Several Hokie opponents in 2009 concluded spring practice this weekend. Here's a quick look at what transpired:
Non-Conference
Alabama
QB Greg McElroy didn't have a spectacular day, but did connect with Julio Jones for a 53-yard TD in a 14-7 win for the Crimson over the White. McElroy threw 2 TDs and 2 INTs, but the young quarterbacks behind him were terrible. The QB job is his.
- Ian R. Rapoport on what Qs Bama answered in the spring. (Brimingham News)
- Predictably, Alabama's D dominated the game. (Southern Pigskin)
- Here's your highlight reel. (Roll Bama Roll)
East Carolina
Big plays were the storyline out of Greenville where Patrick Pinkney completed 19 of 26 for 229 yards and two TDs. The defense carried ECU last season. That trend might be reversed in 2009 with the offense leading the charge.
- Pinkney called it the best spring game for ECU in his six years there. (The Daily Reflector)
- ECU now has depth at skill positions. (AP)
Nebraska
It looks more and more like Zac Lee will be the Huskers' starting QB. He completed 15 of 18 passes for 214 yards on Saturday. Meanwhile, Nebraska's linebackers and secondary didn't fare so well.
- Lee was even accurate on deep balls. (Omaha World Herald)
- Husker Mike was impressed with the skill position players. (Corn Nation)
ACC Teams on Our Schedule
Duke
Continuing our QB theme, Thad Lewis was spectacular for Duke Saturday, throwing for 257 yards and running for two TDs. The Cutcliffe Effect is having a big impact on Duke's QBs.
- Giggity saw a lot fewer unforced errors in this year's spring game. (ACC Now)
Georgia Tech
QB Josh Nesbitt sat out the T-Day game with a shoulder injury. However, that didn't keep the offense from putting up big numbers in a 31-28 win for Gold over White. There were several big plays, but there were also eight fumbles for a team that struggled with fumbles in 2008.
- Photos from the game. (The Legacyx4)
- GT's linebackers were the highlight for the D. (The Legacyx4)
- It was certainly an improvement over the 2008 spring game. (AJC)
NC State
The 'Pack D looks fierce. White beat Red, 10-7, in a game whose only offensive highlight was a 65-yard TD pass by Russell Wilson. Nate Irving's sack on the first play of the game set the tone.
- The offensive line struggle mightily for State. (ACC Now)
- The QBs were mistake-free. (Section Six)
- The secondary was a pleasant surprise for Pack fans. (StateFans Nation)
Virginia
The 'Hoos unveiled their new spread offense and called its QBs down by touch in their spring game, resulting in only two touchdowns. Its tough to know how well a spread offense works without live quarterbacks. So we'll have to wait until September to see if Gregg Brandon's offense will work.
- Vic Hall finally got to throw the ball. (Roanoke Times)
- We still have no clue who the Hoos' QB will be.
- UVa sort of knows who will start on defense. (Daily Press)
Showing posts with label acc football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label acc football. Show all posts
Monday, April 20, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Busy Weekend for Our Soon to be Vanquished Foes
The Hokies don't hold their spring game until next week. But this Saturday will mark the end of spring practice for three of our four out of conference opponents and five ACC teams. Duke, Georgia Tech, NC State, france and Wake Forest will all hold their spring games Saturday.
Next week I'll have the talking points from the aftermath of the following spring extravaganzas.
Alabama
Its quarterback situation is all-but-settled with senior Greg McElroy taking the reins. One of the questions facing the Tide is who his back-up will be. Star Jackson is the high-touted youngster, but he's being out played by walk-on Thomas Darrah.
The real position battles to watch with the Tide are at offensive line and in the secondary. The Tide have a lot of talent to replace on a line that struggled against Utah without Andre Smith at right tackle.
The Tide had trouble with pass blocking in the Sugar Bowl and have had trouble running ball in the spring. Although a lot of that has to do with how good Alabama's front seven on defense is. Reading Roll Bama Roll, it appears the Tide's OL is in the same predicament Tech's was the last two seasons:
Nebraska
The Huskers have to replace quarterback Joe Ganz and the three contenders for the starting job have a combined five career passing yards. Those yards belong to Zac Lee, who will likely land the starting job.
The passing situation just gets worse for the Huskers. They lost their two top receivers in Nate Swift and Todd Peterson as well as do-everything running back Marlon Lucky, who was versatile out of the backfield. However, despite the loss of Lucky, the Huskers will be fine on the ground Roy Helu and Quentin Castille are a solid 1-2 punch for Nebraska. Castille ran all over Clemson in Nebraska's second half comeback in the Gator Bowl.
On defense, Nebraska has an excellent defensive line, but is questionable at linebacker and secondary. Both units looked very slow in the two games I saw last year (Tech and Oklahoma). However, I believe Nebraska will be improved at secondary next year. The Huskers have three returnees in the secondary and have added depth with incoming players and another who missed last year due to injury.
Corn Nation believes the depth in the secondary is a strong point for the Huskers:
East Carolina
Patrick Pinkney is back to haunt our dreams, but the Pirates have new (OK, old) blood at running back.
Duke
Due to injury, graduation and attrition, the Blue Devils only have 57 players in uniform this spring. The real progress for Duke will come in the fall when it has everyone on campus.
Duke only returns 10 starters (five per side of the ball) and that may not be a bad thing. The players leaving may have been part of Duke's four-win season last year, but they were also a part of the atrocious Duke teams of the two previous seasons.
"We have less bodies and more football players," head coach David Cutcliffe said during this week's ACC teleconference. "At this time a year ago we had eight players ready to play defense to some degree of effectiveness in the ACC and on offense we had seven. We are at double-digits in both categories as we evaluate ourselves going into the last week of spring practice."
The important thing for the Devils is the return of their best player, QB Thaddeus Lewis. And unlike last year, he may have a running game to lighten his load. RB Re'quan Boyette returns after missing 2008 with a torn ACL. Cutcliffe said he is back at full speed.
"He had a tremendous scrimmage Friday and was explosively fast," he said. "I saw Re'quan back to where he's going to be a factor. He cut himself loose for the first time Friday and looked like an All-Star performer."
While Duke loses its best offensive weapon in WR Eron Riley, it may have gained one in Boyette. The question will be whether the offensive line will allow him to produce the numbers on the ground Duke needs to be successful with its pro-style offense.
Georgia Tech
The Yellow Jackets' offense tore through the ACC and Georgia at the end of last season before being halted by LSU in the Peach Bowl. They return all of their star players from 2008 and will certainly reap the benefits of going young on that side of the ball last year.
Yes, teams will go into 2009 having seen Georgia Tech's offense and won't be surprised by what it does. However,in head coach Paul Johnson's words, while teams will get better at defending the flexbone, the Jackets will get better at running it.
