Clemson-Auburn
Time: 9 PM EST
Spread: CLEM -7.5
M/L: CLEM (-300), AUB (+250)
Total: 63.5

Betting odds c/o 5dimes

Clemson

The Clemson Tigers came up just short of a National Championship in 2015, losing by five points to Alabama in the title game. Their offensive attack is about as good as any, and Clemson averaged 38.5 points and 514 yards per game last season. QB Deshaun Watson threw for 4,104 yards and rushed for an additional 1,105 while winning the Heisman trophy.

Watson had 478 total yards in the loss to the Crimson Tide.

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In the backfield, the Tigers have junior Wayne Gallman, who rushed for 1,527 yards last season. Adam Choice will also return to the fold after having sustained a knee injury which caused him to miss all of last season. At WR, the Tigers will look to All-ACC Preseason selection Mike Williams, who had 1,000 yards in 2014, but suffered a broken neck in the opening game last season.

As good as Clemson’s offense was last season, it should probably be only stronger still with Watson returning and being one of the elite players in all of the NCAA. Gallman’s return cannot be understated, and Williams was at one point a premier player before sustaining a freakish injury to his neck.

Even if banking on the return of players is an inexact science, there is nothing inexact about just how good Watson is, and there is plenty of talent around him to take it to the next level to put Clemson knocking on the door of a national title again.

The Tigers had the pantry raided in the NFL Draft, and now it is going to require a lot of younger players stepping into roles. The fact that most of them are top recruits and primed for just that, perhaps makes it less worrisome.

Austin Bryant and Clelin Ferrell will be thrust into the opportunity of making plays, getting sacks. Christian Wilkins, Carlos Watkins and Dexter Lawrence all should be effective run-stoppers, and this is not a defense that will be anything like porous.

Clemson allowed just 21.7 points per game last season while allowing just 313 yards per game. The backfield is going to have a lot of turnover with three of its starters gone to the NFL, but Cordres Tankersley is a strong CB and both FS Jadar Johnson and SS Van Smith put together a strong secondary that should be comparable to last year’s unit which held opponents to just 187.7 receiving yards per game, ranking No. 17 in the nation.

Clemson was about as close as it could have been to a title last year, and it indeed finds right there again with the second most-favorable odds at 5dimes, listing Clemson at +725 to win the National title.

The schedule does not do them a lot of favors this season, but it does end softly with Wake Forest and South Carolina.
Clemson will be there as they always are, and it should be exciting to see what Watson can do—and whether or not this will be his final collegiate season.

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Auburn

The Auburn Tigers finished just 7-6 last season, but it did emerge as 31-10 victors over Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl. The Tigers closed the regular season by losing two of its final three to Georgia and Alabama (defeating Idaho), and it will need to put together a fuller season this year after going just 2-6 in SEC play.

The offense returns six starters, including three on the OL. Jeremy Johnson was selected to the the starting QB after being the front-runner for the competition the entire time. Gus Malzahn finally made it officially on Monday, naming him the starter for the season.

He is a 6’5” 230 pound junior who backed up Nick Marshall the last two seasons, and his experience and spring more or less guaranteed it. Malzahn tweeted that everyone has immense confidence in his abilities to improve a pass offense that generated just 173.6 yards last season, ranking No. 110 among FBS schools.

The Tigers have a plethora of talented backs to turn to for its ground attack, though. TB Javon Robinson headlines that group as a powerful runner capable of racking up serious yardage. Four other backs will all get touches, though Chandler Cox and Kamryn Pittway have mostly functioned as blockers in the past.

The OL is good and should create plenty of holes for them, with Braden Smith and Alex Kozan being two of the best guards in the SEC.

Auburn is in a nice place with few expectations placed on what is still a pretty good team. The rush attack, defense and special teams are all good and will keep the Tigers in games, but this Week 1 matchup against Clemson will set the tone on the season. Next week will be a chance for some respite in hosting Arkansas State, but first business begins as 7.5 underdogs among college football oddsmakers.

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