Wow, my review sure is late this week, isn’t it? It’s just been one of those weeks. Let’s go ahead though, shall we?
Florida State at Miami – This was an interesting game. At first, I was shocked by the speed of both defenses. They were amazing. I was thinking that there was no way any other ACC team could compete with them. Then, I watched more. While the defenses remained impressive, the offenses, the quarterbacks in particular, looked bad. They sucked, in fact. Chris Rix may be the worst four-year starter at a major program ever. He threw passes to the wrong guys; he threw passes at the wrong time; he threw passes off the wrong foot; he threw inaccurate passes; he failed to recognize blitzes – you name it, he screwed it up. And Brock Berlin wasn’t much better.
In the end, I think these are still the two best teams in the conference, and if they play well, they should each win the rest of their conference games. But, they are both beatable, particularly by a team with a big line who can use size and strength to neutralize the speed of their defenses. The no-brainer (pun intended) is that you want to mix up your defensive looks and bring a lot of pressure on Rix. He’ll make mistakes.
BTW, did anyone else notice that Brent Musburger has gone senile? The guy was out of it. Even on replays, he didn’t seem to realize that the whistle blew long before the kick on that weird field goal situation at the end of the first half. There were some other obvious miscalls, but damn if I haven’t forgotten them now. Maybe his dementia is spreading.
Duke at Connecticut – I guess I underestimated Duke this week. For the record, I overrated them in week 1 and underrated them in week 2. The next bowl of porridge should be just right.
Being in the game all the way to the end, when Trajan Langdon missed a three-pointer for the win (at least he got a shot off this time), is good news for the Blue Devils. But then, in recent years, they’ve usually managed to play fairly well, keep it close, and then still lose. As bad as they’ve been, they haven’t been blown out a lot. Hopefully for them and Ted Roof, they’ll break that pattern and start winning some close games.
W. Michigan at Virginia Tech – The Hokies might be a bit better than expected. Sure, blowing out a mid-major isn’t the greatest measuring stick, but that’s what good teams do and 63-0 is impressive against anyone. In addition, they got touchdowns from their defense and blocked a punt. Beamer ball may be back.
North Carolina at Virginia – This one was ugly for the Tar Heels. The final score of 56-24 is not indicative of how one-sided this game was. UVA scored touchdowns on their first seven possessions. The Cavaliers rolled up 549 yards, and that was misleading, as they ran one kickoff back for 100 yards and had another one go 93 yards before Alvin Pearman was tackled on the 1. In all, UVA had 238 return yards! Believe me, this one could have been worse.
So, what does it mean? Well, it doesn’t tell us much about UNC that we didn’t already know. Their defense is among the worst in the country, but their offense is still pretty decent. They’ll compete with Duke for the cellar.
For UVA, it’s still early, but they are looking like they are legit. They’ve easily handled two teams that they should beat. They have two more easy games (Akron and Syracuse) before the schedule gets tough. One sign of a good team is one that gets scores from its defense and special teams. UVA has now returned a kick for a TD in each game and missed a third by just one yard. That’s a good sign of depth and overall team speed.
Temple at Maryland – Like UVA and Virginia Tech, Maryland easily dispatched of an inferior opponent. The game was basically over by halftime, giving Maryland a chance to work on their depth and start preparing for this weekend’s game against West Virginia. So far, the Terps look to be for real, but the Mountaineers will be a real test.
Wake Forest at East Carolina – I predicted that Wake would run all over ECU, and they did, to a point. Really though, they beat them through the air. Quarterback Cory Randolph did his best Woody Dantzler impression, passing for over 300 yards and running for over 100.
The disconcerting things for fans of Demon Deacons is that while Wake rolled up over 580 yards on offense, they gave up 469 yards to a pretty mediocre team. That game against UNC later this year should be quite a shootout!
Georgia Tech at Clemson – I said I wouldn’t be surprised if Georgia Tech pulled off the upset here, but no one could have predicted the manner in which it happened. Clemson had the game wrapped up – they had the ball, second and short, with less than a minute to play. After two short runs failed to earn a first down, they went to punt. The snap was bad, leaving the ball for GT on the 11 yard line. Two plays later – touchdown Georgia Tech and game. The Tigers had led by 10 points with under three minutes to go in the game.
It really was an incredible game, and surely a crushing loss for Clemson. The saving grace is that it’s still very early in the season and it’s not yet clear what impact this game will have. Given the two close games in Death Valley this year, I’m inclined to say that there’s very little difference between the middle teams in the league. That middle includes at least Clemson, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest. I’m not sure yet about UVA, NC State, Maryland and Virginia Tech, but I would guess that they are all right there, or maybe a half notch above those other three (did I just contradict myself?).