GEORGIA TECH vs LOUISVILLE
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, October 5, 2018
Where: Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky

TV: 7:00 PM
LINE: 4
PREDICTION: LOUISVILLE , GEORGIA TECH

Oddsmakers currently have the LOUISVILLE listed as 4 point favorites versus the GEORGIA TECH, while the game’s total is sitting at 57.

Georgia Tech suffered through a miserable start to the season, losing three of their first four contests, but hopes to continue taking advantage of a soft spot in its schedule Friday at Louisville in the first-ever matchup between the ACC teams. The Yellow Jackets, who have struggled to get their running game on track at times this season, piled up 372 yards on the ground in a 63-17 rout of Bowling Green last week and now aim for their first road victory since the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl.

“It’s hard to win, in general,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson told reporters Tuesday regarding his team’s six-game road losing streak. “It’s hard to win on the road. We don’t talk about that.” The Cardinals held a three-point lead against Florida State with two minutes remaining last week, but coach Bobby Petrino called for a pass that was intercepted, setting up the game-winning touchdown in a crushing 28-24 defeat. “You’ve got to work at it, fight through it, improve, have a good attitude and get better,” Petrino told reporters on Monday, accepting the blame for the play call. There were some positives for Louisville last week, as former starting quarterback Jawon Pass regained his job by throwing for 306 yards and two touchdowns.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: Georgia Tech -4

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH (2-3, 0-2 ACC): The Yellow Jackets were far smoother running the triple-option last week than in a blowout loss to Clemson in their previous game, certainly benefiting from the caliber of the opposing defense. Quarterback TaQuon Marshall ran for two touchdowns and completed 5-of-6 passes for 160 yards, while backup Tobias Oliver added 115 yards rushing and two scores. Linebacker Brant Mitchell recorded a season-high eight tackles last week.

ABOUT LOUISVILLE (2-3, 0-2): Pass completed 24-of-45 attempts and rushed for a score but missed several open targets and threw interceptions on the Cardinals’ final two drives. Louisville is 113th in the nation in rushing offense, averaging just 120 yards, but Hassan Hall finished with 57 on 11 carries. Linebacker P.J. Blue finished with eight tackles, bringing his total over the last two games to 14.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Louisville WR Jaylen Smith recorded his sixth 100-yard receiving performance of his career last week, tying him for 10th on the school’s all-time list.

2. The Yellow Jackets already have matched last season’s total of 10 forced turnovers and are tied for 13th in the nation in that category.

3. The Cardinals are 12-5 at home in ACC play since joining the league in 2014.

PREDICTION: Georgia Tech 23, Louisville 17

The post GEORGIA TECH vs. LOUISVILLE 10/5/2018 Free Pick & CFB Betting Prediction appeared first on IdealCapper.

GEORGIA TECH vs S FLORIDA
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, September 8, 2018
Where: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

TV: 12:00 PM
LINE:
PREDICTION: S FLORIDA , GEORGIA TECH

Oddsmakers currently have the S FLORIDA listed as point favorites versus the GEORGIA TECH, while the game’s total is sitting at .

South Florida may not have a better chance in the first two months of the season to show it is a factor on the national scene than Saturday afternoon when the Bulls host ACC foe Georgia Tech. USF of the American Athletic Conference unveiled its retooled offense last week and registered 515 yards in a 34-14 victory over Elon while Georgia Tech was rolling over Alcorn State 41-0, as both teams opened against FCS opponents before their first-ever meeting.

“You look at it, we’re a Group of Five, we’re not Power Five,” South Florida second-year head coach Charlie Strong told reporters. “So then when you do get a chance to play a Power Five team, you have to go play well. Because what that does is, it opens up people’s eyes.” Former Alabama quarterback Blake Barnett threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns in his team debut for the Bulls, who will need to be better defending the run than in their opener (192 yards against) as the Yellow Jackets feature a flexbone triple-option offense. Georgia Tech rushed for 439 yards against Alcorn State, including 77 and a touchdown by senior quarterback TaQuon Marshall, but head coach Paul Johnson was not pleased with the overall performance. “I didn’t think we were consistent,” Johnson told reporters. “I didn’t like how we played considering who we were playing. We didn’t throw the ball well. We didn’t block well. We turned too many guys loose inside at times.”

