Here are the games that I’m most interested in this week.

VIRGINIA TECH (-5) AT PITTSBURGH: Before I get started, how much quality Virginia “hempe” were they smoking when they decided that maroon and orange would look good together as school colors? I mean, the Hokies’s home unis look gawd-awful, like deer hunting on a Superfund site. Oh well. At least they aren’t trying to look like a cheesy corporate knockoff of Notre Dame.

Earlier this season, Virginia Tech Head Coach Frank Beamer called this the best team that he’s ever worked with. I believe him, insofar as this is the team that most closely adheres to Beamer’s particular philosophy of football — dubbed “Beamer Ball” by Tech’s media godparent ESPN. “Beamer Ball” — which emphasizes strong special teams, an opportunistic defense, and a slower-moving, ball-control offense — was executed to near perfection with sobering results in Virginia Tech’s rout of Miami last Saturday night.

Thus, when Virginia Tech has the ball, the Hokies are probably going to emphasize moving the ball on the ground as much as possible (against the Hurricanes, Tech rushed for 175 yards but passed for only 44). We’ll see a lot of their star running back (Chester, PA native and hall of fame Penn State tormentor) Kevin Jones (remember that hilarious press conference when he eschewed the Nittany Lions for Blacksburg?). Jones has been averaging 5.5 yards per carry, and is by far the best ball carrier that we’ll see this season (if not the best in the country). However, we’ll also see Tech’s quarterbacks Bryan Randall and (especially) Marcus Vick bolt out of the pocket from time to time. Will Pitt’s improving-but-still-average run defense be able to stop such a powerful running game backed up with the strongest offensive line in the conference? Of course not. But if Tech’s offense plays like it did against Miami and our defense plays like it did against Boston College and Syracuse, I think that we’ll be able to limit the Hokies’s offense to three or four touchdowns… not a big hole for our offense to dig out of, normally.

Thus, the outcome of this game will probably depend more on what happens when we have the ball. Last Saturday, Tech’s defensive line and linebackers skillfully pressured Miami’s quarterback (and more importantly, its coaching staff) into making one terrible decision after another. Tech’s secondary — featuring Eric Green, Vinnie Fuller, Jimmy Williams, and the absolute rocket DeAngelo Hall — then took full advantage of these bad decisions in spectacular fashion… including two of the prettiest scoop-and-score interceptions that I’ve seen all year. After they fooled the Hurricanes into thinking that they could neither pass nor pass protect, Tech’s defense then played lights out against the run (Miami only got 69 yards on the ground all day).

So we’re not going to be able to run much on these guys (not that we shouldn’t occasionally try). However, if our offensive line can protect Rod Rutherford, we should be able to complete some passes underneath to Kris Wilson and others. Plus, Larry Fitzgerald will always get his catches behind the secondary. Not even DeAngelo Hall can shut down Fitz all day (or in the second half, as it were), plus I’m betting that the Big East refs will keep Tech’s secondary mostly off of our receivers after last week’s scandal. So in the end, I think that our offense should be able to score three or (if our offensive line plays its best game ever) four touchdowns on Tech’s defense.

To me, the keys to this game for Pitt are mostly in the trenches. Our offensive line must pass protect, and our defense must slow down Tech’s running game and give the ball back to our offense. Plus, our special teams must not make any mistakes, because the Hokies will more than likely score on them. Do I think that we can accomplish all of that? Not for four quarters, I don’t. We haven’t played that flawlessly all year.

So I’ll take the Hokies to cover a seemingly small five point spread. But cheer up, fellow Panther fans, because I suck! My record against the spread for the season is only 17-20. You didn’t want me picking the Panthers anyways (incidentally, Matt Hayes at the Sporting News picked Virginia Tech to win but not cover, and the Associated Press picked Pitt to win outright).

WEST VIRGINIA (+3.5) AT BOSTON COLLEGE: Like I said last week, I’m not so sure that West Virginia’s domination of Virginia Tech on October 22 was entirely a fluke or exclusively just another example of Tech self-destructing in the face of adversity. I think that the Mountaineers are for real (and I know their coach is). The Hoopies can run the ball effectively with Quincy Wilson, pass adequately with Rasheed Marshall, and dominate an opponent’s offensive line and running game with that weird-assed 3-3-5 defense (just ask Virginia Tech). Boston College, on the other hand, couldn’t even stop Pitt’s measly running game (we got 124 yards), let alone our aerial attack (364 yards). But our defense — which isn’t nearly as sound as West Virginia’s — was able to slow the Eagles offense down to a crawl.

In conclusion, how the hell is Boston College even favored here? Give me the Hoopies and the points.

MICHIGAN STATE (+7) AT OHIO STATE: In shredding the hearts of most Central Pennsylvanians last Saturday night (Joe Paterno and his staff allegedly broke down in tears in the locker room after the 21-20 last-minute loss to the defending national champions… Paterno then allegedly couldn’t sleep for three nights), Penn State demonstrated two key truths about the mighty Buckeyes: (1) don’t even think about running against them, and more importantly, (2) the Bucks can be vulnerable to short, underneath passes when they blitz a lot. If anybody can take advantage of this weakness, it is Michigan State’s brilliant quarterback Jeff Smoker.

