Adam Gold joins N&O college football Week 7 picks for NC schools and other big games
A salute to LeVelle Moton, who knows something about football as well as basketball. Moton went 5-2 last week, still not good enough to beat a first-place N&O tie at 6-1 between C.L. Brown and yours truly, but the most respectable mark of any guest picker so far.
Which makes it a high bar for Adam Gold to clear in a little media-on-media turf war. The 99.9 early afternoon host (noon-3 p.m.) doesn’t get to pick his ex-ACC alma mater (Maryland) but he does get to match wits in a week that features a major Duke-UNC football game with ACC (if not national) implications, which was once like spotting a toupee but now seems to happen more often than not.
N.C. State at Syracuse: Vegas likes the Orange by 4, which suggests the boys in the desert don’t think Devin Leary is going to play, or won’t be at full strength if he does. Jack Chambers certainly didn’t appear to have the full playbook available to him after taking over Saturday, since N.C. State basically ran the same offense to come back against Florida State it would have run holding the lead. And with The Requisite Thayer Thomas pass going nowhere, the Wolfpack’s best quarterback was arguably Jordan Travis, who threw some key lasers to people in red jerseys.
Syracuse is off to a 5-0 start, but this is also a team that squeaked past Virginia at home and we now know just how impossibly awful the Hoos are. The win over Purdue, however, looks better in the rear view. Chambers has a week to prepare if Leary can’t go. Is it enough? N&O consensus: Orange lightly crushes
Gold says: “Even though my medical degree is still in the mail I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Devin Leary isn’t going to be able to play at Syracuse. Logic says the Orange are the pick, so give me N.C. State to figure it out.”
UNC at Duke: For all the jibes about Duke’s attendance to watch Virginia (blech) in the rain (ugh), it would be a shock if Wally Wade is anything but full under the lights Saturday night. (UNC fans, based on some Kenan crowds in the Fedora Era, should be the last to throw stones anyway.) Mike Elko’s been able to inject some interest back into the program and this will be the biggest test yet.
This rivalry has delivered some surprisingly entertaining games over the past decade, from David Cutcliffe being carried off the field at Kenan to the Tar Heels redecorating the visiting locker room in Durham to the intercepted goal-line pass and postgame scuffle in 2019. When you combine Duke’s resurgence with UNC’s offense, it figures to be entertaining again, at the worst. N&O consensus: Entertainment — and UNC scores last, wins
Gold says: “Can I just take the over? No, I don’t know what it is, just take it. Carolina is just a little too good on offense, so Heels it is.”
Memphis at East Carolina: To the extent there’s an absolute must-win game for the Pirates this season, this is it. There’s no shame in losing to N.C. State or Tulane, but the home loss to Navy was a killer. That left ECU needing three wins from its final six games to get bowl-eligible, and three extremely tough opponents among them in Central Florida, BYU and Cincinnati. Beat Memphis and Houston at home and win at Temple in the finale and it all takes care of itself. But the road ahead gets very steep with a loss Saturday. N&O consensus: Purple and gold
Gold says: “Tigers are good, balanced and deep at running back. Pirates are coming off a really disappointing loss at Texas State. ECU neeeeeeeeeds this, so…Pirates.”
Morgan State at N.C. Central: The Eagles have had a bye week to recover from seeing their unblemished record fall in Buies Creek and they open MEAC play with an overmatched opponent — Morgan State just lost to previously winless Norfolk State, at home — for what should be a win if NCCU is as good as it looked to start the season. In fact, let’s call it now: If the Eagles win this one by multiple TDs, they’re winning the MEAC. N&O consensus: Unanimously NCCU
Gold says: “I have Davius Richard on my MEAC fantasy team, so you know where my heart lies. (I don’t have a MEAC fantasy team.) Each has a big win over VU of Lynchburg for what that’s worth. Eagles to go to 5-1.”
Clemson at Florida State: Leslie Nielsen sticks his head into the cockpit and tells Florida State, “I just want to tell you good luck. We’re all counting on you.” The Seminoles are the only thing that can keep the Atlantic Division from crashing into ... crashing into this metaphor. But either way, a win over FSU would give Clemson the tiebreaker against everyone but Syracuse, and that feels as insurmountable as yet another Clemson appearance in the title game feels inevitable. N&O consensus: Clemson moves a step closer to Charlotte
Gold says: “The Tigers have won six in a row in this series and have the significantly better team with DJ Uiagalelei’s dramatic improvement at QB. Don’t think Jordan Travis can take advantage of Clemson’s secondary, so Tigers in a close one.”
Penn State at Michigan: For all we complain about the Atlantic Division, a discussion soon to become wonderfully moot, it is pretty incredible that Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State are all in the Leaders ... sorry, Big Ten East, and someone like, let’s just say, Iowa is going to come out of the other division at like 8-4, 6-3, after winning eight 9-6 games and losing four 7-6 games. It’s not a stretch to say that this is almost a national title elimination game with Ohio State still lurking out there for both teams. N&O consensus: Hail to the victors
Gold says: “I am not sold on the Wolverines offense at all and they’ve been just good enough against the Iowas and Indianas of the world. Ditto for Penn State. Maize and Blue at home.”
Alabama at Tennessee: Well, you’d like to pick Tennessee here because its fans are so humble, so full of goodwill toward others and *jumps for cover as a water bottle filled with urine whizzes past* so easy to root for. But we have to take Alabama *dodges a hail of golf balls* because to be the best you’ve got to beat the best *warm beer poured on head* and Bama’s still the gold standard, Pawwwwwwwwl. N&O consensus: Duck! Tide
Gold says: “Nick Saban is hopeful that Bryce Young can play, and they’ll need him because the Volunteers are as good as they’ve been in two decades. Tennessee has beaten Bama more times (37) than ANY other program, but have lost 15 straight in the series. That streak ends as Virginia Tech finally gets that big win behind Hendon Hooker’s Heisman statement. Vols.”
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This story was originally published October 12, 2022 at 6:40 AM with the headline "Adam Gold joins N&O college football Week 7 picks for NC schools and other big games."
