There are plenty of threads around where we’ve dissected State’s weaknesses, but what other teams have you watched and what has surprised you about the games that you have watched? In no particular order, here’s what caught my eye:
Virginia Tech
When VT’s first offensive play from scrimmage against ECU was a play-action pass, you have to wonder what Beamer is up to. Is it:
– New found confidence in Glennon?
– Outstanding bunch of receivers?
– Trying to get ready for LSU?
My VT sources (ie, friends at work) say that this year’s WR’s may be the best that Beamer has ever had. “However, it is a shame that we don’t have anyone that can get them the ball.†(Direct quote after ECU game.) They concluded that the play calling against ECU was geared towards LSU and not ECU. (Guess it still wasn’t enough.)
It seems that many in the national media knew far less about VT than the alums that I work with. Long before they got roughed up in the Bayou, my friends had deep and serious concerns about their QB and OL (sound familiar?). No one has a clue what Beamer will do now, but there are no optimistic projections about BCS bowls now. (The guess is that the freshman QB will get a chance to play his way into or out of the lineup over the next several games against cupcakes.)
Luckily for Tech, no one in the ACC has even half of the offense that LSU displayed Saturday night. Looks to me like the Coastal division will still come down to one of the Techs.
Carolina (East and North)
The game wasn’t even on ESPN 360, so I all saw was the one-line updates at yahoo while I was watching something else on TV. From that less than ideal vantage point, it appeared that the two teams were roughly equal….with ECU having the slight edge.
UNC had 79 yds net rushing, 344 yds passing, 423 yds total offense
ECU had 64 yds net rushing, 406 yds passing, 470 yds total offense
Wake Forest
Has any team face a tougher two-week stretch to open a season? While Wake looked over matched against BC, they hung tough against Nebraska. Only the most delusional Kool-Aid drinkers (is that yellow or black Kool-Aid?) would be shocked with their 0-2 start. It gets a little easier for the Deacs over the next month with Army, Maryland, week off, and Duke.
WF’s two-yard net rushing effort against BC had to disappoint everyone associated with the Deacs. Note that I’m talking two yards total, not per carry.
Hopefully, 236 yards on 53 rushes (4.5 yds/carry) got the Deacon supporters to back away from the ledge. Can I see a show of hands from everyone that expected WF’s passing offense to be ranked 45 spots higher than their rushing offense after the first two games?
On the other hand, with State being ranked 11th in the conference against the run, it would seem that WF has more than enough rushing offense for State’s visit to Winston.
Schedule Alert: WF vs Navy on October 20. This game could be interesting and I hope that it is on TV.
Clemson vs FSU
It is usually a mistake to make a lot of conclusions about an entire season based solely on the first game of the year. However, it is safe to say that Clemson passed their first big test and FSU failed their’s miserably.
Davis had 102 yds on 18 carries and Spiller added 48 yds on 11 carries against FSU. I was actually expecting Clemson’s offensive numbers to be a lot higher because it seemed like they were simply dominating FSU on both sides of the ball. If this game is any indication, it looks like Clemson has done a good job of rebuilding their OL after losing all but one of their starters from last year.
It may be premature to write off FSU, but that’s what I’m doing until I see something that looked a whole lot better than what they showed against Clemson. The new OL coach from WVU and Jimbo are going to have to pick up the pace if they want to justify their salaries.
Based on this game and BC’s first two games, it looks like the Atlantic Division will come down to BC and Clemson.
Virginia
I haven’t seen even one second of a UVa game, but I just have to comment on the whipping they took from Wyoming….23-3 (Ouch!).
However, I have to laugh every time that I read about Al Groh being on the hot seat. Craig Littlepage (UVA AD) learned so little from the Pete Gillen contract disaster that he also signed Groh to a long-term contract (10 yrs?). Since Groh is only in the second or third year of this contract, it may prove to be too expensive him to fire him no matter how poorly UVA does. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know what the buy-out terms are?
It seems to me that State fans should pull for UVA every week except when they play State. The longer that Groh dangles in the breeze, the more chances State will have to get talent from Virginia.
Michigan
Is this the most over-rated team in all of college football? I don’t really have any strong feelings about Michigan one way or the other, but I just have to laugh every time I see something about them on Sports Center.
I have thought that they were over-rated ever since their loss to OSU last year. I could never figure out why so many talking heads thought that they had “earned†a rematch with OSU for the BCS title. I was also never able to figure out how the team that got destroyed in the Rose Bowl was going to be so much better this year. Guess what?…..they’re not!
Louisville
Giving up 265 yards rushing and 290 yards passing to Middle Tenn is not good no matter how you slice it. While State’s offense will probably stop itself, Louisville can’t count on their other opponents being as inept. However, Louisville’s schedule looks so easy that we may not know much more until their last three games of the year….WVU, USF, and Rutgers.
Unbalanced Conference Schedules
I heard Phil Steele talking about the ACC during one of his many radio appearances pimping his college football magazine. He pointed out that BC probably has the ACC’s toughest schedule with GT, VT, and UM as their cross-divisional games this year.
That got me wondering about what the other top contenders had in the ACC this year. So here are the cross-divisional games for the teams that look to be in the top-half of the conference this year:
|
|
Designated |
Opponent |
Opponent |
|
|
Rival |
#1 |
#2 |
|
FSU |
|
VT |
Duke |
|
BC |
VT |
GT |
|
|
Clemson |
GT |
VT |
Duke |
|
VT |
BC |
Clemson |
FSU |
|
GT |
Clemson |
BC |
|
|
|
FSU |
BC |
NCSU |
At this point in the season, it appears that both VT and BC got the theoretically hardest conference schedules possible (assuming that FSU proves to be a better team than WF).
As I have already seen pointed out in comments to earlier entries here, WF has the easiest possible conference schedule with UNC, Duke, and UVa as their cross-divisional games. With wins in these three games, WF could easily end up in the top half of the Atlantic.
ACC Schedule Alert for this weekend:
BC vs GT in a possible preview of the conference title game.
WVU vs UMd as Slaton destroys the Twerps one last time because the Fridge pulled a scholarship offer at the last minute. (Nothing short of a season-ending injury will keep Slaton from an early entry into the NFL.)
So what’s caught your attention?
