North Carolina @ California (-7)
North Carolina and Cal return a similar number in production on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. This game should play out a lot like last year, but Cal should have an improved defense. North Carolina also has 3 starters suspended including their starting QB and 2 defensive linemen. Couple that with the huge travel spot across the country for North Carolina and this game does not line up well for them. Justin Wilcox will have this Cal team ready to go. Take Cal -7 for 2U & Under 61 for 1U.
Virginia Tech @ Florida State (-7.5)
These two teams are extremely close in returning production on offense with Virginia Tech returning 68% and Florida State returning 74%. Virginia Tech returns a bit more on defense with 64% vs Florida State’s 46%. This is the one spot that Virginia Tech should have an advantage. Bud Foster always has his defense up for challenging spots.
When you look at the depth chart, there’s an equal amount of inexperience on both sides. Virginia Tech starts 5 underclassmen on offense and 4 on defense. Florida State is starting 4 underclassmen on offense and 6 on defense. Also, total stats from last year ring pretty close with Virginia Tech’s offense averaging 412.8 yards per game and 5.39 yards per play. Florida State averaged 351.9 yards per game and 5.66 yards per play. One thing to watch here is that Willie Taggert wants to implement a higher tempo offense than what Jimbo Fisher had. We’ll see if that’s a help to their offense or a hindrance to their defense.
With the returning production being so close, the depth charts being virtually even, and last year’s stats being pretty even, I don’t see a blowout here. This should be a very close, well contested game. The team that wins will have better QB play and better defensive play. Josh Jackson should have a better year as the returning starter for Virginia Tech. It will be interesting to see what happens with Deondre Francois as he comes back as Florida State’s starter after missing all of last year. I see this being a 3-6 point game at most. Take Virginia Tech +7.5 for 1U.
