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No. 18 Clemson visits No. 24 Georgia Tech Saturday
By: Freddy Wander - StatFox
Published: 11/15/2014  at  5:29:00 AM
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CLEMSON TIGERS (7-2)
at GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS (8-2)

Kickoff: Saturday, 12:00 p.m. ET
Line: Clemson -2.5, Total: 60

No. 18 Clemson and No. 24 Georgia Tech meet in a crucial ACC matchup on Saturday afternoon.

Clemson played some very tough games to start the year and took SU losses to both Florida State and Georgia while behind losing to the Seminoles by just six points as QB Jameis Winston was out. Since that time they have been a perfect 6-0 SU while covering just two games. They have failed to do well for bettors in each of the last four contests, going 0-4 ATS and despite getting a solid 34-20 win against Wake Forest last week on the road, they did not cover the 21-point spread. In the contest they dominated with 427 yards of offense while turning over the ball twice and held the Demon Deacons to just 119 yards. Georgia Tech has done well this season with solid wins on the road against both Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh, but took back-to-back losses against Duke and North Carolina. Overall on the season they are 6-4 ATS and have covered in each of their last three games while defeating opponents by an average of 28.7 PPG. Last week they walked all over NC State with a 56-23 victory as three-point favorites on the road while totaling 549 yards of offense with a majority of it coming from their rushing attack (479 yards). Clemson has hosted in this matchup over each of the last two seasons and dominated while winning by an average of 20.0 PPG and covering in each contest. Last year they won by a score of 55-31 as the Tigers threw for 383 yards and forced two turnovers. Some trends to watch in this game include that Clemson is 10-2 ATS (83%) after playing their last game on the road over the last three seasons while being a poor 2-13 ATS (13%) after allowing 125 or less rushing yards in five straight games since 1992. On the injury front, QB Deshaun Watson (Hand) is expected to start for the Tigers while HB Zach Laskey (Shoulder) has been upgraded to probable for the host Yellow Jackets.

Which team will win this SEC showdown on Saturday? For the answer, connect to College Football Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2014 regular season and bowl season.

Clemson has been a solid offensive team in 2014 while passing for 290.2 YPG (23rd in FBS) and running for 141.2 YPG as they have scored among the top-50 in the nation (32.4 PPG). QB Deshaun Watson (1,176 yards, 12 TDs, 2 INTs) has missed the past three contests and will be a big upgrade in his return as he hit on 67% of his passes for 10.5 YPA over the first six games of the year. He threw for over 260 yards three times while having an impressive six TD game against North Carolina and also did plenty of work with his legs (147 yards, 3 TDs). HB Wayne Gallman (405 yards, 2 TDs) has taken over the starter’s role as a freshman and has over 100 yards in each of his last two games. He also added four catches for 43 yards and a score in last week’s win. WR Mike Williams (772 yards, 4 TDs) is the big play guy to watch with an average of 20.3 yards per catch while WR Artavis Scott (624 yards, 5 TDs) is more of the possession receiver and leads the team with 53 catches (11.8 avg). Their defense is what has really impressed while allowing opponents to score a mere 18.4 PPG (12th in nation) behind just 90.9 yards rushing (4th in FBS) allowed. Much of their success can be attributed to the play of LB Stephone Anthony (57 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 1 INT) and DL Vic Beasley (21 tackles, 8 sacks).

Georgia Tech is well known for their strong option offense which has netted them 335.6 YPG on the ground (3rd in FBS) while passing for a mere 145.7 YPG and scoring the 13th-most points (38.8 PPG) in the nation. QB Justin Thomas (1,294 yards, 14 TDs, 4 INTs) has been impressive as a passer on this team with three games over 175 yards through the air while throwing seven TDs to just one INT in the past four games. He is also the team’s leading rusher with 781 yards on 142 attempts (5.5 YPC) and five TDs while going over 100 yards three times. The probable return of HB Zach Laskey (595 yards, 5 TDs) will be a great thing for this offense as he attempted 17.1 rushes per game in his seven contests to start the year. In Laskey’s absence, HB Synjyn Days (503 yards, 3 TDs) did a tremendous job while averaging 138 YPG in the three contests and should still factor in quite a bit moving forward. WR DeAndre Smelter (594 yards, 6 TDs) is the one big threat in the passing game and has four 100+ yard receiving games while also putting up a goose egg in the receptions category twice. While the offense has looked great, the defense is allowing a poor 25.9 PPG and have let their opposition throw for 239.7 YPG against them. Needing to step up on this side of the ball will be LBs Paul Davis (77 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 1 INT) and Quayshawn Nealy (65 tackles, 1 sack, 2 INTs, 1 TD) as they lead the team in tackles.


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