Week 12 College Football Winning Favorites: Virginia Tech At Notre Dame

Posted by Eric Williams on Friday,November 18, 2016 2:45, EDT in

NCAA College Football News

The Virginia Tech Hokies and Notre Dame Fighting Irish will both look to pick up a huge victory when they square off in an intriguing Week 12 matchup that will likely have postseason implications for both teams.

Now, let’s find out which team is offering the most value in this matchup as well as the latest betting lines.

In Depth Analysis On The Week 12 College Football Winning Favorites: Hokies At Fighting Irish

When: Saturday, November 19, 2016 at 3:30 PM ET
Where: Notre Dame Stadium
TV: NBC
Live Stream: NBC Sports Live
NCAAF Odds: Notre Dame Fighting Irish -3 / Total: 55

Virginia Tech

The Virginia Tech Hokies had their three-game winning streak snapped in their humbling 30-20 Week 11 loss against Georgia Tech this past Saturday while failing to cover the spread as a 14-point favorite. Virginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans passed for 316 yards and one touchdown but tossed two costly interceptions in the loss while rushing for team-high 75 yards and two scores on 18 carries.

For the season, Evans has passed for 2,525 yards with 22 touchdowns and just four interceptions while rushing for a team-high 608 yards and six touchdowns. The Hokies are averaging a healthy 33.4 points per game to rank 45th nationally in scoring. Virginia Tech has been mostly rock-solid this season in limiting the opposition to just 21.2 points per game defensively to rank 22nd nationally in points allowed.

Notre Dame

The Fighting Irish have won two of their last three games including their 44-6 blowout of Army last weekend while covering the spread as 14-point favorites. Quarterback DeShone Kizer went passed for 209 yards and three touchdowns in the win while running back Tarean Folston rushed for a team-high 84 rush yards and one score on 13 carries.

The Irish are averaging a respectable 31.3 points per game to rank 53rd nationally in scoring as Kizer has passed for 2,470 yards with 22 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Notre Dame has limited the opposition to 25.5 points per game to rank 50th nationally in points allowed.

Expert Prediction and Pick

Virginia Tech didn’t look very good last weekend, but I like the Hokies to bounce back in a big way against a Notre Dame team that has repeatedly underachieved this season against quality opponents. The Hokies are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games following a straight-up loss while Notre Dame has gone 2-5 ATS in their last seven non-conference games and 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games in the month of November.

While Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer gets more national media attention that his counterpart in this matchup, I think Virginia Tech’s Jerod Evans is actually the more complete quarterback right now. I love what Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente brings to the table and believe his high-scoring offense will find a way to eke out a narrow road win and accompanying ATS cover.