The defense will be a different story. While the Yellow Jacket offense is fearsome, it's D will certainly lack the bite it had last year. Gone are DE Michael Johnson, DT Daryl Richard and DT Vance Walker.
Johnson will have to fill those key holes in order to have a shot at the Coastal Division in 2009.
"We have some guys who haven't played a lot but they've been in games," he said during the teleconference. "It's going to be by committee a little bit but they've had a decent spring."
I'll be looking forward to a full report from Georgia Tech's T-Day from our friends at The Legacy x4. While usually I'd encourage them to drink enough to not remember anything from the spring game, we could use some good info, so try to stay conscious, guys.
NC State
Like Duke, the Wolfpack are getting an important piece back that was missing from 2008. Running back Toney Baker returns from his own catastrophic knee injury he suffered in 2007.
Because of the nature of Baker's injury, head coach Tom O'Brien is cautiously optimistic about his progress.
"I don't think Toney's 100 percent," O'Brien said during the teleconference. "I don't know how he could be. It's the first time he's been on the field since September of 2007. He has made some strides and it's going to take a while. The good news is he's been out there, competing and working hard."
Baker will replace Andre Brown, who started 12 games last season. Who will be handing the ball off to him may not be as set in stone as it seemed at the end of last year. QB Russell Wilson was first-team all-conference and led the Wolfpack to four consecutive wins to finish the regular season.
However, an injury in the bowl game and the current NC State baseball season has hampered Wilson's progress. Wilson's participation in Saturday's spring game iwll even be limited due to that afternoon's baseball game. Redshirt FR Mike Glennon has had an excellent spring and could demand playing time come September.
"He's worked hard this spring and done a great job," O'Brien said. "Every job is open here and we give everybody the opportunity to challenge for a job. Competition makes your team better."
Virginia
The Hoos will install a new offense under Gregg Brandon this season. Who will be running that offense is up for debate.
Marc Verica, Jameel Sewell and Vic Hall will compete to be the starting quarterback in Brandon's spread attack. Hall ran a wildcat-type offense effectively in the first half against Virginia Tech.
The Wahoos started to go in the spread direction last year. However, the loss of Sewell to academics and emergence of Peter Lalich and Verica as UVa's two options at QB caused it to abandon the spread. Head coach Al Groh said during the teleconference that Brandon was one of the coaches the UVa staff talked to while trying to implement the new offense.
The Hoos' spread attack will be on display for the first time Saturday during festivus. How it looks and who runs it best will be the most interesting thing to watch.
"Until all 11 guys on the line get it, it doesn't look too good," Groh said. "I think looking at it position-by-position, we're starting to gain momentum."
Groh said the progress of the offense will be slow under the new system.
"It's been successful at many other places but by the same token it's not Star Wars," he said. "It's not something no one has ever figured out how to play against. Gregg has done a heckuva job for us and is a bright coach but he's not the Tooth Fairy. He's not going to instantly make it a 70 point per game offense. It's up to player performance and it's player execution that scores points."
Next week I'll have the talking points from the aftermath of the following spring extravaganzas.
Alabama
Its quarterback situation is all-but-settled with senior Greg McElroy taking the reins. One of the questions facing the Tide is who his back-up will be. Star Jackson is the high-touted youngster, but he's being out played by walk-on Thomas Darrah.
The real position battles to watch with the Tide are at offensive line and in the secondary. The Tide have a lot of talent to replace on a line that struggled against Utah without Andre Smith at right tackle.
The Tide had trouble with pass blocking in the Sugar Bowl and have had trouble running ball in the spring. Although a lot of that has to do with how good Alabama's front seven on defense is. Reading Roll Bama Roll, it appears the Tide's OL is in the same predicament Tech's was the last two seasons:
Do not set that one in stone just yet, though, because with Pendry's philosophy of getting the best five on the field, an injury to just one lineman or the emergence of just one other lineman could completely alter the composition of the starting five.
Nebraska
The Huskers have to replace quarterback Joe Ganz and the three contenders for the starting job have a combined five career passing yards. Those yards belong to Zac Lee, who will likely land the starting job.
The passing situation just gets worse for the Huskers. They lost their two top receivers in Nate Swift and Todd Peterson as well as do-everything running back Marlon Lucky, who was versatile out of the backfield. However, despite the loss of Lucky, the Huskers will be fine on the ground Roy Helu and Quentin Castille are a solid 1-2 punch for Nebraska. Castille ran all over Clemson in Nebraska's second half comeback in the Gator Bowl.
On defense, Nebraska has an excellent defensive line, but is questionable at linebacker and secondary. Both units looked very slow in the two games I saw last year (Tech and Oklahoma). However, I believe Nebraska will be improved at secondary next year. The Huskers have three returnees in the secondary and have added depth with incoming players and another who missed last year due to injury.
Corn Nation believes the depth in the secondary is a strong point for the Huskers:
Depth is a key for the Huskers as they look ahead into the 2009 season. Like the linebacking unit, competition will be heavy for the starting positions. The more defensive secondary players that are available, the more flexibility will be afforded Bo Pelini.
East Carolina
Patrick Pinkney is back to haunt our dreams, but the Pirates have new (OK, old) blood at running back.
Although his career efforts to date have added up to 607 rush yards and six touchdowns, Lindsay has been with the program longer than any other back on the team and was a member of head coach Skip Holtz's first recruiting class.
As hard as Lindsay said it was to be immobilized for the season and lose much of the momentum he'd built the previous three years, the layoff gave him a new perspective on the game.
"It was great in that I really got to watch the game,” he said. “I became a fan. Every time somebody did something good, it made me happy because you always want to see your teammates succeed. But at the same time, I thought, they did all this without me. But I was happy for them. They accomplished all of the goals we set out to accomplish last year."
Duke
Due to injury, graduation and attrition, the Blue Devils only have 57 players in uniform this spring. The real progress for Duke will come in the fall when it has everyone on campus.
Duke only returns 10 starters (five per side of the ball) and that may not be a bad thing. The players leaving may have been part of Duke's four-win season last year, but they were also a part of the atrocious Duke teams of the two previous seasons.
"We have less bodies and more football players," head coach David Cutcliffe said during this week's ACC teleconference. "At this time a year ago we had eight players ready to play defense to some degree of effectiveness in the ACC and on offense we had seven. We are at double-digits in both categories as we evaluate ourselves going into the last week of spring practice."
The important thing for the Devils is the return of their best player, QB Thaddeus Lewis. And unlike last year, he may have a running game to lighten his load. RB Re'quan Boyette returns after missing 2008 with a torn ACL. Cutcliffe said he is back at full speed.
"He had a tremendous scrimmage Friday and was explosively fast," he said. "I saw Re'quan back to where he's going to be a factor. He cut himself loose for the first time Friday and looked like an All-Star performer."
