Ok Make your Statement

[Skeptic]

Unfortunately, I have been watching FB (especially GT FB) for so long that I have lost confidence in my ability to forecast these things. I feel I have a better chance at picking the winning PowerBall numbers. Fortunately, I still anticipate "toe meets leather" time and soon after spring turkey season and the good bass fishing slows down,I simply endure the summer days until this crazy addiction starts all over again. I feel really good about our prospects next year. And that worries me greatly. I also worry a lot when I don't feel too good about our prospect's next year.I think i am getting suspiciously close to the point where I realize that what I think either doesn't matter or has no correlation on what the team actually accomplishes.With all that being said, I am thinking undefeated and a natty this year.

On the other hand ...

 

[Skeptic]

Florida State, Clemson in the Atlantic, with Clemson surprising some people because they will have an outstanding defense with linebackers better than in the past and a good choice at QB while not Watson -- nobody is -- won't be sliced ham.

Miami, GT in Coastal. And I hope the order is reversed but Miami has this thing with us and we have to get past that.

And as a general observation, I think the ACC is going to be better and stronger in 2017 when all the "new" coaches now have their recruits on the field. It is no longer an outlier in NC competition.

 

[Eastman]

I fall into line with Boomer's perspective but would add to his comments that the experience at the skilled positions is a big factor in my optimism. I think experience is a huge factor on blocking at skilled positions (especially in the open field) and both a-backs and wr's now have plenty of experience to make better decisions. My concerns are depth at O tackle and the unknowns regarding LB play. Injuries and turnovers are always the biggest unknown factors. Based on what I believe now I think we have a year like 2014 but the unknowns will have their effect.

 

[Sideways]

Atlantic: Florida State, Louisville, Clemson
Coastal: Miami, then a crap storm of 4-4s/5-3s.

This is pretty similar to what I envisioned. If Miami can get a good quarterback they will be a near top 10 team. That is a big IF though.

 

[redmule]

The Coastal schedule is interesting.

Duke's toughest part is the middle of the schedule: UNC, Miami, UVA, FSU, Pitt, and VT all in a row with no open dates. They won't survive that. Then they will be whipped by Army the week before they face us.

Miami will have lost to FSU, but in all likelihood will be 4-1 with wins over 3 cupcakes when we come to town. Richt will have them pointing to our game, but the meat of their schedule is the last half. I don't think the Coastal will be decided by this game in mid October. The winner of this game will have many opportunities after that to stumble.

UNC plays us the week after they play Duke in late September. That one point loss to Duke last year must still sting, and they won't be looking past them to us. A loss to Duke and they are flat as a pancake coming into our game. I think Louisville against the UNC defense the second week of the season my demoralize them early. They have Duke, GT, ND, UVA, VT, and Miami in a six week period, but 4 of those are at home. Hope we catch them flat after Duke (win or lose) and start their death spiral.

Pitt has Penn State and Oklahoma State the two weeks before they come to Atlanta in late September for both teams first conference game. After us, the middle of the schedule looks soft. Closing out the season with UNC, VT, and Miami means they better have a solid lead in the Coastal by the first of November if they want to go to Charlotte.

UVA gets their open date out of the way in September and then closes out the season with 8 straight conference games (we are the fifth game). That streak means they will just be spoilers in the Coastal, but we might be the spoilee as we don't seem to play well up there, and it is the week after the Clemson game for us. Double secret nuclear powered trap game if we are coming off a win at Clemson.

We are near the end of the season for VT. West Virginia, East Carolina, and Clemson in the first half might end their season before VT gets to their first Coastal game on October 21st. I like they are at Miami the week before they come to Atlanta.

For Georgia Tech, we have a chance to build some momentum early if we beat UT. We can be 3-0 with Pitt and UNC then coming to Atlanta. Next is an open date and then Miami on a Thursday night. But that starts a 7 game stretch (6 ACC and uga) that I can't, even with my most gold tinted glasses, view sanguinely. The good news is that VT also plays Clemson, and Miami plays FSU. If it comes down to VT, Miami, and GT in the Coastal, at least our out of Division schedules are comparable.

In summation, I see the dynamics of the schedule eliminating UVA/Duke, and putting UNC/Pitt at a significant disadvantage. Pitt, Duke, and UNC each play nine games before their open date. Will they have the depth to handle that? Of GT/VT/Miami, VT might have the schedule advantage. They don't play a division game until week 8. All their rivals' tendencies and weaknesses will have been revealed by then. VT has a lot of slots to fill on offense and they have the entire first half of the season to work out the kinks. Even if they should lose to WV, ECU, and Clemson, they will most likely still be in control of their destiny on November 1st. Their toughest nut to crack will be Miami and GT back to back on the road in early November. We get a little luck by being the second of those games. And we beat a better turkey team on the road last year with essentially the same team we will use to beat them in Atlanta this year. Schedule favorability is something good, but it is not decisive.

