Duke at Georgia Tech

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the Duke Blue Devils will look to get back on the winning track when they go on the road to take on the struggling Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Blue Devils ended a two game winning streak with a 21-16 loss against Boston College last week, while the Yellow Jackets got thumped 35-10 at home against Miami. Georgia Tech has won six straight against the Blue Devils, and the oddsmakers are calling for a seventh, as the current college football odds have the Yellow Jackets favored by 12-points over the Blue Devils at home.

Duke (3-7, 1-5 ACC): The Blue Devils nearly pulled off another dramatic come from behind win last week, as they drove all the way to the four-yard line, but were unable to put it in the endzone for the win.

Sean Renfree completed 35 of 49 attempts for 285 yards, but could only lead the Blue Devils to three field goals on offense. The only touchdown Duke scored all game, came on a 95 yard fumble return by August Campbell. Renfree didn’t get any help from the running game, as the Blue Devils managed just four yards on the ground as a team.

The Blue Devils rushed for 372 yards in their previous two games, so don’t be surprised if they get back to work on the ground this week against the Yellow Jackets 81st ranked run defense that is allowing just over 177 yards a game.

Georgia Tech (5-5, 3-4 ACC): The Yellow Jackets have really struggled to get the offense rolling the past three games, and last week they had their lowest output of the season, scoring just 10 points. The Yellow Jackets had 409 yards of total offense, but couldn’t finish drivers, and fumbled twice inside the Miami 10-yard line.

Sophomore Tevin Washington started his first game in place of Joshua Nesbitt, who was lost for the season with a broken right forearm in the previous game against Virginia Tech, and really played well. Washington led the Yellow Jackets with 122 yards on 21 carries, and also threw for 101 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions.

Washington and company figure to have a much easier time moving the football this week against a bad Blue Devils defense that comes in ranked 91st against the run and 100th against the pass.

Looking at the Odds: All six of the Yellow Jackets last six wins over the Blue Devils have been by at least 17 points, which has me all over Georgia Tech to cover the 12-point spread this weekend. The Yellow Jackets lead the country in rushing, averaging 319 yards a game, and the Blue Devils are just 4-18 ATS when they allow 300 or more rushing yards since 1992. My final score prediction is Georgia Tech 45, Duke 27.

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