ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com’s Heather Dinich

Last week will probably be my best week for predictions. In fact, I'm willing to predict I don't get 9 out of 10 right again. I got every one right but the Duke game (sorry, Blue Devils). That raises my season total to 76 percent (16 of 21 games correct). It’s still early, though. Let’s see what kind of damage I can do this week:

Miami 24, Georgia Tech 21: Miami will score on impact plays, and Georgia Tech will control the clock, so it should be another Thursday night thriller for the ACC, but the Canes will redeem themselves defensively from last year’s performance. Plus, Miami is 13-2 on Thursday nights.

North Carolina 17, East Carolina 14: The Pirates will have trouble moving the ball against the Tar Heels’ defense, especially without leading rusher Dominique Lindsay. UNC opponents have converted just 4 of 29 (13.8 percent) attempts on third down, which ranks fourth in the country.

Clemson 21, BC 17: Clemson has better athletes, more team speed and a better overall skill level, but don’t underestimate Frank Spaziani’s defense. It should be a better game than some might think, but the Tigers have home-field advantage, have found consistency at quarterback and found many positives in their loss to Georgia Tech.

BYU 28, Florida State 10: Max Hall will pick apart the Noles’ secondary. He threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns in a 54-3 win over Tulane last week. The Cougars are a more mature team with home-field advantage and have already proven themselves in a 14-13 upset over then-No. 3 Oklahoma.

Maryland 17, Middle Tennessee 14: Brace yourself for another near upset. The Terps just lost their best corner, Nolan Carroll, and will be facing dual-threat quarterback Dwight Dasher, who leads the Sun Belt Conference and ranks 20th nationally in total offense with 292.5 yards per game. He has accounted for 80 percent of the team’s total yards during that span (585 of 735 yards).

NC State 38, Gardner-Webb 10: Tom O’Brien has been talking GW up all week like they’re the FCS champs, but there’s no excuse for the Pack not to earn a convincing win. Gardner-Webb is a better team than Murray State, but there shouldn’t be any upset watch here.

Wake Forest 24, Elon 17: This game will probably be a little too close for comfort until the second half, but if the Deacs are lucky, they won’t have to receive the wrath of Jim Grobe this weekend at halftime. The Phoenix will try to win with its passing game and disrupt a young secondary still coming together.

Kansas 34, Duke 21: The Blue Devils just aren’t ready to upset a Top 25 team yet, but the coaching is good enough and there are enough veteran players on the roster that Duke can keep this game interesting and respectable.

Southern Miss 31, Virginia 10: The Rock will be a tough place for the Cavaliers to play their first road game, but more importantly, it doesn’t seem like the players have bought into the spread offense or what the staff is trying to do on special teams.

Virginia Tech 31, Nebraska 24: Ryan Williams will have another strong running performance, as long as the offensive line can handle itself. Nebraska will play them tough, but the Hokies’ running game, the crowd at Lane Stadium, and special teams will win out.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Heather Dinich

Here are a few things worth keeping an eye on in the ACC this week (by the way, these are never ranked in order of interest, just generally 10 things to watch):

1. Clemson running back C.J. Spiller. He’s on the verge of becoming the first player in ACC history with 2,500 rushing yards, 1,000 receiving yards and 1,500 kickoff return yards. And, he just might accomplish all three on Saturday against Boston College. Spiller enters the game with 2,434 rushing yards, 986 receiving yards and 1,471 kickoff return yards. Last year, he gained a career high 242 all-purpose running yards in Clemson’s 27-21 win over BC.

2. BC’s quarterback surprise. Boston College coach Frank Spaziani has been quiet about which quarterback he’s leaning toward for Saturday’s game against Clemson, as both Justin Tuggle and Dave Shinskie have had success against lesser opponents. It’s go-time now, though, and one will have to emerge against better competition.

3. Duke’s non-quarterback controversy. So Thaddeus Lewis is the starter, coach David Cutcliffe has made that clear. But Sean Renfree has also proven he’s worth talking about, and can come off the bench to direct a come-from-behind win. Definitely worth watching.

4. Miami’s run defense against Georgia Tech’s spread-option offense. It’s the key to this game, and it was the cause of the Canes’ demise last year. If Clemson could figure out a way to limit Jonathan Dwyer to 66 yards and seven three-and-outs, then Miami should figure out a way to slow it down, too, especially considering it had a bye week to prepare for it. This will be an interesting test for first-year coordinator John Lovett.

5. The trenches in Blacksburg. Virginia Tech’s offensive line will face a talented defensive front in Nebraska, and how it blocks will determine whether Ryan Williams and David Wilson can continue the fancy footwork they had against Marshall last week.

6. Florida State’s improvement level. It’s not just the secondary that will be tested by BYU quarterback Max Hall. The Cougars will challenge the Noles in every phase of the game, and they’ll have to get better blocking from their offensive line, get the running game going, tackle better and make fewer mistakes. Bottom line: They can’t play like they did last Saturday and win.

7. North Carolina’s replacements. The Tar Heels have to hold it together after losing starting center Lowell Dyer and tight end Zack Pianalto for the next three to four weeks. Ed Barham or Christian Wilson will take over for Pianalto and Cam Holland will fill in again for Dyer. The Tar Heels will need to pave the way for Shaun Draughn and Ryan Houston, and give T.J. Yates some time to play like he did in the fourth quarter against Connecticut.

8. Upset watch in College Park -- again. James Madison almost did it last week before losing in overtime. Middle Tennessee did it last year. The Terps’ defense has struggled mightily in its first two games, and now will be without its top cornerback, Nolan Carroll, for the rest of the season. Can Maryland avoid an embarrassing home loss?

9. NC State cornerback Rashard Smith. He’s a true freshman who earned the starting job against Murray State and is slated to start again against Gardner-Webb. He is the first true freshman to start for NC State in the secondary since 2001, when Marcus Hudson (now with the San Francisco 49ers) started four games. Smith played just 24 snaps last week, but made three tackles and a tackle for loss. He now has two tackles for loss this season.

10. Number of sacks Virginia allows. The Cavaliers returned four starters to their offensive line, and it was supposed to be the one dependable aspect of the offense early in the season. Last week against TCU, though, Virginia allowed eight sacks, the most since giving up nine to Florida State in 1997. Virginia allowed just 16 sacks all of last year. Southern Miss has five so far this season. The Golden Eagles are in the midst of a seven-game winning streak and have not allowed more than 100 yards rushing during that span.