ACC Football: Week Five Staff Picks

After a somewhat rough week picks wise last time out, Justin Cates, Jeff Greenberg, and Mike McDaniel are back to provide their hopefully improved picks for all the Week five ACC games.
 

Notre Dame (1-3) Vs. Georgia Tech (3-0, 0-1 ACC), 12 PM ET Saturday, ESPN

Line: Notre Dame -10.5

Cates: Notre Dame I guess? They clearly have more talent but the Irish aren’t firing on many cylinders right now and won’t cover.

Greenberg: This is a tough call. My gut says The Irish will win but I can’t see them covering that spread.

McDaniel: ND covers, but it could be a shootout.
 

No. 14 Miami (3-0) @ Georgia Tech (3-1, 1-1 ACC), 12 PM ET Saturday, ESPN2

Line: Miami -7.5

Cates: Miami should win and cover. I think Georgia Tech is coming back down to Earth hard after the 3-0 start.

Greenberg:  First test for Miami. I think The Yellow Jackets snap out of their funk on offense and pull off the upset at home.

McDaniel:  Miami wins, GT covers. This should be very competitive if the Jackets play defense like they did against Clemson for a majority of the game.
 

Virginia (1-3) @ Duke (2-2, 0-1 ACC), 12:30 PM ET Saturday, ACC Network

Line: Duke -3.5

Cates: Duke should win and cover but not by much. The residual energy from the Notre Dame upset should carry the Blue Devils.

Greenberg:  Duke will win this and cover. UVA push them early but the Blue Devils will take over by halftime.

McDaniel:  Duke wins and covers, but this is essentially a pick ’em. Virginia needs this badly so I could see this going either way.
 

Buffalo (1-2) @ Boston College (2-2, 0-2 ACC), 1 PM ET Saturday, ACC Network

Line: Boston College -18.5

Cates: BC will win but UB covers. I’m not basing that on much. These aren’t good teams.

Greenberg:  BC in a snoozer.

McDaniel:  BC wins but I love Buffalo to cover. Neither offense is anything to write home about.
 

North Carolina (3-1, 1-0) @ No. 12 Florida State (3-1, 0-1 ACC), 3:30 PM ET Saturday, ESPN

Line: Florida State -10.5

Cates: FSU to win and Carolina to cover. I’m tempted to pick a UNC upset, but I don’t trust them just yet. The ‘Noles appear to have stabilized.

Greenberg:  This game could be a shootout. The team that wins the turnover battle will win the game. I think UNC covers in a close loss.

McDaniel:  FSU wins but the Tar Heels will cover. Both teams are heading in the right direction but the ‘Noles defensive talent will shine through in this one…finally.
 

Wake Forest (4-0, 1-0) @ N.C. State (2-1), 3:30 PM ET Saturday, ACC Network

Line: N.C. State -12

Cates: Wake has found a running game and I like them to pull an upset here.

Greenberg:  NC State needs to be error free on offense. Could be rusty out of the bye week so I don’t think they cover, but the pull out the home win vs Wake Forest.

McDaniel:  Wake in the upset. I love the ‘Deacs and their defense to get to 5-0.
 

Marshall (1-2) @ Pittsburgh (2-2), 7:30 PM ET Saturday, ACC Network

Line: Pittsburgh -15.5

Cates: Pitt will win and cover with some solid running. The defense needs a good showing too.

Greenberg:  Pitt will run over Marshall on their way to covering this spread.

McDaniel:  Pitt wins, covers, and runs for at least 300 yards.
 

No.3 Louisville (4-0, 2-0) @ No. 5 Clemson (4-0, 1-0), 8 PM ET Saturday, ABC

Line: Louisville -1.5

Cates: This is a monster match up. The momentum is clearly with Louisville, but Clemson is the established ACC leader in the clubhouse. I’ll hop on the bandwagon and say Lamar Jackson wins a classic battle and covers.

Greenberg:  Clemson an underdog at home? Taking the Tigers in the “upset.”

McDaniel:  Louisville will beat Clemson in Death Valley, but if they don’t, we’ll be talking about how Deshaun Watson got himself back in the Heisman race.

 

Follow us on Twitter @jeffgberg, @MikeMcDanielACC, and @BestCates and follow @InsideTheACC for more Atlantic Coast Conference coverage.

 

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