So do you think that Ohio State’s equally brilliant Defensive Coordinator Mark Dantonio (who, incidentally, masterminded Michigan State’s upset of the then top-ranked Buckeyes in 1998) is going to be so stupid as to blitz Michigan State as often as he did Penn State? Of course not. Last week, I correctly predicted that the Big Ten’s Cinderella would lose her slipper to Michigan. This week, she’s gonna lose her dress. Gimme the Buckeyes to cover a measly seven point spread.

So this week, I got the Hokies, Hoopies, and Buckeyes — two to cover and one dog.

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Incidentally, does anybody else find it ironic that in expanding to become a better football conference, the ACC forced the Big East into becoming the nation’s best basketball conference? I mean, the ACC used to pride itself on having the best hoops in the country. But now, a league boasting UNC, Maryland, and (face it, mostly) Duke is no match for a league boasting Syracuse, UConn, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Marquette, Cincinnati, DePaul, and Louisville. Talk about selling out your roots. Of course, maybe we should all be reading this as further proof of how much more profitable football is than basketball.

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In the wake of the Big East Football Conference’s adding Louisville, Cincinnati, and South Florida (“GO BULLS!”), I still haven’t seen anything genuinely new out there as to whether or not the Big East will retain its automatic BCS bid after 2005. Please let me know if any of you spot any real news first.

Once again, my hopes of retaining this bid directly (without having to compete with the Mountain West or the MAC on a year-by-year basis) are dim. But there’s still hope.

Hail to a nice cold Saturday in Pittsburgh

I haven’t had much of a chance to collect my thoughts as to what both sides need to do to win the game. I mean aside from the obvious: VT – run left, run right, run up the middle, and stop the pass; Pitt – throw long, throw screens, throw underneath, and stop the run. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance today or tomorrow.

From the fans view, I actually think the Hokie faithful fear Pitt more than Pitt fans fear the Hokies. Pitt has beaten VT two straight years — exposed them, and started November slides for them. In 2000, it took an end of the game field goal for VT to pull out a win; but Pitt still hung 34 points on them. This has many convinced that Pitt and Walt Harris somehow have figured out VT when no one else has.

I don’t buy that. Pitt has really been up for games against VT, which helps. Pitt, under Harris, tends to play up or down to the level of their competition. A good part of it, has been a certain level of overconfidence and looking past Pitt by VT. The Pitt game has been late in the season, when the Hokies were rolling. The team seems to start believing their own press clippings.

This will be the 11th meeting between VT and Pitt. The Hokies have a 7-3 lead. The teams only started playing each other when the Hokies joined the Big East. It is unlikely that they will play each other again after this season (except in a bowl game) — because neither team really wants to play a non-con opponent where the outcome would be so unknown. It’s a shame.

On this blog, the others and I, have mangled phrases, spelling and been incoherent at times. But we are rank amateurs working without a net. So, I find it annoying to see a columnist get the following screw up past an editor.

Although Harris admirers will argue, these are not charges without merit. There is substantial evidence to back them up. The evidence is so strong that in some places it would have been enough to get a coach fired.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Bob Smizik had just rattled off the most common complaints about Coach Walt Harris in bullet points (and rather accurately). The rest of the column is spent defending Harris’ tenure despite his stumbles. Aside from the handy bullet point list of Harris flaws; and the completely obvious statement that beating VT means jack if Pitt doesn’t beat WVU next week (and maybe even Miami in 3 weeks — what, is he assuming the Temple game is a gimmee?); the article isn’t much to read.

For a far superior article on keeping perspective, there is this offering from Mike Prisuta of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Win or lose against Virginia Tech, Pitt will still have at great deal of significant football yet to play at that juncture.

For now, hosting No. 5 Tech means everything to a Pitt program trying to force its way into the neighborhood in which Tech has resided for the last 10 years (10 bowl appearances, an average of nine wins per season, three Big East Conference titles and one unforgettable shot at the national championship in that span). This is the type of game Pitt longs to play on a regular basis, in the type of environment it hopes will become commonplace.

But for the Panthers to truly glean from this season a large measure of what they had hoped to prior to Kent State, they’re going to have to do more than merely knock off the Hokies.

Looming after Virginia Tech is a trip to West Virginia, followed by a trip to Temple, followed by a visit from the finally-beaten Miami Hurricanes.

For Pitt to truly make this a season to savor, the Panthers are going to have to do better than 1-3 or 2-2 while navigating such a gauntlet.

I’m of mixed feelings. I agree that none of the 4 remaining games are locks — not even Temple which has given Pitt problems in recent years. That winning this game is meaningless if Pitt doesn’t at least go 2-1 afterwards.

However, I really hate to downplay the significance and importance of this game. It is important. It matters a hell of a lot. It is big. To pretend it’s “just another game” is an invitation to disaster (paging Lee, to discuss John Cooper and Ohio St.), because the team tends to get tense knowing that this is a big game, but being forced to pretend it isn’t.

Don’t shy away from treating this like a big game. Just don’t forget about the rest of the season.

Really, there is no other way to phrase it. Pitt, Heinz Field and its subcontracted parking lots managed evil entity ALCO aren’t opening the lots until 2:45 pm. Of course, there is the issue of College Game Day doing its live show in the morning on the Great Lawn, between North Shore Drive and the River Walk. Generally there are a ton of fans in the background to back the home team. Naturally, Pitt wants this and is offering the students free shuttles down from campus at 9 am with a return at 12:30 pm. If you drive, or have a parking pass, they’ll let you park free nearby. But they won’t let you stay or go into your own lot afterwards. Leaving these people with 2 plus hours to kill. Brilliant.

Just open the lots early, and be done with it.