Manny Diaz and Duke are off to a surprising 4-0 start. The Blue Devils earned revenge wins in the first two weeks of the season, knocking off both Tulane and Illinois, two teams that beat them a season ago.
Fresh off a bye week, Week 6 brings another opportunity to avenge a loss from last season. A year ago, Georgia Tech rolled into Durham and knocked off Duke, 27-18. The Blue Devils just didn't have enough in the fourth quarter to combat the Yellow Jackets. The game was tied at 10 heading into the final 15 minutes, and then Georgia Tech scored 17 in a row to put it to bed.
That was then, this is now.
Duke is 4-0 and looks much improved all across the board. The defense is much better than it was a season ago, and Nate Sheppard leads a dominant rushing offense that has not been stopped this year so far.
On the other side, Georgia Tech enters the matchup 1-3 and is pretty desperate for a win to get their season back on track. Life after QB Haynes King and OC Buster Faulkner has been unkind to Brent Key and his team, but overlooking the Jackets would be foolish.
Diaz won't let his team take this game lightly. He knows how difficult it is to go on the road and win in this league.
Betting odds for Duke at Georgia Tech in Week 6
Odds courtesy of FanDuel as of 6am ET on Saturday.
Spread: Duke -6.5
Over/Under: 43.5
Moneyline: Duke -235/Georgia Tech +190
Final Prediction:
It would be foolish to believe this game is going to be easy. Duke fans might be tempted to look at the common opponent of Stanford and how the Blue Devils dominated the Cardinals and Georgia Tech dropped the game in Palo Alto.
But the transitive property means zilch in sports. Georgia Tech is a talented team that is in desperate need of a win. They are going to play like a team in desperate need of a win on Saturday afternoon in Atlanta.
So Duke is going to have to play well to win the game. They are going to have to take care of the football and avoid any back-breaking mistakes that could swing this game toward the Jackets.
I think Duke wins, but it's going to be a 60-minute fight. Diaz knows it, and he'll have his team ready.
Pick: Duke 23, Georgia Tech 17
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