First-Half Play in East Carolina vs. Cincinnati

East Carolina vs. Cincinnati, 8:00 ET

Both teams in this game come in with a bit of momentum and they are looking to keep pushing their hopes toward a nice Bowl Game. I assume that both will get into a bowl, but which one is still a question. This should be a good game though.

East Carolina comes into the game with a 6-3 record and winners of four of their past five games. They look like they are clicking on all cylinders on offense. One of their bigger strengths is their passing game, but I don't expect them to get much going there as Cincinnati is pretty solid in the secondary. They also are coming off of a bye week here which could be good for them to have their rest, but with how they were playing, it might've been nice for them to keep going as they were absolutely rolling. It is possible that they come out and are rusty as well. My expectation is that they will be well-prepared for this game.

For Cincinnati to win this game, it should look to rely on their passing game. In their last game, they played Navy. This game is going to be very different than what you'd expect from Navy. While Navy ran the ball 53 times in the game last week, East Carolina will present a more balanced offense and challenge Cincinnati in both the passing game and rushing game. The good news for Cincinnati is that I don't think they will be stopped too much by East Carolina. The Pirates defense will probably start the game a little stronger than the offense which means that the first half could be a bit lower-scoring.

My favorite play in this game is to take the under 26.5 in the first half of the game. I expect this to be a bit slower as these two teams feel each other out. The adjustments at halftime should actually lead the full game to be over, but in the first half I think it will be slower paced and less offense.

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