TV: Noon ET, ESPN2 or ABC. LINE: Georgia Tech -3.5

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH (1-0): Marshall completed 9-of-18 passes for 104 yards and one touchdown to senior Brad Stewart, who gained a team-high 49 yards on four catches. Freshman running back Jordan Mason rushed for a team-high 85 yards and a score while junior KirVonte Benson, who finished last season with 1,053 yards, added another 75 along with a pair of TDs for the Yellow Jackets. The defense recorded its first shutout in 57 games last Saturday, allowing just 146 total yards, and is likely to have more depth as cornerback Lamont Simmons (hamstring) and linebacker Bruce Jordan-Swilling (undisclosed) could return to the lineup.

ABOUT SOUTH FLORIDA (1-0): Barnett, who played one game for Alabama in 2016, completed 24-of-34 passes last week and also ran for a score while freshman Randall St. Felix emerged with seven catches for 143 yards and a TD. The Bulls gained just 3.9 yards per carry in the opener with freshman Johnny Ford’s 43 yards leading the way, but they expect to have Florida transfer Jordan Cronkrite back in the lineup after he missed the Elon game with an undisclosed injury. Senior linebacker Khalid McGee and senior safety Jaymon Thomas each had a career-high 11 tackles last week and the Bulls picked off a pair of passes after totaling 20 in 2017 – second in the nation.

EXTRA POINTS

1. USF senior WR Tyre McCants needs 35 receiving yards to move into 10th on the school’s all-time list, and 47 for ninth.

2. Marshall has 19 career rushing touchdowns, tied for fourth all time among Georgia Tech QBs with Shawn Jones.

3. The Yellow Jackets have rushed for at least 400 yards five times in their last 12 contests, dating back to 2017.

PREDICTION: South Florida 34, Georgia Tech 31

The post GEORGIA TECH vs. S FLORIDA 9/8/2018 Free Pick & CFB Betting Prediction appeared first on IdealCapper.

Georgia Tech vs. Notre Dame
When: 6:30 PM  ET, Sunday, February 26, 2017
Where: Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center, South Bend, Indiana

TV: 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU
LINE: -11.5
PREDICTION: Notre Dame 82, Georgia Tech 67

Oddsmakers currently have the NOTRE DAME listed as -11.5 point favorites versus the GEORGIA TECH, while the game’s total is sitting at 138.

Notre Dame has recovered from a four-game losing streak to win four in a row and enters Sunday’s home contest against Georgia Tech looking to continue surging toward a possible No. 2 seed in the ACC tournament. Ranked 17th in the nation, the Fighting Irish began the weekend tied with three other ranked squads – Louisville, Duke and Florida State – for second in the conference, two games behind first-place North Carolina.

Offense has sparked Notre Dame’s surge, as it is averaging 84.3 points during the winning streak after scoring 66 per contest during the four-game slide. The Yellow Jackets contributed to that losing streak, upsetting Notre Dame 62-60 on Jan. 28 in Atlanta on Josh Okogie’s layup just before the buzzer. That triumph capped a four-week stretch during which the Yellow Jackets shocked North Carolina, Florida State and Notre Dame, but they have dropped four of their last six ACC games. The seven meetings between Georgia Tech and Notre Dame since the Fighting Irish joined the ACC have been decided by an average of 4.1 points.

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH (16-12, 7-8 ACC): The Yellow Jackets come in after suffering a disappointing 71-69 home loss to N.C. State on Tuesday, spoiling a 25-point effort from Okogie as they missed nine free throws and 12 layups. Okogie leads the team in scoring (15.6 points) and is averaging 17.6 points in conference games. Ben Lammers ranks third in the ACC in rebounding (9.3) and is Georgia Tech’s second-leading scorer at 14.7 points.

ABOUT NOTRE DAME (21-7, 10-5): Bonzie Colson entered the weekend averaging a conference-leading 10.5 rebounds and paces the league with 16 double-doubles. V.J. Beachem is shooting 46.2 percent from 3-point range during the Fighting Irish’s winning streak, averaging 17.8 points. Notre Dame leads the nation in free-throw shooting at 81.6 percent.

