Presto's Picks: A gram of apple vs a pound of orange?

There are a handful of differences between how college and pro football records are kept. I’ve previously tackled the sacks counting as rushing yards; the fact the NFL and NCAA use completely different passer ratings also drives me nuts. Both take different formulas to assess the efficiency of a quarterback with markedly different scales: in the pros an average rating is in the 70’s and 100+ is excellent, in college ball 100 is average and 160+ ratings have been obtained. For those who follow and cover both levels it would be nice to have uniformity—there’s a big enough difference between the two; with different rating systems its like we’re comparing apples using the metric system and oranges using old English measurements.

#12 VIRGINIA TECH at Duke—Hokies wrap up their pre-gauntlet stretch with a trip to Durham—the fun begins October 25th in prime time against Boston College—and the coach’s goal is to always play up the opposition, but give Frank Beamer a little more leeway. The Blue Devils despite a 1-5 start have been much more competitive this fall—Thaddeus Lewis is becoming the quarterback nobody in the ACC wants to face. The Hokie offensive line should get healthy against the Duke front line—a lack of consistency has hampered the running game all year. Still, even the Hokies at halfspeed is better than the Blue Devils…and did we mention Beamerball is back with a bang? HOKIES outscore the Blue Devils 45-17, taking a punt or kickoff back for the second straight week.

MARYLAND—“open” has the toughest strength of schedule, week in and week out, matched only by “idle” or “bye”. Good time for the Terrapins to heal up—at 4-2 the team begins a rough march through the ACC, starting with next week’s border war with Virginia. Linebacker Erin Henderson’s knee leaves him questionable for the Cavalier contest; Jordan Steffy’s concussion might sideline the quarterback a month. With Chris Turner ably filling in the last few weeks, it’s much more imperative Henderson comes back sooner rather than later (the junior averages 11 tackles a game and is a constant force from the weakside).

VIRGINIA vs UConn—the Cavaliers have been a tough team to figure: a light early schedule had several thinking of a 5-1 start, a bad loss at Wyoming had fingers on the panic button and a comeback win over Georgia Tech brought back believers to the bandwagon—before last week’s struggle against Middle Tennessee. Cedric Peerman’s ankle is a major concern—if the main component of UVa’s offense can’t play, can Andrew Pearman and Keith Payne contribute another solid effort (the pair combined for 115 yards and 2 scores against MTSU)? How good is UConn you ask? Huskies are 5-0 but have wins over Duke, Maine, Temple, Pitt and Akron…a rather Rutgeresque feel (Scarlet Knights began with Navy, Norfolk State and Buffalo before losing to Maryland)…CAVALIERS hush the Huskies 22-13.

Elsewhere— HOWARD loses to Morgan State, GEORGETOWN falls to Fordham, JAMES MADISON rips Rhode Island, RICHMOND stops Stonybrook.

Last week: 6-2…Season: 31-12…