Brett Friedlander, Saturday Road ACC Columnist, joins Adam to talk about Carolina football and the Coastal division.

This is the Adam Gold Show. Brett Friedlander, ACC columnist, SaturdayRoad.com joins us on the Adam Gold Show. All right, let's set aside Wake Army for a second. It's going to be a weird game, but I think Wake's too good and I think they'll score a lot of points and that'll be enough.

So let's start with the Tar Heels in Miami. How do you see this? Because I can paint a scenario that either team wins by a lot.

Yep. So I don't know what to think. My fallback is Drake May is probably the best player in the game, so I'll go with Drake May. But how do you see this?

I'm right there with you. The thing I'm really interested in seeing is how much of last week's defensive performance was Virginia Tech's ineptitude and how much of it was UNC's improvement. Because I believe there was probably a little of both, but we'll find out how much. But I do think that Drake May, and now that he's got Josh Downs in his full complement of receivers healthy and back. You have to figure those young backs are going to continue to get better. I just feel like they can outscore Miami as long as they don't turn the ball over a bunch. I think that Carolina wins this game. And I think how much Carolina wins this game will depend on how good or how much better the defense is. Because that defense doesn't have to be great for that team to win the Coastal Division. Just be decent. Steve Logan used to say, get run over slowly. He was talking about it in terms of an offensive lineman just getting in the way of a pass rush. But just get run over slowly if North Carolina can do that.

I agree. I asked Chip Patterson this yesterday. Who's going to win the Coastal?

And he also said North Carolina. Is this game in some way kind of an early indictment of Mario Cristobal? Because they lost to Texas A&M.

It wasn't necessarily an evening. Miami had chances. They just couldn't move the ball when they got inside the 20. But then you get really handled by Middle Tennessee State.

You're a clear second best in that game. Is this going to be some sort of an indicator about Mario Cristobal down there? You know, it's not a good look for him. But a first year coach, you have to kind of sweep out the bad so you can bring in your own people and be better. First of all, I think it's more of an indictment on Tyler Van Dyke. Because if you remember last year, he was a flash in the pan, man. He came in midway through the season and he lit a fire under them. But he really only had five games as a starter to really just kind of judge him by. And so maybe he's coming back to the norm a little bit. And I think if he gets off to a bad start, you're going to see Jake Garcia very quickly.

I think Mario will have a very short leash on Van Dyke. And so there's that. And the other thing too is they're all American offensive linemen has not played yet because of an injury and he's supposed to have been back. And, you know, so they've got some offensive line issues, which doesn't help either. But yeah, it's not a good look. But I mean, look, it's dear one. Miami has always been held to a much higher standard than I think Miami deserves.

And I think this may be along those same lines. You know, we want Miami to be back because when the U was the U, I mean, it was a show. We like shows.

We like excitement. And they were a show. And in a similar way, we I don't I don't think I think most of us were pretty grounded about what Florida State was. My opinion of Florida State was, man, they look competent. I don't think they're really good, but they look like they are.

At least they have a plan and they are sticking to it and they're not beating themselves. I think Wake Forest was flat better than them in Tallahassee. And I think they are better than them. I think state is also better than FSU. But this is an interesting game. Wolfpack don't want to get beat twice by Clemson and Florida State is still Florida State.

Yeah. And and by the way, I think that that game last week proved more that Wake Forest is really, really good. Then Florida State is really, really bad or that they were exposed or whatever.

But I agree with you. And I think the one thing that's going into Wolfpack's favor this week, other than the fact it's at home and they will get a lot of energy from that crowd, which I think is still going to will them to be better. I think that they still have a very important goal, even though I would say the ACC championship is out of the question. They still have an opportunity to break that 10 win barrier and they came so close to it last year. And it means a lot to them.

It means a lot to Dave Doran. And I think that goal is what will keep them focused and allow them to move past Clemson and be ready to play on Saturday. I think that they will be a much better team. I think you'll see them be a very fired up team on Saturday.

