By Tracy Smith, on December 7th, 2011  The final post for ACC Football takes a look at the conference championship game, and the teams headed to bowl games.
Count me among the surprised to see Clemson defeat Virginia Tech last Saturday in such dominating fashion. It’s not so much that Clemson won the game; after all they had beaten the Hokies already this season. But to beat them the way they did, when they seemingly had no momentum going into the game has to qualify as a shocker. Just a reminder, the Tigers had lost three of their last four games, while Virginia Tech had not lost a game since losing to Clemson; and further were coming off a dominating performance of their own in shutting out Virginia. Clemson proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was the best team in the ACC this season.
With the conference title in hand, the Tigers now get ready for their BCS showcase-a game against West Virginia in the Discover Orange Bowl. This looks to be an offensive showcase, as both team can put up points with the best of them. The early question seems to be which defense will make enough plays or get enough stops to keep points off the board. In what has to qualify as an “only in the BCS” moment, Virginia Tech also received an invite to a BCS bowl, as they will take on Michigan in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Virginia Tech had to have gotten their invite simply for the fact that their fans “travel” well. The Hokies passed several teams ranked ahead of them in the BCS standings-Boise State, Kansas State, Arkansas and South Carolina-to snag the bowl invite. While that is great news for the conference for putting two teams in BCS bowls for the first time, many pundits have criticized the Hokies’ selection. Chalk that up as one more reason there should be some kind of playoff in college football, but to argue that point is for another post and another time. The Hokies will have their hands full with Denard Robinson, who is just as athletic, if not more so, than Tajh Boyd of Clemson.
READ MORE >>>
By Tracy Smith, on November 30th, 2011 Even though there were some scenarios that may have prevented the matchup in Saturday’s ACC Championship game, there seemed to be an inevitable march for Clemson and Virginia Tech. The two teams have proven themselves to be the best in the conference; although since their earlier meeting, they appear to be heading in different directions. Clemson ran out to an 8-0 record, which included a victory over the Hokies, but has lost three of its last four. Virginia Tech has rolled along, having won seven straight since the loss to the Tigers.
If you use the last game as a barometer, the momentum going in favors Virginia Tech, based on its 7-game win streak, but also the last game, a 38-0 shutout of Virginia. Clemson’s last memory is a 34-13 loss to rival South Carolina. The Tigers will have to find what they had going early in the season in order to beat a Virginia Tech team that looks like many other Hokie teams of the past; seeing Virginia Tech in the championship game is nothing new. The Hokies have been the dominant team in the conference over the last few years, and while they are currently ranked #5 in the BCS standings, they have almost no shot at the BCS Championship game. The rant about how college football crowns its champion (and which renders just about all of this weekend’s games meaningless) will have to wait for another post, or someone else to take up. If you ask me to pick, I’ll go with the hot team, as the Hokies will avenge their only loss of the season and will wait to see who they will play in a BCS bowl game (again).
READ MORE >>>
By Tracy Smith, on November 23rd, 2011 Last weekend was a great one for college football, particularly if you like upsets of top ranked teams. Oklahoma State got the party started by losing in double overtime to Iowa State on Friday night; then on Saturday, Oregon and Oklahoma both went down within minutes of each other. Sadly, this phenomenon touched the ACC as well as Clemson-at that point the highest ranked conference team in the BCS-forgot to show up and was drilled by the Wolfpack of N.C. State in a game that may not have been as close as the 37-13 final score. While it’s true that Clemson had nothing to gain conference-wise by winning, the team could have avoided what has become the seemingly annual Clemson moment-where the Tigers lose a game that they shouldn’t. What makes this loss more painful for Clemson is that three teams above it in the BCS standings (the aforementioned Oklahoma State, Oregon and Oklahoma) all lost. Clemson could’ve been in the top 5 of the BCS, on the doorstep of possibly playing for a national championship. Granted, that was probably a long shot, but you have to be in position to even get a look. If Clemson had won out, and that assumes a victory over Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship game, and another team or two took on a loss, the Tigers would’ve had more to play for than a trip to a BCS bowl game. But it wasn’t to be, and once again, the ACC is on the outside looking in.
