Georgia Tech’s edges at coach, quarterback should sink Virginia

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson and quarterback Tevin Washington are proving to be a tough combination to beat.

When you find a game in which you're confident, you often see solid advantages at the quarterback position and in the coaching department. That's my stance in playing the Yellow Jackets as 7-point favorites at Virginia today.

No disrespect to Cavaliers coach Mike London, but the preference here is Johnson by a wide margin. In fact, I'll say that about Johnson compared to every other coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference, with the exception of Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer and possibly Wake Forest's Jim Grobe.

As for the quarterbacks, Washington has 10 touchdown passes compared with two interceptions. The junior also has rushed for six touchdowns while leading the Yellow Jackets to an average of 46.5 points per game.

Virginia's Michael Rocco has just two touchdown passes and has been intercepted seven times. The Cavaliers have failed to cover the number in four straight games and stand 1-3 as home underdogs on London's watch.

Georgia Tech is going to taste its first defeat sometime soon, but it won't happen in Charlottesville. Go with the Yellow Jackets to improve to 7-2-1 against the spread as road favorites during Johnson's four-year tenure.

Three more plays for today (home team in CAPS):

■ Arizona State (+15) over OREGON -- If not for seven turnovers, the Sun Devils most likely would have prevented Oregon from going to the Bowl Championship Series title game last season. Arizona State produced 597 yards of offense against the Ducks, only to come up on the short end of a 42-31 decision.

The Sun Devils own a 5-2-1 spread record in eight double-digit underdog situations under coach Dennis Erickson. Arizona State is going to Eugene for one reason, and that's to collect an outright win. I'm not sure if it will do so, but I love the quality team catching the huge number in this spot.

■ Louisiana State-TENNESSEE (Over 45) -- LSU is scoring at a clip of 38.5 points per game. Like Alabama, its offense often gets hooked up with short fields thanks to a dominant defense.

But don't expect the Tigers to do all the scoring here.

Even with quarterback Tyler Bray out, Matt Simms has plenty of experience. Simms is more than capable of generating offense for the Volunteers, who saw their first four games played to the following combined point totals: 58, 68, 62 and 51.

■ Alabama-MISSISSIPPI (Over 44½) -- It's too soon to compare Alabama's defense to the 1992 version, but it's getting there in a hurry. The Crimson Tide allow 7.0 points per game, so why point that out while endorsing an "over" play?

Well, because this stop unit is so good that it helps the cause of "over" supporters. The Tide defense scores touchdowns and constantly creates a short field for the offense. Alabama is averaging 37.7 points and should score around 45 in this one.

Last week: 2-2 against the spread

Season: 17-7-1

Brian Edwards of VegasInsider.com and BrianEdwardsSports.com is providing college football analysis for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.