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What do you need to see to believe this team can with a Natty?

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Frankly, I don't think anyone can really say until the Canes play one of the big boys from the SEC or Ohio State, which may not happen until the semi-final round of the playoff.

I don't think there's anyone in the ACC (including Clemson) that would be comparable.
 
NC_Canes_11 said:
Agreed. UGA presents problems we don’t have answers for.
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Wait maybe i worded it wrong, i mean those teams are matchup up tougher for us than uga, i would rather play uga than osu tenn texas as of right now.

I cant be scared of a team i think we clearly have a better offense than. Tenn texas osu have great defenses and offenses, right now i think uga has a great defense but mid offense. I think we will see it show as the season goes on, they won’t make it out of bama tenn ole miss texas without at minimum 2 losses imo
 
They don't have legit tests on the schedule but they will need

- The DBs to be good enough to force big time throws out of the opposing QB
- An outside WR may need to step up and force respect from safeties against elite defenses

Otherwise I think Cam Ward + this OL + this pass rush is strong enough to challenge Ewers/Beck/Howard/Nico/Dart/Gabriel/etc. to have to ball out to keep up with Ward and I think Ward is good enough to win that duel if it comes to that and Ward has enough support around him to make it a fair fight.
 
E1k said:
Not saying they’re not a tough challenge but osu texas tenn are tougher matchups for us than uga imo
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UGA has the one defense that I wouldn't feel at all confident going against. They actually look like cyborgs.

Not saying we'd win, but I think our offense would score against all the other teams. We'd give up a lot, too.
 
E1k said:
Wait maybe i worded it wrong, i mean those teams are matchup up tougher for us than uga, i would rather play uga than osu tenn texas as of right now.

I cant be scared of a team i think we clearly have a better offense then. Tenn texas osu have great defenses and offenses, right now i think uga has a great defense but mid offense. I think we will see it show as the season goes on, they won’t make it out of bama tenn ole miss texas without at minimum 2 losses imo
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Kirby at UGA wrote the book on beating Tenn. He’s not losing that one. UGA will beat Texas too. Bama is their best chance to lose. Will Howard isnt a national championship level QB. He makes them beatable. Texas is really good everywhere, not elite anywhere. Losing Murphy and Sweat on the D line will be their undoing. Ole Miss doesn’t have the horses to compete. They’ll again beat every team they’re more talented than, and lose to Bama and UGA. Don’t overreact to that Kentucky game. They did the same last year at Mizzou and the year before their first SEC road game. They’re elite elite. Not 2022 great, but right below it.
 
305_separatist said:
Conference play is upon us. We’ve looked great against 4 bottom of the barrel cupcakes (at least USF played us tough for a half).

Wha do you need to see down the stretch of ACC opponents to be confident this team could make a serious run at a Natty in the playoffs?

For me:
- This is a helluva long season. You need depth to succeed, so I need to continue to see more players getting involved at all position groups. Lyle exploding onto the scene last game was a prime example, need more of that.
- Small iterative improvements. Great teams get better over the season. Cam and the OL have been great, but have left meat on the bone. Need to keep shoring up line play and tuning up some of the throws.
- Sweep *most* opponents. Should win every game in the ACC by 2+ touchdowns. The competition simply isn’t great. However even the all time great teams (2001) have down games, so I’ll excuse a single bad showing as long as we pull out the win.
- Clean up penalties. Have no doubt, refs will try to ***** us in the playoffs. We were robbed in 2002 and if we play it close again and give them an excuse, they will do it again. Need to play clean af and lower our rate of penalties as the season progresses.

We do all those things, and obviously stay healthy, I think we will be able to compete with anyone.
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How about our Canes just beat VT on Friday?
 
