and a better offense than they figure to see in this Game to 19 points, 15 first downs and just 15 rushing yards.
A repeat performance by the ULM defense, at home, should keep the scoring down in this one making that +4 loom large. Louisiana Monroe +4