Cavaliers vs Blue Devils NCAA Football Spread/Handicapping
It has been a weird start to the season for Virginia. Since coach Mike London took over there have been glimpses of a program on the rise but this year they have been outclassed far too often.
Virginia Cavaliers (2-3) vs Duke Blue Devils (4-1)
Saturday October 6
Wallace Wade Stadium – Durham, NC
3:00PM
Moneyline: Duke -130, Virginia +110 at TopBet.eu
Spread: Duke -2
O/U: 57
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Virginia
They enter what was thought of as a soft spot on their schedule desperate for a win after three straight losses.
The worst of which was last week’s home loss to Louisiana Tech where they were up by a couple of TDs in the first half and blew it.
When you are trying to bust out of a slump you will try anything. So it will be interesting to see which way London goes at QB this week after Phillip Sims was more effective than starter Michael Rocca against La. Tech.
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Either way the Cavs have a top 30 passing offense while struggling to move the ball on the ground.
They want to have better balance should be able to probe the 4-2-5 defense of the Blue Devils on the ground.
Duke has won the last two against Virginia at home, once as a favourite and the other time as an underdog (covering both time).
Actually they have covered in 4 of the last 5 of this series overall and Virginia has failed to cover on 4 of their last 5 trips to Durham.
Unless you were really bullish on Virginia heading into the season you have to consider the Dookies as the smart value play.
Duke
It has been a while since Duke had a start this good. Not only are they 4-1 but they got the Wake Forest monkey off their back with victory last week. It is probably no surprise that they are also 4-1 ATS with three double digit victories.
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The one blemish was a trip to Stanford where to be fair USC has also lost this season.
This is the last part of the easy part of their schedule and they need this win if they want to think about being bowl eligible.
Ever since coach David Cutcliffe took over the Dookies have had an underrated passing attack. Receiver Connor Vernon just became the ACC career receptions leader and he is just one of three receivers already with 30+ receptions on the season.
The running game is a little light but they might have finally found their ace with Jela Duncan (6.7ypc).
Sean Renfree is an underrated QB in terms of national attention
This is a great spot for Duke to continue winning. They have had good success against Virginia in the past to build upon and are well coached so they should not wilt under new expectations. They are also catching the Cavaliers at the perfect time.
If they can get things going early they might just collapse.
Spread Pick: Duke -2
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Duke 31 – Virginia 24
