ACC Best of the Blogs: Week 12

BOSTON COLLEGE

BC All Access: Importance of the Wake/Maryland game
"If we win the Atlantic this year, I feel like it will be different. There is no one superstar on this team that people can say 'that's why they are going to the ACC championship'. No, instead this year if we make it people might actually realize that we do have a great program and a great coaching staff to go along with it. We will no longer be flukes but rather one of the better ACC teams who always have a shot at the title. Respect level should in turn rise among colleges and press around the nation as well as high-school athletes who are recruited by us."

BC Interruption: Over/Under: BC-Wake Forest
"Brian: This is a tough question. While I am optimistic, I also have some reservations about these last two games. The Wake Forest game is always interesting and Jim Grobe's offenses always seem to give the Eagles fits. Maryland has been playing well but I'm a bit more confident about that game as the Eagles will enjoy the home field advantage. I will agree with you Jeff and go over, although I'm not going to go out and buy a non-refundable plane ticket to Tampa just yet."

Eagle in Atlanta: BC-Wake Forest preview
"Although I dread playing them every year, I am glad Wake Forest continues to have success in the ACC. They remain the counterargument to any media member, fan or supposed expert who says BC’s limitations will keep us from winning championships. Now this is college football and the limitations will keep both schools from being No. 1 year after year, but Wake Forest won the conference two years ago. When we line up this Saturday, we should look across the field and realize that we can do it this year."

CLEMSON

Block-C: Arp arp arp creepy arp arp arp
"I’ve stood by my opinion that Georgia has the creepiest, most obnoxious, ignorant, mouthbreathing fans in the nation, and sites like DON’T GO DAWGS don’t serve to refute that argument."

Sporting Gnomes: That’s one more off the list
"I’ve compiled, as best I can (anyone got the defensive stats for Valdosta State for 2000? Or any national stats pre-2000?) a rough metric of the defenses Will Muschamp has been in charge of. As I had suspected, his defenses have been pretty good. Also as I suspected, the defenses were pretty good before and/or after he left. That doesn’t automatically mean he’s a bad defensive coordinator, but it does mean that is difficult to differentiate his performance from that of the people with which he surrounds himself."

FLORIDA STATE

Scalp 'Em: Will The Bad Economy Mean A Quicker End For Bobby Bowden?
"So how will this affect Bobby Bowden? Well, I’ve often heard that one of the main reasons for keeping Bobby Bowden around, despite his advancing age, a continuous barrage of personnel infractions, and a diminished national stature was that Bowden could bring in the dollars. My opinions was that Bowden’s legacy and his persona as the face of Florida State Football have been invaluable in getting people to open up their wallets, even when the team’s record was less than stellar. Bowden has been a money making machine the athletic department could not afford to give up."

Tomahawk Nation: Bowden pre-game speech
"I can't have more respect for what Coach Bowden has done for the program. But I find this video to be the equivalent of that clip when Nancy Reagan is whispering the right answers to then-President Reagan late in his second term."

GEORGIA TECH

The Legacyx4: A Georgia Tech/ Miami Conversation with Gobbler Country
"Yesterday during Miami's whoopin', Furrer4heisman, from Gobbler Country and I traded text messages. The conversation was so ridiculous, I had to share it:" (Ed.: What, you thought I would go with any other post?)

Mash on the Gas: Space Station Flyover!
"Georgia Tech has three grads on the Shuttle Endeavor and the International Space Station who will make an appearance at tonight's game. Col. Eric Boe and Lt. Col. Robert "Shane" Kimbrough both grew up in the Atlanta area and have Master's degrees from Tech. Also on board will be Sandra Magnus, who received a Doctorate from Tech."

MARYLAND

Turtle Waxing: Terps set up showdown with FSU
"In another monsoon, like the game against NC State a few weeks earlier, the Terps were able to keep the ground game moving the chains and relied on QB Chris Turner to make the critical throws when needed. In contrast North Carolina's Cam Sexton had little support from the Carolina ground game and was forced to convert third and long downs in the worst weather conditions. Sexton certainly struggled with his accuracy but when your QB is facing third and nine yards or more in eight of your eleven third downs in those conditions you're not going to be successful."

MIAMI

All Canes: 41-23 : U got Wrecked...
"The defense looked lost the entire game. Misdirection had the Canes' front seven out of place and zigging when they needed to zag. Godforbid Miami found the backfield and had a shot at stuffing the opposition, players failed to wrap up. On occasion two or three defenders had a shot at a Tech running back, whiffed and turned a two-yard loss into a forty-yard gain."

Hall of Canes: Humiliating defeat
"Tech's triple option looked deadly vs. Miami's young defense. The Canes allowed 471 rushing yards - the second most in school history. The record was set by Auburn in 1944. Georgia Tech could have had more yards had their star fullback not been injured fairly early in the game. Tech pretty much took it easy on the Canes in the fourth quarter."

NORTH CAROLINA

Carolina March: Maryland 17, UNC 15
"It was a crap football game, played in the rain, at a miserable stadium in a miserable town among miserable people subjected to an endless barrage of the same two cuts off whatever miserable Jock Jams CD the Maryland AV Club dug out of a bargain bin. It was a crap football game in which UNC, with a chance to accept clear control over the Coastal Division instead, for the third time this season, not show up for the second half and give it away. It was a crap football game that was painful to watch and I am all the worse for being subjected to it."

