Al DeMarco
Saturday's Pick
15 Dime - Nebraska
Virginia Tech is coming off a 20-17 victory at North Carolina. On paper, that's impressive when you consider how the Tar Heels dismantled Rutgers on the road on national TV the previous week. But as I often say, you must dig deeper into the boxscore to find the true essence of a game.
Last Saturday in Chapel Hill, the Hokies were being dominated on the field and found themselves trailing 17-3 in the third quarter. But, the game changed once the Tar Heels lost their starting quarterback to an injury. A redshirt freshman brought in by UNC was a disaster and V-Tech rallied for the win in a game it managed only 268 total yards and converted just 3-of-16 third-down conversions. Clearly, the loss of North Carolina's starting QB and the fact the Tar Heels were penalized 14 times for 121 yards in addition to committing four turnovers propelled the Hokies to the rally for the upset win.
Virginia Tech turned to Tyrod Taylor at quarterback after getting upset in its opener by East Carolina. And although Taylor has guided the team to two big ACC wins (G-Tech was the other), he's not much of a passer and was intercepted twice by the Tar Heels in a game in which he also sprained an ankle. Taylor will play today but you've got to wonder how the ankle will affect him, especially since mobility is such a large part of his game.
The Virginia Tech offense is not foreign to Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini, who served as LSU's defensive coordinator when the Tigers beat the Hokies last season 48-7. This is Pelini's first big game at the Husker helm after starting the season 3-0 with home routs of Western Michigan (47-24), San Jose State (35-12) and New Mexico State (38-7).
Pelini was lured back to Lincoln to rebuild this once-proud program and tonight is a game in which his team must simply deliver a solid, convincing victory before kicking off conference play next weekend with a visit from Missouri. With the benefit of an extra week of prep time - a situation in which Nebraska has won eight in a row (5-1 ATS) when hosting a non-Big 12 vistor - the Husker faithful are rewareded with a double-digit win.
Saturday's Pick
15 Dime - Nebraska
Virginia Tech is coming off a 20-17 victory at North Carolina. On paper, that's impressive when you consider how the Tar Heels dismantled Rutgers on the road on national TV the previous week. But as I often say, you must dig deeper into the boxscore to find the true essence of a game.
Last Saturday in Chapel Hill, the Hokies were being dominated on the field and found themselves trailing 17-3 in the third quarter. But, the game changed once the Tar Heels lost their starting quarterback to an injury. A redshirt freshman brought in by UNC was a disaster and V-Tech rallied for the win in a game it managed only 268 total yards and converted just 3-of-16 third-down conversions. Clearly, the loss of North Carolina's starting QB and the fact the Tar Heels were penalized 14 times for 121 yards in addition to committing four turnovers propelled the Hokies to the rally for the upset win.
Virginia Tech turned to Tyrod Taylor at quarterback after getting upset in its opener by East Carolina. And although Taylor has guided the team to two big ACC wins (G-Tech was the other), he's not much of a passer and was intercepted twice by the Tar Heels in a game in which he also sprained an ankle. Taylor will play today but you've got to wonder how the ankle will affect him, especially since mobility is such a large part of his game.
The Virginia Tech offense is not foreign to Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini, who served as LSU's defensive coordinator when the Tigers beat the Hokies last season 48-7. This is Pelini's first big game at the Husker helm after starting the season 3-0 with home routs of Western Michigan (47-24), San Jose State (35-12) and New Mexico State (38-7).
Pelini was lured back to Lincoln to rebuild this once-proud program and tonight is a game in which his team must simply deliver a solid, convincing victory before kicking off conference play next weekend with a visit from Missouri. With the benefit of an extra week of prep time - a situation in which Nebraska has won eight in a row (5-1 ATS) when hosting a non-Big 12 vistor - the Husker faithful are rewareded with a double-digit win.
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