Welcome back to Season 3 of Cal in the ACC. Let’s take a look at what our neighbors on the East Coast are doing.
Pitt at VTech (Pitt wins 35-33)
Christopher Helling - Full disclosure, I didn’t watch any of this week’s games yet because I was in Las Vegas. I caught the first half of this one before my flight (I’ll catch the second half right after I fill this out). Virginia Tech looked like the better team for most of the first half, but some self-inflicted wounds kept Pitt in the game. Losing QB Mason Heintschel is going to hurt for Pitt, and I think we might see freshman QB Corey Dailey at some point in the season. He saw a few snaps in the FCS game and I was impressed with his arm.
Rob Hwang - Every week we think we know who we’re playing the rest of the season and something changes. Heintschel going out changes our math the rest of the season, and VTech now comes to Berkeley pissed at the result.
3 Notre Dame at North Carolina (Notre Dame wins 37-26)
Christopher Helling - I don't think you can consider yourself a national title contender and play a close game with UNC. Miami blows them out in a few weeks.
4 Miami at Clemson (Miami wins 41-13)
Christopher Helling - I saw a few Clemson fans mistakenly think their season still had some hope left after the Cal game ("well at least we still have a defense!") but this should end that. Clemson is mediocre at best.
Rob Hwang - This genuinely might be the best Mario Cristobal team and thats a team that lost 2 NFL First Round picks this offseason.
Boston College at 21 SMU (SMU wins 25-16)
Christopher Helling - A win is a win I guess, and SMU apparently didn't commit a turnover in this one. I guess the weather played in BC's favor again this week, despite being in Texas this time. BC is probably down to play in a hurricane at this point.
Stanford at Wake Forest (Wake Forest wins 57-3)
Christopher Helling - Notre Dame is only 37.5-point favorites over Stanford next week, and I wish I saw the final result of this game before I placed my ACC parlay bet before leaving Vegas. A real national title contender beats Stanford by a lot more than 38 points.
Rob Hwang - The Wake Forest game in Berkeley got scarier.
Syracuse at UConn (Syracuse wins 42-41 in OT)
Christopher Helling - I'm not sure if QB Steve Angeli was injured or benched, but I had a high opinion of Amari Odom so I am not terribly surprised by this result. I am mad, however, that this game going to OT screwed up my CBS Sports Network stream of the Cal-UNLV game.
Rob Hwang - The Syracuse win seems less and less impressive.
Louisville at NC State (NC State wins 31-28)
Christopher Helling - If you're a fan of Wilcox football, I believe NC State is our spiritual successor. Lose to teams you shouldn't, beat teams you shouldn't, and sneak into a bowl game. Apparently, NC State fans are also tired of this.
Virginia at FSU (FSU wins 38-7)
Christopher Helling - This is the only game I did not at all see coming. I keep saying that Virginia's lines are going to take them far, but I am also not surprised to see that (or if, I don't know, haven't watched it yet) FSU's lines probably out-talented them. Virginia had no run game, while FSU QB Ashton Daniels ran for 136 yards (he only threw for 183 yards, 0 TD/1 INT), so it seems like FSU just ran the ball down Virginia's throat and they were powerless to stop it. I may need to re-evaluate how good I thought Virginia was.
Any other thoughts on the teams?
Rob Hwang - Football is Life.
Christopher Helling - Life is pain.