The Good
Plenty to play for…
Even though North Carolina can’t play in the ACC Championship this year, don’t tell the Tar Heels there isn’t plenty to play for. The Heels went down to Miami and beat the Canes 18-14 to prove they are this year’s best team in the ACC Coastal Division.
I’m looking at the Tar Heels and I don’t see a game they won’t be favored in the rest of the year. There’s no Clemson and is no FSU to play, and they’ve already beat Virginia Tech and Miami. At Duke then NC State look tricky, but if they get by those two, the Heels are going 10-2, which would be fantastic first season for head coach Larry Fedora.
Well Hello there!
Looking for a good story in the ACC? You have North Carolina and Duke doing good things, but it’s really time to start paying attention and giving credit to the Maryland Terrapins. The Terps are the last ACC team without a conference loss after beat Virginia 27-20 to move to 4-2. Freshman Stephon Diggs continues to show the ACC why he is a future All-American with a 100 yard kick return Saturday.
Can Terps win the Atlantic Division? No that won’t happen, but they are much improved over last season and the defense is the ACC’s best kept secret.
Rebound
Florida State 51 Boston College 7. The Eagles are bad, but this was nice rebound for FSU. They completely dominated the game on both sides of the ball. It’s like this for FSU. If Jimbo Fisher doesn’t coach scared as he did in the 2nd half of the NC State loss, this team isn’t losing in the ACC again this year. Maybe competing for a national title was too much to ask this year, but the Seminoles are showing flashes of their best teams from the 90s.
Rebound Part 2
Down 20-0 early against the Duke Blue Devils in Blacksburg , the Virginia Tech Hokies season was about turn into an absolute dumpster fire. Then the Hokies mounted a season saving rally and scored 41 straight points. Do I think everything is all fine now at Virginia Tech? No this is still an average team with a lot of issues, but there were good signs today. It was a strong defensive 2nd half, and the offense had over 500 yards. Let’s not write off the Hokies just yet.
The Bad
Meltdown
For about 28 minutes the Duke Blue Devils looked like a top 25 team, then a total meltdown ensued. A turnover in Hokie territory resulted in a TD for Virginia Tech on their next possession. A 20-10, 23-10 maybe even 27-10 halftime lead ended up being a 20-17 lead and the Blue Devils never recovered. You have to wonder how Duke will respond to the tough loss. The bowl game still stands 1 win away, and wouldn’t it be nice if for Duke fans if the Blue Devils pulled it off at home against arch rival North Carolina next week.
Speed Bump
Miami looked all set to represent the Coastal Division in the ACC Title game. They were 3-0 in the ACC, and were getting North Carolina at home. If they beat the Heels the race for Coastal is probably over. They didn’t and now with apparent ankle injury to Stephen Morris things are wide open. The Canes get Florida State at home next week in prime time in what is now a must win for the Canes. It looks like 5-3 in the ACC Coastal could win the Division.
A QB Mess
Michael Rocco struggles bring in Phillip Sims. Phillip Sims struggles bring in Rocco. While Sims has the higher ceiling neither quarterback is playing with much consistency and its killing Virginia’s season as they fell to 2-5 after a 27-20 loss to Maryland at home.
The Ugly
Find a Realtor
As Boston College dropped to 1-5 after a 51-7 loss to Florida State, it looks like head coach Frank Spaziani days are numbered at BC. There’s losing and there’s not even being competitive. If Spaziani loses at to a mediocre Georgia Tech team in Atlanta next week he’s done.
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