6 college football bets to take to the bank in Week 1
6. Georgia Tech vs. Clemson (-37)
Every college football fan in the country knows what to expect from Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers. As the defending national champions, Trevor Lawrence leads an offense that is loaded at every position, particularly with Travis Etienne at running back and the duo of Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross at wide receiver. And while the defense suffered some big losses, they’ve merely replenished that unit with terrific recruiting.
Clemson should not only dominate the ACC this season but is the clear-cut favorite to win the title again this year. Lawrence is that good, Swinney is that good and the recruiting is that good. And that all spells terrible news for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets as they travel north to Memorial Stadium for the first game under new head coach Geoff Collins.
There’s reason to believe that Collins has the chops to get things trending in a positive manner in Atlanta. The former Temple head coach should be able to build and mold the Yellow Jackets in a new image soon enough. But imagining a team full of recruits that were meant to run the triple-option under Paul Johnson immediately transitioning to a traditional spread offense and have success is unheard of.
By most rational accounts, Georgia Tech is going to have their share of growing pains throughout the 2019 season. And a matchup against Clemson on the road is sure to be one of the most painful of those. Subsequently, there’s almost no point they could put the line for this game where you shouldn’t take the Tigers. It’s going to be a shellacking of the highest order.