Week Three Bowl Projections

Mark Schlabach (ESPN) – Virginia Tech vs. UCF

Scout.com/CollegeFootballNews.com – North Carolina State vs. UCF

Jerry Palm – Miami vs. Cincinnati

ESPN ACC Blog – Georgia Tech

UCF, coming off a strong victory over Penn State, is the favorite in this week’s projection to head to the Russell Athletic Bowl. The Knights held off a late comeback attempt by the Nittany Lions to preserve a 34-31 win in Happy Valley. Quarterback Blake Bortles had another impressive outing throwing for 288 yards and three touchdowns in the win. UCF has an off week before hosting South Carolina (2-1, 1-1 SEC) in their final nonconference game of the season.

Other than UCF, the only other American team to appear in a projection this week is Cincinnati. The Bearcats remain Jerry Palm’s choice to head to Orlando in December. Cincinnati rebounded after a tough loss to Illinois with a 66-9 win over Northwestern State. The Bearcats travel to in-state rival Miami (Ohio) (0-2) this weekend.

Rutgers dropped out of both projections they were in last week despite a 28-10 win over visiting Eastern Michigan on Saturday. The Knights, who retired the jersey of former player Eric LeGrand before the game, shut out the visitors for the final 37:25 of the game in the 28-10 win. Rutgers hosts SEC-foe Arkansas (3-0) this weekend.

There is more variety in the ACC with four separate teams appearing in projections this week. Miami remains the favorites this week despite being idle. The Hurricanes are both Brad Edwards and Jerry Palm’s choice to head to Orlando. Miami return to action this weekend against FCS-foe Savannah State.

Virginia Tech pulled out a 15-10 win at East Carolina this weekend to improve to 2-1. Logan Thomas led the Hokies with 258 passing yards and two touchdowns in the win. Virginia Tech has a final nonconference tune-up against Marshall (2-1, 0-1 MAC) this weekend before opening up ACC play at Georgia Tech.

North Carolina State makes their first appearance in a projection this week as Scout.com’s choice to head to Orlando. The Wolfpack were idle this weekend before welcoming No. 3 Clemson (2-0) to Raleigh Thursday night to open up ACC play for both teams.

Georgia Tech remains the ESPN ACC Bloggers choice to appear in the Russell Athletic Bowl. The Yellow Jackets had three players rush for at least 60 yards as they tallied 344 total rushing yards in a 38-14 win over Duke. Georgia Tech hosts North Carolina (1-1) this weekend.