Why Notre Dame Will Upset Florida State and More in Vegas ACC Predictions Week 8

Saturday Blitz Vegas ACC Predictions Week 7

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at North Carolina Tar Heels

Line: Georgia Tech by 2.5

All of a sudden, Georgia Tech loses a game thanks to 3 turnovers and North Carolina plays a good team close, and this game is now more of a toss-up than we might have thought. For Georgia Tech to avoid getting stunned by another North Carolina team, the formula is simple: don’t turn the ball over. The offense should have no trouble moving the ball against such a bad UNC defense, so Justin Thomas simply can’t make mistakes the way he did against Duke. If they do that, they’ll be fine. On defense, Marquise Williams is going to put up yards and points on Saturday, but the key for the Yellow Jackets is to limit that as much as possible and force a couple of turnovers their way. Georgia Tech has a pretty good pass defense, which creates a good match-up with UNC. So playing its game without mistakes should lead to victory.

UNC, meanwhile, needs to force Georgia Tech out of its element. The Tar Heels clearly can’t play defense, so their only hope is to force Thomas to turn the ball over the way he did last week in order to get stops. Otherwise they don’t have a shot. Assuming they can do that, the Tar Heels then need to use Williams, ironically, to run the ball a little bit more. Georgia Tech appears to have a better pass defense than a rush defense, and with Williams’s mobility, averaging more than 60 yards a game on the ground, they could really catch the Yellow Jackets off guard. It would limit interceptions as well, which is why Georgia Tech is 5-1 and not 3-3 with losses to Miami and Virginia Tech.

Prediction

UNC will once again surprisingly make this game close thanks to good passing from Marquise Williams and Larry Fedora being smart enough to use him more on the ground along with the rest of the run game. That will throw the Georgia Tech defense off as they allow a few more long drives than they would like, but it would matter. The Tar Heels won’t be able to stop Georgia Tech’s option offense all day, and the Yellow Jackets won’t turn the ball over like last week again. Georgia Tech pulls out a victory in which both teams mount a few long, time-consuming touchdown drives.

Georgia Tech: 28 North Carolina: 21