Tar Heel Fan: Tudor: Start Sexton
"I understand where Tudor is coming from. His argument is that Sexton deserves a 2nd chance, really has had only one bad game that he can be totally blamed for and his commitment to the program should be rewarded with some grace after last week. The problem with that is Butch Davis does not really have time to make people comfortable. Davis has said more times than I can count that he will play the players who give the team it’s best chance to win the game. That is exactly the approach he should take and issues of a player staying with the program or whether this guy or that is not to be blamed for a certain loss is all poppycock. The only conclusion Tudor offered above that bears any relevance on the criteria set by Davis is Sexton’s home record which is unblemished. Aside from that, whatever happens in practice will give the UNC head coach the information he needs to deploy the best option at QB for UNC on Saturday."

Tar Heel Mania: You’d Be Amazed At The Things People Write When They’re Mad
"The UNC-Maryland game was played during a storm that, just 12 hours and a few hundred miles earlier, produced tornadoes. It was played either in driving rain or in a green slip-n-slide. These are conditions that are, by nature, not conducive to a passing game. John Shoop decides to run more pass plays than run plays. When UNC did run the ball they only got 71 total yards. And somehow this is all the fault of a quarterback who, to that point, was a 5-1 starter with 8 touchdowns and 3 interceptions."

NC STATE

Section Six: The Wilson Effect
"With a healthy and increasingly comfortable Russell Wilson under center, the offense has made significant strides, averaging an additional yard per snap over the second half of the schedule. In addition to throwing the ball well, Wilson's done more damage running the football; along with a more cohesive offensive line, that's helped the Wolfpack establish a consistent running game."

StateFans Nation: Quarterbacks take center stage for State-Carolina
"I may be proven completely wrong…but, I don’t think there is really any drama in this ‘decision’. I also don’t think it makes one ounce of difference to NC State since Carolina’s offense doesn’t change much regardless of who is under center."

Yet another...: Remember folks... we are NOT their rivals
"The obvious response would be a painting of the Old Well, which occurred last year, but the Heels stepped up and organized a protection squad/rally to keep it from getting painted again this year (taken from the monkey boards):"

VIRGINIA

From Old Virginia: Two roundtables for the price of one
"The votes are in, we have a winner, and it's unanimous: the bloggers like parity. Gives us something to write about, and something more interesting to bitch about than "goddammit FSU won again.""

Good Ol' Blog: One Game at a Time
"Speaking of circling the drain, Clemson, the preseason favorite to win the ACC, managed to lose its head coach (finally) and most of its games this year. Rather than tuning up for the ACC championship game in the home stretch, the Tigers currently are further in the hole in terms of bowl eligibility than UVa. Clemson must beat the Hoos on the road and then beat their currently ranked in-state rival South Carolina to get to 6 qualifying wins (Clemson has two victories against FCS teams, and only one of those counts toward bowl eligibility)."

VIRGINIA TECH

Beer Control Offense: CFB Week 13 Television Viewing Guide
"A young team that doesn't play that well on the road, save Nebraska is now home ... For at least 2 more games. That alone should be a win. Doook is better than they have been since the ole ball coach walked the sidelines, so they aren't chopped liver and tech's shitty O keeps EVERY team they play in the games. A nite game helps, sauced fans equals juiced players."

College Game Balls: Because the ACC Coastal is too Complicated to Figure Out
"Here is a chart detailing every scenario for the ACC Coastal. See Chris Fowler its not that complicated…"

Fire Bryan Stinespring: And So We're Still In This Thing...
"I'm a child of the 90's. Flannel. Bad hair. Bad attitudes. Three power cords, repeated ad infinitum. Good times. So who better than Eddie Vedder to explain my current feelings on our situation?"

Tailgate Fever: Runnin’ With The Devil
"It is implausible that we just don't have any talent on offense year after year after year after year. And all the excuses such as we are young, we've had injuries, we are just one block away, don't cut it. The fact is he is in charge of this offense, and this offense sucks. And it has for a long time through multiple offensive lines, multiple quarterbacks, multiple running backs, and the best receiving corps to ever play at Tech. The only solution is wholesale change on offense. We consider ourselves to be great fans who believe tailgating, fun, sportsmanship, and a dozen other great things about the college game are more important than winning, but there is no way around this simple fact any more. And he shouldn’t even be fired.....he should resign. (Trust us Coach Beamer, we hate saying it almost as much as you hate hearing it, so please don’t yell at us.)"

Tech Sideline: Your FREE-view Duke preview and Top-10!
"The classic TSL.com MB mantra of “focus”. Duke has improved, to their credit, and Head Coach David Cutcliffe could be on his way to becoming a hot commodity in the D-1 coaching ranks if he’s not careful. Duke also (now) has several guys who could start for us/VT. But they are still Duke, the ACC’s football doormat. Though I want to believe. their increased defensive talent level and effectual coaching staff could possibly catch a VT football team sleeping; should we forget to set our O&M alarm for 5:30pm."

Tech SuperFans: Duke Preview
"Lets face it folks, these guys are high powered, but other than Georgia Tech these guys really have not faced a defense worth spitting at. And Georgia Tech shut-em down completely. [One might argue, what about Miami? They put up 31 on their defense. My response, see last night's Georgia Tech-Miami game.] Bud Foster's defense should have no trouble with these guys."

VT Fan: The Hokies and The ACC Championship Game
"So despite all our despair over the current Hokie difficiencies and struggles, its youth, and its 109th ranked offense, its not at all out of the realm of possibility that the Hokies will be playing in Tampa come December 6th. Who they will play, is a whole other post that I really don’t care to write."