The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and South Florida Bulls each cruised to wins in their season openers on Saturday. South Florida had little trouble getting past a feisty Elon Phoenix team by a margin of 34-14, while Georgia Tech ran over Alcorn State 41-0 with some eye-popping numbers on the ground. Each of these teams is looking to get to 2-0 with a win in their Week 2 match-up. This will be the first-ever meeting between these two programs.
This contest in Week 2 will go down Saturday, September 8, 2018 at 12 p.m. ET at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Georgia Tech -3
South Florida +3
Over/Under Check Back Later
Odds Analysis
The CFB betting odds in this game have moved significantly since opening on Sunday evening. Oddsmakers originally declared this one a toss-up, making the game a PK on the NCAAF betting line. However, there has been a swarm of money on Georgia Tech since then, and the Yellow Jackets are now three-point favorites.
Matchup to Watch
Anyone who pays even the slightest attention to the Yellow Jackets knows what their gameplan is on offense. Georgia Tech is going to run the triple option, or flexbone, as much as they can and try to move the ball slowly up the field to win the time of possession battle and wear the opposing defense out.
The Yellow Jackets had a ton of success running the option last weekend against Alcorn State. Georgia Tech racked up 439 yards and four touchdowns on the ground in the game, and a significant number of players got in on the action. Ten different Yellow Jackets picked up carries in the game, spreading the wealth and keeping anyone from being overworked coming into this one.
South Florida’s front seven will need to stop the triple option for the Bulls to pull off the upset here. They were decent in run defense against Elon, but the Yellow Jackets are an entirely different beast. Look for the Bulls to switch things up from their normal base nickel defense, so that they can crowd the box with bigger bodies. They need the bulk as all of their starting defensive backs are under 200 pounds, and their linebackers don’t have much size either.
Player to Watch
It’s been a wild ride for South Florida’s quarterback, Blake Barnett. Barnett was originally one of the highest rated quarterbacks coming out of high school in 2015 and signed on to play at Alabama. However, he only threw 19 passes during his two years in Tuscaloosa, and Barnett announced his intention to transfer in late September of his redshirt freshman season.
Barnett moved west to Arizona State, but he found even less playing time as a Sun Devil in 2017. He threw just five passes during Todd Graham’s last season in charge, ceding the job to Manny Wilkins. Fortunately for Barnett, he was able to get his degree at Arizona State, allowing him to come in as a graduate transfer at another university without blowing another year of eligibility.
The third time seems to be the charm for Barnett. He won the starting job for South Florida in the spring, and he threw more passes against Elon in the season opener then he had in his previous three seasons combined. Barnett went 24-34 for 305 yards with three touchdowns and looked incredibly sharp. Barnett will be the key for South Florida on Saturday, as Georgia Tech has a very inexperienced secondary, but a strong front seven.
Free ATS Pick
Neither team was able to cover per the NCAAF betting odds against their FCS opponent in Week 1, but one of these teams will pick up the cover here. Georgia Tech doesn’t typically play a lot of high-scoring games, yet this one feels like it has the potential to be. I’ll probably play the over here, and for a side I’ll take the home underdog in a slight upset by the CFB betting line.
College Football Odds: South Florida 41, Georgia Tech 34
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