Seeing the Over at 57.5 points offered at nearly even money tickled my fancy. Why? Because there are several pathways for this number to get covered. Let's start with the most obvious route: North Texas annihilates Charlotte on both ends of the field. The Mean Green could conceivably threaten to score 58 on their own. The Mean Green have gone over 40 points on 3 occasions this season, including hanging 63 on FCS outfit Houston Christian. Whether 0-5 Charlotte is actually better than HCU is another conversation, but the point is that we're dealing with a lowly FBS team that could be construed as a comparable quality. Moreover, the Niners are a team that North Texas can certainly run it up against if it wants to. But I do think Charlotte can actually help us out too.
North Texas has given up at least 44 points on 3 occasions this season, albeit against better opposition in Indiana, Texas State, and Tulsa. However, Houston Christian managed to score 14 against this defense which to me translates as Charlotte will get a chance to get a couple scores too. Thus, there are multiple ways this door swings open. UNT can run up the score and potentially get us there itself, or the Mean Green can do most of the heavy lifting while Charlotte chips in with a couple of good drives or some junk-time scores. After all, this isn't Georgia's defense that we're asking the 49ers to solve. Bottom line, there are several ways to get home on the Over ticket and at even money, it's worth finding out.
Charlotte 49ers vs. North Texas Mean Green prediction: Over 57.5 (-102) available at time of publishing. Playable to Over 57.
