Things are a bit quieter this weekend in the ACC as there are only four games. Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia Tech are all idle this weekend, healing up for the second half of the season. All four games are conference games, and two are somewhat critical, for different reasons. You’ll read why below.
Maryland at Clemson – The Desperation Bowl! Both Maryland and Clemson began this season ranked in the top 25 and with high hopes of competing for the conference title and accompanying BCS bid. Both have fallen flat on their faces and are on the short list of most underachieving teams in the nation.

On Clemson’s behalf, the “honor” is somewhat undeserved, as the team was given too much credit at first. The Tigers did finish the 2003 season on an exceptionally high note, but they lost several key linemen from that team. As any football person will tell you, good, consistent line play is critical to good football teams. That said, even the most prudent prognosticators didn’t expect Clemson to be 2-4 at this point.
For Maryland, their hopes maybe weren’t quite as high as Clemson’s and they haven’t been quite as bad … until the past two weeks. The stinkers that the Terrapins dropped the last few weeks were bad enough to water eyes from DC to Seattle. I’ll never fully understand how a Ralph Friedgen team could fail to gain 100 yards in back-to-back games. It’s not even like they have had some serious spate of injuries to blame.
So, what we have here are two underachieving teams desperate to turn their seasons around. Thus the moniker, Desperation Bowl.
Statistically, Maryland has been the better team. They have been more effective than the Tigers in every statistical category on both sides of the ball except for passing offense. In fairness, the Terrapins have probably played a slightly easier schedule. The problem for them is that they are trending down. While Clemson has played badly, they haven’t played 81-yards-of-total-offense badly.
Given that this game is in Death Valley and that Maryland has been awful the past few weeks, I have to give the advantage to Clemson. They got a chance to feel good about themselves last week while beating up the Sisters of the Poor in their homecoming game. I say they continue their winning streak in a fierce, close and ugly match.
Aside: This is no knock on the guy, but would announcers quit hyping up Steve Suter as if he’s the most dangerous guy in the league? Yeah, he’s career return yardage leader in the ACC, but most of that happened pre-knee injury. Check the numbers this year. He’s ninth in the league in put returns. I’m just sayin’.
Virginia at Duke – The schedule is kind to the Cavaliers. After they finished picking the fragmented pieces of their hype, egos and jock straps from the grass of Doak Campbell, the Hoos had to be happy to see who was next. Duke. That line of the schedule is like a little slice of heaven for ACC teams. Most years (and certainly recently), Duke = W.
One might think that Virginia was beaten so badly by the Seminoles on Saturday night that they might have a carry-over effect and play poorly against the Blue Devils. I don’t see that happening. This is a very well-coached team and they will be ready on Saturday. Al Groh made it clear that he was not at all pleased with the effort in Tallahassee and he declared that all defensive starters had to re-earn their positions on the depth chart this week. You can bet it was a spirited week of practice. The Hoos will be ready.
For Duke, it’s been a tough season. Based on their performances last year after Ted Roof took over, they had every reason to be optimistic about this season. I admit that I thought they’d be tough. They haven’t been. The only thing Duke has done well is force turnovers. Think of how bad things would be if they hadn’t been so fortunate with turnovers?
Anyway, while Duke often plays Virginia surprisingly close, I expect a blowout this weekend.
Florida State at Wake Forest – I’ve written several times this year about Wake Forest’s ability to play almost everyone close. Well, now you get to see the “almost” part. Florida State learned a few things about themselves last weekend against Virginia, and what they learned was all good. I don’t expect them to be anywhere near as fired up or focused as they were against the Cavaliers, but they don’t need to be against Wake.
Wake will probably keep the game pretty close for a while. They have that unusual offense and the execute it very well. Their misdirection should work well to offset the speed of Florida State’s defense. For a while. Eventually, they’ll tire and the Seminoles will start to roll on both sides of the ball. There is just too much of a talent and speed differential.
Look for Florida State to win by at least two touchdowns.
Miami at NC State – And now we come to the other interesting game of the weekend. This is the game that NC State and its fans have been looking forward to. The Wolfpack has upset Florida State several times in recent years and they’d love to add an Ibis scalp to their collection. State has the speed on defense (ranked #1 in the country) to offset much of Miami’s offensive speed, and frankly the Hurricanes haven’t really been that great on offense all season. Where NC State will have trouble is when they have the ball. Miami also has a stout D, although Louisville showed that it can be had by a good offense. If only State had a good offense…
The biggest deterrent to NC State pulling off this upset is the attention this game is getting. ESPN’s College Gameday crew will be in Raleigh for this game. That’s not good. The best chance any underdog has is for the favorite to not be mentally prepared, to underestimate their foe. That’s tough when the preeminent college show is in town, implying that there’s a real chance at an upset. It’s similar to Virginia’s trip to Tallahassee last weekend. The Seminoles had to hear all week about how they were going to lose in their stadium. By the time the game rolled around, their blood was boiling and they wanted to kill. The Hurricanes might feel the same way on Saturday. On the flip side, Miami won’t have a home crowd to cheer them on like FSU did. On the contrary you can bet that Carter-Finley will be packed and rocking on Saturday night, trying to will their Pack to the win.
All that taken into account, I still think NC State can win this game. They have the players to do it. In fact, they have a ton of players from Miami, many of whom were recruited by the Canes. In the end though, I think they’ll come up short. Like I said, Miami just won’t be looking past them, especially after their close call with Louisville last week. I say Miami wins a close one, maybe with a big special teams play.