From a situational standpoint, the problematic game is hosting Pittsburgh. It would be very easy for the Canes to be flat in that game, after playing two consecutive games away from home and then followed by two more roaders.

That's a notorious flat spot in long-season sports like basketball and hockey, when a team returns from a long road trip but plays only once at home before being sent on the road again. It's like the body and mind say why bother.

It's not quite as bad in football -- mostly because it's not as common -- but teams in that scenario cover the spread far less than 50% of the time, meaning they underachieve compared to expectation, and the losses as favorite are in higher percentage than the money line suggests.

Our scheduling used to be so advantageous in our glory years. I used to laugh at how often Jankovich would place byes conveniently before huge games.

Oct is going to break or make the 2016 Canes

And will reveal a lot about Richt and his staff in the direction this team is going in.

2 games in 5 days? How the **** is no one suing the NCAA for putting the kids safety at risk?