ACC Football Power Rankings, Week 10: North Carolina slowly climbing

Here at headquarters where we named the street Tobacco Road, we’ve put our Sam Howell shrine right between our Doug Flutie cut-out and our styrofoam Charlie Ward FSU helmet we colored with Crayola. His legend grows by the game. He is the greatest quarterback in the history of North Carolina football. Who’s your counter, Ronald Curry? Nope.

The ‘Heels must be the football team in the movie “Groundhog Day” because they play the same game every week. Shorten the game by running, let Howell make some throws. Play sound team defense and put your young football team in position to win at the end. Usually a team plays one or maybe two one-possession games a year.

An unlucky team might get into three or four, but the Tar Heels have played in seven one-possession games this season; five of those games by a field goal or less. Dare I say when the Tar Heels learn how to close, they are going to be dangerous.

We here at headquarters would love to call the North Carolina/Virginia game a winner take all affair, but this is the ACC Coastal, and anything can happen. Despite that, this weekends game at Chapel Hill is for sole possession of first place in the ACC Coastal. Depending on what shakes out below them, the winner of this game could have a full game lead on the rest of the division.

Although they lost to the Cardinals last week, the Cavaliers have had a solid season. They’ve been consistent all year on both sides of the ball, but teams are figuring out the Cavaliers. Their offensive line has not protected Bryce Perkins well or opened any running lanes for their running backs. If you can get Virginia into third and long situations, you’ll usually get the ball back. Either they punt, or Perkins will throw it to you.

The Pitt Panthers were upset by the Miami Hurricanes last week in a game that can only be described as bowling shoe ugly. As we stare at our color-by-numbers posters of Tony Dorsett, Curtis Martin, and James Conner we can’t help but to think there’s something missing on the Panthers’ offense. Kenny Pickett is the James Harden of college quarterbacks. He needs to throw a lot of passes to accumulate 250 yards passing.

Their pass rush is the truth, but the Lightning McQueen philosophy of gamesmanship got Pitt in trouble against the Hurricanes.

Their games are fun and entertaining, but Pitt really needs to stop ushering teams they’re beating by 10 or more points back into games. In three of their one-possession wins the Panthers were up by 10 or more points before they let Duke, UCF and Syracuse get back in it. Kenny Pickett either throws interceptions or the offense stagnates.

We keep looking at those posters and can’t quite put our finger on what Pitt always had. While we were staring and wondering a lowly intern showed us his autographed Shady McCoy poster, but we just shewed him away still trying to figure it out.