College football roundtable: Can NC State pull the upset against Clemson?

Just like the college football season itself, The News & Observer’s weekly college football roundtable just gets better with the inevitable march of time.

On the panel’s mind this week: N.C. State’s chances of pulling off the upset on Saturday against Clemson, whether the Tigers are the best team in the nation and the thought of Butch Davis coming back in the ACC at Miami.

You’ve got questions, the roundtable has answers:

Question: N.C. State vs. Clemson at Carter-Finley on Saturday. Does the Wolfpack have any chance whatsoever of upsetting a team that just might be the best in the country?

Andrew Carter (North Carolina beat reporter): Of course the Wolfpack has a shot. Winning games like these is what N.C. State does – and has done many times before. N.C. State’s problem isn’t pulling off shocking victories – it’s stringing together enough of the ordinary ones to make the big ones count.

Beating Clemson on Saturday wouldn’t be any more surprising than N.C. State’s victory against Florida State in 2012. Is it likely? No. But anything can happen, especially at Carter-Finley Stadium and especially on Halloween.

Joe Giglio (N.C. State beat reporter): N.C. State has as good a chance as any team in the ACC to beat Clemson. This is a great spot on Clemson's schedule with Florida State coming up next week. Plus, N.C. State has a history of being competitive, or winning, these home games with Clemson and Florida State.

Luke DeCock (columnist): A chance? Yes. N.C. State has historically played its best against Clemson and Florida State, even in games the Wolfpack loses.

And the first quarter against Wake Forest last week offered a sneak preview of an explosive offense that hasn’t been seen against better opponents (and wasn’t over the final three quarters, either by circumstance or design).

But the Wolfpack will have to play a perfect game and hope Clemson is equal parts complacent after the blowout of Miami and looking ahead to the Seminoles to keep it close and hope for the best.

Question: Speaking of which, how much of an argument can be made that Clemson IS the best team in the country?

AC: There’s a compelling case to be made, in part because no team appears all that dominant this season, and because no team really has a resume as good as Clemson’s. If the first top 25 poll of the season ran earlier this week, instead of back in August, the Tigers might just be No. 1.

Clemson has a top-10 victory over Notre Dame and, outside of a three-point win at Louisville, no team has really challenged the Tigers.

JG: The Tigers are good and can understand where you are coming from with this question because Ohio State hasn't exactly been lights out, but it's a stretch to say Clemson is No. 1.

The Buckeyes still have the best talent and Baylor has been the most impressive team, at least on offense.

LD: That win over Notre Dame is as good a win as any elite team can claim. Only LSU’s win over Florida comes close. In terms of computer rankings that include margin of victory, Clemson is No. 1.

If Clemson were the defending champion instead of Ohio State, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But even if Clemson beats N.C. State (which it should) and Florida State (which it should), the Tigers could be trumped by Ohio State, Michigan State or Iowa with wins over the other two, or an undefeated Big 12 team with wins over Oklahoma and two out of Baylor, Texas Christian and Oklahoma State.

At the moment, though? Clemson has done the most.

Question: There’s a head coaching vacancy at Miami. If you’re the Hurricanes, do you hire Butch Davis?

AC: I would have hired Davis yesterday. What’s taking so long?

Miami doesn’t need to waste its time going after another up-and-comer that might or might not work out. What it needs is a proven winner who can recruit South Florida, handle the challenges that come inherent with that job and turn the Hurricanes into a winner. Know who has done all of that?

Davis. Sure, he’s stained by his tenure at UNC. But what college football coach doesn’t have baggage? It seemed like half of Urban Meyer’s players were in jail at some point in his years at Florida, and that didn’t stop Ohio State from going after him. Davis, despite his age, and his baggage, is Miami’s best hope.

JG: Why not? Davis can recruit and that's what that job needs the most. There are other coaches I'd call before Davis but he should definitely be on the list.

LD: No, for several reasons, one of which is Davis hasn’t coached since 2010 and a lot has changed in college football in that time. But if Miami really wants to be Miami again, the Hurricanes need to go out and convince a truly elite coach to take over the program.

Elsewhere in this section, I throw out Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly as wild-card candidates. That’s the level of coach the Hurricanes should be pursuing, and the alumni who were so critical of Al Golden on Twitter need to come up with enough money to make it happen. Hiring Davis would be another attempt to trade on past glory. It’s going to take someone truly special to restore it.

This story was originally published October 30, 2015 at 6:59 PM with the headline "College football roundtable: Can NC State pull the upset against Clemson?."