READ MORE >>>
By Tracy Smith, on November 16th, 2011 With the regular season down to its last two weeks, each team must find something to play for, whether it be a conference championship, a division title, enough wins to hopefully get in a bowl game, or pride to finish the year out on a positive note. Like all other FBS teams, those in the ACC are no different. September 1 seems like a million miles away now, but when Georgia Tech and Wake Forest kicked off their seasons, they both had all of the above goals in view. Of course, some goals are more realistic than others. Neither could really believe they were going to be national champions, at least not without winning a lot of games and getting quite a bit of help. That said, they both could dream of winning the ACC, or at the very least earning a spot in the championship game by virtue of winning their respective divisions. Those dreams died last week, as Georgia Tech’s division hopes crashed after losing to Virginia Tech last Thursday, while Wake Forest gave Clemson all they wanted before falling on a last second field goal to the Tigers on Saturday. For those two, it now becomes a matter of finishing strong and seeing where they may play in the postseason. Georgia Tech already is bowl eligible, while Wake Forest needs one more win in its final two games. Wake figures to have its best chance on Saturday, when the reeling Maryland Terrapins head down to Winston-Salem. A win over the Terps would make the Demon Deacons bowl eligible, something no one predicted when the season started, except maybe the players and coaches.
READ MORE >>>
By Tracy Smith, on November 9th, 2011 Once upon a time, Miami vs. Florida State was a matchup that no college football fan wanted to miss. Between the amount of talent suiting up for both teams, the games were usually close, and also meaningful in the national picture. Once Miami joined the ACC, these battles took on more importance in a conference setting. It was thought this season, with Florida State ranked high in the preseason polls, and Miami bringing back a lot of experience, that the teams would make the game important both nationally and in conference. This weekend, it can now be argued that it isn’t even the most important game on the conference schedule.
The game’s national importance took a hit before the season started, when the Nevin Shapiro scandal blew up. Several important Hurricanes were suspended, some for multiple games-for their acceptance of impermissible benefits. While the players all gradually returned, the Hurricanes were up and down from week to week. While they have beaten Georgia Tech, they have lost to Maryland (albeit when the number of suspended players was at its highest). Additional losses to Virginia Tech and Virginia further hampered the Hurricanes championship chances. The Seminoles did their part as well; after losing a close game to then-#1 Oklahoma (where starting QB E.J. Manuel was injured), they then lost to Clemson and Wake Forest. That brutal three-week stretch not only crushed their national championship hopes, it made them almost an afterthought in conference.
READ MORE >>>
By Tracy Smith, on November 2nd, 2011 Just like every other season, the ACC looks to be on the oustide peeking in for a spot in the BCS national championship game. The Clemson Tigers were at least in the hunt, having risen to fifth in the BCS rankings prior to this past Saturday’s games. With four games left on the schedule, if the Tigers could win out and get some help, there was a slight chance they could be playing for the national championship. Staring them in the face, though was their history. Many seasons Clemson would have a team capable of big things, but would always suffer a defeat that was not expected, or let down in the most humiliating fashion. Personally, I thought that Clemson would have had their moment by now, and while watching them play Maryland a few weeks back, I thought surely that would’ve been the night, particularly after falling behind by 18 points. But the Tigers roared back in the second half and won going away.
READ MORE >>>
By Tracy Smith, on October 26th, 2011 The title refers to the relative chaos that can be found in the ACC’s Coastal Division. While the Atlantic Division might come down to the November 12 matchup of Clemson and Wake Forest, the Coastal Division features all six teams within two games of the leader, the Virginia Tech Hokies. Of course, both Clemson and Wake have a bit of unfinished business to tend to before that happens. For the Tigers, they have to get by the pesky triple option offense of Georgia Tech, and Wake Forest must deal with the North Carolina Tar Heels before going out of conference and hosting Notre Dame the following week. Every other team in the Atlantic Division would need something between a boatload of help (Florida State, North Carolina State, Maryland) or divine intervention (Boston College) to get a sniff of the division crown.
That isn’t the case in the Coastal. Six games into the season, the team to beat was the Yellow Jackets. That golden glow has since faded, having absorbed two successive defeats at the hands of Virginia and Miami-with the Hurricanes holding the once high-powered Georgia Tech offense to 7 points. The Jackets now must attempt to right the ship against the best team in the conference. Even with the two defeats, Georgia Tech sits just a half-game behind the Hokies, who have come on strong since suffering their own loss to Clemson. Virginia Tech now is riding a three-game winning streak that has brought them to the top of the division, at least for now. Saturday they head down to Durham to face a Duke team looking to make some noise of its own in the division. As for the Hurricanes they are on a winning streak of their own, now having won two in a row to even their conference record at 2-2. They will do battle tomorrow night at home against the Virginia Cavaliers, with both teams needing to win to remain relevant in the Coastal division. The Cavs seem are an up and down team-they followed their upset over the Yellow Jackets by losing to the Wolfpack, giving N.C. State its first conference win of the season. They will need to be more consistent if they want to leave Miami with a victory. That leaves the Tar Heels, now at the bottom of the division with three conference losses. Though there is no shame in losing to Clemson, Georgia Tech and Miami, it raises the stakes for Saturday’s matchup against the Demon Deacons. One more loss and the Heels will be all but written out of the Coastal Division story. Even with a win, they will need a bit of help to get back to the top.
