This is a hard game to cap, because there's an equal amount of things for and against each squad kinda cancelling each other out.
But I always bet this game cuz I live in Ireland so I'm gonna do my best.
Normally I would look to fade FSU in a spot like this. Lost a ton of key pieces to the NFL, so they have new faces at QB WR and RB so hard to predict what the offense will look like. Unlikely to have gelled in week 0, neutral field. Still smarting over the CFP snub and last seen getting thrashed in a bowl. Whereas Tech is on the up and has a very productive offense with the ACC TD leader returning so you already know the chemistry is there on offense.
BUT, their defense is atrocious. Gave up the 3rd most rushing 1st downs and brought in a new coordinator to fix it. And the one they hired is good but he's unlikely to fix it for week 0 and the FSU O line is excellent.
While having all new faces on O is a negative, this situation isn't bad because the QB is a veteran guy who used to be in the ACC and so is the RB who came in from Alabama. Both guys I would say are serviceable, solid, not spectacular. Not a huge DJ fan but I think this is the kind of game he can be okay in, the Wreck doesn't get much pressure at all, they can't stop the run so shouldn't be too many 3rd and longs. They also brought in a WR from LSU which is always stocked with WR talent. If you have to have all new dudes, a good oline and facing a bad defense is what you want. Especially when they're trying to install a new scheme.
But the counterpoint is that not only does FSU have all new guys, their OC is suspended. Hopefully just running the ball is enough since they won't want to try anything cute in this situation.
Haynes King might have led the ACC in TDs but he also led it in picks. FSU lost some talent up front but they have Farmer and a guy who had to sit out who is his best buddy and this group had lots of success pressuring the QB last year. The FSU defense certainly has less question marks than Tech's.
Crucially, they allowed the least 4th quarter points in the nation last year. Hopefully that continues so we can avoid any backdoors, and hopefully this new group wants to serve notice that FSU is gonna be a contender again. These new guys didn't have to deal with being snubbed so they just need to do their job and should run wild on Tech.
It's been raining a lot all week here, dunno what the field will be like. The total i think again plenty of pros and cons. One bad defense one good one, one offense that was good and is now all different dudes and one offense that is good but turns it over.
I live on the total other side of the country but I actually spotted some guys in FSU shirts yesterday in my town and got talking to them, they're at the game today. I'm gonna take that as a sign even tho Ga Tech actually has the first Irish born D1 scholarship player ever, it's the punter. Hopefully he gets plenty of screen time!
Laying the wood with FSU -10.5