Friedlander: 5 questions to ponder before kickoff of Week 7 in ACC football
After pulling rabbits out of its hat in each of the past 2 weeks, Miami won’t need any prestidigitation to stay undefeated and ranked among the nation’s top 10 this week.
That’s because the 6th-ranked Hurricanes aren’t playing.
They’re 1 of 6 ACC teams with open dates, a midseason break that makes for a light schedule around the conference. But don’t let that fool you. If we learned anything from last week’s wild results, which saw 5 of the top 11 teams go down to defeat, it’s that upsets can happen any time and any place.
Even Vanderbilt.
So as we wait to see what surprises, if any, await in Week 7 here are 5 questions to think about and ponder before kickoff:
5. Can Georgia Tech continue its dominance of North Carolina?
The Yellow Jackets might be the last team the Tar Heels want to see as they try to break their 3-game losing streak. Tech has owned UNC since 2017, winning 5 of the past 6 meetings between the former Coastal Division rivals. Even Geoff Collins, who’s now UNC’s defensive coordinator, was able to beat Mack Brown’s team. And he won only 10 times in 3½ seasons with the Yellow Jackets. If there’s 1 thing the Tar Heels have going for them, it’s that the roles are reversed this year. After being favored in each of the 5 games since Brown returned to Chapel Hill in 2019, including last season’s 45-42 loss in which Tech rolled up 348 yards on the ground and 635 yards overall, UNC is a 5-point home underdog this time.
4. Will NC State have an answer for Kyle McCord and Syracuse’s newly explosive offense?
The Wolfpack defense appeared to make positive strides in a win against Northern Illinois 2 weeks ago. But it took a major step back last Saturday while coughing up a 10-point 4th quarter lead in a loss to Wake Forest. State is the only ACC team allowing more points than the Deacons this season, which could be a recipe for disaster against a Syracuse offense loaded with playmakers. McCall threw the ball 62 times, completing 40 for 355 yards and 3 touchdowns in last week’s 44-41 overtime win at UNLV. The Ohio State transfer and his stable of talented receivers have the potential to do just as much damage against the only ACC team allowing more points than the Deacons this season.
3. How long will Clemson keep settling for field goals?
The Tigers went to Tallahassee last week and did what they had to do against imploding Florida State. They jumped out to an early lead, doubled up the Seminoles on the stat sheet by outgaining them 500-250 and were never seriously threatened in a 29-13 win. But it was anything but a clean performance for Dabo Swinney’s crew. While Clemson was able to move the ball up and down the field almost at will, its inability to finish drives led to 7 field goal attempts by kicker Nolan Hauser. Two of which were blocked. Scoring touchdowns will be a point of emphasis this week against a Wake Forest defense that has given up a lot of them this season. The Deacons are allowing 31 points per game, the 2nd most in the ACC.
2. Will Cal be motivated or deflated after last week’s controversial loss to Miami?
The Bears will have more to overcome than just their 3rd cross-country trip in the past 6 weeks when they travel to Pittsburgh on Saturday. They’ll also have to regroup from a long, emotional day that began well before dawn with a festive College GameDay broadcast and ended in disappointment just before midnight local time with a heart-wrenching 39-38 loss to a top-10 opponent. On the plus side, Justin Wilcox’s team put up its best offensive numbers of the season against the Hurricanes. It will need to continue that upward trend against a Panthers team that has been putting up big numbers of its own with an up-tempo attack fueled by the passing of Alabama transfer Eli Holstein and the running of Western Carolina transfer Desmond Reid.
1. Will Pitt fare any better as a ranked team than ACC rivals Georgia Tech and Boston College earlier this season?
The Panthers improved to 5-0 with last Saturday’s win at North Carolina and returned to the national polls for the first time since Kenny Pickett’s final game in 2022. But as the Yellow Jackets and Eagles can attest, the euphoria of that No. 22 ranking can wear off quickly if you don’t keep winning. Both those teams learned that lesson the hard way by dropping out of the polls after just 1 week. As 1 of only 2 remaining undefeated teams in the ACC, Pitt could thrust itself into the thick of the ACC championship race with a victory. But as only a 3-point favorite, according to ESPNBet sportsbook, it just as easily face a similar fate as Tech and BC if it doesn’t bring its “A” game against a dangerous opponent already with experience traveling to and winning in the Eastern time zone.
Every one of those games are awful and an embarrassment to the sport.
Pitt/Cal could be a good game if we see the same Cal that showed up against Miami. I still don’t have a good feel for GT. Lots of parity.