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By B.J. Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com Senior Editor
SouthernPigskin.com Senior Editor B.J. Bennett looks at the poor opening week performance by the ACC.
The ACC soared onto the naitonal scene last season. After gaining some national momentum by sending a record ten teams to the postseason in 2008 and finishing the regular season with wins by Georgia Tech over Georgia, Clemson over South Carolina and Wake Forest over Vanderbilt, the league experienced a great expansion in terms of its national perception and status. Most media outlets ranked the conference as the third best in the nation, behind the SEC and Big XII and ahead of the Pac Ten, Big Ten, Big East and others. League pride ballooned, conference confidence rose.
A spoiled Thursday night debut and two losses to FCS teams later, consider that bubble busted.
After watching the league deflate in numerous out of conference pairings in the past, Thursday night's poor showing by NC State should have served as foreshadowing for the weekend to come. A team many had picked as the pre-season sleeper in the ACC Atlantic Division, expectations were quite high for NC State in 2009. Sophomore quarterback Russell Wilson was pegged as the first-team All-ACC quarterback and the Wolfpack were getting tailback Toney Baker back from injury. On a national stage, in front of a sellout home crowd, the Wolfpack mustered just 133 yards of total offense and three points against SEC foe South Carolina. The air was let out of Carter Finely Stadium like an overweight grade schooler jumping on a leaky pool float.
"We weren't able to get anything consistently going on offense," Wolfpack head coach Tom O'Brien said after the loss. "We had one sustained drive all night that ended with nothing out of it."
Albeit disappointing, a home loss by a 6-7 team from 2008 against a January Bowl team from a year ago didn't cripple the conference's stature. Two home losses to FCS teams, however, certainly did. Duke losing to defending FCS national champion Richmond 24-16 was bad enough, but Virginia losing to William & Mary 26-14 was inexcusable. In that game, the Cavaliers were shutout in the second half.
"There are 11 more weeks to go. There will be a lot of negativity out there. Some of it well deserved,” Groh acknowledged. “We can either crack or we can stick together. One thing we have never done around here is crack."
That home loss to the Pride may end up costing Virginia head football coach Al Groh his job. In that game, the Cavaliers were shutout in the second half. Tack in losses by Wake Forest to annual Big 12 cellar dweller Baylor, Virginia Tech to Alabama (by double digits) and Maryland getting thrashed by Cal 52-13 and the league most certainly came out flat.
Entering the Florida State/Miami game, just one ACC team, Clemson, earned a FBS win in the opening week of the season. Entering the second week of the season, seven conference teams will have a loss.
Post-expansion respect has, at times, been hard for the ACC to gain. You can't help but recognize the league's high potential; just look at the NFL Draft every year and the rise of programs like Georgia Tech and North Carolina. But the continued inconsistency of the conference has surpassed the impressive league depth as the overriding theme most associate with ACC football. For all that the conference has accomplished, out of conference disappointments are keeping the league on the ground.
After an off-season of expectations and high praise, the conference will have to spend the remainder of the season proving to us that the hype from the summer months was something more than just hot air.
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Comments
Maybe all is right in the world and Duke, UVA and Wake stink and FSU, Clemson, Miami and GT are actually good? Just a thought…
terrible any way you cut it.
I thought the ACC looked pretty good Monday night.
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