Louisville at Miami – Once again, I failed to get my preview out before a Thursday night game. I’ll tell you what I would have said though. I would have said that Louisville is a very good team and Miami better be careful. The Cardinals have had good quarterbacks and a good offense for several years now, but this year their defense is stout as well. Louisville has two shutouts so far this year, including one against a good North Carolina offense.
This game is (was) very important for the ACC. There aren’t many non-conference games left against ranked opponents and the ACC hasn’t been quite as good as expected. If the top ACC team were to lose to a program perceived as a mid-major (maybe a half step above that, actually – a mid-high-major?), it would kill the league’s rep this year.
Duke at Georgia Tech – So, which Georgia Tech shows up this week? The one that was spanked by the erratic Tar Heels or the one that monkey-stomped Maryland in College Park? Against Duke, does it really matter? Probably not. I didn’t expect Duke to be very good this year, but I thought they’d be competitive and they really haven’t been. Their best game was a near-win against UConn. The Dukies are the kind of team that might just upset someone this year though, and this is one of the more likely games.
Georgia Tech could be ripe for an upset. They are coming off of their best performance in years last weekend. After a bye week, the Hokies come to town, so the Yellow Jackets may not be focused on the Blue Devils. It’s not like this team is the Rock of Gibraltar. Still, I think Georgia Tech will win. Duke is still getting used to a new system and they’ve had a series of injuries to a squad that was never very deep. Don’t be shocked if this one turns out to be a close one though.
Utah State at Clemson – This game couldn’t come at a better time for Clemson. The Tigers are in disarray. They expected their team to be 4-1 or 3-2 at absolute worst at this point of the season, but they are 1-4. This is still a good team, but they haven’t played like it yet, at least not for a full 60 minutes.
Fortunately for Clemson, they won’t need their A game against the Aggies (yes, I looked it up) of Utah State. They won’t even need their B game to win this one. That said, Clemson really needs to fix their problems and this might be the game to do it. If they can play well and blow Utah State out, it might give the Tigers a foundation to build on for the rest of the season. With Maryland, NC State, Miami, Duke and South Carolina on the schedule, the Tigers’ season could still be salvaged or could become a complete disaster. Only Duke is probably a sure win.
Florida A&M at Virginia Tech – Can you tell that it’s homecoming weekend? The Rattlers (looked that one up too!) of Florida A&M have been spanked by both Nicholls State and Temple this year. The Hokies have tougher practices.
Have a fun game boys.
NC State at Maryland – Now, this is a pretty interesting game. Both programs are fighting to be in the top of the ACC, and this year’s teams are fighting to stay in the top half of the conference. As I wrote yesterday, they are developing a nice little rivalry.
As for this game, I honestly don’t know what to expect, other than a close game. Both teams are better on the defensive side of the ball and both are struggling to work in new quarterbacks. On top of that, both lost surprising upsets last week, so they should be fired up for this game. I think State is probably the better team overall, but Ralph Friedgen is a better coach than Chuck Amato. Something tells me that Maryland’s recent lucky streak against NC State will continue. Something unexpected will happen late to win/lose this game, like a special teams score or big turnover.
Virginia at Florida State – The game of the week, if not the year in the ACC. I already wrote an analysis of the two teams that showed that they are pretty evenly matched.
For Virginia, this game could be the biggest in program history, but only if they win. Before this weekend, the biggest game in UVA’s history was the game against Georgia Tech in 1990 when UVA was #1 and Tech was #16 or so. It was a great game, but UVA lost and went into a tailspin, barely finishing the season in the top 25. As you might recall, the Yellow Jackets went on to win a share of the national championship. If Virginia loses to Florida State this weekend, a similar slide could happen, because they still have several tough games on the schedule. A win would make a serious statement about Virginia and Al Groh and would cement the Cavaliers as the leader of the competition between Maryland, NC State and Virginia to become the best non-Florida program in the ACC.
For Florida State, a loss would end any hope of inclusion in the BCS. A win would keep alive their hope of an automatic bid, but they still need Miami to lose one game.
I think you’ll see one of two things in this game. Either one team will make a bunch of mistakes (turnovers) and lose by 2 touchdowns or more, or it’ll be close and Florida State will win. I just think the Seminoles have a bit more big play ability, they are used to playing in big games, and they are playing at home.
North Carolina at Utah – By all rights, Carolina should get creamed in this game. Utah is a good team. Carolina is not. But somehow, I don’t think this is a no-brainer.
For one thing, North Carolina has good players. They just don’t always play well. They got creamed by Virginia and Louisville (who both look to be very good teams), but they beat both Georgia Tech and NC State. If Carolina comes to play, and maintains concentration for the whole game, they can beat just about anyone.
For another thing, Carolina has a recent history of playing well in non-conference away games. They beat a good Arizona State team a couple of years ago when they only won three games all year.
So, here’s what I think is gonna happen. It’s gonna be a shootout. Carolina’s defense can’t stop anyone. Even when they beat NC State last week, they gave up over 500 yards of offense. I think being on the road will remove some of the stress they feel playing at home, so they’ll be relaxed and make some plays on offense. Don’t be surprised if the final score here is something like 42-38.
So, who will be on top? Well, every year some mid-major has a good team and starts winning all of their games. Every year, the media gets all worked up and goes on and on about whether this team with their weaker schedule deserves to be in the BCS and compete for the national championship. And then every year, that team loses to some team they shouldn’t lose to. You know why that happens? It’s because it’s very hard to win all of your games. Only the great teams really beat all the teams they should beat and those mid-major teams are rarely great. So, Utah’s gonna lose to someone. Carolina might be the most dangerous team left on their schedule. So, I say UNC beats Utah, further confusing the Tar Heel fans about whether or not they should fire John Bunting.
48 responses to “ACC Preview – Week 7”
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