If you can figure out another wacky and wild weekend in the ACC please let me know. Clemson goes down at Georgia Tech, and then what I feel was an even bigger shocker Boston College wins at Maryland. I didn’t see that BC win coming at all. Ok awards time…
The Good
No ball for you!
Georgia Tech had one shot to beat the Clemson Tigers… Keep the ball away from the high powered Clemson offense, and they did it to perfection. The Jackets held the ball for an astonishing 39 minutes and maligned QB Tevin Washington played his best game in weeks. The Georgia Tech defense did their part, limiting the Tigers when they have the ball.
Where did that come from?
I didn’t think the Boston College Eagles would win another game this year, but to the Eagles credit they went to Maryland not concerned about their record and played with a lot of pride in the 28-17 victory. Rolandan Finch ran for a whopping 243 yards, and star LB Luke Kuechly had another 10+ tackle game. I’m not sure coach Frank Spaziani makes it to 2012 as BC coach, but he did a nice job keeping his team motivated and ready to play… Maryland? We’ll get to them in the ugly section.
Baby Steps
Very quietly the Virginia Cavaliers are re-building. If you haven’t been paying attention to the Cavs this season, you should be now after an impressive 28-21 win at Miami. The Cavs came out with a solid gameplan on offense mixing in some timely passing with a strong running game. Virginia’s offensive line also had a strong game. Virginia is now 5-3 (2-2) and have a bowl game in their sights, which would be another step in getting this program back on track. If the Cavs win out, they would win the ACC Coastal, yes really.
Getting Defensive
The Florida State defense is in lockdown mode. The Noles held NC State to 166 yards and no points. In their last 3 games FSU has outscored their ACC opponents 116-32. What do they think this is the mid 90s?
Letting out some Frustration
North Carolina was on a two game losing streak, and had just given up 59 points in an embarrassing loss to Clemson. They came back to Chapel Hill and dropped 49 points and 562 yards of offense on a decent Wake Forest team. Giovani Bernard continues to have a very good season and finished with 154 yards rushing and 3 TDs to help get North Carolina bowl eligible. An 8 or 9 win season is still a possibility.
Winning is all that matters
Virginia Tech beat Duke 14-10. Throw away the tape Frank Beamer, your team played poorly but a win is a win. Starting preparing for Georgia Tech.
The Bad
All good things must come to an end
Clemson’s run at a BCS Title ended in Atlanta Saturday night. The Tiger’s suspect Defense was exposed by the Jackets Triple Option. Was it a case of Clemson being Clemson? No I don’t think so at all. Clemson’s D was eventually going to cost them a game, and they finally did. I don’t think Clemson will lose another regular season game.
Close doesn’t count
Duke lost it’s third game by 4 points or less after their 14-10 loss to Virginia Tech. Honestly I’m not sure what else Coach David Cutcliffe can do. He’s made Duke competitive, but how do you teach a team to win?
Flat Performance Award
Goes to Miami… Just when you thinkthe Canes are ready to turn the corner, they came up with an awful home performance against Virginia. Miami fell behind 17-0 to the Cavs and never fully recovered. When you have aRB like Lamar Miller and gain only 85 yards on the ground then it’s safe to say your offensive line had a bad day. At 4-4 the Canes are not yet bowl eligible. They need to play with more consistency.
Slipping Away
After Wake Forest started the season 4-1, they’ve hit a wall. They’ve lost 2 of their last 3 with a 1 point victory over Duke as the lone win. A 25 point loss at North Carolina doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. The Deacs can still win the ACC Atlantic by winning out, but with the way the Wake Forest is playing does anyone really think they can go into Death Valley in 2 weeks and beat Clemson?
The Ugly
Score anyone?
Florida State’s defense might be good, but for NC State to get shutout by the Noles is not a good sign. When your offense and defense struggle at the same it usually ends in the 34-0 type loss the Pack had. NC State plays a critical game at home with North Carolina next week. If they don’t win that game they may not go to a bowl, and Coach Tom O’Brien will have a lot of explaining to do.
Nightmare
Randy Edsall is having an absolutely nightmare first season at Maryland. The Terps have fallen to 2-6 (1-4) and haven’t beat a Division 1 team since September 5th. There’s talent at Maryland, but Edsall has lost this team. When word came out of that several Terp players were disgruntled and at least one player said he couldn’t wait for the season to be over, you knew there was the potential for an all out collapse. That’s what has happended.
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