Georgia Tech vs. Florida State Odds & Predictions

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (0-0 SU, 0-0 ATS) vs. Florida State Seminoles (0-0 SU, 0-0 ATS)

Date/Time: Saturday, September 12th 2020. 3:30PM (EST)

Where: Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, F.L.

TV: ABC

Point Spread: GT +12.5/FSU -12.5 (Bookmaker – Biggest Sportsbook on the Web!)

Over/Under Total: 54.5

It only took 21 games for the Willie Taggart era to end in Tallahassee. The Seminoles combined for just 11 wins over the last two seasons under Taggart bringing the program to one of its lowest points in nearly three decades. This year the Seminoles will hand the reins over to Head Coach Mike Norvell, who led Memphis to a 12-1 SU record in 2019. While Norvell appears to be a step in the right direction, he will inherit a wildly inconsistent Florida State football team that lost their biggest playmaker from a year ago in Cam Akers. The Seminoles are listed as 12.5 point favorites for this Saturday’s opener when they take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Doak Campbell Stadium.

While Florida State looks to turn their program around, the same process is underway for Head Coach Geoff Collins and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Collins replaced long-time coach Paul Johnson before the 2019 season, and it has not been an easy rebuilding process. Georgia Tech experienced some of their biggest lows, suffering their first home shutout loss since 1957, losing to Temple (where Collins previously coached), and compiling a measly 3-9 record, which was the worst single-season mark since 1994. To be fair, Collins inherited a team that was designed to run Johnson’s old-school triple-option offense, and the biggest part of the rebuild has been geared towards getting the correct talent into the right positions. Over the offseason, Collins signed one of Georgia Tech’s best-recruiting classes in recent memory, and there are legitimate hopes that the program could take a big step in the right direction in 2020!

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Georgia Tech hoping for improvement in 2020

On the heels of one of the best-recruiting classes in school history, it is easy to understand why some would believe the Yellow Jackets take a big step forward this year. However, I would temper expectations because the biggest significant changes to this team are like 2-3 years away. The one area Collins has made immediate improvement is upgrading the size of Georgia Tech’s interior on both sides of the ball. Under Johnson’s triple-option offense, the Yellow Jackets relied on speed, which often left the linemen severely undersized compared to their opponents. Georgia Tech has improved their size on both offensive and defensive lines, which will help as the move forward in ACC competition.

Georgia Tech’s biggest advantage against Florida State is the experience and skill set of their defense. The Yellow Jackets return nearly everyone on the defensive side of the ball this season, and though the defense struggled immensely in 2019, giving up 32.4 points per game (104th in FBS); I expect Georgia Tech will be much better this season and matches up reasonably well against Florida State’s subpar offensive line. The biggest challenge Georgia Tech will likely experience remains on the offensive side of the ball, where talent is still a big issue. The offense will turn to quarterback James Graham again to start the season. Graham was flat awful in 2019, completing just 45% of his passes, and it would be hard to imagine he has made enough improvement to warrant optimism. Collins will likely stick to a run-heavy conservative approach that we witnessed in 2019, and I’m simply not sure if they will have enough firepower to compete with the upper half of the ACC.

Expectations for Florida State in 2020

Personally, I love the hire Florida State made over the offseason. I believe Norvell can turn the Seminoles back into a respectable program. However, I am unsure of the immediate impact that he will be able to make in his first season in Tallahassee. My main concerns are steered at an inferior offensive line and one of the most inconsistent yet talented quarterbacks in the conference by way of James Blackman. If you combine the loss of Cam Akers and no truly proven ground threat behind the offensive line issues, this is a group that could easily struggle in 2020.

I believe Norvell will be able to make some scheme changes to help Blackman, but I am just unsure of how much improvement is realistic going into the season. Defensively, I like Florida State’s chances to be much better with an experienced group returning. Therefore if the offense does make a big step forward, we could see the Seminoles be vastly improved overall. Personally, I just don’t trust the offense and think there will be growing pains throughout the year. The good news is that Florida State will not have to be overly potent on offense to beat Georgia Tech this week. However, I doubt that either offense will bee impressive in this opener!

Jay’s Pick to Cover the Point Spread: Both defenses have more upside than the offenses they are against in this match-up. Bet the under 54.5 with confidence! Bet your Week 2 college football picks for FREE by taking advantage of a 50% real cash bonus at one of the web’s best sportsbooks; which also offers the best live betting platform in the sports betting industry! —> Bovada Sportsbook (50% bonus too!)