While Duke loses its best offensive weapon in WR Eron Riley, it may have gained one in Boyette. The question will be whether the offensive line will allow him to produce the numbers on the ground Duke needs to be successful with its pro-style offense.
Georgia Tech
The Yellow Jackets' offense tore through the ACC and Georgia at the end of last season before being halted by LSU in the Peach Bowl. They return all of their star players from 2008 and will certainly reap the benefits of going young on that side of the ball last year.
Yes, teams will go into 2009 having seen Georgia Tech's offense and won't be surprised by what it does. However,in head coach Paul Johnson's words, while teams will get better at defending the flexbone, the Jackets will get better at running it.
The defense will be a different story. While the Yellow Jacket offense is fearsome, it's D will certainly lack the bite it had last year. Gone are DE Michael Johnson, DT Daryl Richard and DT Vance Walker.
Johnson will have to fill those key holes in order to have a shot at the Coastal Division in 2009.
"We have some guys who haven't played a lot but they've been in games," he said during the teleconference. "It's going to be by committee a little bit but they've had a decent spring."
I'll be looking forward to a full report from Georgia Tech's T-Day from our friends at The Legacy x4. While usually I'd encourage them to drink enough to not remember anything from the spring game, we could use some good info, so try to stay conscious, guys.
NC State
Like Duke, the Wolfpack are getting an important piece back that was missing from 2008. Running back Toney Baker returns from his own catastrophic knee injury he suffered in 2007.
Because of the nature of Baker's injury, head coach Tom O'Brien is cautiously optimistic about his progress.
"I don't think Toney's 100 percent," O'Brien said during the teleconference. "I don't know how he could be. It's the first time he's been on the field since September of 2007. He has made some strides and it's going to take a while. The good news is he's been out there, competing and working hard."
Baker will replace Andre Brown, who started 12 games last season. Who will be handing the ball off to him may not be as set in stone as it seemed at the end of last year. QB Russell Wilson was first-team all-conference and led the Wolfpack to four consecutive wins to finish the regular season.
However, an injury in the bowl game and the current NC State baseball season has hampered Wilson's progress. Wilson's participation in Saturday's spring game iwll even be limited due to that afternoon's baseball game. Redshirt FR Mike Glennon has had an excellent spring and could demand playing time come September.
"He's worked hard this spring and done a great job," O'Brien said. "Every job is open here and we give everybody the opportunity to challenge for a job. Competition makes your team better."
Virginia
The Hoos will install a new offense under Gregg Brandon this season. Who will be running that offense is up for debate.
Marc Verica, Jameel Sewell and Vic Hall will compete to be the starting quarterback in Brandon's spread attack. Hall ran a wildcat-type offense effectively in the first half against Virginia Tech.
The Wahoos started to go in the spread direction last year. However, the loss of Sewell to academics and emergence of Peter Lalich and Verica as UVa's two options at QB caused it to abandon the spread. Head coach Al Groh said during the teleconference that Brandon was one of the coaches the UVa staff talked to while trying to implement the new offense.
The Hoos' spread attack will be on display for the first time Saturday during festivus. How it looks and who runs it best will be the most interesting thing to watch.
"Until all 11 guys on the line get it, it doesn't look too good," Groh said. "I think looking at it position-by-position, we're starting to gain momentum."
Groh said the progress of the offense will be slow under the new system.
"It's been successful at many other places but by the same token it's not Star Wars," he said. "It's not something no one has ever figured out how to play against. Gregg has done a heckuva job for us and is a bright coach but he's not the Tooth Fairy. He's not going to instantly make it a 70 point per game offense. It's up to player performance and it's player execution that scores points."
Monday, March 23, 2009
An Interesting Way to Boost Attendance
The VT women's lacrosse team hosts North Carolina at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Thompson Field. The struggling Hokies are 4-10 overall and 1-2 in ACC play. I don't think I ever remember a point where the women's lacrosse team was any good, but that doesn't mean it won't see a big attendance figure Wednesday.
Wednesday's game will feature something called the "Greek Challenge" where the fraternity or sorority with the most members in attendance receives a $100 gift card to the business of its choice. My guess is you'll see a lot of greeks at Wednesday's game because from what I experienced in college greeks get excited about any opportunity to beat other greeks at anything.
Whether its raising money or drinking terrible 3.2 beer, greeks get a kick out of being the best at it. Hopefully it means a spirited atmosphere for the game against the 7-2 Tar Heels.
Attendance to women's lacrosse games are free at VT, but I assume the increased attendance will mean increased concession sales. And if the Hokies were smart and got that $100 gift card donated, it's all profit.
Linkage
Hokies
- Aaron McFarling has greater appreciation for the ADV era than I do.
- BCO really likes IPAs. I can't stand IPAs. To each his own.
- Tech Hoops gives its summer schedule.
Atlantic Coast Conference
- Enjoy it while you can boys. There's no spring break in the real world. /sobs uncontrollably. /applies to grad school.
- Jeff and Brian are too close to call in their Tournament pool. Jeff's only ahead because he had his wife pick his bracket.
- Pretty good motivational ploy by Roy during the LSU game.
- Apparently the near-empty Dolphin Stadium for Miami games isn't because 'Canes fans suck. It's because Miami fans suck in general.
- Spring practice starts at Georgia Tech.
Randomness
- Looks like all that money the Virginia Lottery gives to Virginia Public Schools didn't help Percy Harvin.
- Giglio looks at Gonzaga's history in the NCAA Tournament.
- Sad face.
- It was a bad weekend to be a Sabres fan.
Wednesday's game will feature something called the "Greek Challenge" where the fraternity or sorority with the most members in attendance receives a $100 gift card to the business of its choice. My guess is you'll see a lot of greeks at Wednesday's game because from what I experienced in college greeks get excited about any opportunity to beat other greeks at anything.
Whether its raising money or drinking terrible 3.2 beer, greeks get a kick out of being the best at it. Hopefully it means a spirited atmosphere for the game against the 7-2 Tar Heels.
Attendance to women's lacrosse games are free at VT, but I assume the increased attendance will mean increased concession sales. And if the Hokies were smart and got that $100 gift card donated, it's all profit.
Linkage
Hokies
- Aaron McFarling has greater appreciation for the ADV era than I do.
- BCO really likes IPAs. I can't stand IPAs. To each his own.
- Tech Hoops gives its summer schedule.
Atlantic Coast Conference
- Enjoy it while you can boys. There's no spring break in the real world. /sobs uncontrollably. /applies to grad school.
- Jeff and Brian are too close to call in their Tournament pool. Jeff's only ahead because he had his wife pick his bracket.
- Pretty good motivational ploy by Roy during the LSU game.
- Apparently the near-empty Dolphin Stadium for Miami games isn't because 'Canes fans suck. It's because Miami fans suck in general.