So it's us or Miami. If Miami takes us, it will be hard to catch them with Clemson and VT still left on our schedule. But in our favor, we have Miami and Richt's history for choking late. Things sure have been quiet in Miami this off season. Has the Reverend turned them into choir boys? I think not. Summer's coming and you know they are just dying to party.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

The Coastal schedule is interesting.

Duke's toughest part is the middle of the schedule: UNC, Miami, UVA, FSU, Pitt, and VT all in a row with no open dates. They won't survive that. Then they will be whipped by Army the week before they face us.

Miami will have lost to FSU, but in all likelihood will be 4-1 with wins over 3 cupcakes when we come to town. Richt will have them pointing to our game, but the meat of their schedule is the last half. I don't think the Coastal will be decided by this game in mid October. The winner of this game will have many opportunities after that to stumble.

UNC plays us the week after they play Duke in late September. That one point loss to Duke last year must still sting, and they won't be looking past them to us. A loss to Duke and they are flat as a pancake coming into our game. I think Louisville against the UNC defense the second week of the season my demoralize them early. They have Duke, GT, ND, UVA, VT, and Miami in a six week period, but 4 of those are at home. Hope we catch them flat after Duke (win or lose) and start their death spiral.

Pitt has Penn State and Oklahoma State the two weeks before they come to Atlanta in late September for both teams first conference game. After us, the middle of the schedule looks soft. Closing out the season with UNC, VT, and Miami means they better have a solid lead in the Coastal by the first of November if they want to go to Charlotte.

UVA gets their open date out of the way in September and then closes out the season with 8 straight conference games (we are the fifth game). That streak means they will just be spoilers in the Coastal, but we might be the spoilee as we don't seem to play well up there, and it is the week after the Clemson game for us. Double secret nuclear powered trap game if we are coming off a win at Clemson.

We are near the end of the season for VT. West Virginia, East Carolina, and Clemson in the first half might end their season before VT gets to their first Coastal game on October 21st. I like they are at Miami the week before they come to Atlanta.

For Georgia Tech, we have a chance to build some momentum early if we beat UT. We can be 3-0 with Pitt and UNC then coming to Atlanta. Next is an open date and then Miami on a Thursday night. But that starts a 7 game stretch (6 ACC and uga) that I can't, even with my most gold tinted glasses, view sanguinely. The good news is that VT also plays Clemson, and Miami plays FSU. If it comes down to VT, Miami, and GT in the Coastal, at least our out of Division schedules are comparable.

In summation, I see the dynamics of the schedule eliminating UVA/Duke, and putting UNC/Pitt at a significant disadvantage. Pitt, Duke, and UNC each play nine games before their open date. Will they have the depth to handle that? Of GT/VT/Miami, VT might have the schedule advantage. They don't play a division game until week 8. All their rivals' tendencies and weaknesses will have been revealed by then. VT has a lot of slots to fill on offense and they have the entire first half of the season to work out the kinks. Even if they should lose to WV, ECU, and Clemson, they will most likely still be in control of their destiny on November 1st. Their toughest nut to crack will be Miami and GT back to back on the road in early November. We get a little luck by being the second of those games. And we beat a better turkey team on the road last year with essentially the same team we will use to beat them in Atlanta this year. Schedule favorability is something good, but it is not decisive.

So it's us or Miami. If Miami takes us, it will be hard to catch them with Clemson and VT still left on our schedule. But in our favor, we have Miami and Richt's history for choking late. Things sure have been quiet in Miami this off season. Has the Reverend turned them into choir boys? I think not. Summer's coming and you know they are just dying to party.

I know CPJ says of all the positions he's worried about, QB isn't one of them. I'll take him at his word. With everybody else losing their QB and in some cases like UNC losing tons of players, now is the year to run the table. And Clemson even lost a lot. If JT5 were coming back, I'd be a total homer and say 10 wins and we are either odds on favorite or tied with Miami to go to Charlotte. But in our offense, so much goes through the QB - reads, timing, balls security. Tennessee game will probably tell us if we're going to be good or if we need to try a different QB. If we change the QB then it won't matter with regards to getting to Charlotte. We won't really know that until we get into ACC play.