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NC_Canes_11 said:
Kirby at UGA wrote the book on beating Tenn. He’s not losing that one. UGA will beat Texas too. Bama is their best chance to lose. Will Howard isnt a national championship level QB. He makes them beatable. Texas is really good everywhere, not elite anywhere. Losing Murphy and Sweat on the D line will be their undoing. Ole Miss doesn’t have the horses to compete. They’ll again beat every team they’re more talented than, and lose to Bama and UGA. Don’t overreact to that Kentucky game. They did the same last year at Mizzou and the year before their first SEC road game. They’re elite elite. Not 2022 great, but right below it.
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I was gonna say this re: Will Howard. He's the weak link. Don't be surprised if OSU pull a 1990s egg vs a 3 loss Michigan.
 
Already did. My opinion, beyond some wild rash of unfortunate events, number 1 will have this team in any game. Period.
 
Brains said:
UGA has the one defense that I wouldn't feel at all confident going against. They actually look like cyborgs.

Not saying we'd win, but I think our offense would score against all the other teams. We'd give up a lot, too.
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I feel this way about osu as well lol but id rather face a kirby/bobo offense than a day/kelly offense
 
NC_Canes_11 said:
Kirby at UGA wrote the book on beating Tenn. He’s not losing that one. UGA will beat Texas too. Bama is their best chance to lose. Will Howard isnt a national championship level QB. He makes them beatable. Texas is really good everywhere, not elite anywhere. Losing Murphy and Sweat on the D line will be their undoing. Ole Miss doesn’t have the horses to compete. They’ll again beat every team they’re more talented than, and lose to Bama and UGA. Don’t overreact to that Kentucky game. They did the same last year at Mizzou and the year before their first SEC road game. They’re elite elite. Not 2022 great, but right below it.
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We shall see
 
Reyrey said:
Not many teams go from 7-5 to national champions. 2000 Oklahoma was the last team to do something like that. They went 7-5 to 13-0 national champions. I don’t think a team has had year over year turn around better than that. It’s also much harder with the playoffs and added games now.

With Cam Ward, honestly, anything is possible. He’s that good. But, to @DMoney point, I think we lack a little bit on the elite top end talent depth. Especially at CB/WR. Keeping up with OSU or Bama at the skill spots would be my biggest concern. Not saying we can’t, but would be a tall task.
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This is the NIL era and with the portal you can take a huge leap from one year to the next…especially if you hit on positions of need
 
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WeBallinBoyz said:
We wouldn’t be 7 by the way, since we are projected to win our conference. The 4 conference winners get the top 4 seeds - we’re slated as the #3 team as of today.

As for OP’s question:

- Tendency to give up explosives on the ground (we were outside the top 75 in rushing explosiveness allowed entering Saturday, so while USF was a bright spot, it’s still a concern considering we’ve played four pretty average to garbage teams.
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That's why I said "This weekend"
 
Nothing, I just don’t believe we are there yet. Our WRs aren’t up to par even though they are good and our CBs will get diced by an accurate QB let alone one that has top tier WRs at their disposal. Lastly, I still think our LBs aren’t up to par in coverage and while our DL is very good, I’m not sure how they perform against an elite OL.

All in all, I’m going to enjoy the ride as this is not only the most talented team we have had in what seems like forever but we will basically have the best player on the field at all times in Cam. Don’t think we are a chip contender but it’s gonna be and has been a fun season.
 
JamesQuall said:
If we (the #7 team) were playing in the playoffs this weekend, we'd be playing #10 Utah and I like our chances. However, ask me at end of November. I'm sitting back and enjoying this team because it's special. The best team I have seen in a loooooong time.

There is still A LOT of football to be played and we've already seen some injuries (Cooper, Bain, Damari, Rivers, etc). Unfortunately there will be more. When they come, who they happen to, and how long are pure chance. We can only hope we stay healthy and this team should give us a lot of great memories.
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If we win the ACC, chances are we'll be no worse than a #4 seed (most likely a 3) with a bye.

Here's one projection having us play Bama or Tenn in the Peach.
www.on3.com

College Football Playoff: ESPN predicts 2024 12-team bracket, full bowl slate after Week 4

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www.on3.com www.on3.com
 
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