NCAA Football Previews – Boston College Eagles vs. No.8 Clemson Tigers
The Boston College Eagles will be looking for their first conference win of the season when they take on the Clemson Tigers in an ACC-Atlantic Division matchup this upcoming Saturday afternoon. The game is slated to kick-off at 3 p.m. and it will be available on ESPN3.com.
Date/Time: Saturday, Oct.8 3 p.m. (ET)
Venue: Memorial Stadium, Clemson, S.C.
Broadcast: ESPN3.com
Eagles vs. Tigers lines by BetOnline.com
Point spread: Tigers -21.5
Over/Under: OFF
It has not been the start that Boston College envisioned this season with losses to Duke and Wake Forest en route to a 1-4 record both straight-up and against the spread overall and an 0-2 SU record in the ACC. The Eagles fell to the Blue Devils 20-19 as seven-point home favorites on Sept. 17 and dropped a 27-19 decision to the Demon Deacons this past Saturday as one-point home favorites. The total has stayed ‘under’ in four of their five games.
Boston Colleges’ offense has yet to get on track with an average of 213.3 yards a game passing the ball and an average of just 116.6 yards a game on the ground. Its defense has also been inconsistent at times and is giving up an average of 23.6 points a game.
Clemson, on the other hand, has been the early toast of the ACC with a 35-30 victory over Florida State as a 2.5-point home favorite two weeks ago and an impressive 23-3 rout of Virginia Tech this past Saturday as a seven-point road underdog. The Tigers are a perfect 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS with the total going ‘over’ in four of their five games.
The star power on this team is starting to make its presence felt with Tajh Boyd passing the ball for 1,459 yards while completing 61.3 percent of his throws. He has 14 touchdowns so far against just two interceptions. Sammy Watkins has been his favorite target with 31 receptions for 471 yards and six touchdowns, while Andre Ellington has led the way on the ground with 411 yards rushing on 93 carries. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Boston College is 3-5 ATS in its last eight games overall, but 5-1 ATS in its last six games on the road. The total has stayed ‘under’ in its last six games against teams in the ACC.
Clemson is 6-3 ATS in its last nine games and 4-0 ATS in its last four conference games. The total has stayed ‘under’ in eight of its last nine games in the ACC.
Head-to- head, the Eagles are 4-2 both SU and ATS in the last six meetings and the total has stayed ‘under’ in four of the six contests. It is easy to see why Clemson is such an overwhelming favorite this time around, but expect a bit of a letdown after two huge conference victories. The Tigers still get the outright win, but Boston College keeps things close enough to cover with the 21.5 points.
The Pick: Clemson 34 vs. Boston College 20
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