Georgia Tech
vs.
Miami
College Football
Free Pick
10/14/17
Due to Florida State’s demise and Clemson’s pure dominance, this Game may be one of the better matchups of the season in the ACC. Miami and Georgia Tech sit atop the Coastal division at 2-0 with a win here putting one team in great position to reach the ACC title Game. Then again, Georgia Tech still has to travel to Clemson and Virginia so maybe not as easily for the Yellow Jackets. Playing at home, the Hurricanes were -6.5 point favorites early in the week at 5Dimes Sportsbook.
Miami won this meeting early last year, but it wasn’t as easy as the 35-21 Scoreline suggests. OUtside of two early touchdown drives, the Hurricanes offense didn’t move the ball much. It was back-to-back fumble returns for touchdowns that put the Game out of reach in the second quarter. As long as those turnovers don’t happen, this Game should be closer, especially after Georgia Tech had its way rushing for 267 yards on 4.9 yards per carry.
Miami hasn’t allowed many points this season, but its run defense could be a problem in this Game. The ‘Canes have been mediocre in that aspect allowing 148 rushing yards per contest and that isn’t a recipe for success against the triple-option. There’s a decent chance Tech has similar success on the ground as it did in last year’s meeting.
So far, the Yellow Jackets have had no issues offensively and could be undefeated if it wasn’t for what happened in the Tennessee opener. They’ve ran through every opponent so far led by new quarterback TaQuon Marshall, who has kept the offense moving as usual. Marshall leads the team with 523 rushing yards and nine touchdowns, while KirVonte Benson has been the best of the backs with 476 yards. No one has stopped this group and nothing points to Miami being able to here.
And so, Miami’s offense will have to win and cover this Game, which isn’t a stretch. Similar to Marshall on the other end, the ‘Canes haven’t lost a step with Malik Rosier at quarterback, as he already has 11 passing touchdowns. Unfortunately, the best thing on this offense was running back Mark Walton (428 rushing yards), but he broke his ankle last week and will miss the rest of the season. In his place, it’ll be a mix of Rosier and Travis Homer, if not someone else as Homer is a bit on the small side at under 200 pounds. With a new running back, it remains to be seen what this offense will look like. And it doesn’t help that GT has allowed only about 100 rushing yards per Game. If Miami can’t find room on the ground, that will make things a bit tougher for Rosier in the air.
Because of that, Georgia Tech feels like the better team to back, even on the road. Miami backers will have to lean on the defense, which is far from guaranteed. The Yellow Jackets have covered in their last eight Games overall, while the Hurricanes are 7-1 ATS in their last eight. This will be a matchup of teams that have killed the spread in recent times, but maybe more important is that Miami is 7-1 ATS in the last eight meetings.
Our Pick – Georgia Tech +6.5