OSU and Furman
ECU and Pitt
Pitt and NC State
NC State and Miami (FL)
Miami (FL) and Duke
Duke and Boston College
UNC and UVA
Will they lose the first game for overlooking to the 2nd game or lose the 2nd game from a hangover on the 1st game
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I'll say Duke and BC, not because of looking ahead/hangover but because it's probably our toughest one two punch as far as opponents go. Duke nearly beat us last year, and BC drubbed our defense something awful.
I nearly went NC State/Miami, but I really think Miami has lost a lot with the departure of Duke Johnson.
NC State and Miami. NC State could be pretty good this year and Miami has a quarterback that could be pretty good if he has any supporting cast.
I'll go with pitt and ncsu.
Pitt still has James Connor and is ALWAYS a thorn in our side, I'm also curious to see if Narduzzi makes a name for himself his first year as HC.
NC State is on the up and up.
Let's hope he doesn't. They have really only been a "thorn in our side" away so far
If I have to pick one, likely Pitt (because it's Pitt) and NC State (team on the rise, very underrated), but NC State/Miami is a close second. I really feel like, until this team demonstrates that it can perform consistently (something we have not seen for years), every two-week stretch is equally challenging. Our team needs to stay focused and avoid letdowns. We have the talent to compete with anybody on our schedule, but whether or not we live up to it is totally unknown.
Miami and duke for me
Agreed. While Pitt seems to perplex us year in year out, I think for a 2 game stretch this is going to be tough.
They certainly didn't perplex us two years ago. Hoping for a repeat performance.
Exactly, we seemed to have their number and then last year happened. Something about Pitt and BC that is just troublesome for us.
We haven't done a good job of defending the power run game, not to mention both of them have had fantastic running back recently which doesn't help. I think we will get wins against both this season.
and now we get to the perplexing part. we are a "stop the run first" defense yet 2 teams that seemingly belong on the receiving end of an ass kicking seem to win. Obviously the offense needs to perform and not faulting the defense. It's just perplexing.
If our offense gives our d-line a breather we should win those games
absolutely agree
It's the same bell you're always ringing: undersized D linemen. When you line up 230 lb DEs against 310lb OTs whose only game plan is to push your ass out of the way, the schematic advantage of speed is greatly reduced. That's why it's really important that we have landed a guy like Settle, along with 315lb Steve Sobchak, who can plug up the middle against pure power, and are looking at 270lb Vinny Mihota at DE. Put some beef on the line and suddenly Pitt's behemoth OL might not have its way with us so bad.
Brewer had arguably his best game of the year against BC. He was 31/48 (64.6%) for 345 yards, 2 TDs, 1 Rush TD, 0 INTs, 7.2 YPA, and 11.1 YPC.
The rushing O wasn't there yet, with only 69 total yards. 30 of that was on DiNardo's fake punt. Marshawn had 32 yards but that is split over 13 caries for 2.5 YPC. Rogers was the only RB to hit 3 YPC with 12 yards on 4 caries.
Overall the Offense was able to get 414 yards to BCs 368 and 17 first downs to BC's 11. Despite having had only 1 turnover by the offense in the game, we weren't able to force any either and lost the turnover battle. While the lack of a ground game was a detriment, I would put the game more on the Defense since they gave up 258 yards on the ground including two 50+ yard TDs the second of which put BC up by 9 with less than 3 minutes left.
As much as everyone loves to pile on the offense for the Wake Forest game, BC was its reciprocal. The defense was atrocious that game and cost us what should have been an easy win with how well the offense was working.
I'll go with
1. at BC, at GT
2. Pitt, NC State
I think Pitt and NC State are a little underrated, while BC, Miami, and Duke take a step back this year. However, we have struggled at BC quite a bit recently and their front 7 should keep them in a lot of games.
NONE CUZ WE'RE GOING FIFTEEN AND OH CUH!!
Continuing in this vein, I would say OSU/Furman, because after the Hokies embarrass the Buckeyes again, that Furman game is looking like a trap.
You are joking right? Furman is not even a good FCS team
I really hope the Furman game isn't like the Austin Peay game of two (3?) years ago. Athough we won that game like 42-7 or something it sure didn't feel like it.
Do you mean to say..
