The ACC is littered with shattered hopes and dreams every early October. Usually in Durham...sometimes in Raleigh and Chapel Hill (truth be told the Research Triangle schools are an in congruent 0-4 in league play)...this year the broken hearts take residence in a rare location-- Tallahassee.
Florida State is 2-3 with an 0-2 ACC mark...believe it or not the computer had spell-checked the previous sentence five times before I could clear it. FSU used to be the reigning empire of the ACC... now it resembles the Ottoman Empire of the early 20th century-- once feared, now taken advantage of and on the precipice of being just like everybody else. For a decade and a half in the league, the Seminoles were nothing like anyone else. FSU went 90-6 in conference play over their first dozen years of membership; Bobby Bowden's current four-year class is 12-14 in the ACC.
Bowden is 79... but there are more tangible reasons the program has slipped. Credit Florida State's entrance into the league as why they're not standing out anymore-- meaning FSU's presence forced the other 8 schools to upgrade their football focus considerably, leading to a more level playing field. Add to the mix three schools (Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami) from the Big East that don't have an inherent culture of fearing the Seminole (especially the Canes)... and they no longer win by the intimidation that marked the 90's. One would like for a coaching legend to depart gracefully-- and although this is not a banner year there's no reason FSU can't jump back into the Atlantic Division race.
Alma Mater Update-- Syracuse's two-game winning streak fell by the wayside as the Orange came up short at home against South Florida... a game where Greg Paulus threw five interceptions. Now I remember his Duke basketball days.
MARYLAND dodged several fourth quarter bullets against Clemson, a fumble at the 31, a missed 4th and 1 at the 29 and the Tigers in position for a last-second gametying field goal in a 24-21 squeaker. College Park can breathe a little easier this week. Terrapin Triumphs-- the defense held Clemson to 133 yards over the last three quarters and limited the Tigers to 4 of 16 on third down... while the offense put together 3 scoring drives during the second stanza to take a 17-13 lead... punter Nick Ferrara averaged 43 yards over six kicks while consistently pinning the Tigers. Terrapin Troubles-- two lost fumbles in their own end placed the Tigers twice in field goal range... after keeping Chris Turner's jersey clean in the first half, the offensive line allowed four sacks after intermission.
#6 VIRGINIA TECH avoided upset by outscoring Duke 34-26... as VT had its hands full with a high-octane Blue Devil passing game. Thank goodness for the Blue Devils Paulus was in Syracuse. Hokie Highlights-- Tyrod Taylor passed for 327 yards and two touchdowns while hooking up with Jarrett Boykin six times for 144 yards and a score... Josh Oglesby is developing into a nice change of pace back after tallying two fourth quarter scores... the defense held the Blue Devils to 55 yards on 28 rushes (discounting the three sacks for minus 17 yards). Hokie Humblings-- 12 penalties for 105 yards raises a major red flag... was the 359 yards passing by Duke a credit to the Blue Devils or a Hokie blemish waiting to be exploited?... and the letdown of letting Duke stay in the game has to have heads scratching.
VIRGINIA began "October Surprise II--this time its personal" by shutting down North Carolina in Chapel Hill 16-3. Makes as much sense as last year's four-game winning streak did... going a long way to credit Al Groh's doggedness. You simply cannot bury the Cavaliers no matter how they look in September. Cavalier Congrats-- welcome back, Mikell Simpson!...the tailback after tallying 64 yards on 13 carries over the first three games of the season responded with 100 yards rushing and 45 receiving against the Tar Heels (shades of his breakout performance against Maryland in '07)... the defense held UNC to 39 yards rushing and tallied two interceptions... and recovered a fumble. Cavalier Catastrophes-- 7 penalties isn't ideal...and the punt return game wasn't ideal (3 for 11)--- but come on, UVa deserves a pass after getting into the win column.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment