CFB Week 10: It’s all the marbles week

The Hokies have a must win game tonight against Miami–win and they still have a chance to make it to the ACC Championship Game. Meanwhile, the Hoos look to stop a six-game losing streak.

November 1, 2012; 6:40 AM • by Ross Catrow

If you want to drop a barf, check out this horrific injury to South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore:

Ah, the ol’ leg bending in definitely the wrong direction. This is Lattimore’s second season-ending knee injury, but, amazingly, it looks like he’ll play again.

Here’s a couple notables from this past weekend that you may have missed:

What’s the worst thing a Texas coach can do? Never beat Oklahoma (the Longhorns haven’t won the Red River Shootout since 2009). What’s the second worse thing? Lose to Kansas. The Jayhawks had a three-point lead with three minutes remaining this past weekend. I wonder what the offseason holds for Mack Brown.

Oregon scored 56 points in the first quarter against Colorado (1.93 points-per-minute!?).

Here is something shocking: #10 Georgia over #2 Florida, 17-9. But guess what Gators, you can’t turn the ball over six times and expect to win. Things at the top of the BCS poll are really starting to get interesting!

Guys, what’s going on in the Pac 12? Arizona handed USC their second conference loss, opening up the Southern Division to pretty much anyone but Colorado. It’s hard enough trying to follow what’s up with Oregon and USC, and now you’re telling me I might need to pay attention to UCLA? Unacceptable West Coast, unacceptable.

Don’t look now, but Kent State is 7-1 and just beat #15 Rutgers. Don’t look now, but Rutgers was ranked #15.

Notre Dame beat Oklahoma, 30-13. So, fine, I give up: Notre Dame to the national championship.¹

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Virginia Tech vs. Miami

Thursday, 8:00 PM; ESPN

OK, here it is, this one’s for all the marbles! Somehow, due to the miraculous weakness of the ACC’s Coastal division and UNC’s ineligibility, Virginia Tech is still in the driver’s seat when it comes to making the ACC Championship Game.² Beat Miami this week and even with an assumed loss to FSU we can still head down to Charlotte that first week of December. It’s not pretty, but it’s the ACC (trademark on that slogan is pending, don’t get any ideas).

Sure VT is looking pretty sucky sitting at 4-4, but as a Hokie fan, you’ve got to feel some hope with how the defense is playing. Since the first quarter in the Duke game, the Hokie defense has given up 493 yards–that’s good for 70 yards-per-quarter or 7th in the nation. After the pisspoor defensive outing at UNC, Bud Foster adjusted the scheme of the Hokie defensive line,³ and finally got the performance out of the front four that we’ve been waiting for all season.

This Miami game is winnable: the Canes are not a good football team. Tech can win this one playing tough defense and not screwing the pooch on offense. WHICH, SURE, IS PROBABLY UNLIKELY. Come on Hokies, let’s do this!

Virginia vs. NC State

Saturday, 12:30 PM; FOX

The Wahoos are in the middle of a six-game losing streak and have to travel down to Raleigh to face NC State where they should extend the streak to seven. But this just feels like one of those games UVA wins even though they have no business doing so.

QB Phillip Simms has exactly 1000 passing yards on the season, and the Wolfpack has a pretty terrible pass defense. So maybe that’s something! Wait, here’s what would really be something: if the Wahoos stopped turning the ball over. Virginia ranks dead last in turnover margin. Hey, but look at it this way, UVA turns the ball over better than anyone else in the entire country! Go Hoos?

Games worth watching

Thursday, 8:00 PM; ESPN — Virginia Tech at Miami — Go Hokies!

12:00 PM; ESPN; — #16 Texas A&M at #15 Mississippi State — Mississippi State tried to Believe last week against Alabama, but things didn’t work out so well. This week’s probably not going to work out so well for the Bulldogs either. Johnny Football’s⁴ stats are absolutely ridiculous and even though they haven’t played the greatest competition, the Aggies should roll. They’re favored by a touchdown.

12:30 PM; FOX; Virginia at NC State — Go Hoos!

3:00 PM; FOX; TCU at #21 West Virginia — Mostly, I want to watch this game to witness WVU slide further and further out of the national picture.

7:00 PM; FOX; #4 Oregon at #17 USC — Oregon’s average margin of victory is 34! They score so fast and so much that they don’t even really need to try in the second half. Sure lots of teams dial things back in the fourth quarter, but for the whole second half? Every week? This team is crazy, and it will be a durn shame if LSU jumps them in the polls should the Tigers beat Alabama…

8:00 PM; CBS; #1 Alabama at #5 LSU — …and will the Tigers beat Alabama? No, no they won’t. But man, what bedlam will break loose if they do! There’s still a ton of football left to be played, but we’re on the brink of a non-SEC championship game–something that hasn’t happened since 2005. This matchup features the nation’s #1 vs. the #3 defense, so defense lovers rejoice! Defense haters, well, you can go suck an egg.

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Etc.

• Game of the Week — Alabama at LSU! Defense! Geaux Tiger!
• Gus Johnson Watch — Oregon at USC.
• Stupid Predictions From the Heart — From here on out it’s whomever is playing Notre Dame. So go Pittsburgh? I guess? And, because I’m feeling wiiiiild, let’s see the Blue Devils steal one at home against Clemson!

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November 1, 2012 6:40 AM 1