The Mercer Bears (0-1 FCS) and Army Black Knights (5-1 Independent) meet Saturday at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y., for a noon ET kickoff. Below, we analyze the Mercer-Army college football betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Mercer at Army: Betting odds and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Friday at 6:24 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Mercer +2000 (bet $100 to win $2,000) | Army -10000 (bet $10,000 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Mercer +30.5 (-106) | Army -30.5 (-115)
- Over/Under: 49.5 (O: -115 | U: -106)
Mercer at Army: Three things to know
- We’ve seen Mercer take to the field just once so far this season, falling 34-28 to fellow FCS team Jacksonville State. The Bears were outscored 24-0 in the second quarter. Mercer also yielded 158 rushing yards and 3.2 yards per attempt, a number sure to rise against Army’s triple-option attack.
- Army ranks third in the nation with 309.5 rushing yards per game, electing to pass for just 55.2 YPG. The Black Knights rank 35th with 31.0 points per game, and have allowed just 13.2 PPG to rank seventh defensively.
- The Black Knights will be playing their seventh game already. Army is a perfect 4-0 SU and 3-1 ATS in four games at Michie Stadium, but it had a rather concerning 14-9 lackluster affair against The Citadel on Oct. 10, never coming close to covering a 30.5-point number.
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Mercer at Army: Odds, prediction, betting lines and picks
Prediction
Army 31, Mercer 10
Money line (ML)
Army (-10000) confuses everyone with the triple-option attack, especially those seeing it for the first time. But you can’t risk $100 for every $1 won. AVOID.
Against the spread (ATS)
MERCER +30.5 (-106) proved it can move the ball, albeit in a loss, in its only game of the season. The Bears are going to have trouble stopping Army’s ground attack, but hopefully they studied tape of The Citadel game very closely. That’s the playbook on how to keep the Black Knights within arm’s length.
Over/Under (O/U)
UNDER 49.5 (-115) is a solid play. While the Over hit in Mercer’s only previous outing, a loss to Jacksonville State, the Under has dominated for Army at 5-1. The Black Knights are allowing just 13.2 PPG, and that coupled with a primarily ground-based attack to keep the clock running is a recipe for the Under nearly every time.
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