ACC Football: Where We Stand

Don’t look now, but Clemson and Georgia Tech – not Florida State and Virginia Tech – look to be the two best teams in the ACC.

Clemson is now the first ACC team to defeat three ranked opponents at home and either their defense is really good or the Hokies’ offense is really bad…The truth probably lies somewhere in between. 

Freshmen Sammy Watkins is a serious talent who is crazy fast and QB Taj Boyd continues to impress. 

The Tigers sit atop the Atlantic Division undefeated and their toughest remaining ACC tests are Wake Forest, North Carolina and Georgia Tech (in that order).  They play the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta, and that will be entertaining.

We guess there is already National Championship talk surfacing down at Clemson and ESPN’s Heather Dinich is feeding that fire…

Plain and simple, the Hokies were overrated.  There has been much talk of their usual non-conference powder-puff schedule, but that isn’t the problem. The problem is the offense – talent and execution. Playing Alabama, LSU or even the likes of Pitt or Syracuse wouldn't necessarily solve the problem as the Hokies' critics insist.  While Virginia Tech is deep at running back, their passing game against Clemson was virtually nonexistent.   

(U.S. Presswire)

Since who calls plays is no longer a great debate in Hokie Nation, the VT loyalists have to accept the simple fact that their team needs to play better.  If they do, they remain a Dr. Pepper Bowl candidate.   Virginia Tech also has to grapple with Georgia Tech later in the season.

Georgia Tech is 2-0, and 5-0 overall for the first time since 1990.  The Jackets are racking up yards at an amazing pace both on the ground and in the air.  It seems abundantly clear that the only team that can stop Georgia Tech …is Georgia Tech.  If they don’t turn the ball over, they score a bunch of points and that typically leads to victories.

Basketball schools sit in second place in both divisions – Wake Forest and Duke.  Wake is clearly a solid team, but if they were really good they would have distanced themselves a bit against a not-very good Boston College team last Saturday.

(Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer)

Duke is still Duke, but clearly David Cutcliffe is a solid coach doing a good job. 

The jury is still out on Florida State and Miami.  The Seminoles can bounce back with a healthy EJ Manuel and it’s hard to tell how good/bad Miami really is.  The Canes' win over Ohio State was impressive, but their loss to Kansas State was disconcerting.  Then, lo and behold, the Wildcats “upset” then ranked #15 Baylor…so…who knows?

N.C. State fans have to be shaking their head as Russell Wilson is torching the Big 10 up at Wisconsin and is now part of the Heisman Trophy conversation.  That said, the Wolfpack and coach Tom O’Brien were put in a no-win situation when Wilson informed them he wasn’t going to come to spring practice and then he planned to try his hand in the baseball minor leagues.

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Wilson, who has earned his degree and had one remaining year of eligibility, said he would decide if he would return to N.C. State after seeing how things went on the diamond.  O’Brien probably could have lived with that uncertainty, but then backup QB (and now starter) Mike Glennon said he would transfer if Wilson returned…

North Carolina and Wake Forest are probably both headed to bowl games but neither is unlikely to turn up in the ACC Championship game in December.

Maryland, Virginia, B.C look to be going nowhere of import, but new Terps' coach Randy Edsall has proved over the past few weeks that extremely large items will fit under a bus.

…And, that’s “where we stand.”  -- The Editor