North Carolina vs Miami 10/16/21College Football Picks, Odds, Predictions

The North Carolina Tar Heels meet the Miami Hurricanes in Week 7 Saturday ACC college football action from Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill. Miami is coming off a bye week. The Hurricanes last played Virginia, falling by two in a tough result. As for the Tar Heels, they matched up against Florida State last weekend. In that one North Carolina ended up losing by 10 points. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Miami had a difficult opener matchup versus Alabama this year, and lost 44-13. The Hurricanes then picked up a win over Appalachian State 25-23 but lost the next game to Michigan State. Miami split their next pair, beating Central CT State 69-0 and falling to Virginia 30-28. 

In the loss to the Cavaliers, Miami gave up points in every quarter and couldn’t come back from a nine-point halftime deficit. QB Tyler Van Dyke put up 203 yards and a TD on 15-of-29 passing, and Cam’Ron Harris led the rush with 111 yards and two scores on 14 totes. 

Over on the North Carolina side, they lost to Virginia Tech 17-10 to open up the 2021 season, but won their next two games over Georgia State 59-17 and Virginia 59-39. After a loss to Georgia Tech 45-22, the Tar Heels beat Duke 38-7 back on October 2. 

Last weekend versus Florida State, North Carolina coughed up 21 points in the second quarter and never recovered in a 35-25 loss. QB Sam Howell managed 203 yards with two TDs and an interception on 17-of-32 passing. Howell also led the rush with 108 yards on 11 carries. 

The Hurricanes are 4-14 ATS in their last 18 in October and 1-6 ATS in their last seven overall. The under is 4-1 in Miami’s last five overall as well. 

Meanwhile, the Tar Heels are 5-1 ATS in their last six after a straight-up loss and 7-2 ATS in their last nine after an ATS loss. North Carolina is also 2-5 ATS versus a team with a losing record. 

PICK: I’m going to take a stab on Miami here. The Hurricanes were fairly competitive against Virginia but they were also beaten in most of the key statistical categories. Miami had a tepid 18 first downs and 203 passing yards; they’re going to have to really push the ball down the field to keep up with North Carolina on the scoreboard. 

As for the Tar Heels, they had a couple of bad quarters against Florida State but their overall offensive numbers weren’t bad. North Carolina did commit 12 penalties for 110 yards however, and that killed a lot of momentum throughout the game. It’ll be interesting to see what they look like in this Miami matchup.