Alabama at Duke
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
This Saturday the No.1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide will play away from home for the first time this season, as they are scheduled to take on the Duke Blue Devils out of the ACC. The Crimson Tide moved to 2-0 on the season after an impressive 24-3 win against Penn State last weekend. The Blue Devils fell back to 1-1, as they lost in a shootout against Wake Forest 54-48. Looking at the current odds, the oddsmakers have the Crimson Tide 24-point favorites over the Blue Devils on the road.
Alabama scored 24 unanswered points to start the game against the Nittany Lions, and needless to say that was plenty of points for their defense. Quarterback Greg McElroy connected on 16 of 24 attempts for 229 yards, including touchdown tosses to Kevin Norwood and Preston Dial.
Running back Trent Richardson continued to look good in place of 2009 Heisman winner Mark Ingram, as Richardson ran for 144 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. Ingram returned to practice this week, and it looks as though he will more than likely be in action this week, but how many carries he gets is up in the air.
Alabama’s defense forced four turnovers, and didn’t allow a single point until the just under 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Hard to imagine that this unit has just two starters back from last season, as they look as good as any defense in the country after two weeks of play.
The Blue Devils definitely did enough damage on the offensive side of the ball to win last week, as they scored 38 points in the first half against Wake Forest. Quarterback Sean Renfree finished with 358 yards and four touchdowns, but also really cost the Blue Devils with three interceptions.
Running back Desmond Scott also had a nice day for Duke, as he finished with 122 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Sophomore wide out Conner Vernon finished with eight catches for 181 yards and two touchdowns, while senior Austin Kelly had a team best 10 catches for 73 yards and a touchdown.
Looking at the Odds: Considering the Crimson Tide just beat the Nittany Lions by 21-points last week, I think you have to take Alabama to cover the 24-point spread against the Blue Devils. I like what the Blue Devils have done on offense to this point of the season, but they are not going to have the same kind of success against Nick Saban’s defense. I also love Alabama’s offense to just poor on the points against the Blue Devils poor defense in this one.
The Crimson Tide are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games in September, and are 13-6 ATS in their last 19 games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game. My final score prediction is Alabama 41, Duke 13.
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