Miami vs. North Carolina 2023 College Football Week 7 Odds, Preview & Pick

By Hank Blaine • October 9, 2023

Off one of the worst conference losses you will ever see, the Miami Hurricanes look to keep their shot of reaching the ACC title game alive when they visit No. 12 North Carolina on Saturday. The unbeaten Tar Heels are short favorites.

Miami Hurricanes vs. North Carolina Tar Heels Game Information

No. 8 in your program and No. 1 on SportsCenter’s Top Plays #CarolinaFootball #UNCommon pic.twitter.com/a8ECT04rQT
— Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) October 8, 2023

When: Saturday, October 14, 2023, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill, NC
TV: ABC
Radio: WQAM 560 AM (Miami) // 97.9 The Hill WCHL (North Carolina)
Live Stream: WatchESPN
College Football Odds: Miami (+3) // North Carolina (-3)

Why Bet on the Miami Hurricanes?

The Hurricanes (4-1) had been No. 17 in the polls but were upset 23-20 at home by Georgia Tech on Saturday as big favorites. Haynes King threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Christian Leary with one second remaining after Miami turned the ball over with the game all but won.

The Yellow Jackets drove 74 yards in 24 seconds, just after the Hurricanes had the option to kneel down, likely run out the clock, win the game and remain unbeaten. Instead, they handed off the ball to Don Chaney Jr., who promptly fumbled. Georgia Tech recovered at its own 26 with just 25 seconds left. The fumble was reviewed and upheld, giving the Jackets life. King completed a 30-yarder to Malik Rutherford to move the ball to Canes 44. After spiking the ball, King rolled right and completed the winning throw to Leary.The Canes outgained the Jackets by 204 total yards – 454 to 250 — but five Miami turnovers helped keep Tech close throughout.

“Not going to make an excuse for it, say we should’ve done this or that,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said of not taking a knee. “That’s it. We should’ve done it. Sometimes you get carried away with just, finish the game and run it. I should’ve stepped in and said, ‘Hey, just take a knee.'”

Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson called for Chaney to get a handoff instead of a kneel-down by Van Dyke, and Cristobal didn’t overrule Dawson.

Asked if he was surprised that he wasn’t told to take a knee, Van Dyke said, “At the end of the day, I’ve got to put us in a better situation. I don’t want to speak on that. We should not have even had a situation where we had to run the clock out, take a knee.”

Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke completed 24 of 26 passes for 288 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions for UM. Star safety Kam Kinchens returned to the lineup from injury and paced the team with seven tackles.

With a win against Georgia Tech (3-3) in their ACC opener, the Hurricanes would have matched their win total from last season and set up a huge showdown for this game The Tar Heels improved to 5-0 with a 40-7 rout of Syracuse earlier Saturday. Instead, UM is left to pick up the emotional pieces.

Why Bet on the North Carolina Tar Heels?

The Tar Heels are 5-0 for the first time in 26 years, when they started 8-0 in 1997 in the final season of Mack Brown’s first coaching stint in Chapel Hill. In Sunday’s rout of Syracuse, UNC raced out to a 27-0 halftime lead and never looked back. The Heels had a season-high 644 yards.

Star QB Drake Maye sliced through the Orange defense for a season-high 442 yards passing (six shy of his career high) and three touchdowns, including 23 of 35 for 280 yards and two scores while completing passes to 10 different receivers in the first half. He also ran for 55 yards and a TD. Wide receiver Nate McCollum had seven catches for 135 yards, averaging 19.3 per grab. Kobe Paysour tallied three grabs for 100 yards and a 76-yard touchdown on a one-handed catch.

Touted transfer Tez Walker was only approved to play this season for UNC by the NCAA last week and Walker debuted for the Heels on Saturday. He caught six catches for 43 yards against the Orange as North Carolina steadily worked him into the offense. Walker’s presence quickly opened up more scoring opportunities for the Tar Heels, who notched their third 40-point scoring game of the season.

“He’s gonna do a lot for the other guys,” Maye said. “If they leave him one-on-one, they’re gonna pay.”

Miami’s Cristobal has eight wins over teams ranked in the Top 25 since 2018 dating to his Oregon days, where he was 7-6. UM also knocked off ranked Texas A&M earlier this year – although the Aggies aren’t ranked any longer.

North Carolina is 15-11 all-time vs. Miami and won 27-24 last year in south Florida. Maye passed for 309 yards and two touchdowns, one of them a 74-yarder to J.J. Jones. Van Dyke completed 42 of 57 passes for 496 yards — the second-most in Miami history, behind Stephen Morris’ 566 in 2012 — and three touchdowns for the Canes. Down 27-24, Miami initially appeared to recover an onside kick with about 2 minutes left; Al Blades Jr. dove along the sideline to knock the ball inbounds and the Hurricanes seemed poised to take over. The play was overturned by replay.

Miami vs. North Carolina Betting Trends

Miami is 4-1 SU in the last 5 games.
The Hurricanes are 4-12 ATS in its last 16 games.
The total went under in 4 of Miami-FL’s last 5 games played in October.
North Carolina is 5-0 SU in the last 5 games.
Tar Heels are 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games.
The total went under in 8 of North Carolina’s last 11 games.

Miami vs. North Carolina Expert Betting Predictions

North Carolina 33, Miami 30.

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