How and what to watch for Western Carolina vs. No. 22 Liberty

The undefeated Liberty Flames look to remain perfect as they take on Western Carolina, an FCS opponent, in its first appearance of 2020.

Western Carolina didn’t have a great 2019, going 3-9 last season. FCS teams aren’t playing a full fall season because of COVID-19, so this will be our first real look at the Catamounts. Western will return the bulk of its offense but will have a new signal-caller in Will Jones, who was the backup last season.

Liberty has taken the college football world by storm this year, with an unblemished record through seven games. Not only is the team’s offense very good, scoring 38 points per game, but it’s also balanced. Quarterback Malik Willis has over 1300 yards, 12 touchdown passes and just one interception. The Flames also have a potent ground game that’s racked up over 1700 yards and 16 scores on the ground.

Willis leads the way with seven rushing scores and 600 yards with his legs, but running backs Joshua Mack, Shedro Louis and Peytton Pickett have been fantastic as well. All three average 5 or more yards per carry and have combined for 1,200 yards and nine touchdowns. The Flames defense is pretty good as well, only allowing a little over 20 points per game. However, that’s been against primarily FBS teams. Western Carolina will have a tough time getting anything going on offense or defense in this one.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch Western Carolina vs. Liberty on Saturday, November 14th at 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN3 Network, which you can stream it via the ESPN app with a cable or streaming service login or on watchespn.com.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: Western Carolina vs. Liberty (-33.5)
Point Total: 61.5

• The total has gone over in seven of WCU’s last 10
• Western Carolina is 0-10 straight up in its last 10
• Liberty is 4-1 ATS in its last five
• The total has gone over in 10 of Liberty’s last 14 games.

Betting splits

Western Carolina: (21% of handle, 30% percent of bets)
Liberty: (79% of handle, 70% percent of bets)

The Best Bet

Western Carolina was a bad team last season, and coming out of the gates to make its 2020 debut against this Flames team won’t be easy. Liberty should roll, and push up the number of points in the process.

Pick: Over 61.5

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