Scout.com: 2009 CFN ACC Expert Picks, Schedules & More

2009 CFN ACC Expert Picks, Schedules & More

By Staff

CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Nov 3, 2009

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ACC 2009 Game of the Week, Player of the Week, Roundup & Standings

2009 ACC ... Week 10

		Fiu	Rich	Matt	Michael	Clucko	PICK
	Thursday, Nov. 5
7:30	Va Tech -11.5 at ECU	VT	VT*	VT*	VT*	EC	VT*

12;00	Wake For. at GTech -15	GT	GT	GT	GT*	GT	GT
7:00	Virginia at Miami -13.5	MI*	MI	MI	MI	VA	MI
12:00	Maryland at NC St -7	NC	NC*	NC	NC	NC	NC
7:30	FSU at Clemson -8.5	CL*	CL*	CL	FS	FS	CL*
3:00	Duke at UNC -8.5	DU	NC	NC*	NC*	DU	NC*
	Straight Up	44-26	48-22	49-21	47-23	38-32	47-23
	ATS	25-32	29-28	30-29	22-37	35-22	28-29

Atlantic
	Conf.		Overall
Clemson	3	2	5	3
Boston Coll	3	2	6	3
Florida St	2	3	4	4
W. Forest	2	3	4	5
Maryland	1	3	2	6
NC State	0	4	3	5
Coastal
	Conf.		Overall
Ga Tech	5	1	8	1
Duke	3	1	5	3
Va Tech	3	2	5	3
Miami	3	2	6	2
Virginia	2	2	3	5
UNC	1	3	5	3
Players of the Week 10/31 Jon Dwyer, RB GT 10/24 C.J. Spiller, RB Clem 10/17 Montel Harris, RB BC 10/10 Thad Lewis, QB Duke 10/3 Riley Skinner, QB WF 9/26 Russell Wilson, QB NC St 9/19 Jacory Harris, QB Miami 9/13 Derrick Morgan, DE GT 9/5 Jacory Harris, QB Miami Games of the Week 10/31 Miami 28, WF 27 10/24 Clem 40, Miami 37 OT 10/17 GT 28, VT 23 10/10 GT 49, FSU 44 10/3 Miami 21, OU 20 9/26 BC 27, WF 24 OT 9/19 VT 16, Neb. 15 9/13 GT 30, Clemson 27 9/5 Miami 38, FSU 34 Scoreboard Thursday, October 29 North Carolina 20 at Virginia Tech 17 - North Carolina's D stuffs & stuns the Hokies - Virginia Tech fumbles away loss to UNC CFN Prediction: Virginia Tech 28-13 Line: Virginia Tech -16.5 Saturday, October 31 at Boston College 31 Central Michigan 10 Boston College sharp in win over CMU CFN Prediction: Boston College 28-21 Line: BC -5 at Clemson 49 Coastal Carolina 3 Clemson easily blows past Coastal Carolina CFN Prediction: Clemson 48-0 Line: No Line Duke 28 at Virginia 17 - Duke & Lewis keep on rolling in win over Cavs - Virginia O struggles in loss to Duke CFN Prediction: Virginia 23-17 Line: Virginia -7.5 at Florida State 45 NC State 42 - Florida State beats Pack in wild shootout - NC State & Wilson roll up stats in loss CFN Prediction: Florida State 37-21 Line: Florida State -7.5 Georgia Tech 56 at Vanderbilt 31 Georgia Tech runs wild on the Commodores CFN Prediction: Georgia Tech 27-13 Line: Georgia Tech -11.5 Miami 28 at Wake Forest 27 - Wake Forest collapses in tough loss to Canes - Miami comes back to shock the Demon Deacons CFN Prediction: Miami 31-23 Line: Miami -7

GAME OF THE WEEK

Miami 28 … at Wake Forest 27
Miami was outplayed for most of the game, but it came through big in the fourth quarter as Jacory Harris took advantage of a special teams miscue to connect with Tervaris Johnson on a two-yard score early in the fourth and came up with the game-winner on a 13-yard Travis Benjamin catch with just over one minute to play. Wake Forest tried a 60-yard field goal as time ran out, but Jimmy Newman’s boot was well short. The Demon Deacons rolled up 555 yards of total offense and was up 17-0 early and got two touchdown passes and a scoring run from Riley Skinner.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Georgia Tech RB Jonathan Dwyer ran 22 times for 186 yards and three scores in the win over Vanderbilt.

CONFERENCE ROUNDUP

Boston College … at Boston College 31 ... Central Michigan 10 ... Central Michigan is the MAC’s best team by far and BC had no problems coming up with the win. Luke Kuechly and the defense did a fantastic job of bottling up Dan LeFevour and the dangerous Chippewa offense, while QB Dave Shinskie was razor-sharp and didn’t make any mistakes. With Virginia up next, it’s back to focusing on getting to the ACC title game, and that might happen if the team plays as well as it did this week. PK Steve Aponavicius became the school’s all-time leading scorer.

Clemson … at Clemson 49 ... Coastal Carolina 3 ... Obviously Clemson was going to beat Coastal Carolina, but there were some concerns coming out of the light scrimmage. Kyle Parker struggled a bit completing just 7-of-16 passes with two interceptions, while Willy Korn was sharper. Star DT DaQuan Bowers suffered a sprained knee and is questionable at best for next week’s game against Florida State. The Tigers can beat the Noles if Parker or Korn get hot; the FSU secondary is miserable and needs to be exploited. The offense has been fine, but outside of some big plays from C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford, it hasn’t been consistent or explosive.

