Presto's Picks--Sunday and Friday aren't all right...

Primetime football is what every school strives for… you know you’ve arrived as a program when your 8pm kickoffs outnumber the 12 noon starts (or 3:45 ESPN-360’s)…and although it took a while to get accustomed to, Thursday Night Football has taken a special spot on the college calendar. Fast-forward to 2007, with games on every single blasted night at times-- and a regular schedule on Fridays and Sundays—hello?

First, Friday--I have trouble taking that evening’s spotlight away from the high school games (not that I want ESPN to broadcast a “game of the week”)…Secondly, Sunday--despite the obvious fact that it’s right in the middle of the NFL schedule, it’s well after the weekly polls and BCS standings have been released. What makes Thursday special, for now, is that there’s a limited supply of prime-time games and making Fridays and Sundays regular primetime showcases will only cheapen that as a “special” prime-time event…at least until they have a regular game on Tuesdays and Wednesdays…


#11 VIRGINIA TECH at Georgia Tech—for the second straight week the Hokies face a top-notch run defense (allowing 2.5 yards per rush); the Yellowjackets also provide a relentless pass rush (second in the ACC with 28 sacks). Not ideal if you’re a Virginia Tech team with a banged up quarterback (Tyrod Taylor still a question mark) and a running game spinning its wheels…although Branden Ore is fresh off his best game of the season (97 yards against Boston College’s #1 in the nation run defense).

The Hokies will be hard-pressed to contain Yellowjacket runningback and the ACC’s leading rusher Tashard Choice, but if the senior falters freshman sparkplug Jonathan Dwyer (5.9 yards a carry) can make defenders miss just as easily. Georgia Tech’s shown little ability to go to the air this fall (last in the league in passing efficiency)—and with the Hokie defense able to apply pressure (29 sacks), this could turn into a defensive slug-fest. HOKIES nip the Yellowjackets 18-13, scoring on a blocked punt with 34 seconds remaining.