ACC Week 10 awards: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The inexplicable road loss won’t be happening for Clemson this year. This offense is putting up points like pinball machine, and is getting better and better each week. They are getting up early on opponents like tonight leading Duke 42-17 at the half before winning 56-20.

Ok Easy prediction, but the Tigers will be 10-1 when South Carolina comes to Clemson. Sorry Maryland has injury issues at QB, and NC State looks flat lost now. We’ll speak more on both of them in a minute. Now with the defense making some plays to go along with an outstanding offense, the Tigers continue to march along in what is becoming a special season for Clemson.

Coming back?

Miami’s 30-12 win over Virginia Tech puts the Hurricanes in the driver seat for the ACC Coastal Division title. The Hurricanes sit 5-4 (4-2), and if you take out the 3 teams that Miami has played against the BCS top 10 (K State, Notre Dame, and FSU) they are 5-1. If they didn’t have the NCAA investigation hanging over their heads, you’d really have to believe this is a program on the rise, they still may be. Al Golden has done an excellent job positioning the Canes for their first Division title since they joined the ACC. Duke Johnson – get used to seeing that name in ACC box scores the next 2 or 3 years. The freshman RB is an absolute stud for Miami.

Some Life? 

I know Georgia Tech was playing a Maryland team with a LB playing quarterback, but that was still a pretty good defense the Jackets rolled through for 33 points and 370 rushing yards. I love seeing Vad Lee playing QB for the Jackets. He provides a dimension in the passing game that Tevin Washington simply can’t. At 4-5 (3-3) the Jackets still have to win 2 more games to get bowl eligible. They aren’t winning at Georgia so that means they must beat UNC and Duke in the next two weeks. Winning in Chapel Hill won’t be easy, but the Jackets showed some life today. There’s still a chance they can salvage something out of the season.

Some Life 2? 

Very quietly Wake Forest has moved to 5-4 on the season with a 28-14 win over Boston College today. With Michael Campanaro getting healthier and going for 16 receptions 123 yards, the offense is finding a pulse. The Deacs are 1 win from bowl eligibility. Next week they face a reeling NC State team, then its a probable loss to Notre Dame, and Wake Forest finishes with Vanderbilt. The Deacs could lose all 3 or they could go 2-1. I’m thinking they’ll find a way to get that 6th win.

 Some Life 3? 

Sensing a theme here? Where did Virginia come up that outstanding performance at NC State? The Cavaliers pounded the Wolfpack 33-6. It didn’t matter if Michael Rocco or Phillip Sims was playing QB, the Cavs were moving the ball. The much maligned defense held NC State to 216 total yards, while the offence had nearly 450. This is what we expected from Virginia all season. An opportunistic offense with some solid defense.  Cavs get their next 2 games at home against Miami and UNC in games if they play as well as they did today they can win.

The Bad

Blip or Trend? 

Virginia Tech looked awful in getting blown out down in Miami 30-12. The Hokies are 4-5 and face Florida State Thursday night. The Hokies looked slow and unathletic versus the much faster Hurricanes. Had the Hokies put together say an 8-5 type season, there wouldn’t be much concern, but the offense looks like an absolute disaster. Logan Thomas has regressed to the point he doesn’t look like he has any confidence and mechanically his passes are all over the place. I see some staff changes in Virginia Tech’s future.

Spaz Watch

Boston college dropped to 2-7 after their loss today to Wake Forest. BC is the first ACC team eliminated from bowl contention. It’s just a matter of time before BC let’s go of Frank Spaziani.

The Ugly

When 1 loss becomes 2

Tom O Brien and NC State let last week’s loss to UNC carry over today and it resulted in the Wolfpack’s worst performance of the year. They were smacked around by a Virginia team that was previously winless in the ACC  33-6. The Wolfpack haven’t reached Georgia Tech \ Virginia Tech levels of disappointment this season, but they are starting to get close. This was supposed to  be a break through season at NC State. It’s hasn’t happened, and the bottom fell out today. Aside from not playing good offense, defense, or special teams, it was a pretty good day for NC State.

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