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

2009 CFN ACC Expert Picks, Schedules & More

By Staff

CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Dec 2, 2009

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

2009 ACC ... Week 14

		Fiu	Rich	Matt	Michael	Clucko	PICK
8:00	Ga Tech -1 vs. Clemson	GT	GT	GT	CL	CL	GT
	Straight Up	63-32	67-28	65-30	64-31	47-48	65-30
	ATS	33-47-2	40-40-2	40-40-2	34-46-2	45-35-2	38-42-2

Atlantic
	Conf.		Overall
Clemson	6	2	8	4
Boston Coll	5	3	8	4
Florida St	4	4	6	6
W. Forest	3	5	5	7
NC State	2	6	5	7
Maryland	1	7	2	10
Coastal
	Conf.		Overall
Ga Tech	7	1	10	2
Va Tech	6	2	9	3
Miami	5	3	9	3
UNC	4	4	8	4
Duke	3	5	5	7
Virginia	2	6	3	9
Players of the Week 11/28 Riley Skinner, QB WF 11/21 Deunta Williams, DB NC 11/14 C.J. Spiller, RB Clem 11/7 C.J. Spiller, RB Clem 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 11/28 NC St 28, UNC 27 11/21 FSU 29, Maryland 26 11/14 UNC 33, Miami 24 11/7 GT 30, WF 27 OT 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 Boston College 24 at Maryland 17 - BC hangs on late to beat the Terps - Maryland finishes 2-10 after tough loss to BC CFN Prediction: Boston College 24-17 . Line: BC -7 at South Carolina 34 Clemson 17 Clemson falls flat in loss to Gamecocks CFN Prediction: Clemson 28-20 . Line: Clemson -3 Wake Forest 45 at Duke 34 - Wake Forest & Skinner bomb away on Duke - Duke gets big day out of Lewis in loss CFN Prediction: Duke 28-27 . Line: Wake Forest -3 at Florida 37 Florida State 10 Florida State gets blown away by the Gators CFN Prediction: Florida 34-16 . Line: Florida -23 Georgia 30 at Georgia Tech 24 Georgia Tech gets run over in loss to Dawgs CFN Prediction: Georgia Tech 35-24 . Line: Georgia Tech -7 Miami 31 at South Florida 10 Miami blows away the Bulls CFN Prediction: USF 27-24 . Line: Miami -7 at NC State 28 North Carolina 27 - NC State blocks kick to beat the Tar Heels - North Carolina is sloppy in loss to Wolfpack CFN Prediction: North Carolina 26-17 . Line: UNC -5 Virginia Tech 42 at Virginia 13 - Virginia Tech & Williams rip up the Cavaliers - Virginia gets run over in ugly loss to Hokies CFN Prediction: Virginia Tech 30-13 . Line: VT -13

GAME OF THE WEEK

at NC State 28 … North Carolina 27
NC State got four touchdown passes from Russell Wilson and a key late blocked field goal from Alan-Michael Cash to end its season with a rivalry win. Wilson connected with Jarvis Williams from six and 15 yards away in the second quarter, and hit Owen Spencer for a 56-yard touchdown in the third and a 38-yard score in the fourth. North Carolina outgained the Wolfpack 481 yards to 335, but two key turnovers deep into State territory and ten penalties proved costly. The Tar Heels got three big plays in the second quarter with Jheranie Boyd catching touchdown passes from 35 and 70 yards away, and Johnny White running for a 14-yard touchdown, and they have the chance to take the lead late but Cash blocked Connor Barth’s 38-yard field goal try with 4:44 to play.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Wake Forest QB Riley Skinner completed 28-of-38 passes for 372 yards and five touchdowns in the win over Duke.

CONFERENCE ROUNDUP

Boston College … Boston College 19 ... at Maryland 17 ... Not enough is being made about Boston College going 8-4. The team isn’t all that great, it doesn’t have much of an offense, and it doesn’t generate much pressure on opposing quarterbacks, but it has gotten by on a strong defense that doesn’t give up points, a nice year from the offensive line, and wins over the teams it was supposed to beat. This was a big help for the bowl picture, and considering this was supposed to be a rebuilding year, it’s hard to argue with the record. The coaching staff has done an amazing job. Of note from the Maryland win, PK Steve Aponovicius missed his first kick of the year.

Clemson … at South Carolina 34 ... Clemson 17 ... Was Clemson flat because the important game is next week against Georgia Tech, or is this an indictment of the team and its problems? It might be a little of both, but that was a ramped up Gamecock defense that focused everyone on stopping C.J. Spiller and the offense fell flat from there. The bigger concern is the run defense that allowed 223 yards to an average USC ground game. Georgia Tech will be licking its chops as the holes the mediocre Gamecock O line created.

