Wake Forest
at
Florida State
College Football
Pick
10/20/18
Florida State was fortunate to have the week off during a hurricane, but a lot of the players still have to deal with the aftermath and that could play a role in this Game, for good or bad. The Seminoles were still decent -10.5 point home favorites against Wake Forest with an over/under of 60 as of Tuesday at YOUWAGER Sportsbook.
After a troubling start to the season, FSU has shown some life in recent Games, though shouldn’t have let the lead slip away against Miami. This is still a team that barely got past Louisville and while Wake Forest was just crushed by Clemson, it’s a team that can put points on the board against weaker defenses and that’s why this matchup could be close.
The Demon Deacons have one of the worst defenses in the country, but the offense still managed 34 and 27 points against Boston College and Notre Dame, respectively. They aren’t as good as last year, but freshman quarterback Sam Hartman can at least move the ball and so far FSU hasn’t held anyone down, allowing 271 passing yards per contest. The Seminoles may be favored by double-digits, but this is the same team that only beat Samford 36-26. Whether it’s through Hartman and receiver Greg Dortch, or Cade Carney on the ground, Wake should at least move the ball and Scorea minimum of 20 points.
And while Wake may have one of the worst defenses around, it’s not much worse than Louisville’s, which only gave up 28 points to Florida State. Consistency on the offensive end has been a problem all season as Deondre Francois is still working to get back to his freshman levels. He’s had some nice performances, yet even then the offense struggles to Scoreconsistently because there’s little to no ground Game. The ‘Noles are averaging a miserable 2.7 yards per carry with Cam Akers and Jacques Patrick combined for just 559 rushing yards. Without a run Game, it’s been hard for them to hold onto leads and that’s what could happen in this Game.
If you throw out the Clemson Game in which Wake Forest got nothing done, the Deacons have shown they can move the ball against every non-elite defense. Unless FSU suddenly turns things up on the defensive end, this result could look similar to the one against Louisville in which Florida State barely won 28-24. However, there is some worry for Wake in that it lost 26-19 in this Game last year and its offense was much better with John Wolford at quarterback. FSU dominated both lines of scrimmage and that could be what happens again considering Wake was just plastered by Clemson.
The Demon Deacons are 1-7 ATS in their last eight Games overall while the Seminoles are 1-9-2 ATS in their last 12 Conference Games. The home team is 5-2-1 ATS in the last eight meetings between these schools and the under has hit in the last Four.
Our Pick – Wake Forest +10