READ MORE >>>
By Tracy Smith, on October 18th, 2011 At the halfway point of the season, a look at what is the same, and what is different in this ACC football year:
Same: Teams knocking each other off. Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, previously unbeaten in conference play, suffered their first losses on Saturday-to Virginia Tech and Virginia respectively. Those losses leave Clemson as the only unbeaten team in conference play after the Tigers outlasted Maryland later in the evening.
Different: Clemson beating Maryland. That’s not to say Clemson never beats the Terps; it just means that in previous seasons talented Tiger teams with high expectations and often favored to win would find themselves losing to the Terps, often after beating other good teams. That this Clemson team didn’t fall victim this time might mean things will be different this time around.
Same: Jumbled conference races. Clemson is in control in the Atlantic Division, but Wake lurks just a game behind. If they both get past the next two weeks, their meeting on November 12 could be for first place in the division. The seeming calm in the Atlantic is contrasted by the chaos in the Coastal as all six teams are within 2 games of first place. The Yellow Jackeets are still on top, followed closely by the Hokies. North Carolina and Miami, each with two conference losses, aren’t totally out of it, but they need to start getting some wins. READ MORE >>>
By Tracy Smith, on October 12th, 2011 First, from last week’s post: it was pointed out to me that I spelled Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney’s last name incorrectly. That’s what I get for writing while the TV show Biggest Loser is on in the background with host Alison Sweeney.
The title of the post describes two ACC teams in the same division, that had different expectations when the season began. One was freely mentioned as a national championship contender, just as it had been in years past. The other, merely an afterthought with low expectations-while expected to be better, not expected to win their division after coming off a 3-9 season last year. The teams I just described played each other just this past weekend, and with Wake Forest (the afterthought) beating Florida State (the former championship contender)-their current standing in the Atlantic Division reflect the title perfectly. For Wake, it was their fourth straight victory after an opening weekend overtime loss to Syracuse and put the Demon Deacons at 3-0 in conference-shockingly tied for the lead with Clemson, which has already had its share of surprises. For the Seminoles, it was their third successive loss, dropping them to 0-2 in conference and scuttling all the “Florida State is back” talk from preseason. For much of the game, the Deacs looked like the better, more prepared team. Watching the game on Saturday, it seemed to me that the Seminoles figured they would walk into Winston-Salem and cruise to victory, but that wasn’t the case. The rise of Wake and the fall of Florida State may or may not be a continuing trend as the season goes on, but both of their cases bear watching.
READ MORE >>>
By Tracy Smith, on October 6th, 2011 High expectations seem to always follow the Clemson Tigers, whether justified or not. Season after season, Clemson seems to always be looked at as one of the best teams in the ACC, only to sink under the weight of those expectations. At the beginning of the season, rumors were out that coach Dabo Sweeney would be on the hot seat if Clemson didn’t have a successful season. However, through five weeks, Clemson has become the conference surprise-now having beaten three ranked teams in succession in Auburn, Florida State and Virginia Tech this past Saturday. With those wins, the Tigers have once again raised expectations of what might be a special season down in South Carolina. However, what often happens with Clemson is that somewhere, someway, they will find a way to lose a game everyone expects them to win. There are several candidates remaining on the schedule, including this week’s game against Boston College. BC has been one of the worst teams in the conference through the first weeks of the season; a win over presumably the current best team would give their season new life.
READ MORE >>>
By Tracy Smith, on September 28th, 2011 Last week, I wrote that the ACC had made a statement. That it could be proud of the results of the previous week. Miami and Clemson won games over ranked opponents, and Florida State and Maryland held their own against two others. That while they hadn’t completely gotten over the hump, things were looking up.
Then the ACC football squads set foot on the field for last weekend’s games.
First, someone had to lose the Clemson-Florida State game, but the fact that it was the Seminoles that went down proved that the revival in Tallahassee isn’t complete just yet. It also raised hopes that Clemson may finally be worthy of some hype as the best team in the conference. Stop me if you’ve heard that before. The Tigers can take a giant step forward with a win on Saturday in Blacksburg against the Hokies of Virginia Tech. Unlike previous years, the Hokies haven’t played a tough non-conference opponent, but they also haven’t suffered an embarrassing loss. The winner of this game becomes the conference favorite, except for…Georgia Tech, which is also undefeated, thanks to its victory over North Carolina, dropping the Tar Heels from the unbeaten ranks. The Yellow Jackets didn’t roll up another 700+ yards of offense, but they still made their share of big plays. Tech could be the best team right now, but it’s still early.
