This week, after I praised them not even 2 weeks ago, Miami decides to go out and lay an egg over at Florida International. I usually don’t give my thoughts on non conference games, but we have an exception for Miami this time. On with the ramble!
Note: Virginia, North Carolina, and Boston College will not have analysis this week as they played non-conference games, neither of which the result was very surprising.
Georgia Tech
Well, well, well. Tech has won a second ACC game. Given, this is more about NC State’s secondary being made of swiss cheese, but more on that later. Even with State’s dreadful secondary, Yellow Jacket QB James Graham had to do something he hasn’t done all season, make the big throws. Tech didn’t do it much, but when they threw the ball it was very effective. Graham slung 3 touchdowns on only 7-15 passing for 129 yards, and Jordan Mason took care of the rest of the offense with his great day on the ground. Not to mention the run game that Graham had as well. Nice job Jackets, now hopefully Georgia shows you some degree of mercy next week.
Louisville
If it wasn’t for Sam Howell at North Carolina, Javian Hawkins would be my frontrunner for ACC Rookie of the Year. Hawkins continued his reign of terror on opposing defenses, gashing Syracuse for 233 yards and 2 touchdowns on 23 carries in a big time victory. If Louisville had a defense worth anything themselves, they may have only been a one loss team this year. Alas, the offense is stuck doing all the work, and they’re still a 7-4 football team going into their rivalry game. This has been a fun team to watch this year and I feel they will be for years to come.
Virginia Tech
Undoubtedly the favorite to win the Coastal now, Virginia Tech thoroughly dominated Pitt in a 28-0 victory at Lane Stadium. Despite the 28 points, it’s not like Tech’s offense did a whole lot in this game, the real story was the Hokie defense strangling Pitt as a boa constrictor does its prey. VT only allowed 177 total yards of offense to the Panthers and only surrendered 8 first downs. That is what we call dominance ladies and gentlemen.
Wake Forest
Wake’s kick coverage against Duke was bad, but everything else was good. Jamie Newman has a new favorite target in Kendall Hinton, and they should have a really good shot to finish with 10 wins with Syracuse and whatever their bowl game is coming up next.
NC State
Everything is still bad in Wolfpack country. The Pack hit a new low with the loss to Georgia Tech and I can’t imagine it getting any better. With Sam Howell slinging it like he is, it could be a long night in Carter-Finley next Saturday with this NC State defense.
Syracuse
The defense is bad. There’s really nothing more to say about ‘Cuse at this point, the offense has put up enough points the past 2 games to win both and they only won one of them. Bowl hopes are gone, and the search for a new defensive coordinator is going to be interesting this offseason. I do however, expect them to play a good game on senior day against Wake Forest. This could be a game that is surprisingly interesting next Saturday.
Pitt
Pitt avoided turnovers for the most part against Virginia Tech, only losing the ball once. However, they didn’t exactly move the ball either. When you only gain 177 yards on the day, you’re not going to win a football game.
Duke
Congratulations on not being terrible? Then again, half of Dukes 27 points came on kickoff returns so I wouldn’t exactly say their offense is where it needs to be. Duke may not be terrible, but they’re still bad.
Miami
Hey Miami, next time you play Florida International, don’t get down by 20 points in the 4th quarter before you decide to try. Because of this loss, Manny Diaz will probably be out of a job and the Hurricanes program will continue to be stuck in the eternal pit of mediocrity the entirety of the conference outside of Clemson is also in that same pit. It’s official Miami, you’ve never been back, and you won’t ever get back.
Football Power Rankings
- Clemson, duh.
- Virginia Tech
- Virginia
- Wake Forest
- Pitt
- Louisville
- North Carolina
- Florida State
- Boston College
- Miami
- Syracuse
- Georgia Tech
- Duke
- NC State
Football Predictions
Virginia Tech at Virginia: Virginia Tech, 24-7
Wake Forest at Syracuse: Syracuse, 38-35
Clemson at South Carolina: Clemson, 42-10
Georgia at Georgia Tech: Georgia, 41-0
Louisville at Kentucky: Louisville, 48-27
Boston College at Pitt: Pitt, 31-21
Miami at Duke: Miami, 21-17
Florida State at Florida: Florida, 38-24
North Carolina at NC State: North Carolina, 41-20
Last week’s predictions: 7-1
Season total: 30-18
Basketball Power Rankings
- North Carolina
- Duke
- Virginia
- Louisville
- Syracuse
- NC State
- Florida State
- Virginia Tech
- Georgia Tech
- Notre Dame
- Miami
- Pitt
- Clemson
- Boston College
- Wake Forest
Basketball Predictions
Virginia Tech v. Michigan State (Maui Invitational): Michigan State, 85-71
Colorado v. Clemson (MGM Resorts Main Event, Las Vegas): Colorado, 70-59
Alabama v. North Carolina (Battle 4 Atlantis): North Carolina, 77-64
Oklahoma State v. Syracuse (NIT Season Tip-Off, Brooklyn): Syracuse 65-60
NC State v. Memphis (Barclays Center Classic, Brooklyn): NC State, 82-71
Tennessee v. Florida State (Emerald Coast Classic: Niceville, FL): Tennessee, 66-62
Last week’s predictions: 5-1
Season total: 16-3