In our latest ACCSports.com Roundtable, we take a closer look at which ACC school has the toughest football schedule in the month of October. Which program has the most challenging road in the month ahead? Our staff breaks it down.
MARK CARROLL
I don’t think anyone has a tougher October road than Miami. The Hurricanes are undefeated and even have a solid win over Nebraska, but I’m not sure I can identify a single game during that stretch in which Al Golden’s team should be heavily favored. The Oct. 1 trip to Cincinnati will be the biggest opportunity for the Canes to snag a victory, but even that matchup will take place on Thursday night in front of a wild crowd. After that, Miami is staring at four difficult ACC contests. On Oct. 10, the Hurricanes will travel to Tallahassee in search of their first win over Florida State since 2009. A week later, they’ll host a Virginia Tech team that has shown significant improvement since last season. After that, Clemson will come to Coral Gables, and to end the month, Duke will host Golden’s squad.
Miami should probably beat Cincinnati, even on the road. Overall, though, I think it’s totally realistic the Hurricanes could play decent football and still go 2-3 in October. We still haven’t seen the Canes play a complete game against real competition this season, and there’s no way they’ll survive such a difficult league schedule if that continues. Particularly against Florida State and Clemson, the defense will have to be much better than it was against Florida Atlantic and at the end of regulation against Nebraska.
The other end of it is that Miami could escape with four wins if it plays its best football against Florida State, Virginia Tech and Clemson. The Hurricanes are 4-1 in their most recent games against their five October opponents, and four of those contests were played in 2014. If they can win more than three games next month, they should have an excellent shot at winning the Coastal Division.
SHAWN KREST
I think that NC State faces the most-difficult October schedule. The Wolfpack weren’t tested during their light September non-conference slate, facing Troy, Eastern Kentucky, Old Dominion and South Alabama.
There are plenty of reasons for State’s non-conference schedule this season, and we aren’t casting judgement. We’re just pointing out that reality will hit quickly in October, as the opposition takes a significant step up.
Dave Doeren and company open the month with their ACC opener against Louisville. The Cardinals will be desperate for a win after an 0-3 start to the season. The Cardinals gave Clemson all it could handle in week two, and Louisville will be motivated to turn around its season against its chief competition for the third-place slot in the Atlantic.
State then heads to Virginia Tech on a short week for a Friday night game. State has lost its last three to the Hokies, and there’s a chance Tech will have starting quarterback Michael Brewer back for the game.
Following a bye week, State has a road game against Wake Forest. While Wake may not strike fear in most ACC opponents this season, the trip to Winston-Salem has always seemed to give the Wolfpack trouble. NC State has lost its last six road games at Wake Forest, last winning there in 2001.
State closes the month with a Halloween game against Clemson. The Tigers have put up 129 points on the Wolfpack the last three years, and this year’s team is expected to contend for the ACC title.
State could reasonably be expected to go 2-2 over the month, but it’s not out of the question that the Wolfpack will lose all four and head to November looking to right the ship with back-to-back road games at Boston College and Florida State.
ADAM POWELL
While there’s no question that Miami has a difficult path in October, I’m going to claim that Clemson has a more challenging road. Like Miami, Clemson has to play five games in October. They miss Florida State in October, and don’t have to play Virginia Tech like the Canes. But they do draw Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, and Boston College over three straight Death Valley Saturdays (Oct. 3, 10, 17), before traveling to Miami and NC State back-to-back Oct. 24 and Oct. 31.
Although the Tigers avoid FSU in October — the Seminoles come to Clemson Nov. 7 — they’re going to get severely tested by both the Fighting Irish and the Yellow Jackets at home. The combination of Notre Dame-Georgia Tech back-to-back is what really, in my opinion, makes Clemson’s October slate more challenging than anyone else’s in the entire ACC.
DeShaun Watson and the Tigers should be able to take care of business against Boston College Oct. 17, but road games at Miami and NC State present significant tests for this Clemson squad. Both the Hurricanes and Wolfpack have played well early on this fall, and either of them could become potential trap games for Dabo Swinney’s squad. The Tigers showed some fallibility on the road at Louisville, struggling at times offensively in squeaking out a 20-17 victory over a Cardinals squad that got off to an 0-3 start.
For Miami, with a coaching staff desperately clinging to life, the only thing that would be bigger in the regular season than a victory over Clemson would be a triumph over Florida State. Miami and Clemson haven’t played since 2010, but the Canes got the best of Swinney’s troops that time around, claiming a 30-21 victory in Death Valley.
NC State always brings out a loud and boisterous home crowd when Clemson comes to Carter-Finley Stadium. Although the Tigers prevailed, 26-14, the last time they came to Raleigh in 2013, few Clemson or NCSU fans can forget the 37-13 drubbing that Mike Glennon and the Wolfpack put on them back in 2011. The Tigers had better be ready to play when they go to Raleigh on Halloween.