Gold: Taking a shot at Week 10

The late great Tug McGraw could have taught us all a few things. One day, as the Mets were having a team meeting in the early part of September in 1973, McGraw jumped up in the locker room and shouted “Ya’ gotta believe!”

The Mets were 9 games under .500 after a 7-4 loss at St. Louis and getting ready to open up a 4-game home series with the Philadelphia Phillies when McGraw offered that rallying cry. They were in 5th place in their division, but just 5 ½ games behind the first place Cardinals at the time. New York took 3 of 4 from Philadelphia and closed the season by winning 19 of their final 26 games and capturing the NL East with a record of 82-79.

The point of this is that the Mets had faith in themselves and many of their fans also kept that faith and rallied behind Tug McGraw. He’s still one of the most beloved players in both Mets and Phillies history.

I’d really love to see some of that in State fans today, because the Pack still has a chance to make something out of this season. There’s no doubt that they’ve fooled a lot of us this season. They lost games that they should not have lost (Akron, just 2-5 against teams not named NC State), and won a couple you might not have expected them to win. But, this game tomorrow night against Georgia Tech is typical of games that the Wolfpack normally play well. It’s at night, on national television (okay, so it’s ESPN-U) and it’s against a nationally ranked opponent.

Regardless of what happens in this game, Georgia Tech is almost certainly going to finish their season in Jacksonville, representing the Coastal Division in the ACC Title game. Maybe the lack of real incentive will work in State’s favor. Either way, even at 3-5 and coming off of a trio of losses – the last two of which were extremely disappointing – this team still has a chance to reach a bowl game. And, should they do so, they will have likely beaten their two most intense rivals.

So, to that end….

YA GOTTA BELIEVE!!!!

ACC Football….and every single game on the schedule this weekend has something very important riding on the outcome…locals first

1 pm at Wallace Wade, Navy visits Duke just one win away from being bowl-eligible. The Middies have lost their last two games (to Rutgers and Notre Dame) by a combined score of 72-14, but could very easily win out the season and end up 9-3. A finish like that could have Navy taking on an ACC team in the Meineke Bowl in Charlotte, and it’s hard to imagine Duke beating a team that could end the season with 9 wins. Duke, in spite of last week’s horrible defensive performance against Vanderbilt, is still a team on the verge of a breakthrough. I don’t see it happening this week unless they can force Navy to turn the ball over.

The Pick: Navy 38, Duke 22

2:30 pm at Notre Dame Stadium, North Carolina heads to South Bend to play on arguably the most hallowed turf in the sport. It’s a great way to put aside the incredible disappointment and despair that this 1-7 season has brought. The Irish aren’t the elite team that they would have you believe, and I’ll be surprised if the Heels don’t have success running the football. Sadly, Carolina will not be able to stop Notre Dame from scoring, and when you factor in that the Heels are 119th in the country in turnover margin (yes, there are only 119 teams), there’s just no way that Carolina comes close.

The Pick: Notre Dame 48 North Carolina 17

7 pm at Carter-Finley, the Wolfpack look to win their 5th straight game against a ranked opponent when they host #20 Georgia Tech. Hard to believe, but State has been the classic “play to the level of their competition” team over the last two years, and both of their wins of this nature have come under exactly the same conditions. Night time, ESPN in the house and at home. Can they stop Calvin Johnson and Tashard Choice. I’ll be surprised if they stop both. The only way the Pack keeps their bowl hopes alive is if Daniel Evans is allowed to throw the ball down the field. Tech is going to force Evans to beat them, much like Florida State did. You must make them pay for that game plan.

The Pick: Georgia Tech 23 NC State 20

7 pm at Groves, the only meeting of two ranked teams takes place when #16 Boston College takes on #22 Wake Forest. These teams have played some incredibly close and dramatic games against each other the last three years with the Demon Deacons winning twice as each game was decided on the final play. In order to win this game Wake is going to have to throw it with success. The Eagles have been very hard to run against and even though Jim Grobe wants to run the ball, his team hasn’t done so with a ton of success. Mostly, they’ve had an effective rush attack, but that’s not enough against BC. Kenneth Moore moves from wide receiver to tailback for this game and I’d expect him to get the bulk of the work load. Could this be a meeting between the two leading candidates to coach in Chapel Hill next year?

The Pick: Boston College 27 Wake Forest 24

Virginia is at Florida State at noon, and the Seminoles will be a completely different team than they’ve been all year. Xavier Lee will play and if he carries over from his strong second half in College Park last week, this could be a blow out. If Virginia loses, their bowl hopes are all but shot.

The Pick: FSU 31 Virginia 10

Clemson hosts Maryland at noon as well and the Tigers have had 10 days to purge their beating up in Blacksburg. The Tigers WILL pay this one forward as Maryland is 100th in the country against the run (VT was 21st) and 83rd in total defense (VT was #3). James Davis and CJ Spiller get theirs this week.

The Pick: Clemson 38 Maryland 20

And, remember when Virginia Tech at Miami was the game for the ACC Title? Heck, that was only two years ago, when the Hokies went to Miami and went across the ocean to beat the Hurricanes for their first conference championship. Last year, Miami ruined Tech’s perfect season in Blacksburg. Sounds like a road team trend. But, can Tech stay on the high after their domination of Clemson last week? Miami’s beaten no one of note, other than Houston, the second best team in Conference USA.

The Pick: Virginia Tech 20 Miami 16

East Carolina is headed for Orlando to take on a Central Florida team that is in complete disarray. They’re 2-6 and George O’Leary has pledged wholesale personnel changes to put more speed on the field. ECU’s on a roll, they’ve won 4 of their last 6 and have a chance to reach the conference championship game if they win out. How they bounce back from a huge win will say a lot about the continuing development of Skip Holtz’ team. If Pinkney to Allison is as good as it’s been over the last two weeks, this one goes in the “W” column.

The Pick: ECU 26 Central Florida 20

I don’t know what the mathematical reaction is going to be to Thursday night’s Louisville win over West Virginia, but if the Cardinals can finish the season 12-0 I think we’ll see Bobby Petrino’s team in the BCS Title game.

I’d love a committee, and even more than a committee I’d love a “plus one” game which would put the top four teams in the BCS standings into a Final Four.