But if we ever had stretch goals to make it to Charlotte and beyond, this would be the year. All the big games like Tennessee, Clemson, georgia, etc. probably won't have as many question marks as they do this year for a long time.

Also, just want to also point out that 3 of our ACC opponents don't play anybody the week before they play us. Yes I'm bitter. Again.

 

[GTonTop88]

Clemson
FSU is very good - in my opinion they have the best coach in college football for passing offense and a good QB. However, Clemson is almost, if not as talented as Bama. The Clemson defensive line whipped Tech's offensive line last year like I don't think anyone else has before. Yes, ND did some good things against Tech offense at ND but it wasn't just a total whipping upfront. I'll go based on talent.

GT and will enjoy the ride but not confident
The Coastal is a toss up. Miami starts a new QB and not enough talent to win game after game. VT should be down. Lost a ton of players - QB, FB WR's. I think they have some struggles. UNC will be good but new QB and some other skill position losses - talent at those spots is how they win. Duke will be dangerous but not great. Pitt lost their best skill players -QB, RB. UVA - not much of a factor. So I will go with GT but the defense has to be better and yet have questions on dline and holes at LB. The offense though would appear to have the best players it has had in awhile. Oline and A&B Backs are all good. Playing Clemson in a cross-division game hurts. I expect the Coastal winner will finish 6-2 and possibly 5-3.

Biggest difference in ND stopping us and Clemson stopping us was, ND stopped a team who ended up going 3-9. Clemson dominated a really good 9-4 team. They also beat possibly the best Alabama team of Sabans tenure.

 

[TromboneJacket]

I think Louisville wins the Atlantic. With Lamar Jackson at the helm with another year of experience, they'll be hard to stop, and their defense, while not at the level of Clemson or maybe even FSU, is no joke.

For the Coastal, I honestly think Georgia Tech will win it. We have talent and some experience at QB, even if none of them have been long-term starters, and assuming the O-line stays healthy (knock on wood), our offense will be deep and deadly. Our defense will be interesting. I don't think we've had a true nose tackle since TJ Barnes, and with our secondary depth and LB experience, we have the potential to be a really dangerous team. Of course our defense also has the potential to let us down. If we don't win the Coastal, I suspect it will be Miami or UNC. Miami is quite talented, and UNC seems better the past couple years than they were before.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Expect VT to be in the mix for the coastal.

 

[Sideways]

The Coastal schedule is interesting.

Duke's toughest part is the middle of the schedule: UNC, Miami, UVA, FSU, Pitt, and VT all in a row with no open dates. They won't survive that. Then they will be whipped by Army the week before they face us.

Miami will have lost to FSU, but in all likelihood will be 4-1 with wins over 3 cupcakes when we come to town. Richt will have them pointing to our game, but the meat of their schedule is the last half. I don't think the Coastal will be decided by this game in mid October. The winner of this game will have many opportunities after that to stumble.

UNC plays us the week after they play Duke in late September. That one point loss to Duke last year must still sting, and they won't be looking past them to us. A loss to Duke and they are flat as a pancake coming into our game. I think Louisville against the UNC defense the second week of the season my demoralize them early. They have Duke, GT, ND, UVA, VT, and Miami in a six week period, but 4 of those are at home. Hope we catch them flat after Duke (win or lose) and start their death spiral.

Pitt has Penn State and Oklahoma State the two weeks before they come to Atlanta in late September for both teams first conference game. After us, the middle of the schedule looks soft. Closing out the season with UNC, VT, and Miami means they better have a solid lead in the Coastal by the first of November if they want to go to Charlotte.

UVA gets their open date out of the way in September and then closes out the season with 8 straight conference games (we are the fifth game). That streak means they will just be spoilers in the Coastal, but we might be the spoilee as we don't seem to play well up there, and it is the week after the Clemson game for us. Double secret nuclear powered trap game if we are coming off a win at Clemson.

We are near the end of the season for VT. West Virginia, East Carolina, and Clemson in the first half might end their season before VT gets to their first Coastal game on October 21st. I like they are at Miami the week before they come to Atlanta.

For Georgia Tech, we have a chance to build some momentum early if we beat UT. We can be 3-0 with Pitt and UNC then coming to Atlanta. Next is an open date and then Miami on a Thursday night. But that starts a 7 game stretch (6 ACC and uga) that I can't, even with my most gold tinted glasses, view sanguinely. The good news is that VT also plays Clemson, and Miami plays FSU. If it comes down to VT, Miami, and GT in the Coastal, at least our out of Division schedules are comparable.

