Clemson vs Georgia Tech NCAAF Week 1 Preview and Prediction September 5, 2022
Posted 2 years ago | Betting Previews and Predictions, NCAAF | 0 comments
Clemson vs Georgia Tech September 5 @ Atlanta GA
Opening Betting Odds
Spread: Clemson -19, Georgia Tech +19
Moneyline: N/A
Total: 49
Preview
The annual meetings between ACC rivals Clemson and Georgia Tech has mostly been one sided. Clemson has won the last seven meetings, and the Yellow Jackets had failed to cover in six in a row prior to a close 14-8 loss at Clemson last year. This year the game takes place at the Ceasars Superdome, formerly known as the Louisiana Superdome or the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
While playing in Atlanta would seem to favor Georgia Tech, they have failed to cover in seven of their last 10 home games against the Tigers. The last time Clemson played Georgia Tech in Atlanta, it was an epic beat down defeating the Yellow Jackets by a score of 73-7 at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Clemson will come into the 2022 season ranked in the Top 10, while Georgia Tech is expected to be a long-shot to become bowl eligible.
Clemson
- 10-3 overall in 2021
- 6-2 in the ACC in 2021
- 5-8 against the spread in 2021
The Tigers are expected to make a push for the College Football Playoffs again in 2022, but their offense will have to make significant strides after struggling last season. DJ Uiagalelei threw more interceptions (10) than he did touchdowns (9) while completing just 55 percent of his passes in 2021. The Tigers ranked 103rd nationally in passing, and 170th in scoring.
“We’ve got to get some confidence in the passing game, and we lost our confidence last year,” Clemson coordinator Kyle Richardson says. “Once we lost it, it was hard to get it back. We’ve made some tweaks.”
Improvements on the offensive line and young talent at wide receiver is expected to help Uiagalelei be better this season. While the offense struggled, the defense remains one of the best in the country. A unit that ranked 2nd nationally allowing just 15 points per game is projected to have one of the nation’s strongest defensive lines.
Georgia Tech
- 3-9 overall in 2021
- 2-6 in the ACC in 2021
- 4-8 against the spread in 2021
Coming off their second three-win season in three years, there is a dark cloud over this Yellow Jackets program. The transfer portal was not kind to Georgia Tech, losing eight of their top 11 tacklers on defense, and their leading rusher and second leading receiver on offense. They have experience at the quarterback position with Jeff Sims back for his third season.
Sims threw for 1,468 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, and he also had 372 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. He will need to be a lot better in 2022 if the Yellow Jackets hope to be competitive, and that won’t be easy playing behind an inexperienced offensive line.
Defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker was one of the few that survived a coaching purge following last year’s disappointing 3-9 campaign. He will be hoping to significantly improve after ranking near the bottom of the ACC in every defensive category last year.
Relevant Trends
- The Tigers are 19-7 ATS in their last 26 neutral site games.
- The Yellow Jackets are 1-7 ATS in their last eight games overall.
- The Yellow Jackets are 1-5 ATS in their last six conference games.
- The favorite is 5-1-1 ATS in their last seven meetings.
- The under is 20-6 in the Tigers last 26 games in September.
Prediction: Clemson 33 – Georgia Tech 13
A struggling program like Georgia Tech is going to have all sorts of problems trying to score on this mighty Clemson defense, but it’s not easy to convince us that the Tigers issues at quarterback are a thing of the past. Uiagalelei threw for just 126 yards on 18-of-25 passing against Georgia Tech last year. We expect an improvement on those numbers, but we think it may be naive to expect him to light it up in Week 1.
Before you dive into the Week 1 betting action, you might want to consult Kyle Hunter. His impressive resume includes finishing #1 overall with college football in 2021, Top 5 All Time with college football, and he was named Handicapper of the Decade in 2020.
