NCAA Football Betting – Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Clemson Tigers
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5-1 SU, 4-0 ATS) are doing better than expected under new coach Paul Johnson. On Saturday they will be facing a team in upheaval, as they travel to face the Clemson Tigers (3-3 SU, 0-4 ATS) in an Atlantic Coast Conference game in NCAA college football action, slated to begin at Noon ET at Memorial Stadium (natural grass) in Clemson, SC.
Saturday, October 18
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: GEORGIA TECH -2
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* GT has won five of its last six games SU
* GT has covered four of its last five road games
* GT has played 14 of its last 21 road games UNDER the total
* CLEM has won 17 of its last 25 home games SU
Also….
* CLEM has covered five of the last seven meetings
* Four of the last six meetings have gone UNDER the total
* CLEM has covered four of the last six meetings as the home team
It has been a bizarre week around the Clemson camp,. Head coach Tommy Bowden has been let go (replaced by interim man Dabo Swinney), and the decision has been made to replace senior quarterback Cullen Harper, considered a possible first-round draft choice next year, with redshirt freshman Willie Korn. The move was considered mandatory by the staff, since Harper had thrown six INT’s to go with his four touchdown passes. And the Tigers were one of the most disappointing teams in the country – a team that some expected to challenge for the national championship, but with three losses at the halfway mark.
Korn was a heralded recruit – ironically one that Bowden was ecstatic over landing – so it is not as if Harper is being supplanted by chopped liver. He led his high school team to two state championships, and is known as a much more mobile quarterback than Harper is. Korn has not seen any action against Division I competition yet, so Korn has his work cut out for him.
That’s because, to say the least, Georgia Tech has performed for first-year coach Paul Johnson, who came over from Navy. The Yellow Jackets are the national leader in tackles for loss, they have averaged 3.2 sacks per game, and they have yielded less than eleven points per game. One of the guys to watch out for is defensive end Michael Johnson, who will almost certainly be one of the top choices when the NFL has its draft.
A lot of people (including myself) celebrated Clemson’s array of offensive weapons (including running backs C.J. Spiller and James Davis) at the start of the year, and touted the Tigers as possible runaway winners of the ACC. But the underachievement has been caused in part by an offensive line that had to be rebuilt and has clearly not come around. The running game ranks 65th in the country, and the team has averaged 15 points per game against Division I foes.
We are concerned about the upheaval there, and at the same time impressed by the way the Jackets have responded to Johnson, We like Georgia Tech, the two-point favorite in the BetUS NCAA college football betting odds.
