ACC Game Picks: Will The Fork in the Road Lead Cal to a Victory?

Golden Bears host NC State on Saturday in their fourth attempt to claim their first ACC win

North Carolina State quarterback CJ Bailey / Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza talked after the 39-38 loss to Miami two weeks ago about how the Bears had reached a fork in the road of their season.

He compared it to a year when they made a stand after a 63-19 loss at Oregon. The Bears responded with three wins in a row to become bowl eligible.

Fast-forward to last week and Cal lost its third in a row, falling 17-15 at Pitt. 

Mendoza talks in the video above about how he believes the Bears still took the right path at this fork in the road, preparing better and competing well even a defeat. 

We’ll see how that translates on Saturday when the Bears host North Carolina State, which has experienced its own ups and downs. Can Cal finally secured its first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference victory?

Here are our weekly ACC game picks:

Week 8: 

Last week: Jeff 6-0, Jake 5-1,

Season: Jake 47-33, Jeff 47-33

All picks against the spread 

Betting line from 

Thursday

— Boston College (plus-7) at Virginia Tech, 4:30 p.m., ESPN

Jake: Boston College has played a bunch of close games, which suggests it might beat the spread. But Virginia Tech seems to be getting better and should play well at home. Pick: Virginia Tech

Jeff: The Hokies were competitive against Rutgers and Miami but their only wins were over two Sun Belt teams and Stanford. Pick: Boston College

Friday

— Florida State (plus-3.5) at Duke, 4 p.m., ESPN2

Jake: Duke is not as good as its record, and Florida State is not as good as its preseason hype.  With Brock Glenn at quarterback for the Seminoles now, FSU should be just good enough to beat the spread. Pick: Florida State

Jeff: There is little reason to believe these days in Florida State, which would be winless had Cal not handed them a win. Pick: Duke

Saturday

— No. 6 Miami (minus-4) at Louisville, 9 a.m., ABC/ESPN+

Jake: It’s difficult to bet against Cam Ward, who can turn apparent losses into surprising wins, but this one will be close.  So take the points. Pick: Louisville

Jeff: The Hurricanes used the bye week to devise a plan where they won’t have to go to the final play to win, as happened vs. Virginia Tech and Cal. Pick: Miami

— Virginia (plus-21.5) at No. 10 Clemson, 9 a.m., ACC Network

Jake: Virginia is playing pretty well, so this is a lot of points to give away. But Tigers QB Cade Klubnik and running back Phil Mafah will generate a lot of points if they don’t turn the ball over. Pick: Clemson.

Jeff:  The Tigers have scored 40 points or more in four of their past five games. I don’t see Virginia keeping up. Pick: Clemson

— Wake Forest (plus-1.5) at UConn, 9 a.m., CBSSN

Jake: UConn is not very good, but the Huskies are 4-0 at home, and Wake Forest has made a habit of giving up a lot of points. Pick: UConn

Jeff: UConn hung with Duke on the road, losing by just five points. The Huskies are poised to go to 5-2 in this home game. Pick: UConn

— No. 12 Notre Dame (minus-11.5) at Georgia Tech, 12:30 p.m., ESPN

Jake: Yeah, I know the Irish beat Stanford to a pulp last week, but the Yellow Jackets are good enough to stay close at home. Pick: Georgia Tech

Jeff: This will be a strength-on-strength matchup: Notre Dame’s rushing offense (216 yards per game) vs. Tech’s rush defense (104 yards allowed). Georgia Tech is unbeaten at home and they should cover here. Pick: Georgia Tech

— North Carolina State (plus-10) at Cal, 12:30 p.m., ACC Network

Jake: Cal is riding a three-game losing streak yet is a two-score favorite.  That says a lot about how disappointing this season has been for the Wolfpack. Pick: Cal

Jeff: Assuming they can minimize the self-inflicted wounds, the Bears should win this game. But given Cal’s offensive issues right now, I’m not crazy about the point spread. Pick: NC State

— No. 21 SMU (minus-14.5) at Stanford, 5 p.m., ACC Network

Jake: Since its surprising win at Syracuse, Stanford has lost three games by a combined score of 120-28. Trending the wrong way for the Cardinal. Pick: SMU

Jeff: It only seems like forever since Stanford has defeated an FBS opponent on its home field. But it’s 10 losses in a row in that scenario and we don’t see that changing in front of what have been dwindling crowds at Stanford Stadium. Pick: SMU