Georgia Tech vs Pittsburgh Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Week 9
Pittsburgh comes home to Acrisure Stadium on a losing streak, and Georgia Tech arrives off a heavy home loss. Both teams need a defensive answer, and only one passing game in this matchup has spent the season landing big plays down the field.
The Matchup
Pittsburgh's offense is built through the air, and Georgia Tech has shown little ability to take the ball away from a passing team. Pittsburgh averages 290.8 passing yards per game at 8.2 yards per attempt, and Cataurus Hicks is the stress point. Hicks has 649 receiving yards this season, and he caught 5 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown in the loss at Miami, averaging 29.8 yards per catch and stretching the field on almost every touch.
Holden Geriner threw for 268 yards at 8.4 yards per attempt in that same game, and Georgia Tech has taken just a single interception all season while allowing 30.3 points per game. A defense that rarely ends drives with a takeaway has to win down after down against Hicks, and Georgia Tech has not done that consistently. Georgia Tech can answer in stretches.
Alberto Mendoza has thrown for 1,714 yards while completing 70.8 percent of his passes, and Justice Haynes has run for 515 yards. Georgia Tech averages 26.7 points per game, enough to trade scores for a while. The tension is whether Georgia Tech can keep trading once Pittsburgh stretches the field, because Georgia Tech's ground game manages only 123.4 yards per game and cannot shorten this game on its own.
Key Factors
Pittsburgh's defense is the clear separator. Pittsburgh allows 20.9 points per game and has recorded 20 sacks and 9 interceptions, the kind of pressure and ball production Georgia Tech's defense has not matched. That pressure meets an offense that wobbled last week. Mendoza threw 2 interceptions against Boston College, and Haynes was held to 53 yards on 14 carries, so when Georgia Tech stalls, Pittsburgh gets extra possessions for an offense averaging 31.6 points per game.
Damon Ferguson Jr. gives Pittsburgh enough balance at 477 rushing yards this season to keep Georgia Tech from sitting on the pass. The counterpoint is real, and Pittsburgh has to answer it. Pittsburgh has lost three straight, allowed 52 points at Miami last week, and Ferguson managed only 39 yards in that game, a version of this team that would let Georgia Tech hang around.
If Mendoza protects the ball the way he did earlier this season and Georgia Tech's defense plays closer to the group that beat Duke 28-25, Pittsburgh's passing edge shrinks to a few big plays instead of a steady gap. Pittsburgh needs its season-long defense, not last week's version, to show up at home.
Editorial pick. Pittsburgh at home has the passing matchup Georgia Tech has struggled to slow, with Hicks stretching a defense that rarely takes the ball away. Georgia Tech can trade scores in stretches, but Pittsburgh is the team more likely to get the extra stops that turn a close game into a cover. Take Pittsburgh -7.5 at -110.
Game information
| DATE | Saturday (10/31) |
|---|---|
| START TIME | 7:30 PM ET |
| HOW TO WATCH | ESPN2 |
| VENUE | Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh |
| SPREAD | Pittsburgh -7.5 |
| TOTAL | 53.5 |
| MONEYLINE | Pittsburgh -305 |
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Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.