Georgia Tech
vs.
Clemson
10/6/12
Georgia Tech’s defense took a vacation last week as they allowed 49 points to Middle Tennessee. Hopefully they are rested up because now they get to go to Clemson and face one of the best offenses in the nation, scoring over 40 points per Game. The Yellow Jackets sit at 2-3 with their only real win coming against Virginia, possibly one of the weakest teams in the ACC. Clemson, on the other hand, has beat Auburn, Boston College and fought tough at Florida State losing 49-37. If you can Score37 points in Tallahassee, that’s pretty good.
since it’s going to be very hard for the Georgia Tech defense to entirely stop Clemson, their offense will have to step it up. Something they haven’t been able to do enough of in home losses against Miami (FL) and Middle Tennessee. Most of the Yellow Jackets offense comes through the ground Game. Quarterback Tevin Washington has thrown for 660 yards and three TDs and also leads the team in rushing with 304 yards and 11 TDs on 78 carries. It seems like Georgia Tech will give the ball to anyone on their roster as they have eight players with at least 12 rushes on the year. Running back Zach Laskey is right behind Washington with 53 rushes for 303 yards, but he only has one touchdown.
against Florida State, Clemson’s defense GAve up 287 yards on the ground. They’ll need to step up their rush defense against Tevin Washington if they want to control the Game. But even if they have trouble on defense, their offense has made up for it for the most part this season. Tajh Boyd is completing close to 70 percent of his passes and has 1,351 yards with 13 TDs. WR DeAndre Hopkins has been unstoppable for him with 42 grabs for 604 yards and six touchdowns. Their ground Game is tops as well, led by Andre Ellington who has 515 yards and six TDs.
again, Georgia Tech’s defense gives up 26.8 points per Game and one of those Games was against Presbyterian when they allowed three points. Tevin Washington will have to have a big Game for the Yellow Jackets to have a chance.
In last year’s Game, Washington ran wild going for 176 yards on the ground, but only 60 through the air as Georgia Tech won 31-17. The Yellow Jackets have won five of the last six meetings although the spread is an even 5-5 over the past 10 Games. The under has hit six times in the past eight Games between the two teams. The Tigers are just 1-4 ATS in their last five home Games, while the Yellow Jackets are 1-3-1 in their last five road Games. Something will have to budge in this one.
Georgia Tech has had the upper hand in this series winning 5 of the last 6 and 7 of the last 9. Not surprisingly, those 2 losses came on the road at Clemson. What coNCerns us with the Clemson side is obviously their defense. Georgia Tech can put some points on the board and will obviously be looking to bouNCe back from that embarrassing loss to Middle Tennessee. Clemson has the slightly better yards per point numbers here with both teams roughly 12.5 on offense but Clemson with a 16.4 on defense to Tech’s 14.8. Using those numbers to make a line, Clemson would have the edge by roughly a point. However, when we adjust for strength of Schedule, Clemson would then become a -7 point fav. That leaves us a little wiggle room with the dog here, getting +10. When you factor in the series history and the importaNCe of bouNCing back for Tech here, the Yellow Jackets getting significant points looks like the right side. Georgia Tech +10