Clemson at Virginia – The ACC football weekend starts early with a bang this week, as the best game is tonight at 7:30. Whenever Clemson and Virginia play, you’re going to hear references to “white meat” and 29-0, referring to the long domination of the Cavaliers by the Tigers. Those days are long gone though. Since UVA finally broke through, beating Clemson for the first time in 1990, UVA has won half of their 14 matchups.
This year, Virginia clearly looks to be the better team, undefeated and ranked in the top ten. They have blown out every team they have faced. But the season really starts tonight for the Cavaliers, as the Tigers are the first team that has a legitimate shot at beating them. Is Virginia really that good? We won’t know until we see how they respond in a close game. If we don’t find out tonight, we will soon. After Clemson, Virginia still has games at FSU and Virginia Tech and at home against Maryland, Miami and Georgia Tech.
For the Tigers, this season has been a mess. They lost one game that they shouldn’t have, to a mediocre Georgia Tech and got spanked in another game that they should have at least competed in (at Texas A&M). In their one win, home against Wake Forest, they had to rally late to force overtime, winning in the second extra period. The most obvious problem for the Tigers so far has been the play of QB Charlie Whitehurst, once thought to be a Heisman darkhorse. Instead, he’s thrown for 10 interceptions and only 5 touchdowns in four games.
So, what will happen tonight? I think Clemson will come out fighting, but I have a feeling that Virginia will hold serve. Even though they lost start defensive lineman Chris Canty to a blown knee, they are just too strong and balanced. Virginia can run and throw and they can keep you from running and throwing. They have also gotten two scores from kick returns. I’m guessing this game will be pretty close, within 10 points, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Clemson spits the bit again and loses by three touchdowns.
Virginia Tech at Wake Forest – This week, the Hokies get their first look at an ACC road game. The thing is, it probably won’t look like it. Wake doesn’t really have a ton of hometown fans and Blacksburg isn’t far away. I bet there will be lots of maroon and orange in Winston-Salem this weekend. That said, this one smells like an upset to me. Wake has been playing well, but narrowly losing several games this year. The Hokies are just coming off and emotional upset over rival West Virginia. I bet it’ll be hard for Frank Beamer to convince his boys that Wake is for real. They’ll have to learn it the hard way.
I say Wake gets their first conference win of the year on Saturday.
Georgia Tech at Maryland – This Maryland team seems to be following the pattern of all of Ralph Friedgen’s Terp teams – start off somewhat slowly and get better and better each week. Somehow, the Terps seem to surprise people every year as they quietly win games. Now that sophomore QB Joel Statham has settled down, this is a good team.
Georgia Tech on the other hand is starting to look like a bad team. There’s no embarrassment in being spanked by Miami, but scoring only 3 points is troubling. It’s particularly galling when you add it to the previous game, a 34-13 shellacking by a bad North Carolina team. I said before that I thought that UNC game was possibly an aberration for the Yellow Jackets, but I may have been wrong. Their freakish win at Clemson may actually be the aberration (although if Clemson continues to play poorly, that may not be accurate either).
So, Maryland’s good and Georgia Tech isn’t. Add to that the revenge factor – Tech upset Maryland 7-3 last year in a nationally televised Thursday night game. Maryland’s gonna win this one, and it could get ugly.
Florida State at Syracuse – Two weeks ago, I accurately predicted that Virginia would beat Syracuse, probably in a blowout. I think Florida State is better than Virginia. Now, guess what I think is going to happen in this game?
Actually, this game may not be quite a blowout, at least not in the sense of three or four touchdown win. The Seminoles just don’t have their typical explosive offense. They’ve only hit 40 points once, in their 41-22 win over Clemson. I expect they’ll score pretty close to that against the Orange (what a dumb name). The key is that their defense is still stifling. Syracuse has the 94th best offense in the country. They ain’t gonna score a ton of points on the Seminoles, even in the Carrier Dome.
So look for this one to be a game where the outcome is never really in doubt, but don’t expect something like 56-3.
NC State at North Carolina – You never really know with rivalry games right? Well, sometimes you do.
North Carolina is more than capable of putting everything together and whomping up on the Wolfpack, but I wouldn’t bet my mortgage on it. Hell, I wouldn’t even bet your mortgage on it. I think the Tar Heels are a very fragile bunch that is perilously close to complete collapse.
NC State, on the other hand, is starting to round into shape. Their quarterback play still isn’t what they’d like and it may never get there, but they did start to get some more yards out of the passing game against Wake Forest. At the same time, T.A. (Trainer Anytime) McClendon had his best game of the year, and their defense is still ranked #1 in the country. So, the defense is great, the offense is good and getting better and they are going to be fired up against a psychologically weak opponent. On top of all of that, expect Kenan stadium to have copious amounts of red in it on Saturday as aggressive Wolfpack fans have been gobbling up tickets. They love nothing better than embarrassing their powder blue friends and beating them in their own house is a great way to do that.
So, I expect State will roll in this one, winning big. At the same time, I have this small thought way in a back janitor’s closet of my brain that thinks the Tar Heels might put it together for once and steal this one. Naaaaah. State in a cakewalk.