Week 9 Picks

Hello, Boils and Ghouls!  Treats, trickery and lots of tomfoolery await yet another All Hallow’s Eve.  And with that comes plenty of screaming (or shouting) for your favorite team, unless you’re howling at the moon in sorrow like the Wolfpack as of late.  No matter what goes bump on the football field (or in the night), let’s hope this weekend of ACC Football is less frightful and the games indeed turn out to be a true Thriller (Michael Jackson and dancing zombies notwithstanding).  So, let’s spook up some picks right now …

• North Carolina @ VIRGINIA TECH (Thursday)
• NC State @ FLORIDA STATE
• Coastal Carolina @ CLEMSON
• DUKE @ Virginia
• CENTRAL MICHIGAN @ Boston College
• GEORGIA TECH @ Vanderbilt

GAME OF THE WEEK – MIAMI @ Wake Forest

Maryland is off in search of The Great Pumpkin this weekend, or perhaps a way to win a game for once.  Hope they have better luck than Linus did.

Worth Noting:

• Duke’s win over Maryland game them back-to-back ACC wins for the first time in since 1994, which was also the last time they had a winning season.  The Blue Devils are hoping to go for the trifeca against Virginia, a team they beat soundly 38-3 last year.  Should they succeed, it could mean basketball might have to take a back seat for a little while.  Although I’m sure Coach K wouldn’t mind …
• Boston College should have its hands full against a Central Michigan squad that has been dominant in the MAC this season.  The Chippewas upset Michigan State early in the season following a tough loss to Arizona, and are riding a seven-game win streak.  In addition, CMU has benefited greatly from the services of QB Dan LeFevour, who is one of the best in the country.  His overall stats give him a #13 QB rating for all FCS schools.    Expect a potential surprise for this one.
• Florida State did get itself some redemption last Thursday night by overcoming an 18-point deficit at halftime to prevail over the Tarheels in stunning fashion.  Which is amazing considering how Bobby Bowden mentioned that FSU was just plan awful for the first 2 1/2 quarters of the game.  The Seminoles have quite a task ahead of them against an NC State squad with similar issues.  However, the Wolfpack has played its best coming out of a bye week on Tom O’Brien’s watch, so expect this to be an interesting game with both teams jockeying for a bowl bid.  My guess is whoever wins this game has a better chance of making traveling plans during the holidays.
• The last time we’ve had a Football Saturday on Halloween was in 1998.  In case anyone cares to remember what happened then, here were the scores: NC State beat Clemson 46-39, Vanderbilt stopped Duke 36-33, Florida State walloped UNC 39-13, Georgia Tech downed Maryland 31-14, and Virginia turned back Wake Forest 38-17. Lest we forget, Miami, VT, and BC were still in the Big East back then, but their games were still just as important; the Hurricanes topped the Eagles 35-17, and the Hokies wrangled with the West Virginia Mountaineers 27-13.  Thankfully we still had them internets to keep track of this stuff.

Anyway, if your plans this Saturday are to tailgate, go to the game, go trick-or-treating, or attend a Halloween party, let’s be extra careful out there.  No need to let ghosts, gremlins, and hobgoblins ruin your day.  Or anything else that’s evil ….

Week 9 Picks

Well, this past week proved to be quite a dud.  Surprise losses by Wake Forest, UNC, and Virginia Tech have thrown the conference race for a loop, leaving a number of teams in prime position for the long haul.  Even so, it appears that everyone (except for N.C. State) at this point appears to be in line for a potential bowl bid.  Still, there are many more games to be paid before the order of things is settled.  In the meantime, here’s my picks for this weekend (which are in ALL CAPS):

• BOSTON COLLEGE @ North Carolina
• Wake Forest @ MIAMI
• Duke @ VANDERBILT
• N.C. State @ MARYLAND
• Virginia Tech @ FLORIDA STATE

GAME OF THE WEEK – Virginia @ GEORGIA TECH Clemson is the only team that has the week off. Worth Noting:

• Considering how ineffective the Wake Forest O-line was against Maryland last week, it will need to step up against a stingy Miami squad with quite a stingy defense.  Although The U has been racking up impressive numbers on offense as well, which would make them a better team than their record implies.  Even more so, considering they’ve lost a number of players due to injuries of varying degrees as of late.
• If Wake’s “O” was that bad, then Virginia Tech’s is apparently worse.  In last week’s loss to BC, the Hokies were held to a season-low output of only 240 yards(!), ranking them 110th of all 119 FBS schools.  That stat does not bode well against a rejuvenated FSU squad, that’s one thing for certain.
• UNC appears to have an upset on its mind when BC comes calling at Kenan.  The Heels scored an upset over the Eagles during their last match at Kenan by a 16-13 score in 2005.  However, BC is riding a four-game winning streak, so UNC will need to get the crowd in on this one.  Gotta appreciate the enthusiasm the fans have been bringing to the games as of late in creating a tough atmosphere for opponents.
• Duke takes on Vanderbilt in a game that looked quite impressive on paper a short while ago.  However, losses by both the Blue Devils and Commodores have taken the luster off this matchup.  Even so, this could still be quite an exciting game for both squads that still have plenty to play for.
• You can tell that N.C. State is really struggling this season when you consider what’s become of former coach Chuck Amato’s recruiting class of 2006.  Gotta wonder if Chuck the Chest was groaning the whole time he was up in Raleigh recently.