Zman’s College Football Picks: Georgia Tech vs. Syracuse

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2-0 SU, 2-0 ATS) at Syracuse Orange (1-0, 0-1), 9/7/24

When: noon ET Saturday, Sept. 7

Where: JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse

TV: ACCN

Point spread: GT -3/Syr +3

Money line: Ga. Tech 160/Orange +140

Over/under: 61

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Two teams off to good starts to this season hook up when Georgia Tech visits Syracuse for an ACC battle Saturday afternoon at The Dome.

The Yellow Jackets are off to their first 2-0 start to a season since 2016. Meanwhile, the Orange just won their first game under new head coach Fran Brown.

NCAAF Betting Odds

Most of the Week 2 college football betting market opened Georgia Tech at -1.5 over Syracuse, with an over/under of right around 56. Early betting action then bumped the Yellow Jackets to -3 and goosed that total to 60.

Georgia Tech-Syracuse Betting Preview

The Yellow Jackets reached 2-0 on the season by beating Georgia State last Saturday 35-12. Tech, favored by 21 points, opened the game with a goal-line stand to keep the Panthers off the board and later led 14-3 at the half. The Ramblin’ Wreck then scored twice in the first four minutes of the second half and eased home from there for the win and the cover.

Georgia Tech out-gained Georgia State 499-360, getting 225 yards on the ground and 274 through the air.

More notably, the Yellow Jackets opened this season two weeks ago with that 24-21 victory over Florida State over in Ireland. Tech out-rushed the Seminoles that day 190-98.

Georgia Tech returned 13 starters this season from a team that finished 7-6 last year. Eight starters returned on offense, led by QB Haynes King (22 career starts), 1,000-yard rusher Jamal Haynes and four along the offensive line. And while only five starters returned on defense that unit held Florida State to 291 yards two weeks ago.

The Yellow Jackets are playing against a wins over/under this season of 4.5 and they’re already 40 percent of the way toward that over.

Meanwhile the Orange opened their season last Saturday with a 38-22 win over Ohio. Syracuse, favored at -17, spotted the Bobcats the first six points of the game and only led 17-16 well into the third quarter. The Orange then pulled away with scores on three straight possessions but a long, basically meaningless Ohio touchdown in the fourth cost them the money.

Syracuse racked up 480 yards of offense last week but allowed 436 worth of Bobcats offense, including 255 on the ground. So they might want to address that issue heading into this game.

Syracuse returned 18 starters this season – well, starters and guys who started somewhere else last season – from a team that finished 6-7 last year. Ten starters returned on offense, led by 1,000-yard rusher LeQuint Allen and four along the O line. The Orange also brought in transfer QB Kyle McCord from Ohio State. And eight starters returned on defense, including last year’s top four tacklers.

However, Syracuse may have suffered a significant loss when senior MLB Marlowe Wax (110 tackles last year) left last week’s game with a leg injury and did not return.

The Orange are playing against a wins O/U this season of 7.5.

Georgia Tech-Syracuse Recent History

These conference “rivals” have only met five times before, the Wreck winning four. Most recently, back in November of last season, Georgia Tech beat the Orange in Atlanta 31-22.

The Yellow Jackets out-gained Syracuse that night 344-259 and covered at -6.5.

Also, that game sneaked over a total of 51.5 when Tech tacked on an insurance score with two minutes left.

College Football Betting Trends

Georgia Tech is 13-10 SU, 15-8 ATS under Coach Key.

Totals Report

• Unders are 2-0 in Tech games this season, which averaged 46 total points against an average O/U of 55.
• Despite a slow start Syracuse’s win over Ohio last week played over a total of 45.

Free College Football Pick

Georgia Tech “upset” Florida State in Week 1, then played well in the win over Georgia State. To us, avoiding letdowns is a sign of a good team, and Coach Key certainly seems to have this program heading in a good direction. Syracuse, meanwhile, just played its first game under a new coaching regime, which almost always involves a leaning curve. And some of that was apparent early last week. Also, we expect the Yellow Jackets to win the ground battle and that’s usually a good way to win a game and cover a spread. We don’t like going along with the betting flow but we’re ramblin’ with the Wreck Saturday.