Around the ACC:

The Miami vs Florida State rivalry carries some national relevance again.  Miami comes in ranked #13 and FSU at #23 in the AP Poll. It might be a rough night in Miami for Christian Ponder and Jacory Harris as both teams come into this seasons matchup playing ferocious defense.  Miami ranks No. 1 in the country in tackles for loss, No. 2 in sacks and No. 2 in pass efficiency defense. Florida State is No. 1 in the country in sacks, No. 2 in tackles for loss, and No. 4 in rushing defense. Both teams have veteran QB’s and the outcome could depend on which offensive line and QB handles the pressure more effectively.

The career ratio of touchdown passes to interceptions for NC State junior QB Russell Wilson is 3.88 to 1. It is the best in ACC history for a player with 40 or more career touchdown passes and it is the best among all current NCAA FBS quarterbacks with 40 or more career TD passes with the exception of Boise State’s Kellen Moore.

Clemson RB Andre Ellington leads the ACC in rushing yardage averaging 95 yards a game. More impressively, though, the Tiger sophomore is averaging 7.0 yards per carry on his 54 carries for 7 TDs.

Georgia Tech QB Joshua Nesbitt needs 259 yards to break the ACC career record of rushing yards by a quarterback. Nesbitt currently has 2,503 yards. The current record holder is former Clemson standout Woodrow Dantzler with 2,761 yards.

Clemson QB Kyle Parker threw 20 td passes in guiding the Tigers to a 9-5 season and the 2009 Music City Bowl, then in the spring he hit 20 home runs for the College World Series bound Clemson baseball team. He is the first Division I athlete to accomplish the 20/20 feat in the same academic year..

Rising Stock: Florida State – They’ll face their toughest test since Oklahoma this week vs Miami but the Seminole defense has been impressive during their three game winning streak.

Falling Stock: Clemson – No shame in losing to two ranked teams in Auburn and Miami but have only wins over North Texas and Presbyterian on their resume so far this season. The schedule over the next few weeks provides an opportunity to reverse the fall.

ACC Power Poll

1. 1. Miami
2. 2. Florida State
3. 3. Virginia Tech
4. 4. North Carolina State
5. 5. Clemson
6. 6. Maryland
7. 7. Georgia Tech
8. 8. North Carolina
9. 9. Wake Forest
10. 10. Boston College
11. 11. Virginia
12. 12. Duke     

 

Blind Squirrels weekly picks:

Boston College at NC State: Playing at home the Wolfpack should rebound from their first loss of the season. My pick: NC State 35  – Boston College 21

Central Michigan at Virginia Tech:  The Hokies should easily make it four in a row since opening the season with two straight losses. My pick: Virginia Tech 38 – CMU 14

Clemson at North Carolina:  Both teams still looking for their first win against a BCS team. UNC did have a nice win last week vs East Carolina…impressive considering all the turmoil around the program.                                   My pick:  North Carolina 24 – Clemson  21

Virginia at Georgia Tech:  Will the fact that former Cavalier head coach Al Groh is now the defensive coordinator at Tech play a role? Virginia gives up 4.1 yards per rush to opponents. Can they handle Josh Nesbitt and the Tech rushing attack? On the other side the Tech defense gives up 25 points per game. My pick: Georgia Tech 31 –  Virginia 28

Navy at Wake Forest: At 2-3 this is a must win game for the Deamon Deacsons bowl hopes. For the second straight week they’ll face an option offense after playing Georgia Tech last week. The Deacons are 93^rd in the nation against the run. Not a good matchup against the finely tuned Navy running game.    My pick: Navy 24 – Wake Forest 23

Florida State at Miami: This game will come down to which QB and offensive line can better handle the pass rush and avoid game changing mistakes.  Give Miami a slight edge from the start for playing at home. My pick: Miami 30 – Florida State 27

Written by John Huber.  Follow him on Twitter @Fort80.