I think they will, too. I think both teams will struggle to score. I think state will struggle less than Florida State to score.

I think state's defense is better than Florida State's. And I don't think this is a game where they have to do too much out of the norm in order to win it. I go back to the Clemson game and I think they had to do some things that are outside their comfort zone that they were obviously unwilling to do.

I know they threw it a lot, but they threw it a lot out of necessity late. I just think that they're putting a ceiling on themselves and I'd rather see a little bit more, I don't know, a little bit more risk taking out of their offense. That offense last week may have thrown the ball a lot, but I don't think they threw the ball the right way a lot. And yes, their receivers are not the caliber of Wake Forest and maybe they weren't getting the separation that Wake Forest's receivers were. But by dinking and dunking and throwing those short passes, swing out into the flatter in the middle, you're playing into the best part of Clemson's defense, those linebackers. And you didn't take advantage of the weakest part, which was the secondary. They should have taken a lot more shots. And yes, they couldn't protect Leary that well. But you know what? In a game like that, with the risk-reward of throwing deep the way Wake Forest succeeded at it, take your sacks.

You're going to get them, but you know what? You're going to get more big plays and I don't think that they threw the ball downfield anywhere near enough to win that game. And you don't even have to throw it deep. I actually don't think Devin Leary is a great deep passer. I think he overthrows a lot of receivers. But there are a lot of intermediate throws that Leary is great at and they should have been living and dying by that because that also tests the secondary all game long.

And I keep harping on this and I don't want to be repetitive, but I haven't talked to you about it. I felt the turning point in that game in a negative way for NC State was their first drive after Clemson kicks the field goal where the play calling when they got it first and goal from the seven seemed designed to protect three points as opposed to go after seven. I agree with you 100%. I actually thought the turning point was the first possession of the second half where after Clemson came back and took the lead just for halftime, State came out and gave up two sacks and it was clear that they did not make any adjustments at halftime and that Clemson had.

But yes, you're right. Not scoring there and making a statement. They could have quieted that crowd down and they could have gotten Dabo thinking because you know, I don't think Dabo and his offensive coordinator really called a very aggressive game there too. I thought that you could tell Dabo still doesn't have a lot of confidence in that offense and I think it was there for the taking and by playing for that field goal. It was almost like okay Dabo, you're going to get away with this. You can get away with this. We're going to let you do it.

No, I agree. It's funny. I thought Clemson called the type of game a little bit conservative offensively because they weren't sure that State would be aggressive enough offensively.

So why take the risk if you don't have to? And they were right. And they absolutely were right and I think State, when you look at those two rosters, I don't think State is that far behind Clemson, but because of that, I just think you had to be a little bit more dynamic and they weren't.

Alright, make this make sense. Duke is real. Duke could be good. They're 4-1. The only loss is at Kansas and that was a competitive football game and Kansas is obviously good. And if they go to Georgia Tech and do what I think they're going to do, I know Georgia Tech played well at Pitt last week, but I don't anticipate that continuing or at least not in terms of a win. Then Duke and Carolina might end up being for the upper hand in the Coastal. How do I deal with this, Brett?

I don't know because I'm not dealing with it very well either. I still can't believe it. But here's the thing about Duke, you know, a lot of attention on Riley Leonard and that young stable of running backs. It's been very good. But to me, the biggest part of that team has been the defense so far and Mike Elko is a defensive guy. You know, they lead the nation with eight fumble recoveries. They are plus eight in turnover margin, which is ranked tied for fifth in the nation and that makes it a lot easier on an offense when you're getting short fields and you know, you're not giving up points. You're getting the ball right back and and I think that's been the biggest thing and let's let's face it. The schedule has definitely worked in their favor so far because other than the Kansas game on the road, I mean Northwestern looked like a great win at the time.

