Georgia Tech at Virginia College Football Odds

Written October 21, 2009 by Riley Martin

Charlottesville, Virginia hosts an important matchup this Saturday when Georgia Tech comes to town to fight Virginia for the top spot in the Coastal division of the ACC. Virginia started off slow with losses to William and Mary, TCU, and Southern Miss, but bounced back winning their first two ACC games against North Carolina and Maryland. Georgia Tech has remained steady all season however, holding a 6-1 record, 4-1 in the ACC. So if the Yellow Jackets can slide past the Cavaliers this weekend, they’ll at least temporarily jump into that top spot, simply because of the amount of ACC wins compared to the other teams. A loss for Georgia Tech would greatly reduce their ACC title hopes though. Yes, you can possibly lose two or three in-conference games and still make it to the division title, as Virginia Tech did last year, but this year it doesn’t seem likely. Both Virginia Tech and Miami only have one loss and their remaining schedules would force most to think that at least one of them will win out the rest of their games, if not both teams. Not to discredit Virginia either, but I see this game to be much more important for Georgia Tech because of the fact that Virginia hasn’t, at this point, shown to be capable of winning all but one or two in-conference games. Sure they beat UNC and Maryland, but neither has shown to be a top ACC team this year. Now, If Virginia does actually win this game I might consider changing my mind, but for now, ill stick to what I’ve said. Anyway, aside from that, lets get to the betting spread. Oddsmakers currently have the Yellow Jackets as 5.5-point favorites over Virginia in Charlottesville. And if you’re into line changes, the NCAA football spreads initially had Georgia Tech as 4-point favorites, but heavy public leans toward the Jackets seem to have caused the 1.5-point change.

From Georgia Tech’s viewpoint, they don’t need to win this game; they absolutely have too. Miami and Virginia Tech have legitimate shots to win out the rest of their in-conference games, giving Georgia Tech no room to slip up to anyone. If they’re going to slip up, let it be to Vanderbilt or Georgia, not Virginia. With just Wake Forest and Duke remaining in-conference, a win this weekend would almost guarantee a chance to make it to Tampa for the ACC title game. Yes, I said chance, but only because of the current standings situation with Miami and Virginia Tech that I’m sure you’re aware of. Georgia Tech sure has impressed so far this season though as Paul Johnson continues to craft that option-style offense he has going on. The combo of Nesbitt, Dwyer, and Thomas could be the best trio in college football because of their ability to adjust the play, during the play. Each play is so dangerous for defenses because if the run and option doesn’t look to work out, Nesbitt can just as easily drop back and long ball it to Thomas. This is why Georgia Tech’s offense creates so many problems. However, once its shut down, Georgia Tech shuts down. We saw this in the second half of the Clemson game. Pick up an amazing $500 match bonus this college football betting season with BetUS!

If Virginia can find a way to stop the run and force long third downs, the game should be much closer. Al Groh has done a pretty good job turning around this Virginia team this year, considering their awful 0-3 start. In the last three games, the defense has been stellar too as they have only let up 19 points total. Talent wise, this Virginia team doesn’t impress me too much compared to some of their past teams, but they do have an experienced coach in Groh who knows how to prepare and bring his teams ready to play.

As you can tell, it’s no surprise that I’m favoring Georgia Tech in this game. In fact, if the line stood at 8 or 9 points I would still take Georgia Tech. The Jackets offense will ultimately be too strong for the Cavaliers and should make this 5.5-point spread pretty easy to overcome.

Riley’s Pick: Georgia Tech -5.5

My Prediction: Georgia Tech 34 Virginia 20

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