Duke … Wake Forest 45 ... at Duke 34 ... Duke might have finished out of the bowl picture, but this was a successful season with a good offense and a far more competitive team. Thaddeus Lewis finished his career with over 10,000 passing yards, and the air attack led the ACC, but the lack of defense proved too costly over the final four-game slide. Is this a stepping-stone of a season under David Cutcliffe, or was it the best the program could do under its academic and historic restraints? The offense will be there as long as Cutcliffe is coaching, but the defense needs to show up to get over the hump next year.

Florida State … at Florida 37 ... Florida State 10 ... The uniforms looked like Florida State, and there were plenty of players running fast, but this team was embarrassed and outclassed by Florida. The Gators looked like they could’ve hung up 70 if they have tried for a full 60 minutes. E.J. Manuel completed 19-of-31 passes, but almost all of his completions came after the game was basically over. The Noles will go to a bad bowl and they’ll get a chance to finish with a winning season, but at the moment, the team simply isn’t very good.

Georgia Tech… Georgia 30 ... at Georgia Tech 24 ... Georgia Tech appeared to be looking ahead to the ACC Championship vs. Clemson, but the team isn’t making any excuses. Morgan Burnett, who made 16 tackles, complained that the team became complacent, but it might have been exposed more than anything else, at least on defense, as a Georgia offense that can’t run on anyone tore off 339 yards. The Tech offense wasn’t sharp and didn’t appear to be focused, but give the Dawgs credit for that. Expect a much sharper performance next week against the Tigers.

Maryland … Boston College 19 ... at Maryland 17 ... A ten-loss season, a seven-loss losing streak, and the two wins coming in a three-point stunner over Clemson and an overtime win over FCSer James Madison … uh-oh. It might be time for a change with Ralph Friedgen clearly not getting the job done this year with nothing working on a consistent basis. The offense was mediocre, the secondary was a disaster, and the lines struggled throughout. The only positive out of the BC loss was the return of QB Chris Turner from a knee injury to see time in his final game.

Miami … Miami 31 ... at South Florida 10 ... This was a potentially dangerous game that Miami was able to win without much of a problem. Even when the team was making mistakes things turned out fine, like on the 33-yard Dedrick Epps touchdown catch, while the defense came up with a swarming, dominant performance. Virginia Tech might end up with the No.3 ACC bowl slot, but Miami could certainly be fourth at this point. When the team plays up to its talent level, this might be the ACC’s best team. It’ll be interesting to see what the team can do with time to prepare for the bowl.

North Carolina … at NC State 28 ... North Carolina 27 ... The North Carolina defense that carried the team over the last few weeks was fine against the Wolfpack, but the turnover margin flipped the wrong way and the mistakes proved costly. Two fumbles, ten penalties, and a blocked kick all contributed to the loss, but unlike the last few weeks, the offense showed up with T.J. Yates having one of his better games and Johnny White running well. The hope has to be that this is a step back to take a leap forward; the team should be well motivated for the bowl game after this sloppy effort.

NC State … at NC State 28 ... North Carolina 27 ... It’s a bit strong to suggest that Tom O’Brien needed to win this game or he’d be in big trouble, but getting the win helps. However, it shows just how maddening the team is after having problems giving the ball away turning the ugly run of losses and without much consistency from the defense. Against the Tar Heels, the D was fine, but not special, and there weren’t any big mistakes while Russell Wilson became Russell Wilson again. 5-7 looks a whole bunch better than 4-8 going into the offseason.

Virginia … Virginia Tech 42 ... at Virginia 13 ... And thus ends the Al Groh era. It started out with so much promise, but because of declining attendance while doing the near impossible, if you’re not Duke, by being one of the few ACC teams to not get to a bowl game over the last two years, it’s time to go a different direction. The Virginia offense didn’t show up this season cranking out 267 yards per game going into this week, while the lines have suffered tremendously for a program known for sending several players to the next level. Losing six straight to close out a potentially promising year, after starting 3-3, will sting throughout the offseason.

Virginia Tech … Virginia Tech 42 ... at Virginia 13 ... Ryan Williams has to be a front-runner for the 2010 Heisman. He has been able to bring it every week and every game, and even though the Virginia defense threw everyone at him, he still tore off 182 yards and four scores, and it was close to being five. Somewhat quietly, the Hokies have been blowing everyone away over the last month, and while this won’t be an ACC title season, there’s a chance to win ten games for the sixth year in a row with a win in the bowl game.

Wake Forest… Wake Forest 45 ... at Duke 34 ... It’s a shame to think about what might have been. Wake Forest should’ve been bowling, but five losses by a total of 11 points turned out to be too much to overcome. The defense never showed up and Riley Skinner wasn’t consistent, but when the offense was working, it was excellent and showed that it could’ve made things interesting in a bowl game. Skinner’s career turned out to be excellent, one of the best in the history of Wake Forest quarterbacks, and he’ll be missed.