Last week Virginia Tech unleashed the vertical passing game in dismantling an overmatched Duke Blue Devil squad 36-0. Sean Glennon passed for over 300 yards and the Hokie defense completely shut down the Duke offense. Cincinnati comes to town this week after playing Ohio State tough for three quarters and leading for much of the first half. The Bearcats bring the most athletic and aggressive defense to face Virginia Tech to date, so the Hokies need to be ready.

While the Cincinnati defensive front is considerably smaller than Duke's front seven, the Bearcats present a different problem with their speed and ability to get off of blocks. Ohio State's offensive line struggled with the quicker Cincy front early in the game, drawing at least half a dozen holding penalties, including two on one play. The Bearcat defensive line is led by last season's Defensive Newcomer of the Year in the Big East, Terrill Byrd (#95, 6-0 285, So.). Defensive ends Anthony Hoke (#12, 6-1 245, Jr.) and Trevor Anderson (#56, 6-2 258, So.) are playmakers, and Pittsburgh struggled blocking small, but aggressive tackle Tony Carvitti (#53, 6-0 250, Sr.). The problem that Cincinnati has had this year with their defensive line is a lack of depth, as the smaller linemen tend to wear down late in the game.

Cincinnati's linebackers are also very active led by Corey Smith (#42, 6-1 220, So.) and Kevin McCullough (#52, 6-2 240, Sr.). The Bearcats will rotate in a number of outside linebackers and this unit appears to have the most depth on the defense. The secondary plays very aggressively and is led by cornerback Mike Mickens (#21, 6-0 165, So.) who made second-team All-Big East as a true freshman last year. The other corner is manned by John Bowie (#33, 5-11 190, Sr.) who was the Big East 100 Meter Dash champion last spring. Overall, Cincinnati has a solid defensive unit that plays aggressively, but they will need to force a number of turnovers from Virginia Tech to have a chance in this game.

Cincinnati has struggled offensively behind a young, and undersized, offensive line. The running game has been nonexistent and pass protection has been a major problem. The Bearcats allowed eight sacks last week against Ohio State and have allowed 12 on the season. Dustin Grutza (#4, 6-2 212, r-So.) is probably the best quarterback that Tech has faced this season to date, but he is generally scrambling for his life. When Grutza does get time to throw, his favorite target is tight end Brent Celek (#85, 6-4 260, Sr.). Tech will likely have a defensive game plan that is similar to the Duke game, applying as much pressure on Grutza as possible and trying to force mistakes.

Cincinnati may provide the Hokies with a good test, especially early in the game, before the smaller linemen wear down. Like Duke, I can't see the Bearcats moving the ball very easily, so the Hokies need to take care of the ball and establish field position early in the game. Tech's receivers should be able to exploit the aggressiveness of the Bearcat secondary and make some plays while the line starts to wear down Cincinnati's defense. I see Virginia Tech pulling away in the second half and recording another solid victory. Virginia Tech wins 38-3.

Last week I went 6-3 in the ACC missing the Bowden Bowl, the aWakening in Storrs, and the Charlottesville choke. That puts me at a respectable 21-7 for the season predicting ACC games. Here are the results from last week:

Chuck Amato is on the hot seat after the humiliation in Hattiesburg last week, so the Wolfpack is switching quarterbacks and giving legacy Daniel Evans a shot. However, the problem with N.C. State is less the QB and more with the lack of a running game, but the change may revitalize the Pack's dormant offense nonetheless. Boston College is coming off of two double overtime victories and the Eagles are probably ready for a let down. N.C. State could be a "trap game" for BC, who looks to be an early favorite in the Atlantic Division. Matt Ryan could be the best QB in the ACC and certainly one of the best pressure players, so look for the Eagles to pull out yet another close win with a late rally. Boston College by 3 (23-20)

Will the Tigers have a let down after the big win in Tallahassee last week? Will North Carolina be able to slow down the Clemson ground attack? The Tar Heels could not defend the option last week against Furman and this week they face the dynamic running game of the Clemson Tigers. Look for Clemson to try some option wrinkles with Will Proctor at the helm and overpower the UNC defensive front. Cam Sexton is looking more comfortable at QB for the Heels, but UNC won't generate enough offense to overtake Clemson. Clemson by 21 (38-17)

The undefeated Demon Deacons – yes, you read that right – travel to Oxford to face Ed Orgeron’s Mississippi Rebels. Ole Miss should know Wake Forest's squad well as Orgeron hired former Miami assistants Dan Werner and Art Kehoe as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach respectively. However, the Rebels are still suffering from lackluster recruiting efforts by the previous regime and have an extremely young team. The Demon Deacons, on the other hand, have a veteran squad that has played remarkably well despite their starting QB (Ben Mauk) and RB (Micah Andrews) going down with injuries. I see Wake's experience and an underrated defense being the difference with the Demon Deacons remaining undefeated. Wake Forest by 7 (20-13)