Duke … Duke 28 ... at Virginia 17 ... Duke is 3-1 in ACC play?! It has a chance at winning the Coastal?! There’s still a lot of work to do with Georgia Tech up in two weeks and North Carolina up next week, but with the way Thaddeus Lewis and the passing game are going, Duke has a chance against everyone else on the schedule. However, it took too long to put the Cavaliers away, sputtering in scoring range and settling for too many field goals instead of touchdowns. The pass protection was also a problem allowing six sacks.

Florida State … at Florida State 45 ... NC State 42 ... Florida State might have waning fan support and the defense has gone bye-bye, but it’s still playing hard and it’s still pushing for wins. There’s no quit in this team, even when things aren’t going well, and as bad as things have been, the coaching staff deserves credit for keeping the players into the games. This was a huge win to keep bowl hopes alive with three road games in the final four games, including a season-ender at Florida. Christian Ponder and the passing game have been great, and now the ground game is producing more and more. If the D can turn up at some point, beating Clemson and or Wake Forest is possible.

Georgia Tech… Georgia Tech 56 ... at Vanderbilt 31 ... Can Georgia Tech’s offense still work if it’s not running the triple option? As it showed against the Vanderbilt run defense, absolutely. There was enough option offense here and there to get by, but the ground game simply blew the Commodore defensive front off the ball time and again. The defense continues to have issues, it’s way too inconsistent and it had too much of a problem against an awful Vandy offense, but there’s no arguing with 8-1 and the inside track for the Orange Bowl. The running game is finding new wrinkles and is getting better and better week after week. Wake Forest’s mediocre run defense is in big trouble next week.

Maryland … Didn’t Play This Week

Miami … Miami 28 ... at Wake Forest 27 ... Miami overcame the crushing collapse against Clemson by applying some pain of its own. The defense was ripped to shreds by Riley Skinner and the Wake Forest offense, and the defense did a whole lot of nothing for most of the game, but the offense took advantage when it got the chance to make something happen, and going +3 in turnover margin made all the difference. The Canes still have a long way to go to be great, but at 6-2 with Virginia up next, the ACC title chase is still on.

North Carolina … North Carolina 20 ... at Virginia Tech 17 ... North Carolina has always had the talent and the athleticism to play with a team like Virginia Tech, and in the win, the defense finally stepped up and became the difference in a big game. The Hokies managed just 256 yards of total offense and had a hard time staying on the field. The UNC offense might not have been special, but it grinded away when it needed to and was able to control the clock by converting third down chance after third down chance. With home games against Duke and Miami up next, this is when the Tar Heels have to go on a run.

NC State … at Florida State 45 ... NC State 42 ... The bad season turns worse, and now the team doesn’t have anything to hang its hat on. All season long the run defense has made up for a mediocre pass defense, but that all changed as Florida State ran at will. Russell Wilson did his best to keep the Wolfpack in the game, but he’s being forced to press more and it’s showing with two interceptions. Remember, this is a quarterback who set records for being careful with the ball. There’s a chance to turn things around next week with Maryland coming to Raleigh, but this one hurts. The Pack gave the game away.

Virginia … Duke 28 ... at Virginia 17 ... Virginia did a nice job of getting into the Duke backfield, registering six sacks, and it was strong on third downs forcing five field goals when the game could’ve been put away early with touchdowns. But the offense struggled to get the running game going and didn’t do enough to control the game and the clock, and now the bowl hopes are probably down the drain. This was when the big run was supposed to come with two straight home games, but the Cavaliers lost by a combined score of 62 to 26 to Georgia Tech and Duke. With no offensive pop and struggling play from the lines, it’s going to be hard to get by Miami and BC to stay alive.

Virginia Tech … North Carolina 20 ... at Virginia Tech 17 ... Just when it seemed like it was time to get all excited about the Hokies, they answer the Georgia Tech loss with a clunker at home against the Tar Heels. UNC had a lot to do with the problems, with a strong game from the defense and a nice performance from the O, but the Hokies made their share of mistakes as Tyrod Taylor struggled with the passing game and the Ryan Williams fumble in the final minutes was a killer. Fortunately, things get easier over the final month, even with three road games in the final four, starting out at East Carolina next week. However,, it’s not bye-bye to an at-large BCS slot.

Wake Forest… Miami 28 ... at Wake Forest 27 ... Wake Forest has to try to bounce back in a hurry from the devastating loss. Not only did the offense roll at will, and end up with nothing to show for it, but it lost QB Riley Skinner to a concussion. Now on a three-game losing streak with a trip to Georgia Tech up next, the season is in jeopardy with work needing to be done to get to a bowl game. Wake Forest gave one away by turning it over four times. If it’s Ryan McManus under center next week, the defense and running game will have to do something special to stay with the Yellow Jackets.

Thursday, November 5
Virginia Tech at East Carolina, ESPN

Saturday, November 7
Florida State at Clemson
Duke at North Carolina
Wake Forest at Georgia Tech
Maryland at NC State
Virginia at Miami

Saturday, November 14
Boston College at Virginia
Clemson at NC State
Georgia Tech at Duke
Florida State at Wake Forest
Virginia Tech at Maryland
Miami at North Carolina

Saturday, November 21
North Carolina at Boston College
Virginia at Clemson
Duke at Miami
Maryland at Florida State
NC State at Virginia Tech

Saturday, November 28
Boston College at Maryland
Clemson at South Carolina
Wake Forest at Duke
Florida State at Florida
Georgia at Georgia Tech
Miami at South Florida
North Carolina at NC State
Virginia Tech at Virginia

Saturday, December 5
Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game, Tampa, Fla., ABC