- Spring practice starts at Georgia Tech.
Randomness
- Looks like all that money the Virginia Lottery gives to Virginia Public Schools didn't help Percy Harvin.
- Giglio looks at Gonzaga's history in the NCAA Tournament.
- Sad face.
- It was a bad weekend to be a Sabres fan.
Barnhart Talks Coastal, Tide Fans Talk Tech
Tony Barnhart, a/k/a Mr. College Football, posted his "What we know and don't know" about the ACC Coastal this morning on his blog. Barnhart has forgotten more about college football than I know, so I was looking forward to this.
Here's what he said about the Hokies:
Pretty simple and straight forward. Also, the same thing could have been said in 2006, 2007 and 2008 about Hokie football.
Naturally, Barnhart's suggestion that Tech might beat Alabama brought out the best and brightest the state has to offer in the comments section.
"Roll fuckin' tahde":
From MtnBama: "VT like everyone else will be lucky to score ten points against Bama this year."
From Saint Nick: "Yeah VT will have a decent defense, BUT, Bama will have a GREAT defense!!!! VT or anyone for that matter run on this defense. Scott moving to DB will help sure up the secondary, the front seven will be the best in the country. RTR!!!!!!"
From Got 12? (ed. note - you don't have 12, either): "Once again, by scheduling the marquee matchup of college football’s opening weekend, Bama has already won. This game is about national exposure, branding, and recruiting. One a side note, we will beat Virgina Tech."
From Bob: "Virginia Tech does not fare well in games like this. Their record against top 25 teams from OOC is less than impressive, and that’s being generous. I think they are one of the most overrated programs in the nation."
That is some inspirational shit right there. For those of you who don't speak Crazy Fanatic Internet Shorthand, RTR means "Roll Tide Roll". Of course, there was no mention from Bama fans about how they were actually going to move the ball this year or how this game being on opening weekend might hurt the team that's having to replace its QB, RB and best offensive lineman.
Looks like we're going to have five months of smack talk between Bama and Tech fans leading up to this soiree.
Here's what he said about the Hokies:
VIRGINIA TECH (10-4, practice starts April 1, ends April 25)
What we know: Bud Foster’s defense will be very good again. The Hokies’ defense was supposed to be in a rebuilding mode in 2008 but when the season ended Virginia Tech was second in the league in total defense (279.4 ypg) and first in scoring defense (16.7 ppg). Seven starters return but the losses were significant. Victor “Macho” Harris started 40 games at cornerback. Foster also has to find a couple of inside linebackers. According the figures recently released by the school, in the last five seasons combined, Virginia Tech has had the nation’s best defense (263.06 ypg). There is no reason to think that will change in 2009.
What we don’t know: Can QB Tyrod Taylor and RB Darren Evans keep it going? If so, the Hokies are going to be hard to handle on offense. Taylor, a rising junior, was dinged up a lot last season but still managed to record 1,774 yards of total offense (1,036 passing, 738 running) in 12 games. Evans set an ACC record for the most yards rushing by a freshman (1,265) last season. Virginia Tech has won the ACC championship in three of the five years (2004, 2007, 2008) it has been a member and played for the ACC championship (losing to Florida State) in 2005. The Hokies may be the closest thing the ACC has to a Top 10 team in 2009. Do they have a chance to upset Alabama in the Georgia Dome on Sept. 5?
Pretty simple and straight forward. Also, the same thing could have been said in 2006, 2007 and 2008 about Hokie football.
Naturally, Barnhart's suggestion that Tech might beat Alabama brought out the best and brightest the state has to offer in the comments section.
"Roll fuckin' tahde":
From MtnBama: "VT like everyone else will be lucky to score ten points against Bama this year."
From Saint Nick: "Yeah VT will have a decent defense, BUT, Bama will have a GREAT defense!!!! VT or anyone for that matter run on this defense. Scott moving to DB will help sure up the secondary, the front seven will be the best in the country. RTR!!!!!!"
From Got 12? (ed. note - you don't have 12, either): "Once again, by scheduling the marquee matchup of college football’s opening weekend, Bama has already won. This game is about national exposure, branding, and recruiting. One a side note, we will beat Virgina Tech."
From Bob: "Virginia Tech does not fare well in games like this. Their record against top 25 teams from OOC is less than impressive, and that’s being generous. I think they are one of the most overrated programs in the nation."
That is some inspirational shit right there. For those of you who don't speak Crazy Fanatic Internet Shorthand, RTR means "Roll Tide Roll". Of course, there was no mention from Bama fans about how they were actually going to move the ball this year or how this game being on opening weekend might hurt the team that's having to replace its QB, RB and best offensive lineman.
Looks like we're going to have five months of smack talk between Bama and Tech fans leading up to this soiree.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Hokie Baseball Gets 100 Percent More Awesome
Because the Hokies will be wearing this little number for their game against Georgia Tech at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at English Field. The Houston Astros starburst-style jerseys are a part of Disco Night and old school VT shirts will also be given away.Yes, they're ugly, but that doesn't make them any less spectacular. I'll pay handsomely for one of those things.
Honoring the Original Hokie
O.M. Stull, who came up with the "Old Hokie Cheer" that eventually gave Tech its nickname, will be honored by the Roanoke Valley Hokie Club. A memorial and plaque will be placed at his grave in Lexington, Va., to honor his contribution to Hokie athletics.
Stull won the school-wide contest to come up with a new cheer (and its $5 first prize) in 1896. He said the word Hokie was just something he made up to draw attention to the cheer.
Hokie Face Baylor in NIT
I'll be having breakfast with the Hokies when they host Baylor at 11 a.m. Saturday at Cassell Coliseum on ESPN. Coach Greenberg is certain the fans will be loud despite the early start time:
We are excited about Saturday's game. It's another national television game and we want to show the country that the "Hokie Nation" is ready to go, 24/7. Regardless of whether it's a 10 a.m. or midnight tip, we are ready to go. Thank you for your support throughout the season and we look forward to seeing you in the Cassell on Saturday morning.
The key for the Hokies will be stopping Baylor point guard Curtis Jerrells. After watching Duquesne's Aaron Jackson drive to the hoop at will against Tech's awful perimeter defense, I worry the same will happen when Jerrells takes on the Hokies.
Jerrells won't put up the same 46 points Jackson had because he has a better supporting cast. If the Hokies can't contain Jerrells, he'll be able to drive, dish and dominate Saturday morning.
The Hokies will need a big game from Jeff Allen to win this one. He can make a difference inside against a Baylor team that isn't great on the boards.
Linkage
Hokies
- KT is in St. Louis covering the NCAA Wrasslin' Championship.
- Coach Beamer will compete in a celebrity NASCAR race Saturday in Bristol, Tenn.
- Tech Hoops thinks the Baylor game will come down to three-point shooting.
