College football continues its mission to find audiences across the globe in the first game on Saturday of College Football Week 1. For the second time in three seasons, Dublin, Ireland will host a game. Two seasons ago, it was a back-and-forth affair between Penn State and UCF. This season, it will be a defensive slugfest as the Boston College Eagles take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Winning this game will be crucial to both teams’ chances of making a bowl this season.
This matchup in Week 1 of the regular season will take place on Saturday, September 3, 2016,
at 7:30 a.m. ET at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland on ESPN2.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Georgia Tech -3.5
Boston College +3.5
Over/Under 44
Odds Analysis
The spread has remained flat, but the total has fallen like a rock here. The over/under opened at 47 and quickly fell to 44 in less than 24 hours. With the way these two teams play football, that kind of move is warranted.
Matchup to Watch
Boston College’s defense was one of the best in the country last season allowing just 15.3 points per game and 254 yards per game. Only Clemson scored more than 26 points on this unit and that led to the under hitting in 10 of BC’s 12 games. Stopping the attack at the line of scrimmage was huge and Boston College had four players who had 10 or more tackles for loss, three of whom return this season.
The Eagles play extremely disciplined football on defense and that’s the key to stopping the option. Georgia Tech will try to make this unit leave its lanes with misdirection, but the linebacker corps is experienced and should play assignment football. BC has been preparing for this game for a month and will be more than ready to stop the attack.
Key Stat
One of the biggest reasons why Georgia Tech went from an 11-win team to a 3-win team last season was the deterioration of the passing threat that made it so dangerous in 2014. Justin Thomas went from a 51 percent passer, a great number for a triple option quarterback, to a 41.7 percent passer last season. He only cracked the 50 percent mark once against a quality opponent, North Carolina, and that led to teams not respecting the pass at all.
For Georgia Tech to be successful in this game, Thomas will have to complete passes. The Eagles will crash down and likely do a good job of shutting down the run, and if Thomas can’t spread the defense out with his arm the Yellow Jackets are going to be in trouble.
Free ATS Pick
Don’t be surprised if Boston College has a bit of a home field advantage. The Eagles’ Catholic heritage will likely lead to them being the favorites of the Irish fans attending this game and that could help them out when the Yellow Jackets have the ball.
The Eagles’ offense was awful after Darius Wade went out with a season-ending injury against Florida State last season, but they have Wade back as well as Kentucky transfer Patrick Towles. Towles didn’t exactly dazzle during his time as a Wildcat, but he is significantly better than the quarterbacks that took snaps after Wade’s injury. BC’s depth at quarterback will help this team in the event of injury.
Under is the best bet here even after the line movement, but BC is a good play as well. The Eagles should be much better this season and although the defense won’t be as lights out as it was last season, there is still plenty of talent. This will be an extremely tight game and the extra half-point may come in handy, but I’m calling for BC to get the outright win.
College Football Odds: Eagles 20, Yellow Jackets 17
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