Week 0 is finally here! After a long seven months without college football, we are gifted with four games on Saturday encompassing all four time blocks. You can watch each game without having to stop or have much overlap.
Each week, I will be picking multiple games. The amount of games will vary from week-to-week. Why is that? It's about giving out good picks rather than picking 10 games per week. If I feel good about a bet, I'll write it. That also means week 0 is going to have just one game: Florida State vs. Georgia Tech.
All-time record: 163-154-5
(Lines from DraftKings Sportsbook)
Florida State -10.5 (-112) vs. Georgia Tech +10.5 (-108)
What are we going to get from this Florida State team? One year after finishing the regular season undefeated at 13-0, they got pulverized by Georgia by a score of 63-3 in the Orange Bowl. They were both hurt and had players opt out of the game because they got left out of the College Football Playoff.
With Jordan Travis going to the National Football League, former Clemson and Oregon State quarterback D.J. Uiagalalei will head out onto the field as the starting quarterback. He will lead an offense that is replacing most of their skill position players with Roydell Williams, Malik Benson and Jalen Brown taking the helm.
Defensively, the defensive line is going to be the key to success this year. Led by edge rusher Patrick Payton and defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr., the front four is going to make a major difference in helping the defense stay impactful.
Georgia Tech is in a very interesting spot. They finished the season at 6-6 last year before beating UCF 30-17 in the Gasparilla Bowl. Head coach Brent Key is moving this team in the right direction but there are questions, especially on the defensive side of the football.
Quarterback Haynes King is back and ready to build upon a solid 2023 season where he threw for 2,842 yards, 27 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. King was really solid throughout most of the season but needs to take care of the football. The Yellow Jackets were 7-3 when they turned the ball over two times or less. They were 0-3 in games where they turned it over three times or more.
Defensively, they need to figure out how to get off the field on third down. They were the worst in the ACC in allowing third-down conversions. They finished 105th in the nation in allowing 43.5% of third downs to be converted.
On the other sideline, the Seminoles' defense was great on third down, allowing just 28.8% of third-down conversions. The Yellow Jackets were solid in that area at 43.1%, ranking 39th.
There are a lot of interesting ways to look at this game, but two things stand out to me: Georgia Tech is 1-0 in Ireland and Uiagalalei is still limited as a passer. The last time these two played, the Seminoles won big, but the Yellow Jackets have won two of the last three. With the weirdness of week zero, along with the strong performance in a two-point loss to Louisville last season in the opener on a neutral field, 10.5 points is a little heavy for my liking. Plus, -108 is a nice line.
Bet: Georgia Tech +10.5 (-108)
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