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ACC Faces Another Tough Weekend by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com, TSLMail #450 September 17, 2010 Last week didn't turn out well for the ACC. Despite many people (me including) believing that the conference would be better this year, September 11 proved otherwise. This league still has a ways to go.
Last weekend's games damaged the ACC's reputation even further, though NC State got this weekend off to a good start with a 30-19 victory over Cincinnati on Thursday night. There will be some other big non-conference games on Saturday, with Maryland playing at West Virginia, Virginia Tech hosting East Carolina, Duke hosting Alabama, Clemson traveling to Auburn, Wake Forest playing at Stanford and Florida State hosting BYU.
Duke doesn't stand much of a chance against Alabama, but the ACC will have an opportunity to compete in the rest of those non-conference games. Maryland is at WVU, but the Mountaineers have been less than impressive so far this season. They should have lost to Marshall last weekend on the road, but a critical fumble inside the five yard line gave WVU hope and they took advantage. Maryland is 2-0, and they'll head to Morgantown with improved quarterback play, healthy running backs and some confidence. Virginia Tech should beat East Carolina in Lane Stadium, but who really knows what will happen in that game? The Pirates have a very bad defense, but offensively they are averaging 50 points per game. Will the Hokies come out ready to hit somebody, or will they be down on themselves after losing the first two games? Florida State beat BYU 54-28 last season. The Noles' offense should be able to put up plenty of points again, but the FSU defense didn't look strong in last week's trip to Oklahoma. Clemson at Auburn could be the most entertaining game of the day, with one of the SEC's high-profile teams going up against arguably the most SEC-like of all the ACC schools. Both teams are 2-0, and this game could come down to whose quarterback plays the best: Auburn's Cameron Newton or Clemson's Kyle Parker. With a big road win, the Tigers could find themselves ranked in the Top 25 next week. The late night game will be Wake Forest traveling to Stanford. The Demon Deacons won this matchup last year, but this year Stanford is the heavy favorite. The Cardinal is ranked #19 in the country, but the Wake offense has rolled through Presbyterian and Duke to average over 50 points and 500 yards per game. Though this weekend's opponents aren't high-profile teams like Ohio State, Oklahoma or even Boise State, ACC schools do match up against four Top 25 teams. Splitting those games would be a step in the right direction, and certainly a lot better than last weekend's results. Unfortunately, of all those games against ranked opponents, only Duke is at home. Duke beating Alabama would be about as big of an upset as James Madison beating Virginia Tech. The weekend will come down to Maryland, Clemson and Wake Forest going on the road and beating Top 25 opponents, which is asking quite a bit.
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Another
football game is upon us, but there is more to talk about than East
Carolina. Today we'll take a quick look at Tech's two minute
offense, more basketball bad luck, and also an NCAA president who is
cracking down on the rule breakers of college football.
Two
Dinwiddie High School (VA) seniors, defensive end Corey Marshall
and quarterback Chris Hall, have committed to Virginia Tech.
Generals head coach Billy Mills took some time this week for a
"Quick Take" to discuss his standout seniors, who figure
to be a big part of whatever success Dinwiddie has this season. So
far so good, as the team is off to a 2-0 start with wins over
Poquoson and Varina.
6-5,
240-pound junior offensive tackle Win Homer had a busy
offseason that included camp stops at Boston College, Maryland,
North Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia and Virginia Tech. He now finds
himself two games into his team's regular season, benefitting from
the work he put in and the instruction he received this offseason.
Ocean
Lakes (Virginia Beach, VA) head coach Chris Scott, whose Dolphins
squad is 3-0 so far this season, took some time to update several
recruiting situations and the play of several seniors, including
quarterback Lafonte Thourogood, offensive tackle Chaz Lowery
and more.
Chances
are you've watched Texas Tech on television more than once over the
last several years, and you've always been entertained by their
high-scoring style of offense. East Carolina is coming to Blacksburg
on Saturday, and they're bringing the Texas Tech offense with them.
Not
much to analyze in this game -- it was simply a wet, sloppy mess of
a performance. The inevitable Boise State letdown, the emotional
hangover from losing that game, the short turnaround, the weather
and the high-low going from #5 in the nation to 1-AA opponent all
played a part to varying degrees. How much? Maybe a lot or maybe
very little at all, but the bottom line for me is that the Tech team
we saw on Saturday was not the same team we saw in the spring. It
was not the same team we saw in fall camp. Not even close. Too many
turnovers, too many mental mistakes, too many missed tackles, and
too many missed blocks.
Last
Friday night, Dominique Terrell showed why he is one of the
most highly recruited prospects in the state of Virginia's 2011
class. The 5-11, 175-pound senior rushed 35 times for 190 yards and
completed five of six passes for 112 yards and two scores in leading
Osbourn (Manassas, VA) to a 33-20 win over Mountain View (Stafford).
Monday
night's show, the first in two weeks due to the Boise State game,
featured athletic director Jim Weaver, offensive coordinator Bryan
Stinespring, placekicker Chris Hazley, and head football coach Frank
Beamer.
When
I arrived home Saturday evening from this debacle, my hands still
chilled into claw shapes from sitting in rain with temperatures in
the mid-50s, my wife said, "I told the kids you'll be in a bad
mood." Nope. I never react to dire situations with anger,
because when things hit the fan, you have to stay cool, not pitch a
temper tantrum. And a loss to JMU qualifies as a dire situation.
In
two regular season games, opposing coaches are staying away from
Bayside (Virginia Beach, VA) star senior cornerback Demetrious
"Trey" Nicholson. The talented prospect has had his
fingerprints on each of the Marlins first two games, both resulting
in wins.