NCAA Football
2012-09-03 - Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech
A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted
American Football : North America : NCAAF
Monday, September 3rd, 2012, 8:00PM (1:00AM GMT)
PREVIEW
This is quite a big game for these two sides this early in the season. The Virginia Tech Hokies host the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in an ACC game that should see the ball being run a lot.
Virginia Tech went 11-3 last year, losing only to Clemson during the regular season before the end of season losses in the conference title game and then in the bowl. Still, this is a consistent team that has now gone bowling 19 years in a row and has managed 10 wins or more in 8 straight seasons. Georgia Tech come in with an 8-5 record from last year, where they too went bowling and lost.
So, what should happen here? The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are known for loving the option play, and they will run the ball 4 times out of 5. You would think Virginia Tech should have their number in that case, seeing as they were one of the best defensive teams in the country last year. V. Tech were 10th in total defence last year. Here's the thing though, while V.Tech bring back their excellent defence, Georgia Tech too bring back their offence which should match up well enough in week 1 to score a decent number of points. What about the other way round?
As good as V. Techs defence will do, they need to score points too. The Hokies are not returning many players on that side of the ball though. Logan Thomas is a very good QB, who along with running the ball very well, just like Georgia Tech QB Tevin Washington, can complete around 60% of his passes. But the Hokies are only returning 2 starters around him, so don't expect the chemistry from last year as he plays and tries to score along with a whole bunch of newbies. Georgia Tech are brining back a whole bunch of starters on defence, so they match up better against V. Tech's offence than one might think at first glance.
There are just too man losses on offence for me to be confident of the V. Tech game, so I will say I expect this to be a low scoring game, but a close one. Georgia Tech could pull a serious upset by coming here and winning this ACC game but with a whole bunch of points we don't need to rely on that.
BETTING VERDICT
I have V. Tech winning this, but not without a fight. The number has climbed past the key figure of 7, and that is enough for me to have a nibble. I'll take the visitors with 7.5 points to stay close in what should be a fantastic battle to end the first round of games.
The Pick :
Virginia Tech
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take Georgia Tech +7.5 @ 1.95 (Pinnacle)