- Blogsburg thinks Baylor poses problems for us and is glad the game starts at 10 a.m. CDT.
- BCO gives it up to Aaron Jackson.
- TV Theme Madness continues at The North End Zone. Vote Fraggle.
Atlantic Coast Conference
- Tar Heel Fan is in G'boro cheering on the Heels.
- All Canes thinks Kirby Hocutt should keep his pimp hand strong when dealing with the Irish.
- BC faces BU in a critical hockey showdown this weekend.
- Joe Ovies and Adam Gold interview public enemy No. 1 in Chapel Hill, Jeff Goodman.
- Why didn't you tell me Barnhart was back in the blogging business?!?
Randomness
- Doug thinks brackets can solve anything.
- Buffalo is actually talking about firing Lindy Ruff. I never thought this would happen.
- Ow-ah pitchahs cowntinue to dawminahte in Fahrt Meyahs.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
ACC Realignment Rumors
A modest proposal
College Game Balls pointed out yesterday that rumors abound about possible realignment of the ACC's football divisions. What he found was talk of Boston College and Maryland moving from the Atlantic to the Coastal with Miami and Georgia Tech moving from the Coastal to the Atlantic. This would create more of a true North-South division alignment.
I'm all for it as long as it means the Hokies don't have to play at Miami and at BC in the same season every two years. The new divisions CGB found would help a lot with travel and look like this:
Atlantic
Clemson
Florida State
Georgia Tech
Miami
NC State
Wake Forest
Coastal
Boston College
Duke
Maryland
North Carolina
Virginia
Virginia Tech
And my best guess for Interdivision Rivals:
BC -----> CU
DU -----> WF
MD -----> GT
NC -----> NCST
VA -----> FSU
VT -----> UM
If the Hokies continued to play Miami every year, the only real change to the schedule would be playing Maryland every year and playing Georgia Tech two out of every five years. The problem that arises is how to keep Tech from going to Boston and Miami every other year. The answer is simple. The Hokies will just need to do what Georgia Tech did when it played at Virginia Tech in consecutive years. I'm willing to have the Hokies travel to Boston back-to-back seasons in order for that to happen.
As Brian and Jeff at BC Interruption mention, none of this would happen until after the 2015 football season. But until then, it's fun to speculate.
BCI takes it one step too far
Brian's proposed division realignment looks similar to the one above, but he swaps UNC for Wake as well, which in my opinion would never fly because it makes too much sense. Brian backs up his proposal with all these "facts" and "numbers". But on paper, just looking at the names, the ACC South looks MUCH more difficult than the ACC North. Therefore, it would never pass inspection if it were ever voted on.
Brian's ACC Divisions:
Those numbers to the right of each school are winning percentages since BC joined in 2005. But if you factor in tradition and the average North Carolinian's perception of ACC football, Brian's divisions suddenly look like this:
That doesn't seem like a balanced ACC now, does it? It'll never happen. So, while Brian's divisions would be nice, let's just hope for the first ACC South-North alignment that was discovered by CGB. At least then the conference doesn't have to worry about trying to explain why teams are in their current confusing divisions.
Why wait?
What I would prefer is for the conference to expedite the realignment. Just because it announced the football schedule through 2015 doesn't mean it has to let it run its course. Hell, the schedule's enough to figure out it could announce the schedule through 2050 it wanted to. The schedule repeats itself every five years. It's not the square root of pi.
The ACC should just do what everyone else in the country is doing. Blame the economy. But placing the blame on "travel budgets need to be scaled back" the conference can implement new North-South divisions without any batting an eye. Hell, it would be applauded. Get it done.
Putting it off seven seasons would hurt realignment. By then, Obama could have the economy fixed and ACC fans would forget why we were going to realign in the first place and put the kibosh on the whole thing. The ACC needs to act now in case a perfectly good excuse to fix the mess it put us in in the first place goes away (hopefully).
College Game Balls pointed out yesterday that rumors abound about possible realignment of the ACC's football divisions. What he found was talk of Boston College and Maryland moving from the Atlantic to the Coastal with Miami and Georgia Tech moving from the Coastal to the Atlantic. This would create more of a true North-South division alignment.
I'm all for it as long as it means the Hokies don't have to play at Miami and at BC in the same season every two years. The new divisions CGB found would help a lot with travel and look like this:
Atlantic
Clemson
Florida State
Georgia Tech
Miami
NC State
Wake Forest
Coastal
Boston College
Duke
Maryland
North Carolina
Virginia
Virginia Tech
And my best guess for Interdivision Rivals:
BC -----> CU
DU -----> WF
MD -----> GT
NC -----> NCST
VA -----> FSU
VT -----> UM
If the Hokies continued to play Miami every year, the only real change to the schedule would be playing Maryland every year and playing Georgia Tech two out of every five years. The problem that arises is how to keep Tech from going to Boston and Miami every other year. The answer is simple. The Hokies will just need to do what Georgia Tech did when it played at Virginia Tech in consecutive years. I'm willing to have the Hokies travel to Boston back-to-back seasons in order for that to happen.
As Brian and Jeff at BC Interruption mention, none of this would happen until after the 2015 football season. But until then, it's fun to speculate.
BCI takes it one step too far
Brian's proposed division realignment looks similar to the one above, but he swaps UNC for Wake as well, which in my opinion would never fly because it makes too much sense. Brian backs up his proposal with all these "facts" and "numbers". But on paper, just looking at the names, the ACC South looks MUCH more difficult than the ACC North. Therefore, it would never pass inspection if it were ever voted on.
Brian's ACC Divisions:
ACC North
Virginia Tech (.781)
Boston College (.656)
Wake Forest (.563)
Virginia (.500)
Maryland (.469)
Duke (.031)
ACC South
Georgia Tech (.656)
Clemson (.563)
Florida State (.531)
Miami (FL) (.469)
North Carolina (.406)
NC State (.375)
Those numbers to the right of each school are winning percentages since BC joined in 2005. But if you factor in tradition and the average North Carolinian's perception of ACC football, Brian's divisions suddenly look like this:
ACC North
VIRGINIA TECH
yankee invaders
wake forest
virginia
maryland
worst team evar
ACC South
GEORGIA TECH
CLEMPSON
F$U
DA U!!!
NORTH CAROLINA
NC STATE
That doesn't seem like a balanced ACC now, does it? It'll never happen. So, while Brian's divisions would be nice, let's just hope for the first ACC South-North alignment that was discovered by CGB. At least then the conference doesn't have to worry about trying to explain why teams are in their current confusing divisions.
Why wait?
What I would prefer is for the conference to expedite the realignment. Just because it announced the football schedule through 2015 doesn't mean it has to let it run its course. Hell, the schedule's enough to figure out it could announce the schedule through 2050 it wanted to. The schedule repeats itself every five years. It's not the square root of pi.
