GAME 1
Georgia Tech has a must-win college football game on its hands at No. 20 Virginia Tech. Georgia Tech quarterback Joshua Nesbitt was receiving similar praise prior to the season, but he hasn't enjoyed as much success. Nesbitt, averaging 165.6 yards of total offense, endured one of the worst performances of his four-year career in a 27-13 loss to Clemson on Oct. 23, managing 85 total yards. He needed 44 yards to break the ACC career record for yards rushing by a quarterback but was limited to two yards on 15 carries as Georgia Tech's three-game winning streak was snapped. Nesbitt had much better success running the ball in a 28-23 upset win over fourth-ranked Virginia Tech last October. Although he finished 1 of 7 passing for 51 yards with an interception, Nesbitt rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns. Georgia Tech has sustained its rushing prowess this year with a nation-leading 317.4 rushing yards per game. RB Anthony Allen (87 rush YPG, 5 TD) and Nesbitt (81 rush YPG, 8 TD) have combined for 62 percent of the team’s carries, But on the other hand passing has not been their bread and butter, so be concerned with Georgia Tech’s virtually non-existent passing game. The Jackets rank second-last through the air in front of only Army this season with 84.8 yards passing per game.The Yellow Jackets have the second-fewest pass attempts (105) and passing yards (678) in the nation. The defense has been adequate in terms of yardage, ranked 53rd in nation with 354 YPG allowed, but it has been better against the pass (192 YPG). GT is known for its triple-option run-heavy offense that has it ranked first in the nation in rushing (317.4 YPG), but it’s its inability to stop the run that has me fading it heading into Blacksburg. The Jackets are only 75th against the run (162.2 YPG), and they’re up against quarterback Tyrod Taylor and the country’s 16th-ranked rushing attack (214.8 YPG). For the defending champion Yellow Jackets to even have a chance of representing the Coastal Division in this year's conference title game, they must win
After a forgettable start to the season with back-to-back losses to Boise State and James Madison, Virginia Tech is playing like most expected Virginia Tech goes for its seventh straight and ATS when it hosts Georgia Tech on Thursday night. The winner of the last three meetings between Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech has gone on to capture the ACC championship. Virginia Tech has been a beast in conference play, posting a 26-12 ATS record (68%) over the past five seasons against ACC opponents and 38-15 ATS in their last 53 conference games. QB Tyrod Taylor is the main reason the Hokies have won six in a row. He has 12 TD and just two interceptions during the win streak and has also chipped in two 100-yard rushing games and three rushing touchdowns. The Hokies don’t depend entirely on the run, either, even if it is their bread and butter. Taylor has emerged as arguably the best dual-threat QB in college football to lead a VT offense that’s 14th in scoring (37.0 PPG). Outside of a 19-0 shutout win at Boston College, the Hokies scored at least 41 points in the other five wins during their current streak. quarterback Tyrod Taylor,the senior leads the ACC with a 171.1 passer rating while throwing for 1,602 yards with 15 touchdowns and three interceptions. He also leads the Hokies with 527 rushing yards and needs 95 total yards to surpass Bryan Randall as the school's career leader for total offense. Williams is making his return and is getting healthier coming off a bye week, and it looks like he’s ready to take on a bigger role in the offense after playing two series in the Hokies’ 44-7 win over Duke in Week 8. We know that Virginia Tech is rolling on all cylinders, but The underdog is 4-0 ATS (3-1 SU) in the past four series meetings and Yes, the Hokies won 41-30 as 3.5-point chalk at an underrated North Carolina State team, but the list of the other opponents during their run looks like this: Duke, Wake Forest, Central Michigan, Boston College, and East Carolina. Low calibur teams. I think with the Yellow Jackets coming off of a bye they will have made some suprising adjustments to keep this game low scoring and closer than the experts think. Not too mention the fact that they absolutely need this win tonight no questions asked. I see a good effort in this game for the Yellow Jackets to stay within a TD.
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GAME 2
Buffalo has had a really tough year, as they are 2-6 SU and ATS this season. This Bulls team has lost repeatedly in blowout fashion this year, as each of their 6 losses have come in blowout fashion. Aside from wins against equally-pathetic Bowling Green and Rhode Island, the Bulls have lost six games by a margin of 25.7 points per game. The Bulls have failed to score more than 14 PTS in their last 3 games, and are only averaging 14.9 PPG for the season. With a scoring offense that is 6th worst in the nation, Buffalo is simply brutal on the offensive side of the ball. They have scored just three touchdowns in the last three weeks and converted just six-of-34 third downs in the last two contests. On the defensive side of the ball, The Bulls may not have much but they do have a defense that ranks 34th in the country. They’ll need it to keep them in the game this week. However, they are allowing 29.6 PPG for the year against opponents. After tying New Mexico for the most turnovers through seven games, the Buffalo Bulls finally tightened up a bit last week and only gave away the ball once. And they still lost 21-9 at home to Miami of Ohio.
Ohio has won their past 5 games, as they are easily playing their best football of the season. Surprisingly, the Bobcats are winning impressively thanks to an offense that has scored at least 30 PTS in each of their past 5 games. Last week, had one of their sloppiest games of the year against La-Lafayette. Quarterback Boo Jackson threw four interceptions on four consecutive series and the Ragin Cajuns recovered two onside kicks. They nearly won even though they lost their quarterback on the opening series.
The Bobcats are playing their final home game of the season, so this wildly successful team wants to end on a big note. The Bobcats are 6-3 SU, including 4-1 in MAC play. Jackson has thrown at least 3 TD's in 2 of his past 4 games. The Bobcats have an impressive running game, averaging nearly 175 YPG on the ground this season. Defensively, Ohio is allowing 21.4 PPG, 43rd best in the nation. The Bobcats are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games. The real story of this game will be the Buffalo run defense versus Ohio’s rushing offense. The Bobcats are a run-oriented team and average 176.8 rushing yards per game (35th in the nation). Buffalo has struggled against two similar opponents with Temple and Northern Illinois. There is a big disparity between these teams and it couldn’t come at a worse time for Buffalo. The Bobcats had their letdown last week and they survived it; they won’t be that sloppy two weeks in a row. The Bobcats are 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games as a home favorite. Ohio has outrushed all of their opponents during their five-game winning streak and the same will happen on Thursday. Throw in a couple of Bulls turnovers and you have a Bobcats cover IMO.
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