READ MORE >>>
By Tracy Smith, on September 22nd, 2011 Tied at 13 in the fourth quarter, fans roaring down in Tallahassee, Florida State was poised to spring the upset. Even with starting quarterback E.J. Manuel sidelined by injury, the Seminoles were in the game, with a real chance of beating the #1 team in the country. Unfortunately for Seminole and ACC fans, the Oklahoma Sooners proved their championship mettle by scoring 10 points to put the game away, while shelving, at least for now, any championship dreams. But given the fact that the Semionles were run off the field in this matchup last year, the fact that they ran with a top national contender for 3 1/2 quarters let the team know they can compete at the national level. For too long, watching ACC teams go up against the best and lose, often by wide margins, you could tell they couldn’t measure up. While the result wasn’t the marking point that said ACC football is back, it definitely showed that things are on the rise.
READ MORE >>>
By Tracy Smith, on September 14th, 2011 The ACC’s constant battle to improve its national perception as a football conference could get a major boost on Saturday, as four conference teams play host to four teams currently ranked in the top 25 of the major polls. Wins in these games-all rematches from last season-should, if not lift the conference’s ranking in the BCS (which is a solid fifth, unless you think the Big East is better), then enhance the reputation of the ACC. By the time the dust settles late Saturday night, the answers to whether the ACC can compete nationally will be revealed.
The fun begins at noon on Saturday, with two of the four games kicking off in Clemson, SC and College Park, MD. The Clemson Tigers will get a chance to beat the Auburn Tigers, which may be the luckiest team so far in the FBS. Last week, Auburn needed a last second stop at the goal line to defeat Mississippi State, one week after surviving an upset bid by the Utah State Aggies. Clemson has had a couple tuneup wins over Troy and Wofford which found the team struggling a little before pulling away. The ACC Tigers will need their best effort, and lots of home crowd support to defeat their SEC counterparts. Maryland, last seen generating great buzz for its uniform attire while getting a conference win against Miami’s Hurricanes on Labor Day, hosts the West Virginia Mountaineers. The Mountaineers are currently considered one of the best teams in the Big East, if not the best. Yet they trailed Norfolk State 12-10 at the half before rolling the Spartans with 45 unanswered points after the break last week. West Virginia has won the last five in the series, which resumed last season after a two-year hiatus. The Terrapins may have their best shot to defeat the Mountaineers on Saturday, and the game will serve as a measuring stick to see how good the Terps can become.
READ MORE >>>
By Tracy Smith, on September 7th, 2011 By now, hopefully some of the talk has died down about the uniforms the Maryland Terrapins wore in their game against the Miami Hurricanes Monday night. Maybe they weren’t the most stylish, or best looking, but they did do the one thing they probably intended: get people talking about them, and by extension, the Terrapin football team. If you watched the game you saw quite a good game, as the Terrapins pulled out the victory late over the undermanned ‘Canes. Danny O’Brien played very well, and the Terrapins did just enough on both sides of the ball to outlast Miami. The victory gives the Terps the first conference win in the young season.
Elsewhere, stop if you’ve heard this one before: an ACC team lost to an FCS team. This time the team that falls was Duke, losing to Richmond at home 23-21. For a program in its fourth year under coach David Cutliffe, the Blue Devils are supposed to begin climbing the ladder to respectability; but a loss at home to an FCS squad (for the third time in the last six seasons), suggests the climb is a bit more difficult than first believed. The immediate future doesn’t get better: a top ten Stanford team comes to Durham on Saturday.
READ MORE >>>
By Tracy Smith, on August 31st, 2011 If you have been following ACC football over the last few years you have found several of the following statements to be true. Teams will beat each other up over the course of the conference season. One or more teams will suffer an inexplicable loss. And no team will be relevant in the national picture at the end of the season, because of statement #1, or #2, or this: they will lose to a national contender on the big stage.
The college football season kicks off tomorrow night, and the ACC will have teams playing non-conference games. To begin the ACC season, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets host the Western Carolina Catamounts, which would seem to be a winnable opener-unless you factor in the ACC’s history of losing to FCS teams early in the season. The other game features Wake Forest taking on Syracuse as Jim Grobe will again try to get the Demon Deacons turned around. READ MORE >>>
|
|
|
The final post for ACC Football takes a look at the conference championship game, and the teams headed to bowl games.
Recent Comments