Duke’s Mayo Bowl: UNC Take on the South Carolina Gamecocks

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Duke’s Mayo Bowl will be held at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The UNC Tar heels are taking on the South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Tar Heels are coming off a 6-6 season. Junior Quarterback Sam Howell finish with 2,851 passing yards and 23 touchdowns. Howell’s play has declined though over his last three seasons. 2019 starting as a true freshman he threw for 3,641 yards and 38 touchdowns. He kept his interceptions to below 10 with just seven which is great playing as a freshman. 2020 was a down year for most but not for him as he continued to play at a high level. Howell’s completion percentage increased to 68.1 percent as he once again threw for over 3,500 yards(3,586) and 30 touchdowns.

South Carolina’s Luke Doty lead the Gamecocks to a 6-6 season which is a slight improvement for their previous 4-8 season. The Sophomore quarterback only has 1,380 career passing yards through his first two seasons with the Gamecocks and seven touchdowns.

Howell’s Tar Heels are big favorites in the game with a 69.8% chance to win, According to ESPN’s Football Power Index. Their PPG is 36.4 while points allowed is 31.6. South Carolina’s PPG average is just 21.3 and points allowed is 24.3. The team has a balanced offense, rushing an average 219 yards per game and passing for an average of 259 yards per game.

One odd stat yet very similar stat is in the last five games UNC and South Carolina have both finished with 2-3 records.

Pick Center has the spread being -9 for the Tar Heels. The over/under is at 58.0.

According to Head Coach Shane Beamer, three players will not be playing in the game this Thursday. Two did not travel with the team for disciplinary reasons while the other player is away tending to a family member. We will see how this will after the team come game day.

This will be the second year under the new sponsor Duke’s Mayo after previously being called the Belk Bowl.

Head Coach Mack Brown is heading into his third bowl game with UNC and finishing his third season. He finished top-5 in the ACC since returning back in 2019. One intriguing, yet, interesting fact is that Coach Brown has never had a losing record.