ACC Football: Week Eight

[Olympic Fan]

The lightest week of the season -- just four games and one of those is Thursday night. Six ACC teams have a bye this week.

Still, a very important weekend in the Coastal race. Thursday night's game is very important -- it's virtually an elimination game for Miami -- after beating four nobodies to open the season -- and being proclaimed one of the nation's top teams -- the 'Canes have lost two straight in the ACC (although, to be fair, both were close losses). If Virginia Tech wins, they remain the frontrunner in the division (they have the tiebreaker vs. UNC). UNC should keep winning at Virginia this weekend.

The games:

Thursday night
Miami at Virginia Tech (7 p.m., ESPN)

Saturday
N.C. State at Louisville (ABC, noon)
Syracuse at Boston College (ACC Network, 12:30 p.m.)
North Carolina at Virginia (3 p.m., RSN)

NC State at Louisville could be interesting in view of State's strong effort at Clemson last week and Louisville's struggles with Duke. And Syracuse at BC is not without interest -- the Eagles are still working on as 11-game ACC losing streak (to go with a 20-game losing streak in ACC basketball). The Eagles better snap it this week -- their next three ACC games are at NC State, Louisville and at FSU ... their last chance comes when they finish up at Wake Forest.

[Bob Green]

The games:

Thursday night
Miami at Virginia Tech (7 p.m., ESPN)

I'm looking forward to tonight's game as it is a good opportunity to see two future opponents in action. Miami QB Brad Kaaya looked awful last week so I will be watching to see if his passing is more accurate tonight against the Hokies.

[Bob Green]

Following up on my Brad Kaaya looked awful statement:


Andrea Adelson
ESPN Staff Writer

One area to watch for the Miami offense against Virginia Tech is explosive pass plays. The Hurricanes have struggled in this category. Brad Kaaya has 21 pass plays that have gone 20 yards or more, ninth in the ACC. Last year, he had 55 pass plays that went 20 or more yards, second in the ACC to Deshaun Watson. The Hokies struggled to contain big pass plays in a loss to Syracuse last week, so perhaps Miami will try to take a few shots downfield to open up the game.

[Olympic Fan]

Impressive performance by Virginia Tech tonight, especially on offense.

I remain unimpressed by Miami -- after they beat four nobodies and the pollsters have them at No. 10, they play three real teams and lose to them all. For all the praise I've read for Mark Richt, Miami is STILL the most stupid team in the ACC.

[Bob Green]

Impressive performance by Virginia Tech tonight, especially on offense.

I only watched the first half but VT looked really good. It is hard to believe they lost to Syracuse. Brad Kaaya was pressured and sacked multiple times.

[Bob Green]

It took Louisville only 1:33 to score on N.C.State via a 36 yard Lamar Jackson run. Can the Wolfpack respond?

[Bob Green]

Lamar Jackson to Jalen Smith for a 74 yard touchdown. It appears the rout is on: Louisville 17, N.C. State 0 with 5:20 left in the 1st quarter. State needs to score or this one is going to get out of hand in a hurry.

[arnie]

Lamar Jackson to Jalen Smith for a 74 yard touchdown. It appears the rout is on: Louisville 17, N.C. State 0 with 5:20 left in the 1st quarter. State needs to score or this one is going to get out of hand in a hurry.

Pack's trying to prove they're the team that lost to ECU, not team that should've beaten Clempsun.

[Bob Green]

It appears the rout is on

You can remove the word "appears" from the above sentence. Halftime: Louisville 44, N.C. State 0. In the good news department, State did hold Louisville to FGs three times.

Total Offense: Louisville 390 yards, N.C. State 54 yards.

[brevity]

From Deadspin's roundup (http://screengrabber.deadspin.com/a-tuscaloosa-college-gameday-sign-roundup-1788104073) of ESPN College GameDay signs in Tuscaloosa today.

Check out the Home Depot signs in front. Clemson fans?

6760

[Bob Green]

Carolina 35, Virginia 14.

Any chance UNC quarterback Mitch Trubisky leaves for the NFL at the end of this season?

24/31, 310 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions

[Olympic Fan]

Carolina 35, Virginia 14.

Any chance UNC quarterback Mitch Trubisky leaves for the NFL at the end of this season?

24/31, 310 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions

I was told that there is a chance, although Deshaun Watson and Dalvon Cook are the two most certain players headed out. Lamar Jackson is a true soph -- he has one more year.

Watching Louisville destroy NC State just emphasized what a great coaching job Cut and his staff did a week earlier at Louisville. I know the Cards had an off-night, but a lot of that was Duke draining the energy out of the stadium with their slowdown (and the ability to covert third downs). It's hard to believe he had Duke in position to steal that game late ... only two tough calls (the phantom whistle on the Louisville fumble; the roughing the kicker call) prevented the upset of the season.

UNC is looking good, but they still need help to win the Coastal. Virginia Tech is in the driver's seat if they keep winning.

Tough one for Boston College Saturday ... they had a chance to win at home against the 'Cuse. Now it's hard to see where their ACC losing streak (12 straight) ends ... there next three are at NC State, Louisville at home and at Florida State. They close at Wake Forest, so maybe that one. Otherwise, they'll take a 16-game conference losing streak into next year.