Nope definitely saw that list and instantly cringed seeing ECU and Pitt following each other. Both teams have always played well against us no matter what teams we have... that might be a tough 2 weeks to watch VT football
Yeah being serious, I definitely agree with this. We're cursed against Pitt...
I think the playoff games will be the toughest two game stretch for us
Fall Scrimmage 1 and Fall Scrimmage 2. Playing ourselves twice in a row will be a challenge. The rest will be a cake walk to 15-0
Ohio State and Furman are strangely similar to Boise State and JMU. Not that I ever see that happening again, but it's something to think about.
I don't think they are very similar at all. We were expected to win against Boise St. The narrative was that we were a stepping stone to Boise St's arrival to big time football, IF they could win. The loss was demoralizing and we shanked on JMU.
OSU is the defending NC, and IF we beat them then it's a stepping stone for our arrival back to top tier competition. And Furman is not a good team, nothing like JMU. We shouldn't have lost to JMU but JMU > Furman without doubt. If we do lose to OSU I doubt very much that it will cause us to shank it on a very poor Furman.
But what if we have Ohio State beaten and somehow slip up and cost the game as we've been prone to do? That would definitely leave a hangover effect on the team, especially in the White Effect game against Furman.
I hate that we even have to have this conversation though. Tech is still a punchline because of that JMU game though.
This team will not lose to Furman though, regardless of what happens against Ohio State. Like I said, though, it's a conversation we're pretty much destined to have anytime we talk about Tech and an FCS school.
I doubt very much that anyone outside of VT, JMU and lolUVA remember that loss to JMU. It's not like it sent shockwaves through the college football world. Michigan getting knocked off by App St is an example of something that is considered a benchmark upset that most college football fans remember. Boise St beating us is more known than JMU beating us by far. So I don't think that we are as much a punchline as you imagine. I'm sure it comes up in VA but it's a footnote for announcers on gameday when we either a) play JMU or b) play an FCS team, but nothing more than that. So more like sports trivia than a punchline.
In your example though, I do think that it would be demoralizing to have OSU come back and take the win from us, but no I don't see it impacting our game with Furman or the rest of the season. Again, they are the defending NC, likely #1 ranked team in preseason and most every starter for VT played through last season which had serious ups and downs. I imagine they are somewhat familiar with things not going quite the way we hope.
How many of you guys remember Georgia southern beating Florida? You don't hear too much about it, unless you follow Ga. Southern or Florida and it happened 2 years ago
Wasn't that the one where the Florida linemen blocked each other?
well, that's happened a couple times, actually.
Once against S.Car.
and you're right, the other against Ga. Southern
As a Ga. Southern alumni watching that never gets old.
Also, Penn State did the same thing. Hilarious.
OSU Furman, because, JMU
my top 3 are...
1. Pitt NCState
2. NCState Miami
3. ECU Pitt
I think we'll be able to handle ECU this year pretty easily because of the loss of their QB (and reciever??). That guy was good. However in that came it was very uncharacteristic of us to spot them 21 points early. Even with that we still came back and had a chance to win it. With us being better this year I think we'll be able to handle them pretty easily but it is still ECU and we often play them close for some strange reason.
Pitt because its Pitt. I never think they should beat us and they shouldn't have last year. If Jarrett doesn't misjudge that first deep ball and either lays the reciever out or intercepts it I think we win that game hands down.
NCState as everyone says is on the up and up....I think they are dangerous but not a perennial contender. I could just as easy seeing us controlling the whole game.
Miami seems to have a good QB, will the departure of Duke Johnson seriously hurt them or will they be able to competently fill that void (although I doubt with someone of Johnson's talent). I do believe they lost another key player for them as well, but could be wrong.
Miami lost a decent chunk of their receiving corps too in Dorsett and Walford. But they'll recover that.
Miami lost virtually all of their key players outside of Kaaya. Dorsett, Duke, Walford, Flowers, Perryman, and Chickillo just to start. They are very unproven going into next year. ECU and UVA are in a similar position.
Nah... UVA is in THIS position:
Semifinal and NC
Dang it, that's what I was going to say. Guess I'll go with my sleeper pick: ACC Championship game and the first round of the playoffs.
Agreed, that Natty Game should be a piece of cake when we
rematchre-spank anOSU.err..drink!