Florida State Seminoles (4-1) -6, o/u no line vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-2) 7:45 p.m. Eastern, Thursday, October 11, 2007 on ESPN.
by Jerald of Predictem.com
The Florida State Seminoles will meet the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in this Thursday night ACC battle. Florida State is on a 4 game winning streak after losing their season opener. Wake Forest is the defending ACC Champion and is looking to build on last year’s success.
Florida State will be looking for revenge from last year’s shutout loss. The Seminoles had won 9 straight games against the Demon Deacons before last year’s upset.
Florida State is led by Junior QB Xavier Lee who took over for the ineffective Drew Weatherford. Lee has completed 59.6% of his passes for 481 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Wake Forest is led by Sophomore QB Riley Skinner who has completed 70.6% of his passes for 676 yards, 2 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.
Florida State ranks 89th in total offense with an average of 120.6 yards rushing (3.33 yards per rush) and 224.6 yards passing per game. They rank 88th in scoring offense averaging 23.2 points per game. The Demon Deacons offense ranks 93rd in total offense averaging 139.0 yards rushing (3.39 yards per carry) and 199.0 yards passing. Wake Forest ranks 60th in scoring offense averaging 27.6 points per game.
The Seminoles defense ranks 18th in total defense giving up an average of 81.8 yards rushing (2.62 yards per carry) and 220.8 yards passing per game. They rank 9th in scoring defense giving up an average of 15.6 points per game. Wake Forest ranks 61st in total defense giving up 111.0 yards rushing (2.97 yards per carry) and 247.4 yards passing. They rank 61st in scoring defense giving up 25.6 points per game.
The Sagarin PREDICTOR ratings at USAToday.com rank the Seminoles 31st at 78.89. Wake Forest ranks 51st at 73.89.
Florida State opened up as a 5.5 point favorite. The line has risen to Florida State -6. At the time of this writing, the public was backing the Florida State 66%-34%.
The Predictem Pick:
Wake Forest seems to have a pattern of playing well when they are an underdog and playing poorly when favored. They run a very conservative attack that should keep the score close. We think the Demon Deacons have a great chance of winning this game at home and are calling for an upset. Take the points!
WAKE FOREST 21 Florida State 20