A look at the ACC
Posted at 9:30 pm on Friday, October 5th, 2007 by Vince[The following post was published at HokieHaven.com on October 5, 2007.]
What a difference a month makes. Before the season started, we expected to see the same ol’ Hokie defense, a much improved offense, and a possibly shaky kicking game. Instead, we have watched our defense play solidly, but not better than last year, we have seen our offense struggle, and we have watched our kickers excel. After five weeks of the season, one would think the questions about our offense would have been answered by now. Instead, we head to Clemson with an uncertainty hanging over our heads.
Clemson was supposed to be a road test, but an expected win, on our way to the ACC Championship Game. Everyone and their mother picked us to win the ACC this year. While that championship is very much within reach, there is much more doubt that we can achieve it. We are presently 5.5 point underdogs at Clemson, and we wonder when we will see consistent output by our offense. I have to admit, immediately after the win over North Carolina, I was expecting another Tiger-sized beatdown during our visit to another Death Valley. Clemson was looking like one of the top teams of the ACC, and we had an ugly win over a not-so-good UNC team.
However, Clemson didn’t look so hot when Georgia Tech rebounded from their loss to Virginia and beat the Tigers Saturday night. The Yellow Jackets held Clemson to 34 rushing yards on 32 attempts. That’s barely over 1 yard per carry. The more I think about it, the more I expect to see the bruising defensive struggle everyone expected to see on September 8th. Not necessarily because both teams feature good defenses, but because both teams have struggling offenses. The team that comes away the victor will have won in spite of their offense, not because of their offense. In short, it will be a typical ACC game.
What can I say about this year’s ACC? Once again, it’s a defensive-minded conference with subpar offenses, and no standout team. As a whole, the conference had a solid weekend last week. With out of conference wins over then #10 Rutgers, #22 Alabama, and Pittsburgh, the ACC did not look as bad as everyone thinks they are. However, with Clemson’s loss and Boston College’s lackluster 24-14 win over Massachusetts, there don’t appear to be clear favorites for the conference championship game. Boston College is the only unbeaten ACC team, is the only ACC team in the top 10, and they are the only team in the Atlantic division without a loss. They are 3-0 in conference play, and they appear to be in the driver’s seat for that division. However, they have a difficult conference schedule with trips to Virginia Tech, Maryland, and Clemson, and visits from Florida State and Miami. Clemson’s only loss was outside the division, so they control their own destiny in the Atlantic. Wake Forest, Florida State, and Maryland all have 1 loss in conference play, and still have most of their conference schedule remaining.
Virginia is the other ACC team with a 3-0 conference record, and they sit at the top of the Coastal division. They appear to have a favorable conference schedule with road games at Maryland, NC State, and Miami, and home games against Wake Forest and Virginia Tech. The Cavaliers haven’t proven themselves on the road just yet, and it’s quite possible they lose at Maryland and Miami. Miami and Virginia Tech are 1-0 in conference play behind UVA in the Coastal. The key road trips for the Hurricanes appear to be at Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Boston College, and their key home games are against Georgia Tech and Virginia. The Hokies remaining schedule is probably the most difficult in the division, with trips to Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Virginia, and key home games against Boston College, Florida State, and Miami.
With Georgia Tech, Duke, and UNC each with 2 losses in ACC play, you have to think that the Coastal is the a three horse race between UVA, Virginia, and Miami. On the flip side, the Atlantic division looks wide open to me. Boston College presently looks like the top team in the division and the conference, but that can change in a hurry. If I had to guess right now, I’d probably pick the Hokies to play Boston College for the conference championship. UVA needs to win some games on the road before they earn the right to be the favorite in the Coastal, and Miami’s only quality win so far was against an overrated Texas A&M squad. Our Hokies haven’t exactly proved anything either, so it’s quite possible that the Coastal division champion has 2 losses in conference.
The good news for the Hokies, if you can say that, is that the real meat of our schedule starts three weeks from now on October 25th, when Boston College comes to town. After the Clemson game, we visit Duke and then have our bye week. This gives us more time to get our problems on offense ironed out before we run the gauntlet in November. Also, Clemson is a game outside of our division. Even if we lose on Saturday night, we still own our destiny within the division: win out after Clemson and we’re in the ACC Championship Game. Yes, that’s a tall order, but there is plenty of time to right the ship.
Before I conclude this week’s post, I wanted to give a quick shout-out to South Florida. Following their upset win over West Virginia, and their rise to the top 10, I can’t help but feel excited for them and their fans. They’re experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime rise to the top of big-time college football.
I know many college football fans are scoffing at their #6 ranking in the AP Poll, and they believe Bulls don’t deserve it. Personally, I have no idea if they’re the 6th best team in the nation at this point. It’s still somewhat early in the season, and they kind of slid into their #6 ranking thanks to the carnage of the top 10. That said, give South Florida credit. They went to Auburn in week 2 and beat them. In week 3, they did what a top team is supposed to do, and they beat up North Carolina 37-10. Then they took out a national championship contender in last weekend’s Friday night game. I know there is no transitive property of college football, but consider that Auburn just knocked off Florida and we only beat UNC 17-10. South Florida has some quality wins at this point. Great job Bulls!
March 28th, 20102:37 pm at
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