TIP-INS
1. Notre Dame is 14-2 at home, where it has won all three matchups with Georgia Tech since joining the ACC.
2. Okogie has reached double figures in scoring in 14 of his 15 conference games and 23 times in 28 overall contests.
3. Notre Dame’s 1.68 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks second nationally.

The post Georgia Tech vs. Notre Dame Odds & Prediction appeared first on IdealCapper.

Curry scored 24 points and matched a career high with six 3-pointers in the Blue Devils’ 73-57 win over Georgia Tech on Thursday night.

Plumlee finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds after going just 2 for 12 during an awful first half, and Duke (16-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) shot 53 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes to bounce back from its only loss and snap a three-game losing streak when playing without the injured Kelly.

“The biggest thing is, we have to find a new identity because we are a different team” without Kelly, Plumlee said. “Whatever that is, we have to find it. We have to play to our strengths, and we’re not the same team that was (15-0).”

Freshman Chris Bolden’s 20 points were the most scored by a Georgia Tech player this season.

But the Yellow Jackets (10-6, 0-4) had 21 turnovers in losing their fourth straight, remaining the only team winless in ACC play and falling to 5-32 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“They have two of the premier players not only in the league but in the country,” coach Brian Gregory said, referring to Curry and Plumlee, “and we couldn’t stop them in the second half.”

Freshman Rasheed Sulaimon broke out of a slump with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting after coming off the bench for the first time in his Duke career.

“It’s all about how you come back,” Plumlee said of Sulaimon. “I don’t know of any player who started every game ever at Duke. I mean, he sat Elton Brand and those guys. We just told him it’s part of the process.”

He was a combined 7 for 32 in his previous four games and missed all 10 of his shots in the 84-76 loss to then-No. 20 North Carolina State that knocked the Blue Devils from No. 1.

A second straight loss looked like a real possibility until Duke produced a 27-6 run that started late in the first half, ended early in the second and swung the lead its way to stay.

Curry — who has scored at least 22 points in three of his last four games — had 11 points during the burst.

He ended his team’s 5-minute field goal drought by swishing a deep 3-pointer that started the run with 2 minutes left in the half. Then, he added two more 3s shortly after halftime before his putback of a miss by Plumlee put Duke up 46-32 with just under 15 minutes to play.

That came two possessions after the signature snapshot of the night: After Plumlee got Cameron rocking with a dunk with 14 minutes left and Georgia Tech called a timeout, a fired-up coach Mike Krzyzewski charged off the bench to jump on and embrace his senior center.

“I think I’ve given emotion a lot during 33 years here at Duke, so I’m going to do whatever I think my team needs,” Krzyzewski said. “I did that in 1980 and I should do it in 2013. So I thought that’s what my team needed, and that’s what I gave.”

Tech cut the Duke lead to 10 points twice, the final time coming when Mfon Udofia’s three-point play with 6:48 left made it 57-47. Sulaimon countered with a three-point play 39 seconds later, Curry hit another 3 and Sulaimon followed with a dunk to make it 65-49 with just under 5 minutes to go.

Freshman Amile Jefferson finished with 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who played their second straight game without Kelly, a captain who’s out indefinitely with an injured right foot. He was on the bench in street clothes using crutches, his foot in a boot.

They ended a streak that dated to the 2012 postseason, having lost their previous three games without the 6-foot-11 senior whose outside touch commands opponents’ attention and respect.

“We’re used to having certain driving lanes and certain places we know we’re going to kick to with Ryan, but it’s totally different with Josh (Hairston) and Amile out there,” Curry said. “We’re still working on that, and some lanes close up quicker than others.”

With Duke still learning to play without him, Georgia Tech led for all but about a minute of the half and four times pushed its lead to seven points while clamping down on Plumlee and the Blue Devils in the opening 20 minutes.

“I thought we were hesitant to shoot,” Krzyzewski said, “and no team of mine should be that way.”

The post Seth Curry scores 24 as Duke rebounds from first loss appeared first on IdealCapper.

Coach Jim Larranaga says Johnson is expected to be sidelined six to eight weeks.

A starter since his sophomore season, Johnson already has missed four games. He has played in seven games and is averaging 12.6 points and 10.1 rebounds.

The Hurricanes (8-3) host LaSalle on Wednesday and open ACC play Saturday at Georgia Tech.

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