Dec
31
2018
It’s hard to be too critical of a program that’s won 18 games the last two years. If you are Clemson or Alabama, then maybe you complain. If you are NC State that means you are mostly beating the teams you should beat. That said there is still an emptiness to the Wolfpack’s 9-4 year. …
Dec
31
2018
Pittsburgh won the Coastal Division and went 6-2 in the ACC. They lost 7 games including their last 3 and got blown out by Penn State, UCF, and Clemson. They blew a 4th quarter lead in the Sun Bowl to Stanford to lose 14-13. For almost every ACC team, there’s a line that said we’re happy with or not with our year. Pittsburgh more than any other ACC team it’s hard to decide exactly how they should feel about the 2018 season. …
Dec
31
2018
It’s been a rough season at Virginia Tech – attrition, injuries, young and inexperienced on defense. There have been historically bad home losses too, but with recent wins over Virginia and Marshall, Virginia Tech got bowl eligible. They had a chance to salvage something out of the season. After a 35-31 loss to Cincinnati, the Hokies still have their bowl streak and winning streak over Virginia intact. That’s all after their first losing season (6-7) in 25 years. If you are Hokie fan you have to be frustrated by Justin Fuente’s two …
Dec
31
2018
Duke’s Daniel Jones is leaving for the NFL Draft, but his announcement on Monday may have a long-term benefit. It may mean future elite quarterback talent will take a longer look at the Blue Devils. The third-year starter that arrived from Charlotte Latin lightly recruited – he had been committed to Princeton before he flipped …
Dec
31
2018
@Hokiesmash_ASD and I (@TalkinACCSports ) had an impromptu podcast to discuss all of the recent goings in the ACC. We are joined @ER Evan Roberts of redandwhitepodcast.com. Roberts is as knowledgeable an NC State as you’ll find, and we appreciate him joining. You can also find this most recent podcast and all our other podcasts on ITUNES at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/rwradios-acc-weekly-podcast/id831843856?t=2. We are …
Dec
30
2018
If you are a follow of the blog, you know we’ve tacked the progression of the ACC Network from the beginning. You also know ACC Network news comes in waves. Last week we told you that Verizon and Disney were having some hard discussions concerning their distribution agreements. As we told you then, and now correctly …
Dec
30
2018
Give @MattZemek a twitter follow and check out his musings on college football at https://www.patreon.com/Zemek. ACC QUESTION of the WEEK : What are the three biggest keys to Clemson beating Alabama? Game keys — we all know on a very general level what the biggest keys are to victory, but let’s assume all the obvious items such as …
Dec
29
2018
A few years ago, Clemson was chasing Florida State in the ACC. Then it was Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State and Florida State as college football’s elite programs. Now it’s Clemson and their only true peer Alabama. The Tigers faced a Notre Dame team that swore it was different from it’s predecessors. This was the Irish …
Dec
29
2018
Okay, so here’s the deal – quick and short post – at the beginning of the season, I bet @HunkerDownHokie that Virginia Tech would win the over on -7.5 football games. On other words, Virginia Tech would have to win 8 or more games. @HunkerDownHokie won the bet – he told me he would forgo the …
Dec
29
2018
I’ll be honest. I didn’t think the Belk Bowl was a good matchup for Virginia. The Hoos were coming off 2 heartbreaking OT losses, including to arch-rival Virginia Tech. South Carolina had just shredded an elite Clemson defense to pieces, and their QB Jake Bentley looked like a future NFL QB. The game was just …
Dec
28
2018
During the Syracuse vs West Virginia bowl game all we heard from the announcers was about Will Grier not playing QB for WVU. I won’t argue it was a factor, but let’s not forget Syracuse was without an All-ACC defensive lineman Alton Robinson and another on their two-deep Mckinley Williams. If you are discounting the …
Dec
28
2018
We are a day away from the Semifinal games of the college football playoff. It is the end of the college football season. A very depressing day in my household. We have been seeing for the last few weeks that some people believe that the College Football Playoff is going to be expanded. When ESPN …
Dec
28
2018
Now, this post is not going to win me any admirers or fans, including one of the people who are responsible for this blog. However, I do feel the need to take Virginia Tech to task. Now, we all know that East Carolina University had cancelled the football game scheduled for September 15. The reason …
Dec
28
2018
Numbers aplenty explain Mack Brown luring Jay Bateman to leave Army for his newly assembled staff at North Carolina staff. But in college football, statistics are only half of story to grading a coach’s value. What about developing talent? What about recruiting? Those are parts to the full package, too, that define Bateman’s five seasons …
Dec
27
2018
Thank goodness Mark Richt has 2 straight wins over Florida State because since a regular season loss to Pittsburgh to end the 2017 regular season it’s just gone downhill for Miami. Since a 10-1 2017 start Miami, is 4-9 against against Power 5 opponents.That’s not just unacceptable at Miami, that’s unacceptable anywhere. In year 3 …
Dec
27
2018
Sometimes there are bad 8-5 seasons. Sometimes they are good 8-5 seasons, and sometimes an 8-5 season could be considered almost great. I would call David Cutcliffe leading Duke to an 8-5 year arguably his best coached season at Duke. Looking back on the schedule it was a very difficult one – A 11 win …