Around the ACC

Here are a few random thoughts from around the ACC:

WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE LINE?

Usually I mentally divide the conference into three sections…the elite, the bottom dwellers, and the great mess in the middle. Thru last Saturday, it is pretty hard to figure out where to draw either line:

BC looked to be the most balanced team in the conference, but they have looked pretty unstable the last two weeks. VT is playing without much of an offense. I can’t figure out how UVA and WF are winning anything, let alone the majority of their games. Clemson???….did you see GT and VT destroy them? I have decided that, not only does the ACC not have a nationally elite team, the conference doesn’t even have a team capable of separating themselves from the mess in the middle.

Maryland has lost three straight to move into the bottom tier. State has won three straight and is trying to climb out of the bottom tier. UNC is one loss away from being eliminated from bowl consideration….but is currently tied for third in their division. There’s even time for Miami to finish with a losing record.

Duke is…..well Duke is still Duke.

RIDDLE ME THIS

What do Chris Rix and Reggie Ball have in common?

a) Proof that an erratic QB is not the worst thing that can happen to a team.
b) They are only appreciated in hind sight.
c) They are laughing at the fans that criticized them.
d) All of the above

BORED BEYOND WORDS

There is nothing much more boring than watching a one-dimensional offense (GT) after it has lost its only dimension (Tashard Choice). That’s what I was thinking as I watched the Thursday night game between VT and GT. The second half of that game had to be one of the most boring halves of FB that I have ever watched. And the announcers were simply horrible. They couldn’t seem to find one intelligent thing to say.

– “This helps VT put the BC game behind them.”

Surely you jest. A loss like that will stay on the VT players’ and coaches’ mind through out the rest of the season.

– “You know that Jon Tenuta hates to get beaten like that on a pass down the middle of the field.”

Really? So Tenuta is the only DC in the country that hates giving up a big pass play. You think?

THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES

OK, Jon Tenuta is a good DC. However he should not be beyond criticism….and I think that his defensive philosophy has a huge hole…GT crowds 8 and 9 men in the box and dares you to run (or throw those horrid WR screens that Mazzone and Trestman loved).

I wrote about this last year….GT is vulnerable if throw the ball 5-15 yards down the field and see if your WRs can make a play against man coverage with no safety help deep.

Do you remember the Thursday night a couple of years ago when a State receiver caught a nice 10-12 yard slant….and took it to the house? (This was the game where the winning TD pass was knocked out of Calvin Johnson’s hands.) I saw an eerily similar play this year when MD was playing GT. Third down and four yards to go, turned into a 75+ yard pitch, catch, and long run for a TD.

– Note that both the State and UMD TD pass were down the middle of the field. Something that would obviously come as a surprise to the ESPN crew.

VT (93rd ranked passing team) just passed for nearly 300 yds against the vaunted GT defense. I broke down VT’s plays in the first quarter against GT:

– Glennon was 11/12 for 150 yards
– Glennon was sacked 3 times and scrambled two other times
– Ore had 7 rushes for 21 yards

So in the first quarter, VT passed, or attempted to pass, 17 times and ran the ball 7 times. If you think that this is a typical example of Beamer ball, then you just haven’t seen them play very much.

WHAT’S UP WITH THE TWERPS?

I haven’t seen MD play much this year, but after a three-game losing streak they are in danger of missing a bowl…again. They are sitting at 4-5 with BC, FSU, and State left to play. If UMD finishes with a losing record, that will make three times in the last four years.

Are these injuries from before the UNC game enough to deflect attention from the Fridge?

Injuries Taking a Toll…

– The Terps have been hit by the injury bug in some key areas, RG Andrew Crummey, a preseason All-American, could miss the rest of the regular season after fracturing his left fibula vs. Georgia Tech (Oct. 6).
– Reserve DT Travis Ivey has missed the last two weeks. He suffered a knee injury vs. the Yellow Jackets.
– LB Rick Costa, who was starting for an injured Erin Henderson, incurred a sprained neck vs. the Yellow Jackets and is out indefinitely.
– QB Jordan Steffy sat out vs. Georgia Tech and Virginia after suffering a concussion vs. Rutgers (Sept. 29). He was cleared to play vs. Clemson (Oct. 27).
– The injuries continued the last two weeks. vs. Starting left guard Jaimie Thomas was lost for the season when he fractured his right fibula vs. Virginia (Oct. 20).
– FB Cory Jackson also played most of the Virginia game with a broken hand and missed the Clemson game.
– In addition, DE Mack Frost injured his right knee vs. the Cavaliers and is lost for the season.
– TE Dan Gronkowski left the Clemson game wth a knee injury. He is most likely out this weekend.
– The Terps also lost Alex Wujciak, who was expected to vie for one of the starting linebacker roles, during the preseason.
– In all the Terps will have 13 members of the two-deep miss at least one game (including this weekend) this season due to injury.

Tell the truth…How many people laugh every time they hear Steve Slaton’s name and realize that he is at WVU instead of UMD because the Fridge pulled his scholarship offer? (Think he might have been able to help the Fridge?)

PHOENIX AWARD WINNER

So far, we have four QB’s in the running for the SFN Phoenix player of the year (ie rising from the ashes): Sean Glennon, Daniel Evans, Kyle Wright, and Drew Weatherford.

It’s unusual for one QB to lose their starting job and then get it back….so far it’s happened four times in the conference. Unfortunately for the teams involved, the QB’s that replaced these four didn’t really raise the bar that high.

THE REQUIRED TABLE

No entry from me could be considered complete without at least one table. So here is one summarizing the national rankings of the ACC teams on total offense and total defense:

Conf	Natl	Natl
Rank	Rank	Rank
	Defense	Offense
1	5	21
2	11	34
3	16	72
4	23	73
5	24	91
6	25	93
7	27	96
8	28	99
9	39	101
10	47	102
11	71	108
12	93	115

– 10 of 12 offenses ranked in the bottom half of Div 1.

– 8 of 12 offenses ranked in the bottom fourth of Div 1.

If you are confused about whether the ACC defenses are that good or the offenses that bad…then you simply haven’t watched enough ACC football this year.

I’m going to ask everyone to do me a favor and hold any comments about the upcoming State vs Carolina game until we do a game-specific entry later in the week.