I’ve made my way through the various ACC preview podcasts and read a good number of articles on our opponents. It’s been harder to get a handle on things this year than in the past, but based on what we know now, my prediction is that we go 8-3. My guess is that we go 2-3 against the top 5 teams on our schedule. Here are my thoughts on our 11 game ac
Austin Peay - Win. In their opener they looked absolutely awful. They’ve probably worked some of those issues out with a game under their belt and I fully expect Pitt to be rough initially as well, but their QB can’t pass and their OL looked bad. If ever there was an FCS team we could blow out, this looks like the team.
Syracuse - Win. It’ll probably be close-ish, but this Syracuse team will be about the same as last year’s team, which was not good. They’re moving to a 3-3-5 defense and they lost some key pieces. Pretty good secondary, but otherwise just not a good team. DeVito and the offense do what they do, but their OL is gonna be bad again. They’ll be lucky to get to 4 wins this season.
Louisville - Win. Louisville’s offensive skill players are extremely good and their QB really came on strong late. Their defense is comically bad, and while some improvement is likely in the cards, pun intended, they’re still gonna be bad. This game will likely be similar to UNC and UCF last year, hopefully with the same result. If our offense is as bad as last year, it’ll be very hard to score enough to win, but as things stand today, we should be slight favorites at home. Louisville’s defense will probably be worse than UCF’s and UNC’s we’re last year.
NC State - Win. I didn’t realize how truly bad last year’s N.C. State team was until I listened through the previews. This team will almost certainly be bad again. They were decimated by injury last year, but even healthy they’re just not good. They totally revamped the coaching staff - almost every assistant is gone. Leary will be their QB again. But this looks like a very bad team. As with Syracuse, 4 wins will be a battle for N.C. State.
@ BC - Win. Our first road game against a few of our old coaches. I think programs with new coaches are going to really, really struggle this year. The loss of spring practice and the weirdness of the fall will hurt then more than others. Pitt never should have lost to BC last year and there’s no reason to believe they will this year.
@ Miami - Loss. This is a pure toss up. I’m not buying the Miami hype so much as I think their defense is as good as ours and they’ve got the better QB and OC. This a very winnable game though. If it was at home, I’d pick us. Their OL is probably going to be bad again, and they lost their top RB. But their defense will be brutally good - like us.
Notre Dame - Loss. Anything can happen, especially against ND. Ian Book and the ND offense should be very strong - not elite, but strong. Same on defense. They have a great OL as usual and a lot of production returning. They lost their top TE, but sounds like they have a good replacement. This should be close and a win wouldn’t be surprising at all.
@ FSU - Win. What will Norvell’s team look like this year? Who knows. But like BC, the loss of the spring and the odd fall camp will really hurt them. FSU has a bad OL, no Cam Akers, and an uncertain QB situation, Blackman is a poor man’s Kenny Pickett. They still have plenty of blue blood talent, but nothing like they used to. It’s hard to know what to expect exactly, but I’d be very surprised if we don’t win based on what we know now.
@ GT - Win. After a year zero that was as rough as expected, this is still a bad football team. They landed a good class and their defense was OK last year, but their offense is still a mess. They seem to think they have Clemson/Bama level secondary, but I’m not buying it and I don’t think it’ll matter. Like Cuse and N.C. State, it’s hard to see a 4th win here. Long term, this is probably going to be a hard win, but not this year.
VT - Win. I hate the Hokies and I hate Justin Fuente. Luckily, I think our team and coaching staff share my feelings and will be extra motivated by the ass kicking and post game bad mouthing - buy better chairs! QB Hendon Hooker is what he is. He’s a run first beast at QB with limited passing skills. Their offense proved hard to stop despite weak RBs and a limited passing game. Bud Foster is finally gone, and his replacement is a first time DC, so we’ll see what happens. Their top DB opted out, so we’ll have to see how much that hurts. And this continues to look like a dysfunctional locker room. I don’t see much difference between this year’s VT and last year’s team. But we were better than we showed and our offense should be improved, so I’m calling for a win. This is the win I feel least confident about.