The ACC should just do what everyone else in the country is doing. Blame the economy. But placing the blame on "travel budgets need to be scaled back" the conference can implement new North-South divisions without any batting an eye. Hell, it would be applauded. Get it done.
Putting it off seven seasons would hurt realignment. By then, Obama could have the economy fixed and ACC fans would forget why we were going to realign in the first place and put the kibosh on the whole thing. The ACC needs to act now in case a perfectly good excuse to fix the mess it put us in in the first place goes away (hopefully).
Monday, March 2, 2009
Catching up on the Coastal
The Hokies are currently the favorite to win the ACC Coastal this fall, but they won't be without challengers. Miami has its perennial storyline of youth and potential. North Carolina has talent, but needs to replace its entire receiving corps (sound familiar?). Georgia Tech returns a high-powered offense, but lost a lot on defense.
Tech has the latest start (April 1) and is tied for the latest end (April 25 w/ BC) to spring drills in the ACC this year. So we'll have a good idea of the other teams in the league, particularly our division, are looking before we even hit the field.
Here's a look at our primary competition in the Coastal.
Miami Hurricanes
2008 Record: 7-6, 4-4
Spring Start: Feb. 24
Spring Game: March 28
The Hurricanes have two new coordinators for 2009. Mark Whipple becomes Miami's OC after spending last year on the Philadelphia Eagles' staff. The new DC is John Lovett, who previously was an assistant at North Carolina. Whipple's hire brings the most change to Coral Gables as he runs more of a pro-style offense. The Miami bloggerati is high on Whipple.
Rivals/Yahoo! has its take on the 'Canes as well. Miami appears to be reevaluating its talent and trying to figure out how to put it to its best use. What a novel concept!
In off-the-field news, Miami took a stand against kids who are too big for their britches by pulling a scholarship offer to highly touted Wichita recruit Bryce Brown. I applaud Miami's decision.
North Carolina Tar Heels
2008 Record: 8-5, 4-4
Spring Start: March 2
Spring Game: April 2
Because it's March, the only person who really cares about UNC football is Annette.
The Heels' receiver situation mirrors that of Virginia Tech's going into 2008. If the Heels follow the Hokies lead, they'll let their run game do everything early on and let the defense hold on for dear life. It'll give you gray hairs and a drinking problem, but it will also give you the best chance to win when you have no passing game.
Shaun Draughn emerged as the go-to running back at the end of last year, so Greg Little may see more action through the passing game, so sayeth Rivals/Yahoo!.
I expect UNC's defense to be fairly stout next year. I'm a big fan of Quan Sturdivant and Deunta Williams, who were both all over the field last year against the Hokies.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
2008 Record: 9-4, 5-3
Spring Start: March 23
Spring Game: April 18
At the end of the regular season, the Jackets were playing better than just about any ACC team. However, their momentum was derailed in the Georgia Dome by an LSU team everyone expected to have no chance against Georgia Tech's option attack.
The Jackets were just learning their new offense at this time last year. Now they can work on adding new wrinkles over a year into the Paul Johnson era. It looks like they're going to show a lot of different looks out of the flexbone.
That all does sound scary. Johnson may have to employ all of those tricks next year because he's defense won't be nearly as potent as last year. Gone are Michael Johnson, Darryl Richard and Vance Walker from the defensive line and Jahi Word-Daniels from the secondary. Basically, their four best defensive players in my opinion. However, Sedric Griffin and Morgan Burnett are back, so all is not completely lost, just mostly.
Tech has the latest start (April 1) and is tied for the latest end (April 25 w/ BC) to spring drills in the ACC this year. So we'll have a good idea of the other teams in the league, particularly our division, are looking before we even hit the field.
Here's a look at our primary competition in the Coastal.
Miami Hurricanes
2008 Record: 7-6, 4-4
Spring Start: Feb. 24
Spring Game: March 28
The Hurricanes have two new coordinators for 2009. Mark Whipple becomes Miami's OC after spending last year on the Philadelphia Eagles' staff. The new DC is John Lovett, who previously was an assistant at North Carolina. Whipple's hire brings the most change to Coral Gables as he runs more of a pro-style offense. The Miami bloggerati is high on Whipple.
Whipple wants Harris making quicker reads. Release the ball quicker. Find #2 if #1 isn't open. Expose mismatches by lining running backs up against linebackers. For the first time in forever, running backs are learning more passing routes and will be more involved in the passing game. This is something that's been talked about at Miami for years (Who hasn't forgotten about Coker talking about Devin Hester or even Graig Cooper becoming "the next Reggie Bush"...)
Rivals/Yahoo! has its take on the 'Canes as well. Miami appears to be reevaluating its talent and trying to figure out how to put it to its best use. What a novel concept!
In off-the-field news, Miami took a stand against kids who are too big for their britches by pulling a scholarship offer to highly touted Wichita recruit Bryce Brown. I applaud Miami's decision.
North Carolina Tar Heels
2008 Record: 8-5, 4-4
Spring Start: March 2
Spring Game: April 2
Because it's March, the only person who really cares about UNC football is Annette.
The Heels' receiver situation mirrors that of Virginia Tech's going into 2008. If the Heels follow the Hokies lead, they'll let their run game do everything early on and let the defense hold on for dear life. It'll give you gray hairs and a drinking problem, but it will also give you the best chance to win when you have no passing game.
Shaun Draughn emerged as the go-to running back at the end of last year, so Greg Little may see more action through the passing game, so sayeth Rivals/Yahoo!.
I expect UNC's defense to be fairly stout next year. I'm a big fan of Quan Sturdivant and Deunta Williams, who were both all over the field last year against the Hokies.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
2008 Record: 9-4, 5-3
Spring Start: March 23
Spring Game: April 18
At the end of the regular season, the Jackets were playing better than just about any ACC team. However, their momentum was derailed in the Georgia Dome by an LSU team everyone expected to have no chance against Georgia Tech's option attack.
The Jackets were just learning their new offense at this time last year. Now they can work on adding new wrinkles over a year into the Paul Johnson era. It looks like they're going to show a lot of different looks out of the flexbone.
...but what if Nesbitt spends a little time at A-Back, even if only at practice? Not only will his reads improve, but what on earth does a defense do when it sees Lucas Cox at B-Back with Dwyer and Nesbitt at A-Back? Having Nesbitt throw out of a sweep play to Dwyer, Hill, or our favorite Demaryius Thomas, and we are seeing some exciting things happen with a scheme that most people write off as a football system of yore.
