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North Carolina at Virginia Tech Football Odds & Picks

Written by Jimmy Boyd

unc va tech 102709 The 4-3 North Carolina Tar Heels head to Blacksburg to take on the 5-2 Virginia Tech Hokies Thursday night in an ACC on ESPN showdown. In their last games, the Heels fell 30-27 to Florida State and the Hokies went down 28-23 to Georgia Tech. While both teams will be looking to bounce back, football odds makers are giving the overwhelming advantage to the Hokies at home, listing Virginia Tech as the 16.5-point favorite.

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While a loss last week to Georgia Tech slammed the door on Virginia Tech’s national title chances, the Hokies are still in the mix to reach a third straight ACC championship game. UNC, meanwhile, is 0-3 in ACC play and really needs this one to keep its bowl hopes alive.

Virginia Tech had rattled off five straight wins to climb to No. 4 in the country before falling to the Yellow Jackets, who gashed Virginia Tech’s normally tough defense for 309 yards and four scores on the ground. The Hokies enter this contest ranked No. 14 in the land.

While I expect the VA Tech defense to play much better Thursday night, QB Tyrod Taylor and the offense is going to have to bring its A-game against a UNC defense that has been solid this season. Taylor has made major strides in 2009 and enters this week’s contest as the No. 4 ranked passer in the land in terms of passer rating (159.7). Taylor had only thrown one interception this season before throwing two against Georgia Tech. Hokies backers are hoping that performance was not a sign of things starting to unravel. Taylor has thrown for an average of 204 yards in his last three games with a total of five touchdown passes in those contests. But the key to Taylor’s success has had a lot to do with the success of redshirt freshman tailback Ryan Williams. Williams has broken the century mark on the ground in five of the last six games. It is worth noting that the Hokies are an impressive 29-13 against the number in their last 42 conference games and 7-2 against the spread in their last nine games versus a team with a winning record. If you like the Hokies to bounce back strong at home with a blowout win, bet Virginia Tech at -16.5 at BetUS.

It’s been a stunning tumble for the Heels who began the season ranked No. 21 in the nation. They enter this game having lost three of their last four, but the defense has rarely been to blame. The Heels bring the nation’s seventh-ranked defensive unit to Blackburg. The offense has kept the Heels from building on last season’s strong 8-5 season. UNC averaged only 164 total yards and scored just 10 total points in conference losses to Georgia Tech and Virginia. Next, their 42-12 win over FCS opponent Georgia Southern was misleading as the offense still wasn’t sharp. The good news is the offense came to life against Florida State, racking up 333 yards, including 238 yards on the dirt. The bad news is the Heels blew an 18-point lead as it was the defense, of all units, that let them down in the second half of that game.

The Heels are going to have to put together a complete game to compete with the Hokies if they want a chance to pull off the big upset. It doesn’t figure to be easy as the Hokies have won all five meetings with UNC since joining the ACC, holding the Heels to just 274.6 yards and 12.8 points.

UNC did give VA Tech all it wanted and more last year as the Hokies had to come from behind to get the 3-point win. That rally likely doesn’t occur if UNC QB T.J. Yates doesn’t get hurt early in the four quarter. He was replaced my Mike Paulus, who threw two interceptions to let the Hokies back in the game. It is worth noting that the Tar Heels are 4-1-1 against the spread in their last six games as an underdog of 10.5 or more points and the Hokies are just 4-9 against the spread in their last 13 games as a favorite. If you think odds makers are spotting the Tar Heels to many, bet North Carolina at +16.5 at BetUS.

World champion handicapper Jimmy Boyd will have the winning side or total for you in this matchup Thursday night. Make sure you pick up his expert football picks package for another big winner!

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Written by Jimmy Boyd on October 27, 2009 · Filed Under College Football Betting Articles, News & Previews

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