Week 4 of the college football season kicks off with a fascinating non-conference matchup featuring two solid Group of Five teams as the Appalachian State Mountaineers host the Marshall Thundering Herd.
Both teams enter this matchup with 2-1 records with the Mountaineers’ lone loss coming in a near upset at Miami, while the Herd have had one of the most electric passing games in the country through the first three weeks but are coming off a disappointing loss.
Check out our free college football betting picks and predictions for Marshall vs. Appalachian State on Thursday, September 23.
Marshall vs Appalachian State odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Appalachian State opened this non-conference matchup as 7.5-point home favorites, but have been bet down slightly to -7 as of Wednesday afternoon. It has been the total that has seen the early action getting bet up 2.5 points from the opening number of 57. Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full college football odds before placing your bets.
Marshall vs Appalachian State picks
Picks made on 9/22/2021 at 2:35 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Marshall vs Appalachian State game info
• Location: Kidd Brewer Stadium, Boone, NC
• Date: Thursday, September 23, 2021
• Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN
Marshall vs Appalachian State betting preview
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key injuries
Marshall: No key injuries to report.
Appalachian State: Daetrich Harrington RB (Questionable).
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
Marshall is 0-6 ATS in its last six games following a straight-up loss. Find more NCAA betting trends for Marshall vs. Appalachian State.
Marshall vs Appalachian State predictions
Appalachian State -7 (-110)
The Mountaineers have their sights on another Sun Belt title and have looked like a real contender for that again and they can make a case that they're one of the best Group of Five teams in the country this season.
Appalachian State opened the season with a convincing 33-19 win of East Carolina, covering the spread as 9-point favorites. Then it was within a hair of upsetting Miami, falling 26-24 but easily covering as 7.5-point dogs. And while the Mountaineers didn’t cover last week, they had a nice tune-up against FCS Elon, beating them by 34 and missing the spread by a point and a half.
What makes App State so dangerous this season is its balanced offseason. Chase Brice, the former backup quarterback to Trevor Lawrence at Clemson, came over after a disappointing year at Duke and has been solid, completing 69.8 percent of his passes for 751 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Then there's Camerun Peoples (great running back name) and Nate Noel who form the Mountaineers' two-headed attack out of the backfield. Both have over 250 yards rushing and are going over five yards per carry through three games.
The defense has been solid, too, but has been a little susceptible to the pass, which could be a problem against Marshall QB Grant Wells. The Herd’s gunslinger is third in the country in passing, throwing for 1,113 yards while completing 67.2 percent of his attempts.
Wells has led the Herd to wins over Navy and FCS North Carolina Central, but they are coming off an outright 42-38 loss to ECU as 11.5-point home favorites.
The problem has been turnovers and a defense that has taken a step back so far this season. Marshall has three giveaways in each of its first three games and in its first game against a team that could actually throw the ball, ECU QB Holton Ahlers went 30 of 48, throwing for 368 yards with two TDs and no picks.
This isn't as simple as App State beat ECU and Marshall didn't, but the Herd are turning over the ball too much right now. Ball security and balance will get the Mountaineers the win and the cover.
Under 59.5 (-110)
When it comes to the total the early money has hammered the Over, already moving the number from 57 to 59.5. That probably has something to do with the fact that these teams have combined to score 77 points per game this season, with each having a couple of question marks on defense. But I wouldn’t be as quick to jump on the Over.
For starters, these teams played to a score of 17-7 last season with a similar total. Now I don’t expect the game to be this low-scoring, but it gives us a good starting point.
Second, you can make the case that both of these defenses have underachieved so far this season. Marshall ranked third in the country in yards per play a season ago and currently ranks 48th vs. FBS opponents, while App State ranks 57th in that same category after finishing 15th a year ago.
On top of that, these teams have played three games this season with the spread below double digits and all three of those contests saw fewer than 55 points scored, with the Under going 2-1.
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