2008 predictions

Just curious to see what the feeling for the season is.

I say 7-4-1, with losses to FSU, UGA, VT, and Miami, and Clemson as a bubble team, the reason being that those teams have NFL quality defenders all over the field and are NFL quality coached... for the most part, especially UGA.

I'd say Nesbitt hits over half his passes, here's hoping for 58-62%, with about 15 TDs and 12 INTs for 2300-2500 yards. He also rushes for over 500.

Dwyer hits a grand, Jones and Evans hit 500-750, and then some others accumulate change.

For all the talk about John Bond's offense spreading the ball among backs and TEs, it did not happen. I think it will under Johnson.

The defense will be the weak link this year, as our back 7 is green, but the good news is the ACC doesn't have a lights out passing team, Clemson's QB may be that this year though.

Also, who wins the LB spots? Would be great to see Tongo come back from that injury awhile back, and Chambers, too.

Jefferson and Jackson seem to be frontrunners... Bowen seems to play high and not downhill.

Rocker got comparisons to Wheeler, what will he do? Barnes is a given, of course... what do players think??

Who is the fastest backer? The hardest hitter? The biggest talker?

1. Jacksonville State - W
2. Boston College Toss-Up - Win if we hold onto the ball. Lose if we have a lot of miscues.
3. Virginia Tech - Probable Loss unless we play errorless.
4. Mississippi State - W, but it won't be easy

Up through these four games, we are getting our offensive feet under us. We will have some good success with the offense, but will also have some breakdowns due to the learning curve. The one thing that could save our hides in the first four games is the defense. I look for the defense to be much stronger than last year as the system will be better.

5. Duke - W
6. Gardner Webb - W
7. Clemson - W I believe we will be preparing for this game while preparing and playing against Duke & Gardner Webb. I think the offense will have learned about 80% of its plays and will be playing much smoother with better sync and less errors. Defense continues to shine.
8. Virginia - W Virginia will not be potent on offense; they will not be able to stop our offense.
9. Florida State - W Until Bowden retires, we will beat him every year under Paul Johnson. Florida State may be slightly improved, but will not be able to stop our offense.
10. North Carolina - W

At this point in the season, our offense is in high gear and running efficiently. The team is enthused and playing hard. The defense continues to shine and improve.

11. Miami - W Miami continues to struggle. They have some good material, but cannot get it all together. They are unable to stop our offense and our defense stops their limited offense.

12. Georgia - W We beat a UGA team who has already lost at least two games (Florida & Arizona) and maybe another game or two to Alabama and LSU. Georgia's defense is not acclimated to Tech's style of offense and we end their seven game winnng streak.

13. If we lose only one of the early games against Boston College and VT, then we play in the ACC Championship. We will win it if we play in it.

14. Bowl Game - W We win and become the surprise team of the year.

We win 8+ games this year even if I am wrong on a few of the games.

Father Time

1. Jacksonville State - W, Tune up game
2. Boston College - I agree this is one of the toughest to predict.. I'll say our D-line works over their new QB and we get the W.
3. Virginia Tech - They are simply better as of right now - L
4. Mississippi State - They played well last season, they have a fast and talented defense - L
5. Dook - No way PJ lets them lose 3 in a row, and no way will he let them lose to Dook. - W
6. Gardner Webb - We might score 70 in this game - W
7. Clemson - I have to go with reason and logic and say we lose, but anything is possible in this rivalry - L
8. Virginia - Long is long-gone, its in the ATL, We win - W
9. Florida State - No QB, Our D rolls - W
10. North Carolina - Butch still needs another year to get his program rolling - W
11. Miami - I watched their spring game yesterday and I feel even more confident in a... W
12. Georgia - Wow can we win in PJs first season, yes. Will we? In Athens probably not - L

Regular season 8-4 (7-2 ACC)

Bowl Game - Orlando maybe???

***2009 - With upperclassmen Nesbit, Dwyer, JEvans, Gsmith leading our O... Watch out!

I don't know why everyone is so afraid of VT. They were a much better team in 06 than 07 and we whipped their ass in 06 with RB at the helm.

Tenuta's stubbornness of playing the CB's 10 yards off the ball on every 3rd and 8 play was a major contributor to that loss.

The kind of intensity Tech played with in that game is how CPJ HAS to have the team play on every single down this year. Do that and the W's will roll in in a big way.

Thump wins:
Jax State, Dook, Gardner Webb, UNC.

Close wins:
BC (A controversial pick, but I predict a BC letdown this year)
Clemson (ok.. a Pollyanna pick.. but we've had their number, and we're going to play spoiler again)
Virginia (should have won last year!)
Miami (Dreaming of Cane butt)

Close losses:
Virginia Tech (we keep it close, but they're too good in Blacksburg)
Georgia (As much as I want it, I don't see it for us until 2009)

Trap losses:
Miss State (This one scares me. That's a program on the rise with a lot to prove)
FSU (We should win... but it's a new era at FSU)

So I'm predicting an 8-4 season, with a margin of error being +/- 2 games.

Welcome to The Show, PJ. No pressure!

4NCsAndCounting wrote:

I don't know why everyone is so afraid of VT. They were a much better team in 06 than 07 and we whipped their ass in 06 with RB at the helm.

Tenuta's stubbornness of playing the CB's 10 yards off the ball on every 3rd and 8 play was a major contributor to that loss.

The kind of intensity Tech played with in that game is how CPJ HAS to have the team play on every single down this year. Do that and the W's will roll in in a big way.

I agree. VT lost all their starting receivers and Ore, even though Ore was probably going to lose his starting job anyway to Kenny Lewis. To make it even better, there whole defense is basically w/o experience except for Macho Harris. So they have one shut down corner when we're not going to even throw the ball anyway. So although we play them early and our O will still be learning, there defense will also be in the learning stage. This game is more 50:50 than people think, and they get a slight edge w/ being at home. But I definitely think we can win that game.