Clemson football: Point spread increases in Tigers opener

Less than three weeks ago Clemson football was installed as an 18.5 point favorite over Georgia Tech in the opener at WynnBet.

The Tigers are coming off a 10-3, injury plagued season, in which many fans and industry experts believe the Tigers were underachievers.

A healthy Clemson team has now moved to 19.5 point favorites at WynnBet with the over under currently set at 49.0.  That implies a final score around 34-15 in the Tigers favor.

The Tigers struggled to score in most games in 2021 and only totaled 14 against a Yellow Jacket team that they had rolled 73-7 and 52-14 in the two years prior.

Georgia Tech has struggled under Geoff Collins and enters year four with back to back to back 3 win seasons and a overall record of 9-25.

As I pointed out in early July, predicting a 73-7 or 14-8 type scores seems foolish given the questions marks on offense for Clemson.

That said, it’s also difficult to see Georgia Tech scoring 15 against a healthy Tiger defense without a defensive or special teams score.

Additionally, a 19.5 point spread seems like a ton for a Clemson team with an an inexperienced center, questions along the line, quarterback and wide receiver.

In my early thoughts on this game I pointed out how Clemson struggled against the Tech defense in 2021.

"However, I really knew the Tigers were in trouble on offense two weeks later with the putrid output (284 total yards) against a bad Georgia Tech team that would go on to post a 3-9 record."

Ultimately, the score I chose would have Clemson covering this spread comfortably, but that was just an early July guess and things could change (for better or worse) as the game approaches.

The early bettors though, apparently feel comfortable with the Tigers covering as the increase in spread means money coming in on the Tigers caused the book to increase the spread in hopes of encouraging bettors to get in on the Yellow Jackets.

The game is scheduled for Labor Day night, September 5 in Atlanta.