That all does sound scary. Johnson may have to employ all of those tricks next year because he's defense won't be nearly as potent as last year. Gone are Michael Johnson, Darryl Richard and Vance Walker from the defensive line and Jahi Word-Daniels from the secondary. Basically, their four best defensive players in my opinion. However, Sedric Griffin and Morgan Burnett are back, so all is not completely lost, just mostly.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Giglio: Keep VT, Boot BC and Miami
JP Giglio of ACC Now wrote another one of those columns that waxes poetic about the salad days of the ACC when all that mattered was basketball and every basketball team played each other twice. It's the same type of column you see about five or six times every ACC basketball season. It's so common there's pretty much a formula for it.
All of them start with getting rid of the three Big East teams that ruined everything and going back to being a nine-team league. Except, in this case, Giglio didn't get the memo. He'd be OK with a 10 team league. The team he'd keep?
You like us! You really like us!
All of them start with getting rid of the three Big East teams that ruined everything and going back to being a nine-team league. Except, in this case, Giglio didn't get the memo. He'd be OK with a 10 team league. The team he'd keep?
Give back the football money, ACC. Seriously, it's not too late.
We all make mistakes. Just admit you made one in expansion and give Boston College and Miami back to the Big East (but keep Virginia Tech, please).
Ten teams is all you need. The only casualty would be the colossal failure that is the ACC Championship Game in football.
The upside? A true football championship, with every team actually playing each other, and the return of the round-robin in basketball.
You like us! You really like us!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
ACC Best of the Blogs: Scheduling and Hoops
Because it's the off-season, these posts are infrequent and irregular. But, here's what's going on around the ACC. Sadly, the ACC lost a great blogger last week when Jeff from BC Interruption decided to end his own life ... by getting married. Our condolences to Brian.
BOSTON COLLEGE
BC All Access: Boston College Upsets Duke
"The atmosphere in Conte Forum was electric as the Eagles dazzled the sellout crowd. Fans packed the arena early and created a hostile environment throughout the game. The victory brought upon a massive rush of students as they stormed the court in celebration."
BC Interruption: Role Play: BC Hoops, ACC Football Sched and Gaylord Hotels
"Brian as ACC scheduler: Well, we had to wait to see how some of these out of conference games were going to pan out. We wanted to wait until the teams from North Carolina gorge themselves on creampuff opponents in early September. And we also want to take an extra amount of time to ensure teams like Florida State, Virginia Tech and Miami (FL) have the most favorable schedule possible. Because those programs sell! Some say we have a football perception problem. What better way to fix that than give those programs the easiest schedule possible in terms of when who plays who and screw the little guys! I'm looking at you, Duke, Wake Forest and Boston College!"
Eagle in Atlanta: First (delayed ) reaction to 2009 schedule
"Considering we already knew the opponents this is a dream slate for Spaz's first year. I think we get nearly every team when and where we want them. We don't deal with any awkward trips or Thursday night games. Seven games are at home. The toughest road game is at Virginia Tech, but we know we can win there (neutral fields with the Hokies are a different story)."
CLEMSON
Block-C: 2009 Clemson Football Schedule
"The Tigers will face out of conference foes from Middle Tennessee State, Central Michigan, Coastal Carolina, and Sakerlina. The Tigers will face their regular Thursday embarrassment early this year, traveling to Atlanta on September 10 to face Georgia Tech."
FLORIDA STATE
Tomahawk Nation: How can FSU fill their wide receiver void?
"We discussed Jimbo's extensive use of the depth chart throughout the season and despite our concerns (that Ponder and his wideouts couldn't get in rhythm because the reps were spread too thin), it looks like it might be paying off. Many players got significant reps last year, and despite losing three more wideouts than we expected (Carr was a senior), those losses might not be as bad because of the valuable experience gained by the backups."
GEORGIA TECH
The Legacy x4: 2009 Yellow Jacket football schedule is out
"I kind of wrinkled my nose at the idea of not playing Clemson closer to mid-season, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. We get a nice warm up game, then hit the ground running by playing people we love to hate and hate to love."
MARYLAND
Testudo Times: 2009 Football Schedule Announced
"It's going to be tough to open the season at California. It would have been nice to get a game against James Madison under our belt first, but it will be a good, early test for this team."
Turtle Soup: Franklin to Replace Friedgen (Eventually)
"I think it’s a great move for all the reason’s they discussed above and Franklin seems to have a passion for the University, saying he can’t think of another school that can offer all the things Maryland can offer a student-athlete. Will that be enough to get the blue chip recruits? It hasn’t so far, but with the class we just got and this ‘continuity’ announced today, perhaps we can take that next step."
MIAMI
The 7th Floor: Like a doll's eyes
"Aside from former linebacker Brandon Marti joining Robert Marve in proving that we really, really, reeeeeeeally need to stop recruiting white guys, all of yesterday's news comes from Lovett's presser. Lovett acknowledged the challenge of arriving 12 days before the start of spring ball, but said he's already hit the ground running and "all the kids I have met have exceeded my expectation in terms of how to present themselves." Team MVP Matt Bosher will shatter this illusion later when he uses his entrée fork to eat a salad, and suffers the humiliation of being shown to the door by the footman."
All Canes: What's new at the U
"Kirby Hocutt joined Shannon at the function and it was stated that Miami's athletic department raised upwards of $4.5M last year with the move to Dolphin Stadium. Though the stadium needs more bodies in seats, it's hard to argue with the bottom line. The Canes left the Orange Bowl for money and for a strapped program, it's hard to argue with almost a $5M increase... in a down economy, no less."
NORTH CAROLINA
Carolina March: UNC 101, Duke 87
"Four straight wins at Cameron. With the turnover in college basketball, there won't be that many players at UNC next season who have played with guys who have lost in Durham. There's no fear there. Thompson and Davis both, 60% free throw shooters that they are buried four from the line in the faces of a screaming crowd. Neither of the freshman seemed lost for long - only Drew when he kept losing his footing on the wet Duke floor - and Thompson was positively gleeful for most of the first half."
Tar Heel Fan: Oh Yeah…The Football Schedule Came Out
"There is also the matter of UNC playing two I-AA teams this season. The 2nd game came about when Butch Davis canceled a home-and-home with Colorado but could not find a suitable I-A opponent willing to come into Chapel Hill. Playing two I-AA teams means only one of those games can count towards bowl eligibility. At least Duke and NCSU are doing the same thing sparing us any trash talk about the schedule."
NC STATE
StateFans Nation: 2009 Football Schedule Released
"End with Carolina, so it looks like the ACC is finally starting to see the marketability of this rivalry rather than the contrived nature of the Carolina-Duke football “rivalry.” Also, since we’re apparently marked for a Thanksgiving Weekend home game every season, then making it the biggest game of the season is the most practical solution to ensure a max-capacity crowd."
Yet Another...: A look at the 2009 football schedule
"What a wonderful, wonderful site to behold: The front offices of the ACC acknowledging that this game -- not the Duke/Carolina matchup for the Victory Bell -- is the state's most significant college football game."
