CollegeJersey.com

Friday, October 17, 2008

Week 8 Preview, Part II: Conference Cannibalization Begins

Full-scale intra-league warfare commences in earnest this weekend - and in fact already began with Florida State's 26-17 triumph at NC State last night. The remaining five games on Saturday certainly promise a bit of the unexpected; all five road teams are conventional (if not necessarily Vegas) favorites and if home-field means anything in this conference, at least two of the host clubs should pull the upset. But which two (or more)...?

WAKE FOREST (4-1) at MARYLAND (4-2)
Saturday, 10/18/08, noon ET - Byrd Stadium, College Park, MD
Series Record: Maryland leads 40-15-1; the Demon Deacons won last year's meeting 31-24 in overtime
Gut Feeling: I don't have one. Wake has clunked around on offense in three straight games, while the Terps are hopelessly bi-polar. I can see this game going either way, in any possible way. So in that case...Maryland 20, Wake Forest 17

GEORGIA TECH (5-1) at CLEMSON (3-3)
Saturday, 10/18/08, noon ET - Memorial Stadium, Clemson, SC
Series Record: Georgia Tech leads 46-24-2; the Yellow Jackets won last year's meeting 13-3
Gut Feeling: New coach, new QB, no Spiller for the Tigers. Not against that Jacket defense, and not against a Tech offense looking to get out of Paul Johnson's doghouse. Georgia Tech 27, Clemson 14

NORTH CAROLINA (5-1) at VIRGINIA (3-3)
Saturday, 10/18/08, 3:30pm ET - Scott Stadium, Charlottesville, VA
Series Record: North Carolina leads 57-51-4; the Cavaliers won last year's meeting 22-20
Gut Feeling: The Heels end their 27 year skid in Charlottesville, but in very tense fashion. North Carolina 31, Virginia 27

MIAMI (3-3) at DUKE (3-2)
Saturday, 10/18/08, 3:3opm ET - Wallace Wade Stadium, Durham, NC
Series Record: Miami leads 4-1; the Hurricanes won last year's meeting 24-14
Gut Feeling: This is the most pivotal game in Randy Shannon's short tenure...are you willing to bet on him to come through? I'm not, yet. Duke 23, Miami 21

VIRGINIA TECH (5-1) at BOSTON COLLEGE (4-1)
Saturday, 10/18/08, 8pm ET - Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill, MA
Series Record: Virginia Tech leads 10-5; the Eagles won last year's regular season meeting 14-10 while the Hokies won the rematch in the ACC Championship Game 30-16
Gut Feeling: Chris Crane was spoiled against the the Wolfpack defense last week; he won't know what's hitting him on Saturday night. But the Eagle defense keeps this one close until the end. Virginia Tech 17, Boston College 10

Bon Appetit!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like your blog. You don't get enough comments.

mobius said...

agreed

Marcus said...

Thanks fellas!

Anonymous said...

thirded? one of the only college football blogs I read religiously...

Anonymous said...

considering the parity in the ACC, my suggestion for next week's in-conference predictions: flip a coin to make your picks. Surely you won't do any worse than everyone else.

oh and I look forward to your out of conference report

Marcus said...

Amen to that, bryan. I stopped with the more in-depth previews because I was writing about what should happen in a sane world. As we've seen lately, ACC football exists in an alternate universe of crazy.