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By Marc Hudgens
SouthernPigskin.com ACC Columnist
SouthernPigskin.com ACC Columnist Marc Hudgens recaps week ten in the ACC.
The Atlantic Division race got a hell of a lot clearer now with Clemson overcoming Florida State (and itself) with a huge victory over the Noles. The Coastal Division will get locked up by Georgia Tech should it win next week at Duke. It’s getting interesting.
Running Tally
Non-Con mark: 29-15 overall (8-8 BCS & Notre Dame)
(23) Virginia Tech 16, East Carolina 3
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks here,” Hokies head coach Frank Beamer said Thursday night. “I use the word, ‘relentless’, and that's exactly how I described this football team. They were [relentless]. They just kept coming back and coming back and fighting their way through it.”
And if ECU mounted any kind of offense, last Thursday would have been three weeks. As usual, Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster fielded a heck of a squad, holding the Pirates to zero touchdowns. Also as usual, the offense looked par for the course for what comes out of Blacksburg as it reached the end zone only once.
Defensive struggle my butt -- how the Hokies can rack up six offensive touchdowns against a similar Conference USA defense (Marshall) yet zero end zones against ECU is, or should be, inexcusable.
In-Conference Thoughts
Losing to Clemson in Death Valley has become a thing for Florida State. Heck, losing to the Tigers period is commonplace (2-5 the past seven meetings). But this 24-40 loss was different -- it was another nail in the coffin, and the coffin is running out of nail holes. With defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews leaving after the season and (hopefully) Bobby Bowden doing the same, all the strife and divisions among the coaching staff continues to take its toll. The question is if Bowden doesn’t step down after this season, which at this point is 4-5 (2-4 ACC), when will he? The longer Bowden stays on, the worse Florida State will become, if that’s even possible. With nobody showing up for games anymore and recruiting crashing on the rocks, Bowden has to step down after this season or be forced out. Harsh as that sounds, this has to happen. Sure, this is the same Bowden that brought the Seminoles from doormat to National Champions during the ‘90s and made the program a powerhouse. But this is also the same Bowden that’s killing the program in the ‘00s.
But now let’s turn the camera to Clemson. Hey, you gave up on Clemson after it coughed up another red zone opportunity provided to them on a silver platter by C.J. Spiller and, to worsen it, botched the field goal. It’s okay, I did too. The Ghost of Clemson Past roared back in with all those missed PATs and field goals and crucial dropped passes, but it somehow never manifested into a loss. Spiller, now an official Heisman candidate (or should be if he’s not) racked up 165 rushing yards and 310 all-purposes and two scores, and did it with a bad toe. If that doesn’t impress the Heisman committee, or NFL scouts for that matter, nothing will. Clemson’s defense, however, have given up 91 combined points against high-octane offenses of Florida State, Georgia Tech and Miami. Not good news when you consider next week they travel to N.C. State, who has the ACC’s second scoring offense (30.1 average points against ACC opponents). The Pack’s problem? They’ve lost four of those five ACC games.
Speaking of which, N.C. State’s lone ACC win this year was Saturday against hapless Maryland by a score of 38-31. The Wolfpack has proven they can score points in the ne’er-do-well conference, but when playing comparable offenses coach Tom O’Brien loses the shootouts. On paper, there’s no excuse for N.C. State to beat Clemson next week. If Duke can rack up 49 points in Raleigh and whip the Pack in the process, the Tigers should and then some.
On the flip side, what can we say about Maryland that hasn’t already been said? 2-7 (1-4 ACC), coach Ralph Friedgen on one of the hottest seats in the land (or so we think, as rumor has it some big Terp boosters have a man-crush on the Fridge), no recruiting, dwindling fanbase. Al Groh...uh, I mean Friedgen has been in College Park for far too long to have this kind of season anymore. Friedgen is a respectable coach who at least has an ACC title under his belt, but his program is circling the drain today. For the sake of the program, Maryland has to look for some fresh blood, and heir apparent James Franklin isn’t it.
