Can Pack stop Tigers?

Three to watch

No. 24 Clemson at N.C. State

Noon, WRAL, WFXI

Mismatch, anyone? The Atlantic Division-leading Tigers (6-3, 4-2 ACC) have scored 40, 49 and 40 points, respectively, in their last three games, while N.C. State (4-5, 1-4) has given up 52, 45 and 31 points, respectively, in its last three contests.

No. 12 Miami at North Carolina

3:30 p.m. WTVD, WCTI

Coach Butch Davis is 2-0 against his former team, which is winless in Chapel Hill in three tries. The Tar Heels (6-3, 2-3 ACC) need a win to become bowl eligible.

No. 7 Georgia Tech at Duke

Noon, ESPN2

A win for the Yellow Jackets (9-1, 6-1 ACC) puts them in Tampa for the ACC Championship Game. A loss by the Blue Devils (5-4, 3-2) also cuts Duke's margin for error to qualify for a bowl down to zero.

Observations

Seminoles still flag magnets

Florida State has always ranked among the most-penalized teams in the country, even when it was winning big in the 1990s. But the Seminoles' talent advantage is no longer so overwhelming that they can overcome so many mental blunders.

Up 24-21 on Clemson in the fourth quarter, FSU had an interception return for a touchdown called back by a dagger of an offsides penalty. Instead of going up 10, and likely winning the game, the Noles ended up losing 40-24 and are now in real danger of missing a bowl game for the first time since 1981.

Throw logic out

In the nonsensical ACC, it would make perfect sense for Boston College, at 3-2 in league play and a half-game out of the Atlantic Division lead, to lose at Virginia, which is 2-3 and tied for last in the Coastal.

Boston College is 6-0 at home and 0-3 on the road, and only one of those losses (20-16 at Notre Dame) was competitive.

The Cavaliers (3-6) are in a three-game freefall but usually come to embattled coach Al Groh's rescue when he needs it most.

The Cavaliers can't possibly play any worse than they did at Miami in last week's 52-17 loss.

Hokies' bowl stock falling

Virginia Tech, once No. 4 in the country, is in danger of dropping to the Champs Sports Bowl after two lackluster Thursday night performances.

The Hokies, once a good possibility for the Orange Bowl, could still get to the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta.

But the way Clemson is coming on -- and the fervor of the Tigers' fan base -- the Hokies could be jumped for the ACC's best non-BCS bowl.

There's not an attractive opponent -- Maryland, N.C. State and Virginia -- left on the Hokies' schedule, but they need to play with more energy, and urgency, than they have in losing to UNC and beating ECU.

Numbers to know

583 An ACC-high rushing attempts by Georgia Tech, compared to an ACC-low 117 passing attempts.

375 An ACC-high passing attempts by Duke, compared to an ACC-low 274 rushing attempts.

82.1 Rushing yards average for Clemson's C.J. Spiller. Fair or not, it's the No. 1 reason he's not higher in the Heisman Trophy race.

What's at stake

A Clemson win today eliminates every school from the Atlantic Division race except Boston College. A Georgia Tech win clinches the Jackets' second Coastal Division title in four years.

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