North Carolina at Miami

Written by Jack Jones

In a battle between a pair of 4-2 teams who are fighting to keep pace in the ACC’s Coastal Division, the North Carolina Tar Heels visit the Miami Hurricanes Saturday. Both were popular choices to not only win the division, but win the conference and make a BCS game. But the cream always rises to the top, and Virginia Tech remains the cream of this conference. The No. 23 Hokies are 3-0 in ACC play, while Georgia Tech is 3-1 in ACC games this season as both are sitting ahead of the Tar Heels and Hurricanes.

College football odds for this game show us Miami -6.5 over North Carolina. Clearly, odds makers are not high on the Tar Heels right now due to all of their suspensions.

After a terrible 17-45 home loss to Florida State two weeks ago, the Hurricanes rebounded with a 28-13 road victory over the Duke Blue Devils. The loss to the Seminoles dropped Miami outside the Top 25, but this win got them right back in the discussion as they sit as the No. 25 team in the land. Still, it wasn’t a very decisive victory though it certainly could have been.

The Hurricanes forced seven turnovers Saturday, but managed to turn those takeaways into just 14 points. For whatever reason, the offense just cannot get going though they have loads of talent. Jacory Harris managed to avoid throwing an interception, but he didn’t make many big plays, either. The biggest bright spot on this offense has been running back Damien Berry, who has rushed for more than 100 yards in three straight games. He is only the 5th running back in school history to accomplish that feat. Leonard Hankerson also caught is seventh touchdown of the season, with only five other receivers in the country having score more. His 34 receptions and 540 receiving yards leads the team by far.

The UNC Tar Heels have managed to stay in the race in the ACC’s Coastal Division despite all of their suspensions. UNC (4-2, 2-1) ended a 14-game losing streak at Virginia over the weekend, beating up on the Cavaliers 44-10. Their last victory in Virginia came all the way back in 1981. The one player that has been carrying this team in 2010 has been quarterback T.J. Yates.

Yates threw for 325 yards against Virginia, hooking up with Dwight Jones twice on touchdown passes of 81 and 20 yards. As a team, the Tar Heels put up 479 yards of total offense. UNC has been steady defensively despite the suspensions this season, and they forced five interceptions against Virginia and Kevin Riddick returned one for a touchdown. After opening the season with two straight losses, the Tar Heels have rebounded nicely by reeling off four victories in a row.

UNC has won three straight over Miami, where Butch Davis used to coach. Davis certainly gets up to face his former team, and he also knows how to get his players ready to play the Hurricanes. Miami hasn’t forgotten this losing streak to the Tar Heels, so they will be ready to go Saturday. It should be a close game throughout and I find it hard to see the Hurricanes winning by a touchdown, so I recommend a small play on North Carolina plus the points.

Jack’s Free Prediction: North Carolina +6.5

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