It's not quite so so much. Anyway, look at their ACC first two games, right? Right, you know, you played Virginia last week, which is just awful. And then this week, you know, Georgia Tech, which by the way played its first game last week under a new an interim coach and you know, I mean, you know from hockey and from short you get that jolt of energy that emotion that you want to really show that, you know, you can play for this guy and that and they spent it up last week at Pittsburgh. I don't think that they're going to be anywhere near as as emotional as prepared as they're going to be Georgia Tech again. I think and I think Jordan and I think Duke wins this game because number one Georgia Tech isn't very good and number two. I think Duke is really started to to understand that they are good and that their ceiling is still, you know, a lot further away that they can still get much better. I put out a poll question the other day who wins the coastal North Carolina Miami Duke or field Brett Friedlander from saturdayroad.com.

If you were answering that question, how would you answer it? I would still take one of the top three. I would say right now if I had to, if I had a gun to my head, I would say I think the Tar Heels if they can just not be terrible on defense are, you know, will be the, you know, the team to beat but here's, you know, Duke, you still have Virginia Tech. So take care of business against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. Now, basically, all you have to do I think is win two of those other three games because I don't think anybody's going undefeated in the coastal and you got a great shot at winning this thing.

So, you do they have to be tutorials I yes i don't think i just don't think there's enough good on that side, where if the winner of the Duke, assuming North Carolina wins in Miami this week, and that's that is obviously a big assumption. But if North Carolina wins at Miami. I think Duke Carolina is for my it might actually be for the division title.

Because, because the tiebreakers. Now, I do believe that we'll get to the end of the season and the coastal champ will six and two might win it outright. But if you're six and two and you've got that tiebreak over your two closest competitors theoretically in Miami and Duke, then I think that North Carolina will ultimately win it but either way you're probably a sacrificial lamb to Clemson and we'll close on this and Brett if you haven't, do you have an explanation as to why Clemson at BC is on ABC Saturday night, because it's Clemson.

I mean, gosh, that could be, that could be a nightmare. Unless, unless everybody thinks that Clemson is coming down off state and looking ahead to Florida State, in which case trap game competitive, and people get a chance to say Boston College Phil Jacob it's like now man this is, I don't know if I'm watching this. I'm not either Clemson is a thing of the past. Those guys have been around long enough and have been, you know, in contention to win national championships long enough that they know to go take care of business and the best part about Clemson right now is that they've played better in each of the last two games and you can just kind of feel them started to make that move to become an actual national contender so I think this is going to be ugly.

The only thing I can think of is that it's going to be such a dead atmosphere that they're going to be flat but I don't think that's going to make much of a difference. All right, real real quick about Clemson we'll let Brett Friedlander go. The, I think there is a very good chance that they are number four at the end of all of this and they go into, they get into the playoff. But do you, do you think that the best of Clemson can beat Alabama, Ohio State or Georgia. No. And the reason is, is because as good as DJ Yui Agale has been over the last, you know, three, four weeks and he's gotten better he's definitely playing, you know, to the point where you're not you're not hearing about quarterback controversies there anymore, but he's still not at that quality that offense and his receivers don't help him either.

Thank you. That's the thing. It's not just DJ is that the weapons on the outside aren't nearly as good as those other teams. I mean, Bo Collins is okay, but for a championship caliber team, he'd be number three receiver, but he's their number one guy, but but so I don't think that they're good enough offensively and they haven't played well enough defensively to be able to hide, you know, their offensive deficiencies. Now that defense, if everybody is healthy on the defensive line and they can figure out a way to hide the secondary by putting more pressure on quarterbacks, you know, maybe they pull off one of those wins, you know, depending on who ends up being the number one seed or if they can maybe be the three seed, but I don't think that they're, this is not a classic Clemson team now.

Yeah, no, I think they get into the plan. Well, they'll end up being three because either two SEC teams won't be one in three, although maybe they will because they're, I think they're two of the best three teams anyway. Brett Friedlander, saturdayroad.com. I thank you very much, man. We'll do it again. Always a pleasure, Adam. You got it.