@ Clemson - Loss. Not gonna happen twice. They’re #1 for a good reason. This team doesn’t appear to have the same proven killer defense as in years past, but it’s full of elite talent. And this offense will be absolutely ridiculously good.
Austin Peay - Win. In their opener they looked absolutely awful. They’ve probably worked some of those issues out with a game under their belt and I fully expect Pitt to be rough initially as well, but their QB can’t pass and their OL looked bad. If ever there was an FCS team we could blow out, this looks like the team.
Syracuse - Win. It’ll probably be close-ish, but this Syracuse team will be about the same as last year’s team, which was not good. They’re moving to a 3-3-5 defense and they lost some key pieces. Pretty good secondary, but otherwise just not a good team. DeVito and the offense do what they do, but their OL is gonna be bad again. They’ll be lucky to get to 4 wins this season.
Louisville - Win. Louisville’s offensive skill players are extremely good and their QB really came on strong late. Their defense is comically bad, and while some improvement is likely in the cards, pun intended, they’re still gonna be bad. This game will likely be similar to UNC and UCF last year, hopefully with the same result. If our offense is as bad as last year, it’ll be very hard to score enough to win, but as things stand today, we should be slight favorites at home. Louisville’s defense will probably be worse than UCF’s and UNC’s we’re last year.
NC State - Win. I didn’t realize how truly bad last year’s N.C. State team was until I listened through the previews. This team will almost certainly be bad again. They were decimated by injury last year, but even healthy they’re just not good. They totally revamped the coaching staff - almost every assistant is gone. Leary will be their QB again. But this looks like a very bad team. As with Syracuse, 4 wins will be a battle for N.C. State.
@ BC - Win. Our first road game against a few of our old coaches. I think programs with new coaches are going to really, really struggle this year. The loss of spring practice and the weirdness of the fall will hurt then more than others. Pitt never should have lost to BC last year and there’s no reason to believe they will this year.
@ Miami - Loss. This is a pure toss up. I’m not buying the Miami hype so much as I think their defense is as good as ours and they’ve got the better QB and OC. This a very winnable game though. If it was at home, I’d pick us. Their OL is probably going to be bad again, and they lost their top RB. But their defense will be brutally good - like us.
Notre Dame - Loss. Anything can happen, especially against ND. Ian Book and the ND offense should be very strong - not elite, but strong. Same on defense. They have a great OL as usual and a lot of production returning. They lost their top TE, but sounds like they have a good replacement. This should be close and a win wouldn’t be surprising at all.
@ FSU - Win. What will Norvell’s team look like this year? Who knows. But like BC, the loss of the spring and the odd fall camp will really hurt them. FSU has a bad OL, no Cam Akers, and an uncertain QB situation, Blackman is a poor man’s Kenny Pickett. They still have plenty of blue blood talent, but nothing like they used to. It’s hard to know what to expect exactly, but I’d be very surprised if we don’t win based on what we know now.
@ GT - Win. After a year zero that was as rough as expected, this is still a bad football team. They landed a good class and their defense was OK last year, but their offense is still a mess. They seem to think they have Clemson/Bama level secondary, but I’m not buying it and I don’t think it’ll matter. Like Cuse and N.C. State, it’s hard to see a 4th win here. Long term, this is probably going to be a hard win, but not this year.
VT - Win. I hate the Hokies and I hate Justin Fuente. Luckily, I think our team and coaching staff share my feelings and will be extra motivated by the ass kicking and post game bad mouthing - buy better chairs! QB Hendon Hooker is what he is. He’s a run first beast at QB with limited passing skills. Their offense proved hard to stop despite weak RBs and a limited passing game. Bud Foster is finally gone, and his replacement is a first time DC, so we’ll see what happens. Their top DB opted out, so we’ll have to see how much that hurts. And this continues to look like a dysfunctional locker room. I don’t see much difference between this year’s VT and last year’s team. But we were better than we showed and our offense should be improved, so I’m calling for a win. This is the win I feel least confident about.
@ Clemson - Loss. Not gonna happen twice. They’re #1 for a good reason. This team doesn’t appear to have the same proven killer defense as in years past, but it’s full of elite talent. And this offense will be absolutely ridiculously good.
