Jimmyshivers Week 1 ACC Football Picks
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6 thoughts on “Jimmyshivers Week 1 ACC Football Picks”
Leave a Reply to Pezgordo Cancel reply
MAXIMIZE YOUR EDGE
Jimmy, I got GT +9 when we first starting talking about it a few months ago. I also like the UNDER in that one. Could be an ugly offensive game ….. or an offensive offensive game. HA!
I have NCST +8, but couldn’t get much down on that one. Looks like a tight game. Wolfpack may have caught a break too w/ Rodgers getting dismissed. Now they can concentrate on Hunter, though the JC kid Patterson is highly touted.
As you know I liked that GT play then,obviously you got the better number but I still feel good about getting more than a TD. Although one could argue that 8 is more of a key # than usual when playing GT games as they have a higher tendency to go for 2. Hopefully this doesn’t happen or they convert it and we can both bring home that ATS bacon.
State game should be very tight, both teams bring back a lot of talent. In these high profile, neutral-site games early in the year I sure like getting the better QB and better coach (catching points) and I feel like were getting that with NCS. I just feel like State was the better team in December and not enough has changed since then, especially with Rogers out for Tenn. Only thing stopping me from going harder there is that it’s my team and I worry about the linebackers.
Either way I probably won’t know a hell of a lot about what happened until I watch the game again on Saturday. Friday night + Wolfpack season opener = lots of cocktails!
I don’t know, guys. I haven’t laid money on V Tech yet and I may not play the game at all, but everything I look at keeps coming up V Tech in this one. Here is what I wrote down as my thoughts on this game over a month ago and I haven’t changed them. The fact that this line has been hanging at -7.5 for such a long time just makes me think V Tech is the play even more.
Virginia Tech -7.5 and UNDER — I love to watch the triple-option whenever it is hitting all cylinders. Paul Johnson is a master at offensive coordinating, but one thing he struggles with is fooling teams whenever they have had several weeks to prepare for his offense (0-4 last 4 bowl games). How do you avoid this? You schedule FCS teams to open your season up against, which they have done the last 4 seasons Johnson has been the head coach, but not this season. This year they open up on Labor Day against Virginia Tech – not a smart move. Georgia Tech will likely not be much better or worse than they were a season ago. However, where they went 8-5 a year ago, this year’s schedule will likely not do them any favors with some tough road games. It will not get much tougher than their opening game. GT should have about the same offensive weapons they had a season ago with the exception of a possible step down at receivers. This is important because even though the triple-option consists mostly of running the football, at this level of play you have to complete some passes downfield in order to open up the running game. With 4 out of their top 5 receivers gone from last year, this looks highly questionable. Defensively, GT hasn’t been bad the last 3 years under Al Groh, but they haven’t been great, either. In fact, they have been a point worse for three consecutive years. The good news is that they have a lot of experience coming back. The bad news is that they will be facing probably the most talented QB and receivers in the ACC. VT QB, Logan Thomas has NFL scouts very interested in him. To describe him the best we simply put him in a former VT QB’s category — Michael Vick. He does have that kind of potential. With no dominating RB coming back, the RB job will probably be done by committee along with designed runs for Thomas. The WRs are some of the biggest, most athletic WRs in the conference. IF they can catch the ball, look for a lot of “throw the ball up and let them go after it” type of plays. This should become a very balanced offense as the year progresses. The real question mark for the team is the young, inexperienced offensive line. However, Thomas’ feet should keep the defenses loose this year and give the offensive line time to grow up and gel. HERE IS THE KEY TO THESE PLAYS: Virginia Tech’s defense should be nasty good this year! They have the capabilities to get a lot of penetration, which is bad for the triple-option. They are solid at every position and have depth to boot. With the extra time they have to prepare for the triple-option, I really don’t look for GT to do much scoring in this game. This should allow VT’s young offense to find some scores without the added pressure of playing from behind the whole game.
BS…You make some good points with VT/GT. But Johnson knows by now that it’s tough to move it on these teams who have had weeks to prepare for his offense. I’ve heard they’ve been practicing some different sets to play this season other than than the Bone. Like the shotgun formation etc. And they deliberatly didn’t use them in the Spring game just to keep it under wraps until this first game. I don’t know about the game spread, but I would be tempted to take GT and the points in the first half. Thomas and the VT offense will probably settle in better in the second half. I still think this game is going to fall pretty close to the number. Unless there are some untimely turnovers on GT’s part or special teams plays, I don’t see VT pulling away in this game.
Good discussion on GT/VT guys, will add a bit when I have a few moments. Added a few plays to my original post just now, like how the card shook out (though I was dead wrong about my Wolfpack last night)