The No. 5 Clemson Tigers open conference play on the road against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Thursday, September 22nd to kick off Week 4 college football. The home team has won six straight meetings in this series, including a 43-24 victory for the Tigers as 7.5-point favorites last season.
Clemson (3-0) is coming off its first blowout victory of the season. After narrow wins over both Auburn and Troy, the Tigers rolled to a 59-0 shutout home win over South Carolina State last week.
Georgia Tech (3-0) put together its most impressive performance of the season last week in a 38-7 home win over SEC foe Vanderbilt. The Yellow Jackets put up 511 total yards, including 289 rushing, in the win.
Kickoff inside Bobby Dodd Stadium is set for 7:30 EST Thursday night with ESPN providing the television coverage. Taking a look at the odds in Las Vegas, I find Clemson as a 9.5-point favorite over Georgia Tech with a total set of 57 points.
I believe this line would be higher had the Tigers not struggled in their first two games of the season with narrow victories over Auburn (19-13) and Troy (30-24). They certainly could have been suffering a hangover from their loss in the National Championship, but they got it out of their system with a 59-0 win over South Carolina State last week.
Now that the Tigers are into conference season, expect them to put their best foot forward this week against Georgia Tech. And I believe that will be enough to win by double-digits, which is all it’s going to take to cover this 9.5-point spread Thursday.
While Clemson is undervalued after its shaky start, Georgia Tech is overvalued after its 3-0 start. But it’s not like the Yellow Jackets have beaten anyone of any significance. Its three wins have come against Vanderbilt, Boston College and Mercer. Vanderbilt is 1-2 this season, Mercer is an FCS foe, and Boston College just lost to Virginia Tech 49-0 last week.
The Tigers rolled the Yellow Jackets 43-24 at home in a game that was an even bigger blowout than the final score would indicate. They outgained them 537-230 for the game, or by 307 total yards. The held Georgia Tech’s triple-option attack to just 71 rushing yards on 42 carries, or an average of 1.7 per carry.
Clemson is every bit as good as it was last season, and if it plays like it did against Georgia Tech last year, it will run away with this game as well. The Tigers rolled the Yellow Jackets 43-24 at home in a game that was an even bigger blowout than the final score would indicate. They outgained them 537-230 for the game, or by 307 total yards. The held Georgia Tech’s triple-option attack to just 71 rushing yards on 42 carries, or an average of 1.7 per carry.
Plays on road favorites of 3.5 to 10 points (CLEMSON) – off three or more consecutive unders, with a great scoring defense allowing 14 or less points/game are 25-5 (83.3%) ATS since 1992.
Clemson is 20-8 ATS in its last 28 games off a win by 35 points or more. The Tigers are 27-11 ATS in their last 38 road games after scoring 37 points or more last game. Dabo Swinney is 7-0 ATS in road games vs. good teams who outscore opponents by 17 or more points per game as the coach of Clemson. The Yellow Jackets are 2-9-1 ATS in their last 12 games overall. Georgia Tech is 1-7 ATS in its last eight vs. a team with a winning record.