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Maryland (7-4) at Boston College
(8-3),
3:30 EST, ABC
Why to watch: This game
was supposed to be a
winner-take-all affair in the
Atlantic Division until Maryland
got abused at home by Florida
State Saturday night. Now, only
Boston College can parlay a
victory into a spot in the ACC
championship game. With a win,
the Eagles will face either
Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech in
Tampa next Saturday. With a
loss, they’ll cede the division
over to the Seminoles. Since
losing a game to Clemson on Nov.
1, Boston College has won three
straight to get into this
position. The Terrapins will
need to regroup in a hurry with
little more than pride and bowl
positioning at stake. Difficult
to size up throughout the
season, they didn’t stand a
chance against the ‘Noles,
giving up 21 unanswered points
in the second quarter and never
mounting a challenge in the
second half.
Why Maryland might win:
Well, if Boston College is going
to lock up the division, it’ll
do so with a redshirt freshman
at quarterback. Chris Crane
broke his collarbone in last
week’s win over Wake Forest,
meaning Dominique Davis will get
the ball for the first start of
his career. Although he’s the
future at quarterback on the
Heights, the Eagles are only
concerned about the present. The
Terrapins haven’t generated much
of a pass rush the old-fashioned
way, so look for the staff to
turn loose linebackers Moise
Fokou, Alex Wujciak, and Dave
Philistin in order to mess with
the rookie’s rhythm and timing.
Why Boston College might win:
The Maryland offense has been
brutal all season, and has been
regressing in recent weeks. The
Terps have averaged just 11
points over the last three
games, showing no ability to
make plays on third down. Things
won’t get any easier in Chestnut
Hill. The Eagles have a top 5
defense that’ll shut down Da’Rel
Scott and Davin Meggett, forcing
Maryland to rely too heavily on
middling QB Chris Turner. If
Turner has to do too much, he’ll
force his throws into a defense
that leads the country with 23
interceptions.
Who to watch: Is there
anything LB Mark Herzlich hasn’t
done for the Boston College
defense this season? Despite
entering the season with modest
attention, he’s evolved into one
of the team MVPs with 92
tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss,
and five interceptions. Two of
those five picks have been taken
back for touchdowns, including a
key one in last week’s win at
Wake Forest.
What will happen: While
there’s a natural amount of
concern with Davis at the
controls in such a big game,
Boston College will survive on
the strength of its defense and
the running of Montel Harris and
Josh Haden. Maryland will play
with a hangover from last week’s
debacle, struggling to mount
much of a challenge with a
feeble offense that’ll get
suffocated by the Eagle front
seven.
CFN Prediction: Boston
College 24 … Maryland 13 ...
Line: Boston College -7
Must See Rating: (5
Football while eating
Thanksgiving food – 1
Home movies after dinner) …
3.5
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South Carolina (7-4) at Clemson
(6-5),
12:00 EST, ESPN2
Why to watch: All things
considered, Clemson has done a
commendable job of getting above
.500 after a horrible start,
winning three of its last four
ACC games. The Tigers still need
to win this week’s game to
become bowl eligible since two
of its victories have come
against FCS opponents. Beating
hated rival South Carolina would
salvage something from this
disappointing season, while
improving Dabo Swinney’s chances
of removing the interim tag from
his title. South Carolina gets
back to action two weeks after
being dressed down by Florida,
56-6. Besides the obvious desire
to reverse Clemson’s recent
dominance in this series, the
Gamecocks are hoping to improve
their chances of getting an
invitation to the Outback Bowl
on New Year’s Day.
Why South Carolina might win:
Since Clemson won’t be confused
with Florida anytime soon, the
Gamecocks will get back to being
one of the nation’s stingiest
defenses. Despite allowing 56
points two weeks ago, they’re
still 11th nationally
in total defense and allow just
19 points a game. The Tigers
never found their groove on
offense this season, putting up
just 17 points a game versus
teams from the FBS. They’ll have
all kinds of problems with a
swarming unit led by DE Eric
Norwood, S Emmanuel Cook, and CB
Captain Munnerlyn.
