Clemson
vs.
Georgia Week 1
College Football Pick
8/30/14
In what will be one of the Marquee Games of week 1 college football action, Georgia will host Clemson on Saturday evening with a 5:30 kickoff time in a Game that can be seen on ESPN. 5 Dimes Sportsbook opened Georgia as a -9.5 point favorite on July 28th and the Game has since been bet down to -7.5. The total has gone from 59 to 57.5.
These two opened up last season against each other as well, with Clemson as the host. Clemson was a +2.5 point home dog in that one and wound up on top 38-35 in a Game that was tied on 4 different occasions before Clemson pulled away late and then hung on to win.
Both of these teams have some holes to fill on both sides of the ball. Both will be fielding QB’s that have seen limited action. If there’s an edge in terms of returning starters it would go Georgia as they return most of their defense. However, it’s important to point out that it wasn’t a great defense a year ago as their final yards per point number of 12.9 shows. They’ll be better this year but they gave up on average 29 points per Game a year ago. They’ll need to be more than a little better if the Bulldogs are going anywhere this year.
Returning starters and Letterman generally mean much less with deep teams like these. These programs recruit great talent year after year. As good as the guys who left were, you can be sure there’s a new player just as good or better waiting for his day in the sun. Both of these program are consistently good.
Georgia has the home field edge along with Heisman candidate tailback Todd Gurely. Along with their returning defensive starters, the current -7.5 point line is justified.
That being said, we’re going to back Clemson here. It’s doubtful this Game will play out much differently than a year ago. If anything, expect less points as the inexperienced QB’s find their way. This Game is likely to be decided by a key turnover here and there as most Games like this are. In that scenario, there’s no better position to be in as a bettor, than to be sitting with a TD in your back pocket as the teams head for home. We see this one being decided late in the 4th. Clemson +7.5