Thank you very much. All right, halftime, orange wedges, all of that. Now your halftime entertainment. All right, well, it's lunchtime, so why not talk about food? It's national noodle day, but here's the thing. National noodles.

I didn't realize it was a thing, but this is what got me into this article. 10 things that a thousand Italians said you should not do with pasta. So if you're going to celebrate national noodle noodle day, these are 10 things that you shouldn't do with your pasta. It's basically stuff like with water, putting pasta in cold water, then boiling it. That's a no-no.

Oiling it in plain water without salting it. Also a no-no. Okay, hold on. What is a no-no?

The first one again? Putting pasta in cold water and then boiling it. Oh no, boil it first.

Absolutely. Who does this? I know some of these I'm like, who does this? Some, they also say you don't need to put oil in the water either because it just makes it slippery.

I don't know. A little drop is good so the pasta doesn't stick together. Exactly. Just don't go overboard.

They also, and my mom totally does this, breaking the pasta in half so it will fit in the pot. Don't do that apparently either. So, sorry mom. Okay. I don't think it matters. I don't think it matters. I think it's a little nitpicky.

You like the long noodle. Okay, I get it. Exactly. To each their own.

Let's see. Oh, also a lot of people do this but apparently you're not supposed to put pasta on the plate without the sauce. You know how some people will put sauce on top and then mix it on their plate? You're not supposed to do that. What are you supposed to do? You're supposed to mix the sauce and the pasta together.

Oh, first. Then, yes. Well, it all depends on how you're serving it. Exactly. I grew up in a very Italian neighborhood in New Jersey and I used to go to Sunday dinners at my friend's often, which by the way, I had a hard time with Sunday dinner being at two o'clock. It's just me. So, they would put like giant bowls of pasta on the table and it was all pre-mixed sauce, meatballs, sausage, all that.

All of it. It was already in but at home, I make the sauce separately from the pasta, put the pasta on the plate and then ladle the meatballs and sauce on top. You know how many of these Italians say that you're not supposed to do that apparently? I violated the law. You have.

This one kind of got me because who doesn't do this? You're not supposed to have garlic bread with pasta. I don't know why. Garlic bread is mid anyway. It is. It's my word for today.

My 14 year old word for today is mid. We're just going to use it as much as possible today. So, you know, there are some Olive Garden people who are highly irritated at that thought because they live for those breadsticks. So, you know, to each their own.

Again, now who does this? Putting ketchup on your pasta? Well, two year olds do that. Really? Yeah, like children.

I don't have one, but wow. Yeah, children do that. Now, I know people who will put ketchup on anything, but pasta, I'm kind of like, okay, that's gross.

No, children do that. Okay. Well, if you're going to make some today, then that's what you should do. Apparently from a thousand Italians. I'm going to float this pasta spaghetti, heat it up in the microwave, just use microwave, with some melted butter, Parmesan cheese, and like red pepper flakes. Oh, yeah.

Maybe a little oregano. Yes. It's a very simple. All right, we can get away with this. Oh, yeah.

Get by quick, easy. I totally could see that. That sounds delicious. Now, speaking of, I make a mean lasagna, like a really good.

And for me, this may be faux pas. I make it the night before. Yeah.

And then I put it in the fridge so it all settles and stuff. Yeah. Lasagna is better the second go round.

Like chili is better the second go round. Yes. It needs time to just kind of. Marry. Marry. I like Marry is better than ferment. Right. The other kind of fermenting for wine is great, but yeah, not our food, please. Thank you.

But yeah. National pasta day or noodle day. Along with the food theme. There's a new beer for White Castle Burger fans, just in case you want to pair the two. And it's called It Hits Different.

I love the name. It's the alcohol content is six point five and it's offering. It's an IPA. It offers subtle bitterness in the hops profile countered with a pleasant light tangerine sweetness.

