{"id":46242,"date":"2011-12-01T13:46:45","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T21:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=46242"},"modified":"2011-12-01T13:46:45","modified_gmt":"2011-12-01T21:46:45","slug":"free-pick-week-14-hokies-vs-tigers-betting-lines-11211","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/ncaa-football\/free-pick-week-14-hokies-vs-tigers-betting-lines-11211\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Tech Hokies vs. Clemson Tigers ACC Championship Game Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

#5 Virginia Tech Hokies (11-1, 7-1 ACC) vs #20 Clemson Tigers (9-3, 6-2 ACC)<\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems like year in, year out \u2013 like clockwork \u2013 Virginia Tech winds up in the conference title game. Long-tenured head coach Frank Beamer perennially has his Hokies in contention. <\/p>\n

ACC Championship Game, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte NC
\nSaturday, Dec. 3, 8 pm EST
\nNCAA Odds from Sportsbook.com:
\nMoneyLine: V. Tech -275, Clemson +235
\nSpread: V. Tech -7, Clemson +7
\nOver\/Under: 52.5<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2011 edition comes up against a Clemson team that was having an excellent season, but has hit a skid lately. <\/p>\n

The Tigers have dropped three of their last four ballgames and have lost the last two \u2013 against NC State and state rival South Carolina \u2013 in pretty humbling fashion (37-13 and 34-13 losses, respectively).\u00a0 <\/p>\n

What has gone south in the Tigers\u2019 campaign? Well, outstanding first-year starter QB Tajh Boyd has slowed down; he was having an epic season but has completed passes at less than a 50% clip and thrown one TD to three picks in the past couple games. Against conference foes and an in-state SEC rival, that just won\u2019t get the job done.<\/p>\n

Yet the blame cannot fall solely on Boyd. The effectiveness of leading rusher Andre Ellington has ground to almost nothing, and the speedy Tigers\u2019 defense is resembling Swiss cheese more than a stout unit, giving up 71 points in the two losses. <\/p>\n

It must be a profound blow for the many Tigers fans, as it looked like 2011 was the year their beleaguered team finally shed the underachiever label and gained national relevance. Perhaps that can still be true if Clemson can find away to beat steady Virginia Tech, the representative of the ACC Coastal division.<\/p>\n

Beamer always builds a strong team from the bottom up. His squads have always hung their hats on special teams and defense; Tech usually produces enough offense (via the running game, more often than not) to get by, while the mistake-free football is how the Hokies truly leave their mark. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n

This season, V. Tech is a predictable 26th<\/sup> in the nation in rush offense (just shy of 200 yards per game) and a very impressive seventh in points against, surrendering only 15.5 points per. <\/p>\n

Big, athletic QB Logan Thomas leads the offense and he is supported by RB David Wilson, who has produced an outstanding year of 1,595 yards. Those two alone will score enough points to afford the defense to pin its collective ears back and get after opponents\u2019 QBs \u2013 a skill the Hokies defense has always reveled in.<\/p>\n

When Clemson is on its game, it has the explosiveness to test the Hokies downfield; Boyd\u2019s athleticism will help him in eluding the Hokies pass-rush. Boyd is definitely not a statue in the pocket. Starting LB Bruce Taylor will be out for Virginia Tech, but it is lucky to have depth in the person of senior Barquell Rivers to step in and play well.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Clemson must exploit any loophole it can to deploy speedster WRs Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins and revive its formerly dangerous offense. The Tigers have the capability for excellent offensive balance if they can shake off their recent funk.<\/p>\n

Still, it seems foolish to bet against the steady, consistent Hokies. Beamer and his men won\u2019t wow you with the most explosive strategies, but they employ a tried, tested and true formula in Blacksburg. <\/p>\n

Tech takes its preparation south to the Carolinas this weekend, but the combination of a fundamentally sound Hokies squad and a stumbling gang in Purple and Orange makes it favorable to count on Virginia Tech to grab another ACC title.<\/p>\n

For the sake of Clemson\u2019s battered fan base, one may hope the result turns out differently, but Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney must correct a host of problems on his own sideline and upset a hot Virginia Tech team, which seems like a tall order indeed.<\/p>\n

Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 24, Clemson 21 (OT)<\/strong>
\nOver\/Under Prediction: 45<\/strong><\/p>\n

The CappersPicks.com college football weekly predictions pages! We KNOW you will find our FREE weekly college football picks<\/a>, tips, betting advice, strategies, CFB gambling articles and more to help you become the best College football bettor on your block!!<\/p>\n

Click here to CHECK OUT OUR CFB HANDICAPPERS PICKS for the 2011-2012 NCAA Football Season!<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Virginia Tech Hokies vs. Clemson Tigers in Week 14 college football betting action. It seems like year in, year out \u2013 like clockwork \u2013 Virginia Tech winds up in the conference title game. The Tigers have dropped three of their last four ballgames and have lost the last two \u2013 against NC State and state rival South Carolina<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":23493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,25],"tags":[5998,3462,1685,568,53127,769,1229,1305,2303,53128,5209],"class_list":["post-46242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","category-sportsbooks","tag-acc-championship-game","tag-clemson-tigers","tag-college-football-spreads","tag-hokies","tag-hokies-vs-tigers-odds","tag-ncaa-football-picks","tag-tigers","tag-virginia-tech","tag-virginia-tech-hokies","tag-virginia-tech-hokies-vs-clemson-tigers","tag-week-14"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46242"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46246,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46242\/revisions\/46246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}