Andrew Levy, a blog columnist for the Blue Zone, examines prop bets for Duke's contest against Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Over/Under 3.5 fourth quarter points for Virginia Tech
Duke’s streak of holding teams scoreless in the fourth quarter ended this year when Baylor scored two late touchdowns. The Blue Devils may have kicked off a new streak of shutting opponents out in the final quarter last week against North Carolina Central. This week, Duke will face their toughest opponent of the season when they host Virginia Tech. While the Hokies are reeling from one of the biggest upsets in program history, their offense was not the issue against Old Dominion. Virginia Tech has scored late in each of the three games they have played in this season, and I expect them to score late to keep the game close.
Pick: Over
Over/Under 74.5 Rushing for Quentin Harris
Quentin Harris has been a pleasant surprise for the Blue Devils since taking the helm at quarterback after Daniel Jones’ injury. Harris has been a threat both in the air and on the ground, accounting for seven total touchdowns in two starts. However, against a putrid defense in Baylor, Harris had a forty percent completion percentage. To offset the accuracy issues Harris tends to have, head coach David Cutcliffe opted for more designed run plays for the third year quarterback as he ran 14 times for 83 yards. I presume that Coach Cutcliffe has a similar game plan to utilize Harris’ athleticism against the Hokies.
Pick: Over
Virginia Tech at Duke (-4.5)
The spread for the Duke game against Virginia Tech has been one of the of wonkiest spreads of the week. The line opened at Duke -3 on Sunday, and within one day the spread moved to -6 as the public hammered Duke in Las Vegas. As the week progressed, the line has progressively shrunk, as the Blue Devils currently sit as 4.5 point favorites. I think the line has corrected itself accordingly, as Duke probably is the slightly better team and gains a couple of points in the spread for playing at home. However, I think this game will be extremely close, with special teams playing an important role in the matchup. I think Duke will prevail, but maybe by only a few points.
Pick: Virginia Tech
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