Last week: 8-2 Season: 37-15
A second consecutive week with the schedule starting off with an upset. This one, Syracuse over Clemson on Friday night, is a huge one. That's two shockers at home in Orange coach Dino Babers' first two seasons: Virginia Tech last year (big) and the Tigers this year (HUGE). There are some weeks in college football where upsets seem contagious. The slate doesn't look particularly promising, but that could easily change if upsets start springing up everywhere.
EDIT: Make that two big upsets already. Cal destroyed No. 8 Washington State, 37-3, after the Syracuse stunner. Maybe we are in for a wild weekend.
No. 20 N.C. State at Pittsburgh, Noon ACC Network
N.C. State 31, Pittsburgh 21
Florida State at Duke, Noon ESPN2
Florida State 24, Duke 21
Boston College at Louisville, 12:20 p.m. ACC Network
Louisville 42, Boston College 20
No. 10 Auburn at LSU, 3:30 p.m. CBS
Auburn 27, LSU 17
Georgia Tech at No. 11 Miami, 3:30 p.m. ABC
I'll take the Yellow Jackets in an upset. Miami lost running back Joe Walton to an injury last week, and the Hurricanes will be without three other starters. Coming off an emotional win over Florida State, it's a tough turnaround to play a rested Georgia Tech team coming off a bye.
Georgia Tech 27, Miami 24
No. 12 Oklahoma vs. Texas in Dallas, 3:30 p.m. ESPN
The Sooners were stunned last week by Iowa State. Either they get back on track or fall to a rapidly improving Texas team led by new coach Tom Herman, which is coming off a double-overtime win over Kansas State. I'll take the upset here, too (following the theme of the week so far, I guess).
Texas 34, Oklahoma 31
Oregon at No. 23 Stanford, 11 p.m. FS1
Stanford 35, Oregon 28
Virginia at North Carolina, 3:30 p.m. NBC Sports Washington (formerly CSN)
The football-analyzing side of me thinks Virginia will snap its seven-game losing streak against its crusty rival in "The South's Oldest Rivalry." UVa has been flat out playing better than UNC on the field lately. The Cavaliers have been progressing each week. They were unimpressive in beating William & Mary, lost by more than a couple TDs to Indiana, took care of Connecticut, pasted Boise State on the road, then came off the high to top Duke at home after a bye week. UNC has had some tough opponents -- Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Louisville -- but also lost at home, 27-17, to the same Duke team that Virginia just beat. UNC is just 1-5 with the one win coming over a bad-looking Old Dominion team. The other loss came to Cal, 35-30, at home in the season opener. North Carolina's defense is not good overall and one of the worst in the country against the run. Virginia obviously likes to pass a lot but has had some success running the ball, especially with Jordan Ellis, and hopefully that continues, because I think that has a chance to be very effective Saturday. It also would take some of the risk out of the offense, something you always have more of when you pass a lot. And though Kurt Benkert only has three picks so far this season, he tends to still throw risky passes and had a pick-6 against Duke last week.
It's not too surprising UNC's defense hasn't been good. It had some rough years even during the best seasons of coach Larry Fedora's tenure. But the offense hasn't been good either, and that is a little
more surprising since he is known for having very effective offenses. The Tar Heels have had some of the better offenses in the ACC in recent years. But the team lost a lot of talent to the NFL/graduation, including QB Mitch Trubisky, RBs Elijah Hood and T.J. Logan, and receivers Ryan Switzer, Mack Hollins, and Bug Howard. Redshirt freshman Chazz Surratt has been starting games for UNC, taking over for a mostly ineffective Brandon Harris earlier in the season. Surratt has completed 58.8 percent of his passes for 1,167 yards, six TDs, and three picks. Virginia's defense has looked very solid, giving up just 14 and 23 points the past two weeks (Duke had the defensive TD) and has yet to give more than 27 offensive points in a game (Indiana scored one TD on a punt return).
UNC is also dealing with an unprecedented number of injuries. Nine players who have started games are out against UVa. And many of those players are out for the rest of the season. It really has been quite strange how beaten up the Tar Heels have become, and the season isn't even really half over.
With all that said, the UVa fan in me, who has been scarred by years of disappointment, is waiting for the UVa letdown to come. I thought there was a good chance it could've come last week, but the 'Hoos proved me wrong. All the signs point to UVa having the edge in this game. It has had the better overall defense and, even recently, the better overall offense. UVa needs to clean up some things on special teams, though, especially coverage units, and it would be good if the team could showcase what they actually have in kicker A.J. Meija some more. But Virginia should also be the way more confident team, and on top of all that, you have the many injuries that are mounting for North Carolina. But, UNC has won seven straight in the series, and though UVa is 4-1, it only has recently started to have the look of a winning team. And UNC is 1-5, but has had the tougher schedule. I doubt UVa would've beaten Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, or Louisville, especially early in the season. And UNC has recruited better than UVa recently and might very well still have the raw talent advantage. I just can't shake the feeling that something bad might happen in Chapel Hill the day after Friday the 13th. And something bad already did happen Friday, when the NCAA decided not to punish UNC for decades of academic fraud involving both student-athletes and regular students. I won't talk about it much here, and you can certainly read on your own if you aren't familiar with what transpired, but safe to say, several fan bases are flabbergasted and upset about the result of the years-long case.
