ACC Rivals Square off in Tallahassee: (9) Clemson vs. (4) Florida State — Week 4 Betting Predictions

E.J. Manuel is 15/1 to win the Heisman on Bovada and the Seminoles are 14 point favorites over the No. 9 ranked Clemson Tigers
(9) Clemson vs. (4) Florida State
Time: 8 PM EST
TV: ABC
Spread: FLA ST -14
Total: 55.5
M/L: FLST -550, CLEM +450

Betting Odds from Bookmaker

 (9) CLEMSON

Clemson Week One Recap:

Clemson back Andre Ellington ran for 228 yards on 25 carries as Clemson outscored Auburn 10-3 in the final quarter, to escape with a 7 point victory. Ellington, a 5’10″ diminutive ball carrier, had a 68 harder that set up Clemson’s first TD of the season.

The effort helped lead to a 7 point Tigers’ victory…

Humbly, Ellington admitted he didn’t do it all “on his own” attributing his success to the linemen that made his carries possible.

In addition to Ellington’s insane night rushing the ball, WR DeAndre Hopkins came up with a school record 13 receptions.

Clemson QB Tajh Boyd played well, too. He completed 24 of 34 passes for 208 passing yards, while also carrying it 19 times for 58 yards. The Tigers finished with 320 rushing yards and 528 yards overall, which ranks them 9th in the nation in rushing yards.  Boyd is 20/1 to win the Heisman on Bovada.

Week Two brought a victory over the Ball State Cardinals. Despite Ball State’s high powered offense, and the Tigers giving up 27 points, they took advantage of the weak Ball State defensive backfield to reel off 52 points, as Tajh Boyd completed over 80-percent of his passes, and three of his 19 passes resulted in Clemson touch downs. For the game, Boyd posted a QB rating of 209.3

The Tigers also received 174 yards rushing from the duo of Banks & Edwards, as Banks ran for two TDs and had his game high 120 rushing yards on only seven carries.

Week Three the Tigers got all over Furman. They went into the game ranked No. 11 overall, and scored 41 while surrendering only a lone touchdown in the second quarter on a 37 yard TD pass to Jordan Snelling.

The Tigers gave up only 352 total yards and allowed only 2 of 14 third down conversions, while managing to score so quickly that they had nearly half the time of possession as Furman despite the blowout win. Furman controlled the ball for 38 minutes, 19 seconds; while Clemson needed only 21 minutes, 41 seconds to accomplish all 498 yards of offense.

Clemson Betting Trends:

Tigers are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 conference games and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 after scoring 40+ in previous game. They are 2-7 ATS in their last 9 overall, and 0-5 ATS in the last 5 following an SU win. They are also 0-5 ATS in their last 5 after accumulating more than 280 yards in the previous game.

Clemson O/U Trends:

UNDER is 4-0 in Tigers last 4 following an ATS loss, UNDER is 4-0 in last 4 after accumulating 280+ passing yards previous game, UNDER is 10-1 in the Tigers last 11 road games, and OVER is 5-1 in Tigers last 6 games in Sept.

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(4) FLORIDA STATE

The first two weeks, FSU caught the lackluster squads of Murray State and Savannah State, and between the two games, they have yet to allow a TD. After winning 69-3 opening night against the Racers of Murray State, they came back to shut out Savannah State 55-0. As a result of these wins, the Seminoles rank 2nd in the nation in points per game with 62.0 per contest, and are 1st in points allowed, giving up 1.5 points per contest.

Last week, the Seminoles were 27.5 point favorites over lowly Wake Forest, but they came out and ran the score up and won 52-0 over a Demon Deacons team that managed only 126 total yards and seven first downs, while converting only one third down out of 16 in the game.

Meanwhile, FSU posted 612 yards and 27 first downs, while converting nearly half (6 of 13) of their third downs.

Senior running back Chris Thompson ran for 197 yards, which was over three times as much as he had in the previous two games combined against Murray State and Savannah State. The 5’8″ 187 pound water bug from Greenville, Florida went 21.9 yards per carry, including an 80 yard TD run in the second quarter that put the ‘Noles up 28-0.

The Seminoles are deeper than in recent years past and if injuries hit this year like they did in 2011, they might be all right. The OL is the key to the Seminoles being great, because their defense alone should be enough to secure an ACC championship. Athlon magazine predicted an 11-2 record with a 6-2 ACC record. Wake Forest won’t be the biggest challenge in the ACC, but even at 27.5 point underdogs according to college football oddsmakers, the Seminoles will face their biggest challenge today in what many are billing to be the game of the week.

Florida State Betting Trends:

Seminoles are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 following an ATS win, 7-2 ATS in their last 9 after accumulating 200+ rushing yards in previous game, 6-2 ATS in their last 8 after allowing less than 100 yards rushing previous game, 5-2 ATS in their last 7 conf games, 7-3 ATS in last 10 overall, 5-17 ATS in their last 22 after scoring 40+ points in their previous game, and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 in Sept.

Florida State O/U Trends:

UNDER is 6-1 in Seminoles’ last 7 games, UNDER is 6-1 in last 7 vs teams with winning records, UNDER is 5-1 in last 6 after allowing less than 100 yards rushing in previous game, and UNDER Is 5-1 in Seminoles last 6 games on grass.

THE FINAL WORD:

I like the Seminoles to come out, win this game, and cover the 14 point spread by college football oddsmakers. I also predict the score will go OVER the 55.5 point total set by oddsmakers. 64.6 percent of bettors are in agreement on that O/U.

They’ve shown that they are a BCS contender, and while Clemson is nearly on that level, they’re going to have problems with the Seminoles, who have been climbing in the ranking and are rated No. 1 in the nation in overall defense, allowing only 1 point per game (a Murray State field goal on September 1st), while running up an average of 58.7 points per game against the three inferior opponents they have played. They look extremely tough on both sides of the ball.

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