ACC Football Pick’em – Week Five

Posted by Brandon Rink on September 29, 2011 under ACC Football | 2 Comments to Read

ACCBlogger.com picks week five in the ACC…

Last week (Overall)

Brandon Rink – 6-3 (31-8)

Griffin Wong – 6-3 (29-10)

J.J. Greenstein – 4-5 (28-11)

• 10/01/11  Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-1, 1-0 ACC) @ Boston College Eagles (1-3, 0-1 ACC) / ACC Network / 12:30 p.m. ET

The Lead: Wake Forest, coming a bye, hits Chestnut Hill against a BC team coming off their first win, over Massachusetts 45-17, last week.

Watch 4: BC to grind out yards, contain Deacs just enough

Wake Forest is favored here and the stats sway in their favor, but this a show-me game to see if they can pull off a road win.

The Picks: Brandon Rink – BC 21-20; Griffin Wong – BC 17-13; J.J. Greenstein – BC 24-10

• Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (3-1) @ Miami Hurricanes (1-2, 0-1 ACC) / ESPNU / 3:30 p.m. ET

The Lead: Miami tries to get back on track hosting Bethune-Cookman.

Watch 4: Miami to pound the ball, punish the Wildcats

Bethune-Cookman is giving up 157 rushing yards per game, while Lamar Miller isn’t quite 100 percent – somebody should be breakthrough here.

The Picks: Brandon Rink – Miami 48-17; Griffin Wong – Miami 31-10; J.J. Greenstein – Miami 38-10

• Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (4-0, 1-0 ACC) @ NC State Wolfpack (2-2, 0-1 ACC) / ABC-ESPN / 3:30 p.m. ET

The Lead: Georgia Tech’s No. 1 scoring (53.25 points per game) and total offense (630.50 yards per game) takes its show on the road to Raliegh for a 2-0 ACC start.

Watch 4: The Jackets to just keep coming, NC State not to keep up

Without injuries across the board, it would’ve been tough for the Wolfpack to stop Georgia Tech, and even more now. Besides no Russell Wilson, what’s different in 2011 from NC State’s 45-28 win in Atlanta last year is a more balanced Jackets’ attack (5-18 for 116 passing yards last season).

The Picks: Brandon Rink – Georgia Tech 35-21; Griffin Wong – Georgia Tech 38-14; J.J. Greenstein – Georgia Tech 35-21

• Towson Tigers (3-0) @ Maryland Terrapins (1-2, 1-0 ACC) / RSN / 3:30 p.m. ET

The Lead: Before diving back into ACC play, Maryland hosts Towson – trying to shake the memory of Bernard Pierce and the Temple Owls.

Watch 4: A more focused Terps team to cruise

Towson is outscoring opponents 38.3 to 10 through games with Morgan State, Villanova and Colgate, so again, if Maryland takes them lightly – they will struggle, but if they can’t come out focused after last week’s beating, they should just pack it up the rest of the season.

The Picks: Brandon Rink – Maryland 38-17; Griffin Wong – Maryland 28-17; J.J. Greenstein – Maryland 31-10

• Idaho Vandals (1-3) @ Virginia Cavaliers (2-2, 0-1 ACC) / ESPN3 / 3:30 p.m. ET

The Lead: Virginia concludes their out-of-conference slate with the Idaho Vandals, in their first matchup against an ACC opponent.

Watch 4: Virginia injuries to keep this from blowout it should be

With Michael Rocco in question for starting QB and leading rusher Kevin Parks slowed by an ankle injury, the Cavaliers win comfortably, but not by as much as it should be.

The Picks: Brandon Rink – Virginia 31-17; Griffin Wong – Virginia 27-10; J.J. Greenstein – Virginia 35-10

• Clemson Tigers (4-0, 1-0 ACC) @ Virginia Tech Hokies (4-0) / ESPN2 / 6:00 p.m. ET

The Lead: Unbeaten top-15 ranked teams square-off in a night game in Blacksburg with the surging Tigers and home Hokies – check us out at @accblogger on Twitter as I’ll be updating live from Lane Stadium this weekend.

Watch 4: Mistakes to catch-up with young Tigers on road, Hokies to edge them out

This is another show-me game – I need to see Clemson actually pull one of these off (they’ve come close in a raucous environment – see 2010 Auburn loss). Clemson made a number of mistakes to let FSU back in the game and continue to run with them last week – facing an environment like they haven’t seen before, the Tigers’ offense won’t get that extra play to pull off the big road win.

The Picks: Brandon Rink – Virginia Tech 24-17; Griffin Wong – Clemson 24-20; J.J. Greenstein – Virginia Tech 24-21

• Duke Blue Devils (2-2) @ FIU Golden Panthers (3-1) / ESPNU / 7:00 p.m. ET

The Lead: Duke hits South Florida and a matchup with an improved FIU squad coming off a 36-31 home loss to LA-Lafayette.

Watch 4: A Duke passing game in gear to pick apart FIU’s secondary

I’ve gone back-and-forth on this game – and FIU is favored, but Blue Devils QB Sean Renfree is 71-for-83 with 646 passing yards and three touchdowns over his last two games – I’d say he’s in the zone right now, and against an 88th-ranked pass defense, he should feast.

The Picks: Brandon Rink – Duke 35-31; Griffin Wong – Duke 20-10; J.J. Greenstein – FIU 28-25

• North Carolina Tar Heels (3-1) @ East Carolina Pirates (1-2) / CBS Sports Network / 8:00 p.m. ET

The Lead: Hosting Virginia Tech in week two, East Carolina made the Hokies work in a 17-10 loss – they go for a better outcome this week with UNC hitting Greenville, NC.

Watch 4: Revamped Heels running game to lead the way

NC State lost here last year – UNC did so in their last trip in 2007, ECU is used to downing ACC opponents at home. Pirates QB Dominique Davis had his best game yet last week in a 28-23 win over UAB with 361 passing yards, three TDs and three INTs. It’s a situation where if UNC lets down – they’ll drop this one, but their ability to run with RB Gio Bernard will help them pull away.

The Picks: Brandon Rink – UNC 31-21; Griffin Wong – UNC 24-9; J.J. Greenstein – UNC 21-17

ATS Section

Last week (Overall): 2-6 (12-15)

Last week was really bad…

• BC +2.5 vs. Wake Forest

Take to Bank %: 15%

Don’t trust Wake Forest on the road just yet – maybe BC will get Montel Harris going to a big day.

• Idaho +16.5 at Virginia

Take to Bank %: 5%

Probably an overreaction to last week, but Idaho sneaks it under the number.

• Clemson +7 at Virginia Tech

Take to Bank %: 20%

It’s a risky pick, knowing what happened the last time a highly-ranked Tigers team went into Lane (lost 24-7 in 2006), but I like what I’ve seen from Clemson so far.

• UNC –8 at ECU

Take to Bank %: 25%

ECU has been a house of horrors for ACC teams, but I’ll trust UNC to recover well from the loss at Georgia Tech by at least winning by 10.

• Duke +3.5 at Duke

Take to Bank %: 30%

Like I said above, love the Blue Devil passing game picking FIU’s secondary apart.