College Football ATS Picks - Auburn at Clemson Game Preview

The Clemson Tigers are looking to become the first team to win back-to-back national championships since Alabama did it in 2011-12. Clemson was able to prevent Alabama from repeating as champions last season and got off to a great start in its quest to become the first ACC school to accomplish the feat. The Auburn Tigers, themselves hailed as a national title contender in 2017, will aim to prevent that from happening.

This matchup in Week 2 of the regular season will take place on Saturday, September 9, 2017,

at 7 p.m. ET at Clemson Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina. This game will be broadcast on ESPN.

College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu

Auburn +5
Clemson -5
Over/Under 53.5

Odds Analysis

Auburn was a 34-point favorite against Georgia Southern in its season opener and ended up winning 41-7. The Tigers weren’t stopped by the Eagles, but stopped themselves three times on the afternoon. Quarterback Jarrett Stidham turned the ball over twice (one interception and one fumble) and wide receiver Darius Slayton fumbled once too. The game went under the total by a considerable margin thanks to a standout performance from this defense.

Clemson didn’t waste any time dilly-dallying with Kent State in the opener. The Tigers rushed out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back on their way to a 56-3 pasting of the Golden Flashes. Kelly Bryant was about as good as you’d want a quarterback to be in his first start and Hunter Johnson and Zerrick Cooper even got to see some time in the blowout too.

Matchup to Watch

These are two of the best defenses in college football and it will be fascinating to see how each offense decides to attack its counterpart.

Kevin Steele is seen as one of the better defensive coordinators in the country and turned things around at Auburn in a big way last season. The Tigers allowed just 17.1 PPG, by far their best showing this decade, and shut down the run.

Auburn’s front seven totally dominated the line of scrimmage against Georgia Southern last week, giving up just 70 yards on 47 carries, a scant 1.5 YPC. Defensive end Marlon Davidson is just a sophomore, but the most talented player on the line and led the way with two sacks.

Speaking of defensive lines, Clemson’s might be the best in the nation. The defensive tackle duo of Dexter Lawrence and Christian Wilkins is downright unfair and both might win All-American honors at the end of the year.

Clemson limited Kent State to 2.7 YPC on Saturday and no running back ended the game with more than 21 yards on the ground.

Player to Watch

It’s not often that a talent like Stidham becomes available as a transfer option. Stidham left Baylor right as everything started to hit the fan with that program and it was a coup for Gus Malzahn to land him this offseason.

Stidham has everything you could want in a quarterback. He has a big arm, mobility, and can hit open receivers. He only started three games at Baylor, but was a star in them with a 12-to-2 touchdown to interception ratio.

Free ATS Pick

We have no idea what either of these teams’ pass defenses are like heading into this game. Auburn allowed eight times as many yards through the air as Clemson last week, but still allowed just eight yards. Both of their opponents use run-heavy offenses and have very limited passing games, so it wasn’t a surprise to see them unable to move the ball through the air.

The under seems like a solid bet here. Both teams combined for just 32 points when they met last season and both defenses are lights out. As for a side, Auburn is one of the sharpest plays on the board this week, so back the boys from Bama.

College Football Odds: Auburn 24, Clemson 20

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