My apologies to Virginia fans for confusing Groh with Friedgen, it was an honest mistake and there’s no excuse for it (where’s that roll-eyes smiley when you need one?) If the recent 17-52 blasting by Miami in Coral Gables doesn’t close the book in this era in Charlottesville, nothing will. Like for Maryland above, there’s no reason to dig up a bunch of obscure stats to state a case for the Hoos or Terps either way that their records don’t readily tell us. Armed with a dwindling fanbase and zero recruiting, Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage has gone on record and essentially said that this is The Cantankerous One’s last season by way of that “full body of work” line earlier this week. This paragraph was close to being the patented “nothing to see here...” but what the heck. Let’s pile on.
With another Cane win, Miami stands a chance at a 10-win season and possibly an at-large BCS berth. Perhaps that’s what they’re fighting for. They really are out of the ACC title and National title pictures, but a BCS bowl will do wonders for them and the ACC. And Shannon’s preseason hot seat? Forget about it.
No. 10 Georgia Tech got a pretty good scare from Wake Forest, beating the Deacs in a close 30-27 overtime win. And this is in ‘Lanna, which gets rowdier with each passing Jacket win. The Jackets are one win away from clinching the Coastal Division crown, and that opponent is next week at Durham. If Tech thought the Deacs gave them a scare, have they seen what Duke has done this season? Coach Paul Johnson had better not let Georgia Tech sleep on the Blue Devils. Duke looms large in this game, when was the last time anyone said “Duke looms” about anything regarding the football program? This could be an ACC upset.
Wake is stuck at 4-6 (2-4 ACC) this year and no chance at winning the Atlantic. Coach Jim Grobe still fields a solid team that is competitive in the ACC. But this year’s a wash unfortunately. We look at next year and we wonder how the Deacs will fare without Riley Skinner. Skinner has been a superb slinger for Wake in his tenure, and the quarterback will likely be inducted into the Wake Forest Hall of Fame someday, as Grobe will be I’d think, because it’s difficult to think that Wake will be just as competitive, much less better, in future years without him.
We can talk about big running back Ryan Houston’s career-high 164 rushing yards, which is great, but the fact is Duke took it to the Tar Heels all day. “Escape” is the perfect word to describe North Carolina’s 19-6 win over the Blue Devils in Chapel Hill, because it took until mid-fourth quarter for a Jheranie Boyd touchdown to finally put this game away. You’d think with Butch Davis on the sideline, the Heels will only improve next year. But that’s what we all believed last year and look what’s happened. Can’t say that for Duke, who is now 5-4 (3-2 ACC).
Next week are no non-cons on the docket. Big intraconference bouts include Clemson at N.C. State, Boston College at Virginia, and Georgia Tech at Duke. All these games have Tampa implications except for the Jackets/Devils, in which case the Coastal division is definitely on the line for Georgia Tech. Clemson will have to win the rest of their ACC matchups to win the Atlantic, and should they fall Boston College will be the champ provided they win out. If the Eagles fall and Clemson wins, the Tigers will have clinched its first Atlantic Division title. So to make it easier, Tiger fans better pull hard for the Cavs next Saturday. Big, big stuff next week.
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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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Comments
You obviously were not at nor did you watch the UNC vs. Duke game. I will not read this anymore. Nice try.
UNC did NOT look good against Duke, period. UNC hasn’t looked good all year except for when they played VT. What exactly do you see as incorrect or do you just not like what was written? It’s an opinion piece, an editorial as they were called in newspaper days. As far as the ‘nice try’ snark, at least the writer did try by using a fact or two in his piece, you didn’t even try in your comment.
Quit being a typical, hypersensitive college football fan.
I think Carolina has looked pretty good several times this year in addition to VT. They played pretty well against ECU and I think you discount the effort Duke put into this game. It was a tough hard fought effort. The fact that Carolina was able to put it away in the end despite a sub par receiveing effort is a good sign for this team even if they lose next week to Miami. At the end of the season, UNC will be a fringe top 25 team which is what they were to begin with. Next year look for a major jump to being a contender and a top 15 team.
Make Yourself Heard
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