Why Clemson might win: In
many ways, these two schools
mirror one another. Like their
rivals to the west, South
Carolina has also been
inconsistent on offense, ranking
at the bottom of the SEC in
rushing. It’ll take more than a
one-dimensional attack to move
the ball on a Tiger defense
that’s yielded just 10 points in
the last two games and is giving
up less than 300 yards a game.
Clemson is fifth in the country
in pass defense, which will put
added pressure on that futile
Gamecock ground game. The Tigers
haven’t allowed more than one
touchdown pass in a game since
Week 2, a streak neither Chris
Smelley nor Stephen Garcia
appear capable of snapping.
Who to watch: With almost
no help from the pass rush, the
Clemson pass defense has been
outstanding, picking off six
passes in the last three games.
One of the stars of secondary
has been S Michael Hamlin, who
has the dual-abilities as a run
defender and cover guy that’ll
translate well to the NFL in
2009. The senior not only leads
the Tigers in solo tackles, but
also has a team-high five
interceptions.
What will happen:
Anything other than a physical,
close, low-scoring game will be
a surprise. The two schools are
fairly evenly matched, with
South Carolina rating an edge on
defense and Clemson having
slightly more pop on offense.
The difference will come from
the Tiger playmakers. The ‘Cocks
don’t have a back that can
compare to James Davis or C.J.
Spiller, who’ll help soften the
South Carolina defense in a
Clemson victory.
CFN Prediction: Clemson
23 … South Carolina 17 ...
Line: Clemson -1
Must See Rating: (5
Football while eating
Thanksgiving food – 1
Home movies after dinner) … 3
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Virginia (5-6) at Virginia Tech
(7-4),
12:00 EST, ESPN
Why to watch: As always,
the state of Virginia will be
watching closely as the
Cavaliers and Hokies battle for
local bragging rights. Some in
the state of Georgia will be
keeping an eye on the game as
well. If Virginia Tech wins in
Blacksburg, it’ll be off to
another ACC championship game as
the Coastal Division winner. If,
however, the Hokies fail to hold
serve at Lane Stadium, the crown
will belong to Georgia Tech,
which will head to Tampa to play
either Boston College or Florida
State. While this has not been a
vintage season for Tech, it says
something about the resiliency
of Frank Beamer and his staff
that the program is just two
wins away from a second straight
BCS bowl appearance. After
looking like a lock for a
postseason game at the beginning
of the month, Virginia has
dropped three games in-a-row to
fall back below .500. It’ll take
an upset at Virginia Tech for
the first time since 1998 in
order for the school to become
bowl eligible.
Why Virginia might win:
As long as Virginia Tech is
having problems moving the ball
on Duke and ranking on the
bottom of the ACC, it’ll have a
hard time pulling away from
anyone in the conference. The
Cavaliers have just enough on
defense to keep the Hokies
reeling, pressuring the
quarterbacks and sealing off
running lanes. Tech has thrown
just five touchdown passes all
season and none of its receivers
will strike fear into the
Virginia defensive backs. Clint
Sintim, Jon Copper, and the rest
of the team’s linebackers can
focus all of its attention to
containing RB Darren Evans.
Why Virginia Tech might win:
The Hokies will have problems
putting up points, but so will
the Cavaliers. Virginia is 115th
nationally in scoring at just 16
points a game, and is regressing
in the passing game. Marc Verica
is not the answer at
quarterback, throwing six
interceptions in the last two
losses and 15 on the season.
Even bigger problems lie ahead.
He’ll get no reprieve from Tech
corners Victor Harris and
Stephan Virgil, who’ve got 10
picks and a pair of touchdowns
between them.
