Hey, remember when I said, "Canes QB Harris is the difference in the outcome of FSU-Miami." Yeah, those were the days.
What a topsy-turvy, up and down, roller coaster of a week for the ACC! If you have not had time to digest it, the ACC saw its worst performance against the lower subdivision FCS in its history along with zero wins versus other BCS conferences. Fast forward to Labor Day, there we found the game of the young season and one of the best in ACC history most likely with the 38-34 Miami win over FSU. The drama was just palpable–FSU drives the ball down to their opponents two yard line and have 3 shots to get it in…and fail because of a combo of time constraints, meh play-calling, and great defense. As you will see, I put a lot of weight on ACC wins in the poll(because it is an ACC Power Poll) so you have to see the poll in the weeks to come to really appreciate the genius.
FBS Division of the ACC(You will see when you scroll down)
Rank (LW)….Team……………………..Record
1)..(9)..Miami Hurricanes………………………1-0(1-0 ACC)
Say what you want about Coach Shannon, but his move to fire Nix and hire Whipple is looking pretty awesome right now. Canes QB Jacory Harris made the move look even better with an outstanding 386 yards passing and 2 TDs. I thought Miami would be improved going into the season(picked them 2nd in the Coastal), but this opens up all kinds of possibilities for the Canes in the ACC. In addition, winning ACC road games…on a rival’s home field…really impresses me.
2)…(1)…Virginia Tech Hokies…………………0-1(0-0 ACC)
Now you’re saying, but them there Hokies lost…how ya gonna put them towards the top? I will tell you why—they played somebody. They were the only ACC team that played somebody OOC this week. I had to reason as to whether Georgia Tech or Boston College could have done any better vs. Bama and it just was not happening. The Hokies defense will be dominant in the ACC this season—oh, if the Hokies could just find an offense.
3)..(2)…Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets…………..1-0(0-0 ACC)
Georgia Tech beat their cupcake as scheduled(which apparently has gotten pretty hard to do lately), but did fumble the ball 5 times in the 37-17 win over the other Gamecocks. ACC Preseason Player of the Year Jonathan Dwyer would get most of his work done in the first quarter with 74 and 5 yard TD runs. I hear that some big game is coming up Thursday, but have yet to confirm it.
4)..(3)..Boston College Eagles………………….1-0(0-0 ACC)
BC put up 54 points and allowed nothing against in-city rival Northeastern(or atleast that’s what the ESPN recap tells me). Judging from the BC blogosphere reaction, the running game was running on all cylinders, but the QB race is still unsettled. What cannot be questioned is the performance of the BC defense—131 total yards and 5 first downs allowed the whole game for the Huskies.
5)..(6)..Clemson Tigers………………1-0(0-0 ACC)
Clemson showed off one of the best defensive performances of the ACC weekend with their 37-14 win over Middle Tennessee. At the half up by 23, the Tigers had forced two turnovers and held the Blue Raiders to negative yards rushing. C.J. Spiller got nicked up which could be a problem going into GT week on the road, but his backups Harper and Ellington had solid games. Clemson RS freshman QB Kyle Parker kept himself out of the bad news section and threw for 2 TDs/completed passes when WRs decided to catch which was encouraging for the Tigers.
6)..(7)..North Carolina Tar Heels………………………1-0(0-0 ACC)
In win three versus the vaunted FCS, the Tar Heels kept the ball on the ground and dominated in a 40-6 win over The Citadel. UNC RB Shaun Draughn would get the yards while Heels RB Ryan Houston would get the TDs(and two of them) with a strong 1-2 punch that will make noise in the Coastal. Oh, and their defense—they looked really good.
7)..(4)..Florida State Seminoles……………0-1(0-1 ACC)
The offense looked down-right spectacular at times, but down the stretch, Miami made FSU’s D look like one of the FCS squads that could not beat an ACC school this weekend. Good news is that QB Christian Ponder was solid, they may have found something with that pistol formation towards the end of the game, and the WRs were impressive in their debut. Bottom line, even with Harris’ excellent performance, you cannot lose this game if you are Florida State–especially with the upcoming schedule.
8)..(8)..Wake Forest Demon Deacons…0-1(0-0 ACC)
There is a lot to be concerned about in Winston-Salem with the Deacs. Granted they are from the Big XII and therefore can score, but Baylor never trailed in their 24-21 victory(and it really did not feel that close either). The four turnovers(Skinner threw three of them) plus mediocre offensive and defensive efforts equals a number of questions going into another toughie with Stanford at home this week.
9)..(5)..North Carolina State Wolfpack………….0-1(0-0 ACC)
The Pack really set the tone for a great weekend in ACC football with their 3 point offensive juggernaut at home versus South Carolina. Let’s face it, the media darlings(atleast in NC) were flat in all aspects of the game of football. They should be a bowl team, but count me in the group that has crossed them out for Atlantic Division contention already.
10)..(10)..Maryland Terrapins……………………0-1(0-0 ACC)
For those who did not have the fortune of seeing the Cal/Maryland game, let me set the scene. Imagine the old Roman coliseum, Maryland QB Chris Turner and the rest of the Terps are in the center of the ring and real live Golden Bears are released on them–carnage everywhere. Cal was angrily beating Maryland 52-13—they were running trick plays in the 4th quarter while up 30+ points! Not all bad news here, the Terps offense was not all that bad, but the defense—yeah, it’s going to be a long season in College Park.
FCS Division of ACC(Until first ACC win, these teams have been relegated to the minors by OTB)
1)..(NA)..Duke Blue Devils…………………………0-1(0-0 ACC)
I told you Blue Devils—don’t give them any hope or they will pounce on it. The 24-16 Spiders win is a crushing blow to the 7 win mantra of Coach Cutcliffe and how they lost is a head-scratcher. All stats point to a Blue Devils’ win, but a punt block for TD for Richmond gave the Spiders a lead they would never relinquish.
2)..(NA)….Virginia Cavaliers…………………..0-1(0-0 ACC)
Not even Tommy Bowden did anything like this. UVA “coach” Al Groh just could not figure a way to thwart the William & Mary attack who were able to move the ball in key situations down the stretch. The game was firmly put in the Tribe’s hands by UVA QB Sewell who telegraphed a pass to Bill/Mary’s Webb for a game-clinching TD.
There’s the ranking this week…What do you think? I open the floor for rankings and general comments on your teams and the ACC in general.
