Bold Betting Predictions for the 2017-18 College Football Season

Clemson at Boston College Expert Pick & Odds

Written by on October 5, 2016

One of the best college football games ever was last week when Clemson beat Louisville in an absolute epic to take control of the ACC Atlantic Division. The No. 3 Tigers are huge favorites on college football odds this week at Boston College but it could be a bit of a letdown game.

How To Bet on the Clemson at Boston College Expert Pick, Odds & TV Info



When: Friday, Oct. 7, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill, Mass.
TV: ESPN
Opening NCAA Football Lines: Clemson -16.5 (43.5)

Why Bet on Clemson?

The Tigers beat then-No. 3 Louisville 42-36. They rallied for two fourth-quarter touchdowns and stopped Heisman Trophy favorite Lamar Jackson and Louisville a yard short on fourth down with 33 seconds left. Clemson came back behind Deshaun Watson’s five touchdowns, the last two coming in the final seven minutes, after Louisville wiped out an 18-point lead.

Watson had a career-high three interceptions and a fumble but had 306 yards on 20-of- 31 passing. He also had 91 rushing yards on 14 carries. His final touchdown pass was a 31-yarder with 3:14 left that capped an 85-yard drive and gave the Tigers the lead for good. This season, Watson is tied for sixth nationally in passing touchdowns (14) and ranks 16th in points responsible for (86).

With the victory, Clemson remains unbeaten in three games against Louisville, all coming since the Cardinals joined the ACC in 2014. The Tigers have won 19 straight home games overall, the longest active streak in the country. Clemson is also 14-2 in games decided by seven points or less since 2011, including a 7-0 mark at home during that span.

Clemson has won 31 straight games when rushing for at least 200 rushing yards. The Tigers are 76-0- 1 when totaling at least 200 rushing yards and 200 passing yards, while holding an 87-1- 1 record when totaling at least 500 yards of total offense. The Tigers have also won 56 of their last 57 games when leading heading into the fourth quarter.

Clemson has a 14-9- 2 lead in the series with Boston College that dates to the 1940 Cotton Bowl. Clemson has won each of the last five games, including 17-13 the last time the two teams met in Boston in 2014, and 34-17 last year at Clemson. Boston College’s last win was in 2010 in Boston by a 16-10 count. Clemson has a 7-6- 1 lead in at Chestnut Hill.

Why Bet on Boston College?

The Eagles are off a 35-3 non-conference win over Buffalo. Boston College scored the first 14 points of the game and led the rest of the way. For the second straight game, the Eagles put up 400 yards of offense as they recorded 400 against Buffalo and 490 against Wagner the week before. The last time the Eagles recorded back-to- back 400-yard games was when in 2014 against Colorado State (408; Sept. 27) and at NC State (411; Oct. 11).

It was also the second straight game Boston College scored at least 30 points, as the Eagles put up 42 against Wagner. The 258 passing yards were the most the BC offense tallied since recording 285 against Villanova on Aug. 31, 2013 when Chase Rettig was behind center. John Fadule recorded 257 in 2015 against NC State. QB Patrick Towles set his career-high at BC with 234 passing yards and 14 completions. He finished the game 14-of- 25 passing with two touchdowns.

The defense limited the big play, paving the road for a near-record performance. They allowed 67 yards of offense, third-best all-time and best against a current FBS program (the top two are against Howard and Holy Cross, respectively).

BC coach Steve Addazio had to adjust his schedule to play the league’s premier program on a short week. Everything BC normally does during a game week was moved up a day.

“Being home helps you, but it’s hard, and we practice in the mornings, so it is compounded,” Addazio said. “We had to get a lot of the game-planning done (Sunday night) relative to having a good (practice), which we did.”

An upset here would take Addazio off the hot seat.

My Expert Pick

Underdog is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 meetings. Under is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings.

I’m going to take the points here, hoping it gets a bit higher. Go under in NCAA football betting.