In summation, I see the dynamics of the schedule eliminating UVA/Duke, and putting UNC/Pitt at a significant disadvantage. Pitt, Duke, and UNC each play nine games before their open date. Will they have the depth to handle that? Of GT/VT/Miami, VT might have the schedule advantage. They don't play a division game until week 8. All their rivals' tendencies and weaknesses will have been revealed by then. VT has a lot of slots to fill on offense and they have the entire first half of the season to work out the kinks. Even if they should lose to WV, ECU, and Clemson, they will most likely still be in control of their destiny on November 1st. Their toughest nut to crack will be Miami and GT back to back on the road in early November. We get a little luck by being the second of those games. And we beat a better turkey team on the road last year with essentially the same team we will use to beat them in Atlanta this year. Schedule favorability is something good, but it is not decisive.

So it's us or Miami. If Miami takes us, it will be hard to catch them with Clemson and VT still left on our schedule. But in our favor, we have Miami and Richt's history for choking late. Things sure have been quiet in Miami this off season. Has the Reverend turned them into choir boys? I think not. Summer's coming and you know they are just dying to party.

An excellent analysis of schedules. And here I thought we were the only ones with the hard schedule. As it always seems, the road to Charlotte goes through Miami (or Blacksburg take your pick) . We have to play better and be mentally tough. Those guys have been in our grill for years. Payback time.

 

[Sideways]

Expect VT to be in the mix for the coastal.

Any team with a Bud Foster defense is ALWAYS in the coastal mix.

 

[Sideways]

This is pretty similar to what I envisioned. If Miami can get a good quarterback they will be a near top 10 team. That is a big IF though.

Edit: Miami had 9 players drafted. More than Clemson, (which had 6), more than Tennessee (which had 6) more than FSU (which had 4) I did not realize they had that level of attrition. This may, or may not, bode well for us. Miami has talent, always has had talent, but is not the machine it once was and has nowhere near the depth it used to have. Florida, FSU, and Auburn (among others) have been poaching the once exclusive Gold Coast recruiting paradise that used to be exclusively a Hurricane preserve.

 

[A Love Supreme]

If we get a top 25 defense, we win the ACC

 

[Skeptic]

I think Louisville wins the Atlantic. With Lamar Jackson at the helm with another year of experience, they'll be hard to stop, and their defense, while not at the level of Clemson or maybe even FSU, is no joke.

For the Coastal, I honestly think Georgia Tech will win it. We have talent and some experience at QB, even if none of them have been long-term starters, and assuming the O-line stays healthy (knock on wood), our offense will be deep and deadly. Our defense will be interesting. I don't think we've had a true nose tackle since TJ Barnes, and with our secondary depth and LB experience, we have the potential to be a really dangerous team. Of course our defense also has the potential to let us down. If we don't win the Coastal, I suspect it will be Miami or UNC. Miami is quite talented, and UNC seems better the past couple years than they were before.

I agree that VT will be in the mix; they almost always are. And I feel about UNC;s football team the way most on here feel about Georgia, except more. It historically is a team of no accomplishment, as the movie line went, living on its reputation. Of no accomplishment. So if not us, then anybody but UNC.

 

[Dustman]

Historically the road goes through Blacksburg (six appearances). Miami gets way too much love for a team that's never made it to the ACCCG, although to be fair they chose not to represent in 2012. Miami is the ugag of the Coastal. Perennial preseason favorites.

 

[GTpdm]

Miami gets way too much love for a team that's never made it to the ACCCG, although to be fair they chose not to represent in 2012 pretended that sitting out one post-season would make up for years of systematic NCAA infractions.

FTFY.

 

[ilovetheoption]

Any team with a Bud Foster defense is ALWAYS in the coastal mix.

Sadly, fact. He's so damn good.

 

[bravejason]

If the offense is exceptional, then it'll be an 11 win season. If the offense is above average, then it'll be an 8 to 11 win season, depending on how good the defense is. If the offense is merely average, then it'll be a 6 to 8 win season. If the offense is below average, well, that's why they make whiskey.

 

[Dustman]

FTFY.

I forgot the Heels won the tiebreaker in 2012. So again I say way too much love for a team (Miami) that has never won the Coastal.

 

[redmule]

Just throwing this out. Anyone think that our improving fortunes against uga the last 4 years (all the games coming down to the 4th qtr and we split with them) is a result of a tougher Coastal? By the time we get to uga, we've played against several teams just as athletic so we are not being intimidated. We've also gained on them depth wise I think.