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By Marc Hudgens
SouthernPigskin.com ACC Columnist
SouthernPigskin.com ACC Columnist Marc Hudgens takes a provocative look at week five in the ACC.
Not a lot to say regarding the old non-conference report card this weekend as there were only two matchups, so this’ll be a short one. But these games were big and needed no supporting cast.
All you can say is thank god for Georgia Tech’s and Miami’s humongloid wins over the almighty SEC and Oklahoma, respectively. This put the ACC at 2-0 not just against noncons, but against BCS opponents. Had it not been for those big victories, there would be too much stewing as to how, in all things holy, can Clemson lose to Maryland and North Carolina to Virginia.
Running Tally
Non-Con mark: 21-13 overall (6-7 vs. BCS)
(25) Georgia Tech 42, Mississippi State 31
Admittedly the Bulldogs aren’t a top SEC team. Heck, they aren’t even a mid-card one. But the ACC needs all the help it can get, and you best believe when Paul Johnson’s Yellow Jackets went into a hostile SEC stadium and left with a win, it’s big news in Greensboro, N.C., where the ACC is headquartered. Or it should be.
Still a run-oriented attack (54 rushing attempts versus 14 passes thrown), quarterback Josh Nesbitt made the most out of his attempts, going 11 of 14 for a whopping 266 yards and one score. Oddly enough, the Jackets racked up more passing yards (266) versus rushing yards (213) but there were four rushing touchdowns against one passing one. Go figure. Safe to say that, in Tech’s case, a one-style attack doesn’t necessarily mean you’re one-dimensional. The Jackets can pass.
(8) Oklahoma 20, (17) Miami 21
Speaking of one-dimensional, how about Oklahoma without Sam Bradford? Safe to say his absence was key to the Canes’ victory, which we’ll take all day long. But let’s just put it on the table -- while Miami is looking oh-so-sweet right now, the Sooners got exposed badly and showed the world it’s really not a great team so much as it’s an average team with a great player. No national title shot for the Bob Stoops’ bunch this year.
Clearly the biggest win of the weekend, and perhaps of the season so far for the ACC. Arguably bigger than Florida State’s road victory over BYU in week 3. All the chatter and argument about how Miami would fare in the first four weeks now has come to fruition. Yours' truly had much doubt about Miami and Randy Shannon, thinking they’d probably get just one win. Now perched at 3-1 and an easier sked in front of them, the Canes are poised for an ACC title and a BCS title shot. The only obstacle in Miami’s way is Miami.
Final Thoughts
The ACC should be proud of what was accomplished this weekend. Not only was Miami’s victory big for the Canes, for Randy Shannon’s preseason hot seat situation and the ne’er-do-well conference, but it very possibly changed the landscape of the BCS Championship run. Now armed with two losses, both non-Big XII, chances are Oklahoma won’t be playing for another national title, which all that does is increases the chances of a better participant against whoever the SEC champion is in the BCS title game since Oklahoma does nothing but lose in BCS bowls. Not only did it kick the Sooners to the curb but it poised an ACC school to take its place, assuming Miami runs the table of course. Problem is if Virginia Tech runs it too, because the Hokies have the head-to-head on the Canes. Miami has to hope for another Virginia Tech conference loss for there to be any hope of a return to glory.
With the victorious weekend behind us, one would be remiss not to mention the possible mitigations in the losses of both North Carolina and Clemson. North Carolina lost to an extremely bad, and historically so under Al Groh, Virginia squad (16-3), and the Tigers barfed up yet another winnable game to a horrific Maryland team (24-21). It’s no question the Terps and Cavs are among the league’s worst teams, one could argue that they are quite possibly worse than Duke this year, an utterly poor program that’s starting to show signs of...gasp...improvement under second year coach David Cutcliffe. Ralph Friedgen and Groh were on scorching hot seats entering these contests, and honestly they may not be off them since there are seven games to go. Plenty of opportunity to screw up but at least this week they can breathe just a bit easier. But inexplicable losses attributed to the Tar Heels and Clemson do nothing but make the conference look totally schizophrenic in the incoherent babbling, chronic skin-picking sort of way. The North Carolina loss is more of a mystery than Clemson’s due to the simple fact that at least UNC hired a proven head coach who should have known better instead of some inexperienced, cheerleading yahoo who fell ass-backward into a head coaching job due to a level of cronyism and nepotism you’d only find in your typical family-owned business. Butch Davis could have and should have done a better job prepping his players. Because of the differences in leadership quality, you can safely expect the Heels to rebound (soon hopefully) and continue to grow and get better. Can’t say the same for Clemson.
Speaking of self-mutilating schizophrenia, let’s not forget the one team that needs Seroquel by the truckloads -- Florida State. Yet another year of waffling and not knowing that they’re doing and fans never knowing what-the-hell’s coming out of the locker room. If the legendary Bobby Bowden does not step down in December, quite honestly he needs to be fired and the reason is simple -- a divided house cannot stand. It’s becoming less and less of a secret there is heat between Bowden and heir apparent Jimbo Fisher, and the friction between the two only hurts the program further. Sure there are examples of friction actually helping a team, as was the case of Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones in Dallas, but those are far and few in between and in all cases it’s not desirable regardless of performance. Bowden’s best days are behind him. He needs to be told that, he needs to know that, and he needs to do the honorable thing and walk away instead of being shoved out in humiliating fashion. He’s accomplished so much in Tallahassee, the list is way too long. There is no shame in him letting go. He can’t go all Michael Jordan and get belligerent at the thought of not competing anymore and he definitely needs to stop this petty game with Joe Paterno. It’s immature and it’s sabotaging the once proud Seminole program. Bobby’s boy, president T.K. Wetherell, is retiring so Bowden’s safety net will be gone. The longer Bowden’s stubbornness gets in the way, the more he will only force the university’s hand, and it’ll be a sad day if this is how he’ll let his career end.
Three noncon matchups on next week’s docket, and two of them are ye old tune-ups. Georgia Southern goes to Chapel Hill to face Butch’s boys while Miami hosts Florida A&M. Just what the doctor ordered for the Canes after a high-profile season opening sked to help get rid of the hangover and get back to business. Virginia host the BigTen’s Indiana in the week’s lone BCS bout. If this were any other ACC team (well, maybe not) it would be another BCS victory. But this is Virginia, so let’s see if The Grumpy Old Man will continue to do just enough to save his job again. But don’t bank on it.
But there are seven games to go. If Miami is indeed “back” and runs the table and makes it to Pasadena this year, all the stupid things that would otherwise undermine the ACC’s national perception will immediately be forgotten.
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Stories written by SouthernPigskin.com columnists are done independently. Views do not always coincide with those of the remainder of the staff or the ownership of SouthernPigskin.com.
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