Who to watch: Virginia
Tech defensive ends Jason
Worilds and Orion Martin have
had solid seasons, but they’ll
get tested Saturday by a
Virginia that’s led by future
pro Eugene Monroe and has
yielded just 14 sacks all year.
While Verica’s had problems
making the right reads all
season, he’s far more calamitous
when a defender in bearing down
on him. The Cavs would like to
establish a running game to take
some heat off their quarterback,
but that’s been a failed
experiment throughout the fall.
What will happen: Expect
the defenses and the special
teams to take center stage in a
physical and emotional rivalry
game. The Hokies will prevail in
the turnover battle and the
placekicker duel, getting four
field goals from Dustin Keys to
a pair from the Cavs’ Robert
Randolph.
CFN Prediction: Virginia
Tech 20 … Virginia 13 ...
Line: Virginia Tech -8.5
Must See Rating: (5
Football while eating
Thanksgiving food – 1
Home movies after dinner) … 3
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Vanderbilt (6-5) at Wake Forest
(6-5),
7:00 EST, ESPNU
Why to watch: A couple of
schools with such high hopes at
the mid-point of the season are
stumbling to the end of the
regular season. A popular choice
to win the ACC Atlantic, if not
the entire conference, Wake
Forest has lost four of its last
six games, failing to close out
the tight ones. While the Demon
Deacons have the necessary six
wins to be bowl eligible, they
need this game to assure
themselves a third consecutive
bowl invitation. Vanderbilt has
been even worse in the second
half, dropping five of its last
six games. It’s a good thing the
SEC will only have eight
programs qualify for the
postseason, or else the
Commodores’ bowl drought might
have extended into 2009. Both
schools will be looking to crank
up struggling offenses and pick
up some much-needed momentum
heading into December.
Why Vanderbilt might win:
Throughout this rough patch in
the second half of the season,
the Commodores’ defense has
rarely buckled, allowing more
than 24 points just once to
Florida. They’ve got a
top-flight secondary and the
SEC’s premier sack unit, which
is a particular concern of Wake
Forest. The Demon Deacons have
struggled all year to protect
Riley Skinner, yielding more
than sacks than all but one ACC
team. Vandy can bring pressure
from every level of the defense,
and defensive backs D.J. Moore,
Myron Lewis, Ryan Hamilton, and
Reshard Langford have the hands
of receivers when the ball is in
the air.
Why Wake Forest might win:
The Vanderbilt offense has gone
from bad to worse as the season
has progressed. The ‘Dores are
117th nationally in
total offense, and have been
held to 14 or fewer points in
six of the last seven games.
They’ve had a revolving door at
quarterback involving Mackenzi
Adams and Chris Nickson, neither
of whom has played with much
consistency. Vandy will match up
poorly with a Deacon D that not
only limits big plays, but also
leads the nation in turnovers
gained. With LB Aaron Curry and
CB Alphonso Smith prowling the
field, the Wake defense will
have a chance to outscore the
Vanderbilt offense.
Who to watch: If you’re
going to beat the Vanderbilt
defense, it’ll likely be on the
ground. They’ve had some
problems in run defense, most
recently against Tennessee and
Florida, which creates an
opportunity for Wake Forest
backs Brandon Pendergrass and
Josh Adams. Adams hasn’t been
completely healthy in a while,
which has allowed Pendergrass to
take over the team lead in
rushing. He’ll need to soften
the interior of the Commodore
defense, so Skinner can make a
few connections in play-action.
What will happen: The
first team to 20 will pick up
win No. 7. That team will be
Wake Forest, which will get past
Vanderbilt on a defensive
touchdown and three field goals
from Sam Swank, the All-American
who made his long-awaited return
from injury a week ago.
CFN Prediction: Wake
Forest 23 … Vanderbilt 16 ...
Line: Wake Forest -4
Must See Rating: (5
Football while eating
Thanksgiving food – 1
Home movies after dinner) … 3
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Consultants FREE selections
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ACC Week
14 Predictions, Nov. 29, Part 1 |