ACC Championship Game – Boston College Eagles vs. Virginia Tech Hokies
Two teams who are very familiar with each other will battle for the ACC title for the second year in a row when the Boston College Eagles (9-3 SU, 7-4 ATS) and the Virginia Tech Hokies (8-4 SU, 4-7 ATS) clash for a spot in the Bowl Championship Series, in NCAA college football sports betting action that is slated for kickoff at 1 PM ET Saturday at Raymond James Stadium (natural turf) in Tampa.
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: PICK’EM, Total 39
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* BC has won and covered four of its last five games
* BC has played six of its last eight games OVER the total
* VT has covered two of its last seven games
* VT has won 18 of its last 24 games SU
Also…
* BC has covered eight of the last ten meetings
* BC has won four of the last six meetings SU
* VT has won nine of the last 13 meetings SU
* Four of the last five meetings have gone UNDER the total
On the surface, it certainly looks like Boston College is handicapped without the services of starting quarterback Chris Crane, who is out with a broken collarbone. But because Crane was not a particularly efficient passer, it is not such a dramatic drop-off to redshirt freshman Dominique Davis. And Davis led BC to wins over Wake Forest and Maryland, completing 52.5% of his passes, but more importantly, no interceptions in his 59 attempts.
Montel Harris is the guy the Eagles will need to chip in to help take some of the pressure off Davis. Harris, a freshman, has finished with something of a flourish, rushing for more than 100 yards in three of the last four contests. And BC scored four pretty significant wins down the stretch, beating Notre Dame, Florida State, Wake Forest and Maryland.
Boston College’s defense is not impermeable, but the Eagles have been outstanding against the run, holding opponents to just 2.9 yards a pop. And you just can’t ignore their ability to take the ball away; BC leads the nation with 25 interceptions. They have the ability to make Virginia Tech one-dimensional. What dimension that will be is unknown. But Tyrod Taylor, who was taken off the redshirt program and put into action early on, is hardly a productive passer (just TWO TD passes in 132 attempts). Darren Evans will be going over the 1000-yard mark in this game, though his 253 yards against Maryland represented one of only two 100-yard games on the season.
Both of these teams are so similar that it deserves to be a pick’em game. Both run fairly well, defend the run well and have passers who will not set the world on fire. Both will force turnovers. Boston College has a little bit more push on the offensive side, but Virginia Tech has more versatility on “O” and, if you believe the legend of Frank Beamer, an edge on special teams, though most of the numbers don’t bear that out. They definitely have the better field goal kicker, however, in Dustin Keys. That may be one of the differences, along with the fact that Boston College is more prone to cough the ball up (26 turnovers committed). Remember that Virginia Tech has at its disposal a change of pace at quarterback, and Beamer has, from time to time, used that to his advantage to keep defenses off balance.
This can’t be a substantial call, because it is such a tight game. But little edges point us toward the Hokies, at pick’em in the BetUS NCAA college football sports betting odds.
