NC State vs Duke Odds: Can Duke Win Without Riley Leonard?
QB Leonard Is Day-to-Day With High Ankle Spain Suffered in Week 5
The Duke Blue Devils will welcome the North Carolina Wolfpack to the Wallace Wade Stadium for a late-night ACC matchup.
The Duke Blue Devils had a bye week last weekend. They likely used that week to recover from a 21-14 loss to Notre Dame in the previous week. With that loss, Duke is now 4-1 but still ranked No. 17 in the AP Poll heading into this game.
On the other hand, the North Carolina State Wolfpack are sitting at 4-2 this season after a close call against Marshall. The Wolfpack escaped the non-power-5 school with a 48-41 win.
The Blue Devils have only allowed 56 points this season. Will the Duke defense handle North Carolina State’s offense on Saturday?
Take a look at the NC State vs Duke odds for Saturday’s primetime game on the ACC Network.
NC State vs Duke 
Date & Time: Location: Wallace Wade Stadium
Streaming: ACCN
Is M.J. Morris The Answer for North Carolina State?
The North Carolina defense didn’t hold up against Marshall last weekend. But the talk around town was about M.J. Morris’ impact as quarterback for the Wolfpack.
Morris is a sophomore who threw 86 pass attempts last season. But he finally got his first start last weekend for the Wolfpack and delivered.
The sophomore was erratic but had a lot of good highlights. He threw for 265 yards and four touchdowns while completing 53.1% of passes. However, he also threw three interceptions and finished with a QBR of 30.7, which isn’t good at all.
But with that said, North Carolina State has to be excited about the future with Morris. Morris can be a walking highlight once he eliminates all of the turnovers.
He won’t escape out of the pocket and earn yards rushing. However, he’s got arm talent and can produce big plays down the field.
That’s something that North Carolina State has lacked for years.
Morris was under center for 66 plays last week against Marshall. He added 12 plays with 10-19 yards, five for 20-29 yards, and nine for at least 30 yards.
Former starter Brennan Armstrong only had 11 30+ yard gains throughout 350 snaps. In 2022, North Carolina State added only 22 30+ yard plays on 913 total plays.
That’s the impact that Morris has already had with North Carolina State. He can make big plays down the field. There’s potential here.
Riley Leonard’s Status for Duke
Meanwhile, Duke hasn’t announced its quarterback for Saturday.
Starting quarterback Riley Leonard has a high ankle sprain and is progressing daily. The bye week helped him recover, but Duke is still unsure if Leonard can start for the Blue Devils in this game.
Losing Leonard for any time would be a massive blow. Leonard leads the team in passing and rushing. He’s accounted for over 1,200 yards in five games this season.
Leonard was hurt on the final play of the game against Notre Dame a couple of weeks ago. So he hasn’t officially missed a snap this season for Duke, thanks to the bye week.
Thankfully for Duke, Leonard won’t miss the entire season. He’ll return as the Blue Devils fight for the ACC Championship. But his status is up in the air for Saturday. If Leonard can’t go, it’ll be Henry Belin IV, a redshirt freshman who has attempted only 13 career passes.
Of those 13 passes, Belin IV has completed 12 of them.
Duke will take on Florida State next weekend. Therefore, the Blue Devils could turn to Belin IV for this game and send Leonard out for the game against the Seminoles.
Below, we’ll take a look at the NC State vs Duke odds in what should be an epic ACC battle.
NC State vs Duke Odds
The Duke Blue Devils are 3.5-point favorites at home against North Carolina State. The total is currently sitting at 46.5 for this matchup.
North Carolina State has only covered one game this season. The Wolfpack are 1-4-1 against the spread after finally earning a cover last weekend against Marshall. The Wolfpack were -6.5 and earned a seven-point victory last weekend.
Meanwhile, the Under hit four of North Carolina State’s first six games.
On the other hand, Duke has covered three of five games to begin the season. The Blue Devils lost against the spread at home against Notre Dame but covered their previous two games as heavy favorites against UConn and Northwestern.
The total has hit the Over and Under twice. It’s also pushed once this season.
Duke and North Carolina State have only played four games since 2008. Each team has won two and covered in two. However, North Carolina State won the most recent matchup in October 2020, with a 31-20 win as 3.5-point favorites.
Duke’s Offense Will Be Fine!
The Duke Blue Devils benefitted from having a bye week in Week 6. Riley Leonard got hurt at the end of their game against Notre Dame, so Belin IV has had two weeks of practice as the No. 1 quarterback for Duke.
The chemistry should be fine. The Blue Devils have averaged 405.4 yards per game, including 199.4 yards on the ground. While Leonard had many rushing yards, Duke should still have success rushing the football with their running backs.
The Wolfpack have only allowed 97 yards per game on the ground. But if Duke can carve out a few yards in the run game, the Blue Devils will have plenty of plays to earn third-and-short situations with Belin IV.
Will Morris Connect On The Long Ball?
M.J. Morris isn’t the most accurate quarterback. He’s got a ton of potential, but he’s still in the learning phase. He’s going to make mistakes. He’ll also try and squeeze the ball in windows when it’s not there.
Morris will fake a Duke team with one of the best secondaries in football. Duke has allowed only 159 yards per game in the air. If Morris can’t develop big plays, the Wolfpack will struggle to find much offense.
If you look at the NCAA Football scores, NC State has had some games where they’ve really struggled to score points. This can be another game like that.
Duke has a solid pass rush and will go up against a quarterback who doesn’t run much. That pass rush should force mistakes.
Some analysts will suggest that Duke is in a look-ahead spot when looking at their NCAAF Football schedule. However, we disagree. Duke has had plenty of time to reflect over the last two weeks and will be prepared against North Carolina State.
We like Duke at -3.5 when looking at the college football betting lines.
For NCAAF daily lines, college football news, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
