North Texas vs Appalachian State: Myrtle Beach Bowl prediction and game preview.
North Texas vs Appalachian State: Myrtle Beach Bowl Broadcast
Date: Monday, December 21
Game Time: 2:30 pm
Venue: Brooks Stadium, Conway, SC
Network: ESPN
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North Texas (4-5) vs Appalachian State (8-3) Game Preview
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Three Reasons Why You Should Watch The Myrtle Beach Bowl
– It might not be exactly how the people who put together the Myrtle Beach Bowl thought this whole thing would start, but this kicks off a speed-round bowl season with an interesting afternoon game that should have a whole lot of high-powered offense.
In a bowl like this, you want lots of O, minimal D – at least that should come from one side – and two teams fired up to be in it. Here you go with the inaugural game.
– Appalachian State might not be the powerhouse of previous seasons, but it’s still strong. Its losses? Coastal Carolina, Louisiana, and Marshall – back before Marshall lost its mojo. That’s not bad.
The program has won five straight bowl games since moving up to the FBS world – the last bowl loss was 1955 – and the last three have been relative walks in park. Focus hasn’t been an issue for a program that expects to win these things.
– Let’s put it this way – North Texas couldn’t be any worse than it’s been in the three bowl appearances so far under head coach Seth Littrell. The Mean Green was annihilated by Utah State in 2018 New Mexico and lost by 20 in the 2017 New Orleans, and at the very least, you’re going to see points one way or another when they take the field.
Why North Texas, Appalachian State Will Win
What’s Going to Happen, Prediction, History
NEXT: Why North Texas Will Win, Why Appalachian State Will Win, North Texas vs Appalachian State Prediction
Why North Texas Will Win
– The offense can explode. The passing game was the best in Conference USA, the downfield throws open things up, and there’s balance. North Texas led the conference in rushing, too. It didn’t matter if it was Austin Aune of Jason Bean under center – the O moved. Bean is a better runner, and they can both bomb away to …
– Jaelon Darden. The 5-9, 174-pound explosive weapon has already declared he’s entering the NFL Draft, but first he’s going to close out his career in the bowl game. He caught 74 passes for 1,190 yards and 19 touchdowns, coming up with over 100 yards in six of his last seven games and over 200 twice.
– Appalachian State has a wee bit of a turnover problem. North Texas doesn’t really do the whole defense thing the kids are all into, but it needs to at least hold serve once in a while with a few key stops and takeaways. Appalachian State has turned it over 17 times on the year and eight times in the last three games. North Texas came up with four picks in its last outing against UTEP.
Why Appalachian State Will Win
– Yeah, the North Texas defense. How do you want to move the ball on it?
The Mean Green allowed 443 rushing yards to UTSA, 301 to UTEP, and over 200 in six of the last eight games. Appalachian State is going to prefer to get going on the ground with the nation’s tenth-best bowl game that ripped through just about everyone but Marshall.
The Mountaineers are going to run for over 200 yards getting off the bus.
– The Appalachian State defense isn’t bad, either. Coastal Carolina is the only team to score more than 26 points against the Mountaineers, and that was helped by a few key picks. The pass defense finished sixth in the nation allowing just 170 yards per game, and that was without much of a pass rush. That all feeds into …
– Time of possession. If it feels like Appalachian State is going to have the ball all game long, it’s because it will. The running game sets up lots and lots of third down conversion, and it all leads to holding the ball for close to 33 minutes per game. Not only does North Texas not come up with a whole lot of third down stops; it moves so quickly on offense that the D is always on the field.
Appalachian State will have the ball for well over ten minutes more than UNT.
NEXT: What’s Going To Happen, North Texas vs Appalachian State Prediction, Myrtle Beach Bowl History
What’s Going To Happen
Appalachian State should roll as long as it doesn’t start giving the ball away in bunches.
North Texas has a fun team that’s going to keep pressing, but it’s about to deal with one of the best defenses it faced all year – if not the best – and it’s going to have a hard time keeping up once the Appalachian State ground game gets going.
Throw in the recent bowl histories of these two programs, and it’ll be one of the biggest shocks of the bowl season if 1) North Texas pulls this off and 2) there isn’t lots of scoring, at least on one side.
Myrtle Beach Bowl: North Texas vs Appalachian State Prediction, Line
Appalachian State 48, North Texas 24
Bet on North Texas vs Appalachian State with BetMGM
Appalachian State -21, o/u: 65
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
Must See Rating: 3
5: New Year’s Day on the couch
1: New Year’s Eve going out
Myrtle Beach Bowl History
2020 First Bowl