Bobby Bowden is receiving exactly what the doctor ordered in some Owl soup this weekend in Tallahassee. Coming into the season, Rice had abandoned their option attack to go with a spread offense, but their first two quarterbacks have been injured and they have had to revert to last year's option QB, who had been moved to wide receiver; not a good formula for playing an angry FSU squad that needs to re-establish itself after last week's loss to Clemson at home. The Seminoles will finally run the ball on someone and Drew Weatherford will regain some confidence as FSU rolls. Florida State by 31 (37-6)

Don Strock's Florida International Golden Panthers travel to College Park to face Ralph Friedgen's struggling Maryland Terrapins this weekend. The Terps badly need to rebound after the humbling defeat by West Virginia last week on national television. FIU is steadily improving, but Maryland has too much size for the smaller Panthers. Look for the Terps to ground out some big yardage rushing and to pull away in the second half. Maryland by 19 (35-16)

I was 11-2 predicting the ranked teams' games on Separation Saturday which makes me 46-4 on the season. I'll take 92 percent any day. My two losses were Michigan's thrashing of the Passive Irish and Texas Tech's loss to tougher cross-state rival TCU. Not many big games this weekend as many teams have a bye before the conference schedules begin. Here are the results from last week:

Two of the top contenders to dethrone USC in the Pac-10 square off in a high-powered battle. Both teams feature explosive running backs in Marshawn Lynch for Cal and Keegan Herring for ASU, but the game will likely come down to the quarterback play and which team can slow down the other team's big play ability. Nate Longshore is settling in as the Golden Bears' QB and Rudy Carpenter is now at the helm for the Sun Devils after a heated quarterback controversy in Tempe. I believe that Cal has the better defensive personnel and will prevail in a high-scoring, entertaining game. California by 9 (37-28)

The Nittany Lions travel to Columbus to face #1 Ohio State after winning last year's game 17-10. Last year's "white-out" overcame the Buckeyes, but this year JoePa will only be seeing scarlet as Ohio State will have too much offense for Penn State. Troy Smith and the passing game will shred the young Nittany Lion secondary and the Buckeyes will win going away. Ohio State by 19 (42-23)

Bret Bielema will get his first real test as the new coach of the Badgers as Wisconsin visits the Big House. The Wolverines are coming off an impressive victory over Notre Dame and look to keep the momentum going as they open the Big 10 season. As always, this game will be very physical, but Michigan has the better skill position talent and the Wolverines should make some big plays to pull away late. Michigan by 21 (34-13)

The storyline on this game is the report that Charlie Weis told a booster last summer that there was no way that he would lose to another Michigan State team. The Spartans didn't need any more motivation in facing the Fighting Irish, but Weis gave John L. Smith’s squad some anyway. This game should be entertaining with two of the nation's top quarterbacks facing off – Brady Quinn for Notre Dame and Drew Stanton for Michigan State. Stanton's mobility may give the Irish some trouble, as well as Matt Trannon's size at wide receiver, but in the end the Quinn-Samardzija combination will be too much for the Spartans. Notre Dame by 13 (37-24)

Southern California over Arizona by 35 (49-14)

Auburn over Buffalo by 47 (47-0)

West Virginia over East Carolina by 21 (42-21)

Florida over Kentucky by 27 (34-7)

Georgia over Colorado by 26 (33-7)

Texas over Iowa State by 35 (42-7)

Louisville over Kansas State by 19 (26-7)

LSU over Tulane by 48 (51-3)

Iowa over Illinois by 23 (30-7)

Oklahoma over Middle Tennessee State by 32 (35-3)

Tennessee over Marshall by 23 (33-10)

Arkansas over Alabama by 2 (16-14)

Nebraska over Troy by 26 (40-14)

Boise State over Hawaii by 14 (38-24)

For the 1-AA schools in the state of Virginia, I was once again 3-1 in my predictions for last week, which makes me 11-3 for the season. The only loss was Maine knocking off William & Mary in a minor upset. Here are the results from last week:

The best 1-AA game in-state this week will have James Madison hosting Virginia Tech's first opponent, Northeastern, in an Atlantic 10 contest. The Dukes will get some idea how they would stack up with the Hokies after this game.

James Madison over Northeastern by 17 (27-10)

Richmond over Bucknell by 27 (34-7)

William & Mary over VMI by 29 (42-13)

Hampton over Morgan State by 27 (41-14)

Bethune-Cookman over Norfolk State by 21 (38-17)

Liberty over Savannah State by 16 (23-7)

Have fun watching all of the games this weekend and be safe traveling!