Every week the Blue Zone gives you our can't-lose prop bets for the upcoming football game:
Duke (+11) vs. Virginia Tech
Duke (3-6, 0-5 in the ACC) is still sporting a losing streak, and it doesn't look pretty. Last weekend, the Blue Devils took on No. 25 Pittsburgh at Wallace Wade Stadium in a match that they hoped would pull them out of their victory drought. However, after Duke managed to take several narrow leads within the first half, the Panthers broke free from any restraints keeping them back and registered a 54-29 triumph.
Virginia Tech (4-5, 2-3 in the ACC) is one of three more contests on the schedule for Duke. With unsuccessful play prevailing, a loss against this team or any other two could affect the program's future. Given the urgency that securing a win has for Duke, you may expect it to put out a different performance than we have seen in any game this season, yet, time and time again, the Blue Devils have seen a repeat of their previous game—the majority of these five key losses have been blowouts.
Looking ahead to Saturday, Virginia Tech has the odds in its favor. The team defeated two opponents that Duke lost to—North Carolina and Georgia Tech—while the Blue Devils have not defeated any of the Hokies upsets. Besides these teams, their only cross-competition is Pittsburgh, which Virginia Tech was defeated by in a 28-7 clash. Though the Hokies will likely pull away with the win, it’s a more even matchup than in previous weeks, so the numbers between them and Duke will probably not be any more than 11 points.
Pick: Duke +11
Over/Under 51.5
Both teams kick off Saturday's match with a loss recorded last weekend. When consulting their schedule thus far, the small numbers registered in Virginia Tech's previous game against Boston College don't seem too outlandish. The team plays a low-scoring game consistently: they beat North Carolina 17-10, Georgia Tech 26-17 and lost to Pittsburgh 28-7. In addition, only two of their nine games up to now have had numbers on either side add up to more than 51 points, it's reasonable to conclude that the score Saturday will not go above this count.
Pick: Under 51.5
No scoreless quarters (-455)
The Blue Devils have remained uniform this season in whether they or their opponent or both, record at least one score each quarter of the game. Duke has stumbled by going scoreless several times, even in games that it pulled out wins in. However, when the team doesn’t score, their opponent does. Conversely, their opponent this week, Virginia Tech, has seen entirely scoreless quarters in contests against Boston College, Pittsburgh and Richmond. In each of these matches, the scoreless quarter was always the fourth, telling us that in the rare case that there is one, it will likely be then. However, given that the teams have played a combined seventeen games and only three of them have seen scoreless quarters, it’s doubtful that this will happen Saturday afternoon.
Pick: No scoreless quarters (-455)
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