Hopefully UVa keeps it going, stays focused, and delivers a knock out punch to UNC, but I'm going with the Heels and the small upset (UVa is a 3.5-point favorite).
North Carolina 27, Virginia 24
A second consecutive week with the schedule starting off with an upset. This one, Syracuse over Clemson on Friday night, is a huge one. That's two shockers at home in Orange coach Dino Babers' first two seasons: Virginia Tech last year (big) and the Tigers this year (HUGE). There are some weeks in college football where upsets seem contagious. The slate doesn't look particularly promising, but that could easily change if upsets start springing up everywhere.
EDIT: Make that two big upsets already. Cal destroyed No. 8 Washington State, 37-3, after the Syracuse stunner. Maybe we are in for a wild weekend.
No. 20 N.C. State at Pittsburgh, Noon ACC Network
N.C. State 31, Pittsburgh 21
Florida State at Duke, Noon ESPN2
Florida State 24, Duke 21
Boston College at Louisville, 12:20 p.m. ACC Network
Louisville 42, Boston College 20
No. 10 Auburn at LSU, 3:30 p.m. CBS
Auburn 27, LSU 17
Georgia Tech at No. 11 Miami, 3:30 p.m. ABC
I'll take the Yellow Jackets in an upset. Miami lost running back Joe Walton to an injury last week, and the Hurricanes will be without three other starters. Coming off an emotional win over Florida State, it's a tough turnaround to play a rested Georgia Tech team coming off a bye.
Georgia Tech 27, Miami 24
No. 12 Oklahoma vs. Texas in Dallas, 3:30 p.m. ESPN
The Sooners were stunned last week by Iowa State. Either they get back on track or fall to a rapidly improving Texas team led by new coach Tom Herman, which is coming off a double-overtime win over Kansas State. I'll take the upset here, too (following the theme of the week so far, I guess).
Texas 34, Oklahoma 31
Oregon at No. 23 Stanford, 11 p.m. FS1
Stanford 35, Oregon 28
Virginia at North Carolina, 3:30 p.m. NBC Sports Washington (formerly CSN)
The football-analyzing side of me thinks Virginia will snap its seven-game losing streak against its crusty rival in "The South's Oldest Rivalry." UVa has been flat out playing better than UNC on the field lately. The Cavaliers have been progressing each week. They were unimpressive in beating William & Mary, lost by more than a couple TDs to Indiana, took care of Connecticut, pasted Boise State on the road, then came off the high to top Duke at home after a bye week. UNC has had some tough opponents -- Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Louisville -- but also lost at home, 27-17, to the same Duke team that Virginia just beat. UNC is just 1-5 with the one win coming over a bad-looking Old Dominion team. The other loss came to Cal, 35-30, at home in the season opener. North Carolina's defense is not good overall and one of the worst in the country against the run. Virginia obviously likes to pass a lot but has had some success running the ball, especially with Jordan Ellis, and hopefully that continues, because I think that has a chance to be very effective Saturday. It also would take some of the risk out of the offense, something you always have more of when you pass a lot. And though Kurt Benkert only has three picks so far this season, he tends to still throw risky passes and had a pick-6 against Duke last week.
It's not too surprising UNC's defense hasn't been good. It had some rough years even during the best seasons of coach Larry Fedora's tenure. But the offense hasn't been good either, and that is a little
UNC is also dealing with an unprecedented number of injuries. Nine players who have started games are out against UVa. And many of those players are out for the rest of the season. It really has been quite strange how beaten up the Tar Heels have become, and the season isn't even really half over.
With all that said, the UVa fan in me, who has been scarred by years of disappointment, is waiting for the UVa letdown to come. I thought there was a good chance it could've come last week, but the 'Hoos proved me wrong. All the signs point to UVa having the edge in this game. It has had the better overall defense and, even recently, the better overall offense. UVa needs to clean up some things on special teams, though, especially coverage units, and it would be good if the team could showcase what they actually have in kicker A.J. Meija some more. But Virginia should also be the way more confident team, and on top of all that, you have the many injuries that are mounting for North Carolina. But, UNC has won seven straight in the series, and though UVa is 4-1, it only has recently started to have the look of a winning team. And UNC is 1-5, but has had the tougher schedule. I doubt UVa would've beaten Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, or Louisville, especially early in the season. And UNC has recruited better than UVa recently and might very well still have the raw talent advantage. I just can't shake the feeling that something bad might happen in Chapel Hill the day after Friday the 13th. And something bad already did happen Friday, when the NCAA decided not to punish UNC for decades of academic fraud involving both student-athletes and regular students. I won't talk about it much here, and you can certainly read on your own if you aren't familiar with what transpired, but safe to say, several fan bases are flabbergasted and upset about the result of the years-long case.
Hopefully UVa keeps it going, stays focused, and delivers a knock out punch to UNC, but I'm going with the Heels and the small upset (UVa is a 3.5-point favorite).
North Carolina 27, Virginia 24
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