The ACC race ratchets up a notch this week with most teams starting to play conference battles every week. I’m not sure what the stat is on this exactly, but I’ll be this is the first time in conference history that two teams are 3-0 in ACC play before the end of September. How do they all stack up? Read on.
1. Boston College – The Eagles look really special so far, and now enter the warm gooey center of the 2007 slate, with home dates against UMASS and Bowling Green before heading to Notre Dame. All UMASS can do is play defense, all Bowling Green can do is pass, and Notre Dame can’t do either. Barring catastrophe, this team will be top-8 ranked and 7-0 headed in to Blacksburg in four weeks. Matt Ryan looks like a first round draft pick under center, and the pass protection has been great, allowing just one sack per game.
2. Virginia Tech – Tyrod Taylor got some nice reps against William & Mary, and the Hokie D should feast on a UNC line that won’t protect a vicious pass rush too well. There’s probably not a team left on the schedule other than BC that can put up 20 points against Tech unless disaster strikes. The offensive line has been a disappointment, surrendering 14 sacks in 4 games; that’s not all to blame on Sean Glennon.
3. Clemson – Assuming there’s no meltdown against the Jackets this weekend, the Tigers will be 5-0 when the Hokies come a’callin’ next Saturday. Cullen Harper will get his first taste of a top-flight front four against VA Tech. Would you believe that in limited action last year and four starts this year, Harper’s TD-INT ratio is 14-0. Awesome stuff. Will the special teams play improve? Clemson is 109th nationally in punting (30.39 per punt) and 96th in kick returns. That’s death in the ACC slugfests down the road.
4. Wake Forest – I should have never underestimated the Deacons. Wake was my war horse in spots betting last year, and I went back to the well for a nice spread win vs. Maryland last week. Er, wrong column. The offensive skill positions have been predictably ugly, but the lines seem to be holding up well; the big uglies are netting 2.5 sacks a game compared to giving up just 1.25. Senior DL Jeremy Thompson has been the star up front, dropping opposing QBs five times.
5. Florida State – 5th in the conference still isn’t going to tickle the Noles’ funny bones after years of dominance, but it isn’t too bad considering where the team was last year. For my money, they’re still quite a bit worse than Clemson, but the run D has been pretty good since losing to the Tigers, holding UAB and Colorado to under 50 yards a game. Camp Bowden has had two weeks to scheme for ‘Bama, and they better figure a way to protect QB Drew Weatherford. FSU is 10th in the ACC in sacks allowed.
6. Maryland – Oh, the one that got away. Maryland was on the verge of going up 31-3 when a 100 yard or so defensive TD put Wake back in it, and the Terps still haven’t stopped bleeding. They head to Piscataway this week to face a Rutgers squad that is probably a wee bit better than they were when this one was scheduled. LB Erin Anderson has a whopping 22 solo tackles, with at least 11 stops in each of the last three games and 8 TFL on the year.
7. Miami – The ‘Canes showed a little bite to go with that omnipresent bark last Thursday, beating an A&M squad that isn’t that great, but doing it soundly. Kyle Wright has been almost eerily efficient since taking the reins against Florida International, but the real hero on offense has been Freshman RB Graig Cooper, stepping up to provide a counterpunch to the efficient passing of Wright and running of Javarris James. Gotta love the ‘Canes adorably foreign kicker, Francesco Zampogna, 8th in the nation with 8 FG made.
8. Virginia – Call me crazy, but I’m still not buying it. This team has eeked wins over Duke, UNC and now Georgia Tech, and they’re either very mediocre, or just “know how to win.” I’ll take the first option, although we might not find out for sure for quite awhile. Its three against Pitt, MTSU and UCONN now, and the Cavs could easily be 6-1 headed to College Park on October 20th. The offense has been downright awful, ranking 91st or worse in rush yards, pass yards, totally yards and points. Punter Ryan Weigand might be the MVP. His 49 yards per punt rank second nationally, a cool 18 yards per boot farther than Clemson’s average.
9. Georgia Tech – Here’s another bad team with a great punter. Durant Brooks is clipping the heels of UVA’s Ryan Weigand at 46 a boot, but once again, the Jackets can’t pass. Tashard Choice is a all-world feature back in an attack that contained another option. When the line stops protecting this well (tied for first in ACC with 4 sacks allowed), and they might, all hell is going to break loose on this offense.
10. Duke – The Dukies defy gravity yet again, rising up from 11th to 10th thanks to a major offensive performance against Navy. The Middies haven’t been bombed like that since Pearl Harbor, as Thaddeus Lewis took a major step forward, tossing for 428 yards and four scores. Eron Riley caught 6 balls for an insane 239 yards. Did they run out of gas? Duke moved forward only 14 yards in the fourth quarter. Now the Devils face an unfamiliar situation – rebounding from losing a game they really, really should have won.
11. NC State – NC State’s strength of schedule leapt to the moon with Wofford slashing Appalachian State, but their run D ain’t getting any better (115th in NCAA, 247 yards per game). Teams don’t really need to throw much against this bunch, since they’re always beating the Wolfpack. Andre Brown is performing solidly as the feature back; how about finding him more on pass routes, as NC State did against BC, to the tune of 7 catches for 77 yards?
12. North Carolina – Pull back the reins on that T.J. Yates for Heisman campaign. Yates got terrorized by the South Florida defense last weekend, throwing just 11 of 24 of 70 yards and 4 picks, a sharp contrast to the efficiency he showed early in the year. The Carolina D has been respectable, but they have to force more turnovers. Just two picks in four games is inexcusable.
No comments:
Post a Comment