Today's battle between Virginia and No. 14 Wake Forest is a matchup of two teams seemingly heading in opposite directions.

After a solid start to the year, UVA struggled mightily in their loss to West Virginia, and that was a precursor to what was to come in Charlottesville. What would follow would be a blowout loss to Florida State, a close loss on the road to SMU, and a loss to Duke, which the Cavaliers seemingly gave away with missed opportunities coming one after another.

On the other hand, Wake Forest is ascending at just the right time. They are coming off a bye week and before that, they had won their last three ACC games by at least 24 points each. They have a clear path in front of them to get to Charlotte and play for an ACC Championship, but the Cavaliers are going to try and foil those plans.

Here are three bold predictions for today's game.

1. Wake Forest wins another by at least 24

The Demon Deacons are a big favorite today so maybe this is not so bold, but it is just hard to see a way that UVA is able to slow down one of the nation's best offenses and make this a competitive game today.

Gio Lopez is playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the country and Wake receiver Carlos Hernandez is one of the toughest covers in the ACC. Given how banged up the Cavaliers defense is, it would take a great effort today to keep this game close and I just don't think they have it in them.

I think this game ends up as a 42-17 type of score in favor of Wake.

2. Beau Pribula has more 200 yards passing for only the second time all season

Pribula has been struggling for the past month or so and only has one game this season where he has thrown for over 200 yards. Not only that, the performance came against Delaware. He has not thrown for over 200 yards against an FBS opponent this season, but because of a number of factors, I think that is going to change today against Wake.

With top rusher Jekail Middlebrook out with an injury in this game, Wake's passing defense being a bit of a weakness, and the fact I think UVA will trail for most of this game, I think that Pribula is going to put up bigger numbers than usual.

3. UVA has fewer than 75 yards rushing

Middlebrook is out and the Cavaliers are going to be facing an underrated defensive front today. This is a team that likes to pride itself on running the football and being the more physical team, but that has not been the reality for most of the season. I think that Virginia is not going to be able to get anything going on the ground this afternoon, whether it is from a running back or it is from Pribula. When Virginia can't run the ball, they are not able to do much on offense otherwise and I think it will be a familiar sight for Cavaliers fans today.