Three Bold Predictions For Virginia's Week Zero Game vs NC State

College Football is finally back. After a long offseason and summer, Week Zero commences tomorrow, and perhaps the biggest game of the day is going to take place in Charlottesville between Virginia and NC State.

Last season, the matchup between the Cavaliers and the Wolfpack was talked about a lot not because it was a thrilling game, but because it was a game between two teams in the ACC that turned out not to be a conference game.

This year, though, it counts in the standings, and both teams could use a win here. It is silly to call any week-zero or week-one game a must-win, but the loser of this game is going to be playing catch-up in the conference all season long, while the winner is going to have a leg up in the conference race.

Here are three bold predictions for tomorrow's game.

1. Beau Pribula has 20 carries, two rushing touchdowns

Virginia is going to be missing its top incoming transfer receiver, Rico Flores Jr tomorrow, and they were already going to be implementing a lot of new faces at that position. Virginia has a veteran offensive line, and given that they have a bye week next week and then an FCS opponent, I think there is a chance that UVA quarterback Beau Pribula, who is a really skilled runner, is a big factor in the run game tomorrow.

While Virginia has a talented stable of running backs, Pribula might carry a big load tomorrow to ensure Virginia gets an important ACC win tomorrow.

2. UVA's defense forces three turnovers

Virginia had one of the best defenses in the ACC last season, but they did not have their best game against the Wolfpack last season. The Cavaliers lost a shootout against NC State and the defense was largely to blame.

A lot of the core pieces of last year's defense are back, with linebacker Kam Robinson a game-time decision for tomorrow's game, and NC State is missing several of their biggest playmakers from last year's team. Quarterback CJ Bailey is back, though, and he is one of the best QB's in the ACC, but he is not perfect and has had turnover-prone games before.

I thin John Rudzinski's defense will frustrate Bailey and force him into some mistakes tomorrow.

3. UVA's running back room will be as advertised

There is a lot of talk about the best running back room in the country and the ACC has a lot of good ones. Miami, Georgia Tech, Louisville, and others have a claim to have the best back field in the conference, but you rarely hear Virginia's name mentioned.

That will change tomorrow.

UVA is losing J'Mari Taylor, who was very good in his own right, but Tennessee transfer Peyton Lewis, Middle Tennessee transfer Jekail Middlebrook, and Xavier Brown are a fearsome trio, and I think they will show it tomorrow. This offense is going to be ground-based, and they have enough talent to make that kind of offense work, and I think they will prove they have a powerful running attack tomorrow.

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