Getty Gallery: 4/6
No. 3 Pitt Covers +26.5 Spread vs. Clemson in ACC Championship
Everyone is handing Clemson the ACC title, but 26 points is a lot to spot somebody with a conference championship on the line. Pitt has the capabilities to ugly-up this matchup against Clemson. While the Panthers laid an egg against the Hurricanes, Clemson is going to get their best shot on Saturday.
Overall, this is a much better Pitt team than we saw earlier in the season. The Panthers showed that when they hung with Notre Dame. Pittsburgh has wins over Syracuse, Duke, Virginia and Virginia Tech. While Pitt took advantage of playing in a weak ACC Coastal division, they are capable of hanging with Clemson for a few quarters before the Tigers open things up.
The strength of Pitt's offense is running back Qadree Ollison. Quarterback Kenny Pickett has also played better during the second half of the season. Pitt's head coach Pat Narduzzi believes his team will relish the role of underdog and thinks some of his team was already looking ahead to Clemson when they played Miami.
“The underdog, I mean, I think our kids will know they’re the underdog,” Narduzzi told Trib Live. “I don’t think I have to tell them. If you turn any TV station on, turn on ESPN, they’ll find out by the time we get probably (to) Wednesday that they’re the underdog. I won’t really have to play that role up. I think they’ll have figured that out...I’m not so sure some of our kids weren’t already looking forward to (the championship game) already. So I don’t think we’ll have much trouble trying to get them ready for the game. I think they’ve looked forward to it for a week, maybe too much.”
Clemson Has Struggled This Season Against the Spread
Clemson is just 6-6 against the spread this season, while Pittsburgh is 8-4. The Panthers have gone an impressive 5-3 against the spread as an underdog. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney spoke about what his team expects against Pitt.
"Pittsburgh is a tough, physical football team," Swinney explained to 247 Sports. "That’s just who they are. Offensively they’re gonna be a 21-personnel team, 11-personnel, some 20, and they come right at ya. It’s three runs to every pass and you’ve got to stop it. They got two backs right at 1,000. No. 30 and 22, great players. Tough, hard-nosed guys. They have really done a nice job incorporating their receivers into the run game with how they block and the play-action game. A bunch of formations, bunch of shifts, lot of motioning so it really challenges you to be sound in your gaps, be disciplined, and have your eyes on the right things."
Clemson likely pulls away in the second half, but I like Pittsburgh to hang around early which will allow them to cover the massive spread.
Comments
College Football Predictions: Best Picks Against the Spread Week 14