NCAA Games Today: Duke vs Georgia Tech 10/9/21 College Football Picks, Predictions

The Duke Blue Devils meet the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Saturday in week 6 ACC college football action from Wallace Wade Stadium. Georgia Tech is coming off a matchup versus Pittsburgh. The Yellow Jackets ended up falling in a blowout defeat. As for Duke, they played North Carolina last weekend. In that one the Blue Devils lost big as well. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Georgia Tech suffered a close loss to Northern Illinois in their opener this year, falling 22-21. The Yellow Jackets would then bounce back with a 45-17 win over Kennesaw State and another loss to Clemson 14-8. Georgia Tech then took out North Carolina 45-22 in week four. 

In their game five matchup versus Pittsburgh, the Yellow Jackets gave up 42 first-half points during an eventual 52-21 loss. QB Jeff Sims had 359 yards with two TDs and two picks on 24-of-33 passing, and Dontae Smith rushed nine times for 43 yards and a TD.

Over on the Duke side, they lost a rough one to Charlotte 31-28 in their opener but then immediately improved with a 45-17 win over NC A&T in game two. The Blue Devils would keep it going with wins over Northwestern 30-23 and Kansas 52-33. 

Last weekend versus North Carolina, Duke was down 24-0 at the half and couldn’t do much afterward in a 38-7 blowout loss. QB Gunnar Holmberg finished on 17-of-24 passing with 184 yards, one TD and one INT and Mateo Durant had 19 carries for 114 yards. 

The Jackets are 4-1 ATS in their last five after a straight-up loss and 4-11 ATS versus a team with a winning record. The over is 24-8 in their last 32 in October. 

Meanwhile, the Devils are 5-2 ATS in their last seven at home and 0-6 ATS in their last six conference games. The over is also 16-5-1 in Duke’s last 22 at home.

PICK: I’m probably going to take a stab on Georgia Tech but staying away. The Jackets were outgunned in the Pitt game, coughing up 580 total yards, 27 first downs and an 8-of-15 mark on third- and fourth-down tries. The offense wasn’t awful (432 yards and 21 first downs) but they weren’t out on the field much. 

As for Duke, they were in the same boat with 456 yards allowed on defense and just 2-of-15 on third downs for their offense. The Devils coughed up a couple of turnovers and punted nine times. 

These teams should match up better than last week, so I like this one to be competitive most of the way.