OK. That just sounds like an IPA to me. But I'm curious why it's for White Castle. So I guess when they made this, it was a White Castle fan who likes to eat these burgers and they thought that this combo was just primo. So I guess I don't eat enough White Castle. Have you been to have you had it's interesting.

It is interesting. I don't think any other explanation has to be offered on a White Castle hamburger, right, which is barely a hamburger. Barely. It's a lot of bun little tiny. Oh, yeah.

With chopped onion. Yeah. It's. Yeah.

No, I know. Well, here locally, you have to go to Virginia is the closest state because it's a limited edition. So if you want to try this, it's different. Is there is there a White Castle in North Carolina that I don't know there is. So I think that there is one in Virginia, maybe Danville, somewhere up there.

That's probably why that's one of the states. So you can just go through the drive through, go home, crack open. It hits different. OK. And see if it works. Check it out. I don't know.

I don't really pair stuff together like that now. I know it's spooky season. So you may have heard the latest news about Tom Brady and his wife, Giselle. I've I've definitely heard rumors. There is there is no joy yet in Bradyville. There's trouble in paradise, apparently.

Well, not only that, they I think they said that there are divorce papers that have been brought up. But here's an interesting take. Supposedly, Giselle is a witch. Uh huh. Uh huh. Giselle Brady, he actually talked about this.

And here it is. She just wills it so much. And so she put together a little altar for me that I could bring with pictures of my kids. And I have these little special stones and healing stones and protection stones. She has me wear a necklace and take these drops she makes. I say all these mantras. And I stopped questioning her a long time ago. I did. I just shut up and listen.

And at first I was like, this is kind of crazy. And then about four years ago, we were playing the Seahawks and she said, you better listen to me. This is your year. But this is all the things you're going to have to do to win. And I did all those things.

And by God, you don't work pretty good. And then in 2015, it was about early January and she said, you know how much I love you? And I said, Yeah. And she said, I just want to let you know, this is not going to be your year.

And of course, we lost. I said, what does 16 look like? And she said, 16 is going to be your year.

So it was early January this year and I said, babe, I asking like, do we have a chance? And she said, Yeah, but you're gonna have to do a lot of work and you're really gonna have to listen to me. So man, I listened to her. And right after the game, she said, See, I did a lot of work. You do your work.

I do mine. She said, You're lucky you married a witch. I'm just a good witch. See, maybe that has a lot to do with things. And now she's mad because he went back into the NFL after she was like, Hey, honey, it's time to spend time with family.

Well, they didn't go on that vacation to wherever they went in the middle of August in the middle of training camp. Right. Um, here's, here's the thing. Some people are into stones. I had a an old girlfriend who was into crystals. Okay. To the point where if we walked into a crystal shop or a shop that had crystals, I mean, I guess there are crystal shop.

But you know, if you're on a vacation in a little small town, you walk into everything smells like patchouli. Yeah. There's, there's candles and there's incense and there's crystals.

She would like get headaches. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Wow. Right. Interesting. Yeah.

I'm sorry, it's just, it's, it's just a rock, just a rock, right. But you know. Who knows? I mean, I guess they feel some type of way about this. I think this is crazy.

She had some altar. Who knows? Maybe it worked though, because there are speculations. I mean, he is looking a little different these days. He looks skinny. He does. He does. His face looks almost sickly, almost gaunt. Yeah.

Almost gone. He looks, he looks very skinny to me. I like, I still think he's good. I watched him. He does. He's not always great, but I still think he's good.

Even when he's not great, he's still good. But yeah, I've heard, I've heard that, that, that yeah, it's gonna end. I know. I feel bad about that.

I thought they would last forever. I know. I thought so too. But apparently she's got some voodoo doll on him or something. I hope not. I know. Voodoo works. I have no idea. Maybe. It's Halloween season. So yeah, sure. It is the Adam Gold Show.