Free NCAA Football Prediction: Blue Devils vs. Cavaliers Odds
Looking for Duke Blue Devils vs. Virginia Cavaliers free picks? College football betting sees the Blue Devils taking on the Cavaliers on Saturday, October 16, 2021, at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, VA. Cappers Picks provides complimentary handicapping picks all NCAA football season long so stay tuned for more FREE college football game Week 7 predictions like this Duke Virgina free pick.
College Football Handicapping Analysis: Week 7
Duke Blue Devils (3-3) vs. Virginia Cavaliers (4-2)
Date: Saturday, October 16, 2021
Time: 12:30 pm EST
Venue: Scott Stadium
NCAA Football ATS Spread Odds: Duke +10.5 / Virginia -10.5
NCAA Football Moneyline Odds: Blue Devils +320 / Cavaliers -430
NCAA Betting Total Odds: O/U 70
Week 7 college football sees the Blue Devils and Cavaliers meet at Scott Stadium.
The Blue Devils will be looking to end the 2-game losing skid that also put them at 0 – 2 in ACC play when they head up the coast to Charlottesville, VA. As double-digit underdogs, the line setters have pointed to another loss that could put this program under the .500 mark and O’fer conference games.
Someone has to be the best at their position in the country and Brennan Armstrong has put his name in the hat! Virginia’s QB has amassed 2,460 passing yards through 6 games and he is leading the nation with that kind of production. The Cavaliers rank #2 in the land putting up 412.8 passing yards a contest and the Duke def… Oh, no you don’t! No one says passing defense and these Devils in the same sentence if at all possible.
The Cavs are favored by 10.5 points in this ACC Coastal Division matchup.
Duke Blue Devils
Yeah, let’s not try to use the words defense and Blue Devils in the same sentence if we can help it because things have gotten pretty bad in Durham on that side of the ball. The 106th pass defense has to try to deal with arguably the best passing game in the nation this weekend so buckle up Sunshine!
Georgia Tech’s Jeff Sims nearly put up 300 yards against Duke last weekend and Sims is not even close to the level of Mr. Armstrong, no disrespect intended. Sims has appeared in 4 games in his freshman campaign and Armstrong is in year 3 with the Cavs program so there is quite the discrepancy there.
Gunnar Holmberg also put up just under 300 yards in last weekend’s 31 – 27 loss to the Jackets, The offense fumbled the ball twice and Holmberg threw one pass to the wrong team that all added up in the end. Stats don’t tell the story because on paper Duke outplayed Tech in every aspect of the game. Duke outgained the Jackets 489 to 440, they converted 10 more first downs, and the team had nearly 200 yards on the ground to go with Holmberg’s 292 in the air.
Having balance is good, but scoring points is better!
The def… um, that side of the ball may be struggling in the rankings but let’s not miss out on what Duke is doing again under David Cutcliffe. Duke’s offense is putting up 499.3 YPG which has them ranked 11th in the nation. The ground game ranks 20th in the land putting up 221.8 yards a contest.
Mataeo Durant has that run game in motion and he will be seen carrying the rock early and often this weekend. Durant will topple the 150-carry mark this weekend and he could put himself over 900 yards with a big game on Saturday. With 788 yards and 9 trips to the end zone, Mr. Durant will also be a pain in Virginia’s ass catching the ball out of the backfield.
Virginia Cavaliers
Neil Armstrong went to the moon. Brennan Armstrong has been to the moon and back this season leading the nation in passing yards and his 17 TD passes are tied for 7th in the land.
Did you happen to catch the Louisville game last weekend in which the Cavs escaped with a 34 – 33 win? How does 40 for 60 with 487 passing yards look to you? Oh, it’s just the 4th time through 5 games that he has broken the 400-yard barrier in 2021… pfffft! Old hat now LOL
The obvious concern we have is that he has thrown, at least, one INT in every game so he needs to control the urge to… oh, shut up, control this! When you are putting up 400+ yards and scoring points in droves it is ok to take those chances here and there, and he does.
As the season continues to unfold he will surely understand that those chances can’t be turned into turnovers when they face the likes of BYU, Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech later in the year. This weekend, however, it is just a matter of slinging it out and taking advantage of a Duke passing def… <<< Nope, I told you we don’t do that!
The sack count also needs to be cut down because Armstrong has been tackled behind the line of scrimmage 18 times already. Of course, he will take off on a moment’s notice and do what he has to do try and move the chains should the pattern be full Captain!
Regardless, we have approval for takeoff so please notice the seatbelt sign is on and there is no smoking on this flight! Just enjoy the barrage of points we will see here and the line setters surely expect it by slapping a 70 on this total!
NCAA Football Handicapping Trends
- Over is 7-2 in Blue Devils’ last 9 games following a straight-up loss.
- Over is 7-3 in Blue Devils’ last 10 games on grass.
- Over is 5-2 in Blue Devils’ last 7 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
- Over is 27-13-1 in Cavaliers last 41 games as a favorite.
- Over is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in Virginia.
- Over is 10-4 in Cavaliers last 14 home games.
Free Week 7 NCAA Football Pick
Because the line setters told us what to expect here, we follow their lead.
4* Free Week 7 NCAA Betting Pick:
Expecting 70+ points can be tricky with any kind of early struggles to find points. Yeah, that won’t be the case here so expect to see closer to 100 than 70.
4* Free Week 7 NCAA Betting Pick: Over 70
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