Getty Image / Michael Shroyer
There are plenty of great games each and every week on the college football slate that jump out at you making it that much harder to zero in on one game each Saturday. In this weekly series, we’ll circle one game, break down the matchup and lay out the evidence as to why this is the lock of the week.
Our lock of the week will always be a pick against the spread. While we’re not saying it’s wrong to bet over/unders or money lines, we’re just going the spread route.
Last week we picked a winner taking Tennessee +1 at Kentucky as the Vols earned the road win 17-13. This week we’re circling an ACC Coastal matchup featuring the worst team in the division, Georgia Tech, and a team with a shot to win the division, Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech (-6) @ Georgia Tech
Virginia Tech (6-3, 3-2 ACC)
Georgia Tech (2-7, 1-5 ACC)
Kickoff: 3:30 PM EST ACC Network Extra
The fact the Hokies are only favored by a touchdown seems too good to be true, which may shy some away from this game, but I think this game is too good to pass up.
Georgia Tech is in a tough spot this season as it is transitioning from Paul Johnson’s triple-option system to Geoff Collins’ new system. The problem is that Johnson, of course, recruited players to fit his run-heavy offense which isn’t translating well for the Yellow Jackets. It’s a classic ‘gotta give things time’ situation in Atlanta.
The Hokies are flying under pretty much everybody’s radar this season and enter this contest fresh off of an impressive 19-point win over Wake Forest. Justin Fuente is doing good things in his fourth year as head coach at VT and is on a path to a possible second ACC Coastal title since being hired away from Memphis.
If Virginia Tech wins out it will play in the ACC Championship; there’s plenty riding on this game and games to come for the Hokies.
Statistically speaking, Georgia Tech’s offense is flat-out bad. It ranks last in the ACC in total offense and 121st out of 130 Division I teams posting just 307.6 yards per game. That’s a problem in itself, especially seeing as how Virginia Tech’s defense isn’t too much of a slouch ranking 62nd in the nation.
Flipping the field and looking at Virginia Tech’s offense, it’s found something strong turning to Hendon Hooker at quarterback. He helped the team win its six overtime thriller against North Carolina three weeks ago and looked solid in the win over Wake Forest last weekend.
Hooker is a dual-threat quarterback that is going to cause problems for the Yellow Jackets on Saturday. He threw for 242 yards and rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown against the Demon Deacons and shouldn’t slow down against Georgia Tech.
Wideout Damon Hazelton could cause problems on the outside as well with six touchdowns and three 60+ yard receiving games on the season.
Georgia Tech may have shown life last Saturday in a five-point loss to Virginia, but they haven’t shown any sort of consistency this year to indicate they’ll hang with the Hokies with so much riding on the line for VT.
Virginia Tech wins this one by at least 14.
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Mark is a New York City-based writer and editor at Brobible. You can follow him on Twitter @MarkAndHisWords.