Friday Night College Preview: Betting on Georgia Tech at Louisville

Current Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino’s sad finale in the NFL was memorable, if for no other reason than how pitiful and detached his Atlanta Falcons were in the final weeks of his last season.

Will it come to that again for the cyclin’ skipper in Louisville, or are there better days ahead? The Cardinals have dropped their pair of opening ACC games to fall to 2-3 on the season, with the only triumphs coming against Indiana State and Western Kentucky.

But a visiting Georgia Tech team that is playing nowhere near its usual standards also stands at 2-3. The Week 6 point spread reflects the uncertainty swirling around both programs’ bids to make a decent bowl game.

Friday night’s line is Georgia Tech as more than a field goal favorite on the road, with a healthy O/U total of (57.5).

The Ramblin’ Wreck seemed to finally put the pieces together offensively last week against Bowling Green, running for 372 yards in route to their 2nd victory. GT always wants to pound the rock with the Flexbone option offense – quarterback TaQuon Marshall only attempts around 13 passes a game and completes less than half of them. 63-17 reflects a Ramblin’ Wreck offense that is humming right on schedule.

Bowling Green isn’t exactly the stiffest competition. The team is 1-4 and hasn’t won a game in the MAC; they gave up 289 yards rushing to Miami (OH) the week before. You have to think that for Georgia Tech to have any real ACC, success they need to be more efficient when passing, to prevent teams from loading the box.

Defensively, the Yellow Jackets have been disruptive, ranking T-3rd in the ACC in interceptions with 7. That said, they are one of the worst FBS at generating pressure on the quarterback, forcing only 6 sacks through their first 5 games, ranking them T-102nd in the FBS of 130 schools. The lack of edge rush in the organization has handed the defense a scenario where forcing turnovers is, at times, their only true hope of success. Look for safety Malik Rivera (25 total sacks and 2 interceptions) to try to lead that charge on Friday.

It was hard to expect Louisville to pick up exactly where they left off when former Heisman-winning quarterback Lamar Jackson played his final down, but it was also hard to see them being this bad offensively.

The Cardinals rank near-bottom of the FBS in nearly every offensive stat; they’re 102nd in passing (191.6 ypg), 113th in rushing (120.0 ypg), and T-123rd in points scored (18.4). Many reporters around the Louisville team have been questioning head coach Bobby Petrino’s decision making early in the season, but others feel it is unlikely the school would move on from the coach anytime soon due to Lamar Jackson’s, I mean, Petrino’s recent success.

To be fair, last week’s offensive numbers were significantly better than in previous weeks. Sophomore QB Jawon Pass threw for a career high 306 yards, however he did turn it over twice. The defense also held Florida State to only 76 rush yards on 31 carries, totaling 6 tackles for loss.

But playing against FSU’s zone-read is far, far different from defending the Flexbone.

Louisville’s defense won’t have the patience or the temperament to stop Paul Johnson’s playbook for 60 minutes, and if there’s an offense GT’s passive-on-the-perimeter defense can look OK against in the Power-5, this is it.

Wager confidently on the Yellow Jackets to cover on the road.