I’m getting dangerously close to dropping below 80 percent. Not good, my friends, not good. I went 3-2 last week, striking out on Maryland-BC and Georgia Tech-BYU. My overall record stands at 56-14 (80 percent) heading into Week 10. Let’s make it a November to remember, starting tonight:
Miami 35, Virginia Tech 31: Miami quarterback Stephen Morris will have the edge, and the Canes’ defense will do juuuuust enough to win. Virginia Tech’s running backs will get their yards on the ground, but so will freshman phenom Duke Johnson. Miami will win the turnover and field position battle, and that will be the difference in a close game.
Clemson 42, Duke 28: Duke learned a lesson from its performance against Florida State, but the talent gap with Clemson is still too wide for Duke to change the result on the scoreboard this week. The Blue Devils will be well-prepared and well-coached, but they won’t have the speed to match the likes of Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins, and quarterback Tajh Boyd has been outstanding this year.
Wake Forest 21, Boston College 14: The Eagles were able to squeak by Maryland and its fourth-string quarterback last week, but they have to travel to Winston-Salem this week and have yet to win on the road. Boston College’s strength has been its passing game, but the Deacs have more playmakers on defense and will make the stops.
Georgia Tech 17, Maryland 14 (OT): Maryland will be playing with a true freshman linebacker-turned-quarterback making his first start. Paul Johnson doesn’t know who his quarterback is these days. Expect another unusually low-scoring game for the Jackets, thanks to another All-America performance by Joe Vellano, but it won’t be enough to overcome the miscues of quarterback Shawn Petty. Randy Edsall will do his best to get the ball to Stefon Diggs and win with special teams and defense, but the Jackets will have the edge at quarterback with either Vad Lee or Tevin Washington.
NC State 38, Virginia 10: The Hoos have more problems than a bye week can fix, starting with turnovers and inconsistency at quarterback. Virginia is dead last at No. 120 in the country in turnover margin. The Wolfpack, meanwhile, know they can still win the division with some help and can’t afford any missteps. NC State is the better team this season and has the better quarterback.