I'm all for kids following their dreams and watching their hard work pay off. I'm all for college football's extended bowl season. But I'm not for allowing teams with .500 records play postseason games. I remember a day when Syracuse at 7-4 missed postseason play (1995)... and I was hurt but fine with it. Now again, I'm not in favor of turning back the clock to 1968 when there were only a handful of postseason games and some leagues only sent champions to bowl games (Big Ten and then-Pac 8), but what lesson is learned by 6-6 North Carolina going bowling? Especially when you factor in a win over an FCS school... so essentially we're looking at 5-6 schools squaring off. I know-- Syracuse at 7-5 has two wins over FCS teams... and as tough as it sounds, I wouldn't be hurt if the Orange were left out of the postseason parade. But now with 35 bowls (thank you Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium) needing 70 schools, 6-6 dreck will be front and center. Eat up...
Alma mater update-- another lackluster effort at home for the Orange, who drop to 2-4 at the Carrier Dome (with wins against Maine and Colgate) after slipping 16-7 to Boston College. One has to be happy with the progress made during the second season of the Doug Marrone era, but also recognize how far this program has to go... bring on the 9th ranked basketball team and multiple servings of chicken wings.
Uniform Department-- Ohio State wore 1942 vintage unis for its game with Michigan... major fashion faux pas. You don't wear your retro unis for your rival, you put them on for Northwestern or Youngstown State...somebody you beat by 30 points-- or win seven straight against. Umm, never mind.
Tailgating Note-- special thanks to Matt and Stacia Noble for letting a member of the media morph into their pregame festivities again this fall... with a nice bounce-back from serving Quiche in September. Upon further review, it was a non-conference affair against FIU-- and thus completely permissible under modern tailgating rules. Shrimp dip and Frito's forever.
Maryland came out flat and had to rally from a 14-0 first quarter deficit, holding off North Carolina State 38-31... the win keeps the Wolfpack out of the ACC Championship game, as instead Florida State will represent the Atlantic Division. Terrapin Triumphs-- a passing game that took things to the next level: Danny O'Brien passed for 419 yards and four touchdowns-- all to Torrey Smith who tallied 14 catches for 224 yards. A defense that woke up after allowing two early scores: an interception and a fumble recovery plus constant pressure kept Russell Wilson off balance all day. Terrapin Troubles-- a running game that went nowhere... managing minus-ten yards. A defense that slumped early and late (allowing touchdowns on NC State's first two and last two possessions).
Virginia Tech almost gave up another first quarter score, but a missed Virginia field goal ended the only chance the Cavaliers had to take the lead... as the Hokies humble their in-state rivals 37-7. In another ho-hum stat, VT notches its seventh straight double digit win season. For UVa, a fourth non-bowl season in five years.
Hokie highlights-- a double barrel running game behind Ryan Wilson and David Williams rambled for 201 yards--each scoring a pair of touchdowns... an error free game by Tyrod Taylor...and a defense that handcuffed UVa to the tune of 1-12 on third down. Hokie Humblings-- a missed extra point? Not exactly BEAMER BALL!... and VT didn't fare much better on third down... moving the chains 4 of 12 times.
Cavalier Congrats-- a nice foundation for Coach Mike London to build on... and a nice finish for senior Keith Payne in scoring a touchdown after missing the previous week and being banged up for chunks of the season. Cavalier Catastrophes-- the inability to run the football (70 yards on 34 carries) undercut the offense all afternoon...and allowing the Hokies to average 5 yards a carry is no way to stop an onslaught.
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