ACC Football Saturday – 11/10/07 (State-Carolina Game Preview)

All 12 ACC teams are in action Saturday with six conference games on the schedule. The big area game is in Raleigh as NC State hosts UNC at Carter-Finley Stadium. Below is a complete rundown of all of Saturday’s ACC match-ups:

North Carolina @ NC State
12:00 PM
TV: R/LF (XM 190)

Wake Forest @ Clemson

12:00 PM
TV: ESPN2 (XM 191)

Georgia Tech @ Duke
1:00 PM
TV: ACC Select Webcast(XM 192)

Florida State @ Virginia Tech

3:30 PM
TV: ABC (XM 190)

Virginia @ Miami
7:15 PM
TV: ESPN2 (XM 191)

Boston College @ Maryland

8:00 PM
TV: ABC (XM 192)

As mentioned above, State and Carolina meet for the 97th time on the gridiron Saturday afternoon in Raleigh and this is a big game for both teams with first year head coaches. After slow starts, both teams have shown signs of life as of late. For the Wolfpack, a three game winning streak to start the second half of the season has many talking bowl game after a 1-5 record to start the season. At 4-5, a Pack win makes NC State 5-5 with two games left including a season ending home game against a dreadful Maryland team. The Tar Heels would like nothing more than to derail the Pack’s hot streak while winning their 4th game of the season and second in a row.

Fans from both schools see Saturday’s game as one that could set the tone of this rivalry for years to come. Followers of both teams are encouraged by their coaches comments regarding the rivalry that both Davis and O’Brien truly understand the importance of this game to both fan bases and won’t use the “this is just another game” tactic which has rubbed some the wrong way in the past.

Before the season, GreensboroSports.com offered a preview of area teams saying that both Carolina and NC State, would surprise a few teams and might just be better than expected. So far, our prediction has been pretty accurate as UNC has beaten favored Miami and Maryland along with I-AA James Madison and State has upset ECU, Virginia and Miami along with their win over Wofford.

The winner of today’s game will get two things – a virtual lock on a having a season that is much better than was predicted in the preseason and offseason bragging rights over the other team’s biggest gridiron rival.