Thursday's NCAAF Matchups

Virginia Tech/Boston College

Virginia Tech has dominated the Boston College Eagles winning nine of the last 12 meetings. The Hokies will have to get past the Eagles on the road however in Thursday night’s ACC matchup and it won’t be easy. Boston College fell out of the rankings after not playing last week, and the Eagles know that a win over the 22nd ranked team in the country could put them right back in the top 25. Virginia Tech is also coming off a bye week, and the Hokies have had a long time to think about their loss to Georgia Tech back on September 30th. Both teams will be hungry, but my small lean is on the Hokies -2.5 because of their superior defense which has only allowed six touchdowns all season.

Clemson/Temple

Clemson is a huge 44 point favorite in Thursday night’s matchup against the Temple Owls. Temple holds the nation’s longest losing streak coming into this one as the Owls have lost 18 straight games. I’m not expecting Temple to win, how could you, but they should be hyped up to play in Bank of America Stadium where the Carolina Panthers play. Clemson could be looking past Temple a little bit as they face 13th ranked Georgia Tech and 22nd ranked Virginia Tech in the following weeks. Last season, the Tigers beat the Owls 37-7. I think Clemson is a better team this year and my small lean is on laying the 44 points. Louisville beat the Owls 62-0 and Clemson in going to beat them as bad as they want to.

Colorado State/Air Force

Both the Rams of Colorado State and the Air Force Falcons enter Thursday night’s matchup undefeated in Mountain West play. After getting beaten handily at Nevada on September 16, the Rams have responded with back to back decisive victories over Fresno State and UNLV. Air Force is sitting in first place in the Mountain West by getting off to a 2-0 start with wins over Wyoming and New Mexico. They also gave Tennessee all they wanted in week one falling by just one-point. But the Falcons are entering this one coming off a loss to rival Navy last week. We all know that Air Force is a persistent ground team averaging 265.8 rush yards per game. Colorado State’s defense has been solid against the run this season allowing just 75 rushing yards per game. This one will be decided by the play of Air Force’s rushing offense or Colorado State’s defense against the run. Jimmy Boyd has the winning angle nailed in Thursday night’s Mountain West matchup and you can take his side and total plays to the bank.

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