Georgia Tech vs Clemson Picks and Predictions: An Orange Wreck

Don't ask why — we know the how — but Clemson just LOVES punishing Georgia Tech. Dabo Swinney's squad welcomes the Yellow Jackets as massive college football betting chalk this weekend and, as is now an annual tradition, we expect a blowout.

Douglas Farmer - Betting Analyst at Covers
Douglas Farmer • Betting Analyst
Sep 17, 2021 • 10:32 ET • 4 min read
DJ Uiagalelei Will Shipley Clemson Tigers college football
Photo By - USA TODAY Sports

Clemson’s march through the ACC will begin with perhaps its easiest conference game, favored by four touchdowns against Georgia Tech.

Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney has no known reason to actively dislike Georgia Tech but his approach to dismantling the Ramblin’ Wreck the last three seasons suggests Swinney has a personal vendetta to settle. There is little reason to think he will change his ways this weekend.

Here are our free college football picks and predictions for Georgia Tech vs. Clemson on Saturday, September 18, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. ET.

Georgia Tech vs Clemson odds

Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.

The hook on the fourth touchdown proved too much for most betters, as this line opened at -28.5, briefly dabbled with -29, and then settled midweek at -28. All the while the total was inching upward from an opening number of 51.5 to eventually cresting at 52.5 at the time of writing. Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full college football odds before placing your bets.

Georgia Tech vs Clemson picks

Picks made on 9/17/2021 at 3:40 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.

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Georgia Tech vs Clemson game info

Location: Memorial Stadium, Clemson, SC
Date: Saturday, September 18, 2021
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: ABC

Georgia Tech vs Clemson betting preview

Weather

Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.

Key injuries

Georgia Tech: Jeff Sims QB (Questionable), Leo Blackburn WR (Out).
Clemson: Nolan Turner S (Questionable), Mason Trotter OL (Questionable), Tayquon Johnson OL (Out), Dietrick Pennington OL (Out), John Williams OL (Out), Lannden Zanders S (Out).
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.

Betting trend to know

Clemson is 5-0-1 ATS in its last six meetings with Georgia Tech. Find more NCAA betting trends for Georgia Tech vs. Clemson.

Georgia Tech vs Clemson predictions

This is a simple talent mismatch — and it has been for years. The Tigers have won their last three games against the Yellow Jackets... By an average score of 58-14.

Clemson may not have Trevor Lawrence anymore, but DJ Uiagalelei will present just as many problems for Georgia Tech’s defense.

Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney does not necessarily try to run up the score, but he has tended to do so against the Yellow Jackets even more than most FCS opponents the last few years. Including last week’s 49-3 win against South Carolina State, Clemson has beaten four FCS foes by an average margin of 51.25-6 since 2018.

In 2020, the Tigers led Georgia Tech 52-7 at halftime and still scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Four Clemson quarterbacks saw action and nine individual players reached the end zone. In 2019, the Tigers led 28-0 at halftime and poured on 10 points in the final frame. Two Clemson quarterbacks enjoyed the heyday while five players scored touchdowns. And in 2018, the Tigers struggled to a mere 28-7 lead at halftime and added just one touchdown in the fourth quarter, though three quarterbacks still saw time and five players scored.

Clemson does not know how to ease up against Georgia Tech.

If the four-touchdown spread is too rich for your blood, there is a clear precedent to expect the Tigers to jump out to a healthy lead before the break. More recently, Clemson led 35-3 at halftime against SC State last week, so the Tigers covering the first-half spread of -17 (-120) is certainly in play too.

This is simply continuing the expectation that Clemson will pile on Geoff Collins’ woebegone Yellow Jackets.

If the Tigers defense gives up a single touchdown — a decent possibility given Georgia Tech has actually improved its skill position players, including sophomore running back Jahmyr Gibbs (who scored four touchdowns of 20+ yards in a truncated freshman season) — then this Over should be assured by a few garbage-time touchdowns by the team with a massive lead, as has been Clemson’s tradition in this annual rout.

NCAA parlays

Did you know that if you parlayed our Georgia Tech vs. Clemson picks, you could win $26.45 on a $10 bet?

Use our college football parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.

Where can I bet on college football odds?

You can bet on college football odds at every online and casino sportsbook, including NCAA moneylines, spreads, Over/Under totals, and a ton of college football prop odds. Head over to our best football betting sites for the top spots to bet on college football odds in your area.

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Douglas Farmer
Betting Analyst

Douglas Farmer spends his days thinking about college football and his nights thinking about the NBA. His betting habits and coverage follow that same pattern. He covered Notre Dame football for various outlets from 2008 to 2024, most notably spending eight seasons as NBC Sports’ beat writer on the Irish. That was also when his gambling focus took off. Knowing there were veteran beat writers with three decades more experience than he had, Douglas found his niche by best recognizing Notre Dame’s standing in each year’s national landscape, a complex tapestry most easily understood and remembered via betting odds.

In 2021, that interest created a freelance opportunity with Covers, a role that eventually led to Douglas joining the company full-time in 2023. In the fall, Douglas will place five or six dozen bets each week, a disproportionate amount via BetRivers because the operator tends to have lines slightly different than the rest of the market. The same can be said of Circa Sports’ futures markets.

While Douglas is an avid NBA fan and covers the league throughout the year, the vast majority of his bets are on college football, because that is the biggest key to sports betting: Know what you do not know.

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