VIRGINIA
From Old Virginia: The schedule, obviously
"No long stretches of home games or away games - only two each consecutively. The only time we don't have a home game after a road game is early, after the Southern Miss game, which I feel like we should win. All this strikes me as a good thing. As schizoid as we were last year, and for the most part still pretty bad on the road, I think coming home after all the road games is a good way to re-align the psyche if/when we take another dump on somebody's field."
VIRGINIA TECH
Beer Control Offense: Putting the Beer back in Beer Control Offense
"The dual party ass clowns might actually do something to help out us Beer drinkers ... via helping the brewer's themselves. Not sure how the BCO feels about this since I think 70% of the stimulus bill is horseshit, this looks like it may actually give some relief to breweries. Either way it's beer news."
College Game Balls: CGB Off-Topic: The Types of Drivers I Hate
"She sees you coming from 500 feet away. Plenty of time to turn onto the road you are barreling down. 400 feet. You can see it’s clear both ways yet she isn’t turning. 300 feet. If you want to turn now is the time. 200 feet. She must be extra cautious and is waiting for you to pass. 100 feet. She decides to turn now. You slam on you brakes to avoid an accident and curse."
Tech Sideline: Can I rant for just a second?
"Schmadtke’s mistake, assuming I’m interpreting his comments correctly (always a dicey assumption), is a common one made by college sportswriters, who also like to write that the difference between a school winning a conference championship and not winning one is the $17 million paid out by the BCS bowls. No, it’s not — BCS money goes to the conferences, not the schools. Get it right!"
VT Fan: I Picked a Bad Game to Watch the Hokies Up Close
"I’ve watched this team all year, and frankly that was the worst I’ve seen the Hokies so far. It wasn’t any one thing, they just didn’t have the enery, focus, or sharpness they’ve had most of the season on Saturday. Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen especially had bad first halfs. In many ways, it was a case of Maryland just coming out more ready to play, fresher, more energetic, and shooting the lights out."
WAKE FOREST
Blogger So Dear: Startling Statistic: Jeff Teague's last six games
"With Ish Smith on the floor, Teague far too often watches Ish and does not look to score. The two are good on the floor at once, but they could be better. In addition to this, it is incredibly hard to keep up the pace that Teague had. He was seeing a huge hoop and finishing a high percentage of his shots."
BOSTON COLLEGE
BC All Access: Boston College Upsets Duke
"The atmosphere in Conte Forum was electric as the Eagles dazzled the sellout crowd. Fans packed the arena early and created a hostile environment throughout the game. The victory brought upon a massive rush of students as they stormed the court in celebration."
BC Interruption: Role Play: BC Hoops, ACC Football Sched and Gaylord Hotels
"Brian as ACC scheduler: Well, we had to wait to see how some of these out of conference games were going to pan out. We wanted to wait until the teams from North Carolina gorge themselves on creampuff opponents in early September. And we also want to take an extra amount of time to ensure teams like Florida State, Virginia Tech and Miami (FL) have the most favorable schedule possible. Because those programs sell! Some say we have a football perception problem. What better way to fix that than give those programs the easiest schedule possible in terms of when who plays who and screw the little guys! I'm looking at you, Duke, Wake Forest and Boston College!"
Eagle in Atlanta: First (delayed ) reaction to 2009 schedule
"Considering we already knew the opponents this is a dream slate for Spaz's first year. I think we get nearly every team when and where we want them. We don't deal with any awkward trips or Thursday night games. Seven games are at home. The toughest road game is at Virginia Tech, but we know we can win there (neutral fields with the Hokies are a different story)."
CLEMSON
Block-C: 2009 Clemson Football Schedule
"The Tigers will face out of conference foes from Middle Tennessee State, Central Michigan, Coastal Carolina, and Sakerlina. The Tigers will face their regular Thursday embarrassment early this year, traveling to Atlanta on September 10 to face Georgia Tech."
FLORIDA STATE
Tomahawk Nation: How can FSU fill their wide receiver void?
"We discussed Jimbo's extensive use of the depth chart throughout the season and despite our concerns (that Ponder and his wideouts couldn't get in rhythm because the reps were spread too thin), it looks like it might be paying off. Many players got significant reps last year, and despite losing three more wideouts than we expected (Carr was a senior), those losses might not be as bad because of the valuable experience gained by the backups."
GEORGIA TECH
The Legacy x4: 2009 Yellow Jacket football schedule is out
"I kind of wrinkled my nose at the idea of not playing Clemson closer to mid-season, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. We get a nice warm up game, then hit the ground running by playing people we love to hate and hate to love."
MARYLAND
Testudo Times: 2009 Football Schedule Announced
"It's going to be tough to open the season at California. It would have been nice to get a game against James Madison under our belt first, but it will be a good, early test for this team."
Turtle Soup: Franklin to Replace Friedgen (Eventually)
"I think it’s a great move for all the reason’s they discussed above and Franklin seems to have a passion for the University, saying he can’t think of another school that can offer all the things Maryland can offer a student-athlete. Will that be enough to get the blue chip recruits? It hasn’t so far, but with the class we just got and this ‘continuity’ announced today, perhaps we can take that next step."
MIAMI
The 7th Floor: Like a doll's eyes
"Aside from former linebacker Brandon Marti joining Robert Marve in proving that we really, really, reeeeeeeally need to stop recruiting white guys, all of yesterday's news comes from Lovett's presser. Lovett acknowledged the challenge of arriving 12 days before the start of spring ball, but said he's already hit the ground running and "all the kids I have met have exceeded my expectation in terms of how to present themselves." Team MVP Matt Bosher will shatter this illusion later when he uses his entrée fork to eat a salad, and suffers the humiliation of being shown to the door by the footman."
All Canes: What's new at the U
"Kirby Hocutt joined Shannon at the function and it was stated that Miami's athletic department raised upwards of $4.5M last year with the move to Dolphin Stadium. Though the stadium needs more bodies in seats, it's hard to argue with the bottom line. The Canes left the Orange Bowl for money and for a strapped program, it's hard to argue with almost a $5M increase... in a down economy, no less."
NORTH CAROLINA
Carolina March: UNC 101, Duke 87
"Four straight wins at Cameron. With the turnover in college basketball, there won't be that many players at UNC next season who have played with guys who have lost in Durham. There's no fear there. Thompson and Davis both, 60% free throw shooters that they are buried four from the line in the faces of a screaming crowd. Neither of the freshman seemed lost for long - only Drew when he kept losing his footing on the wet Duke floor - and Thompson was positively gleeful for most of the first half."
Tar Heel Fan: Oh Yeah…The Football Schedule Came Out
"There is also the matter of UNC playing two I-AA teams this season. The 2nd game came about when Butch Davis canceled a home-and-home with Colorado but could not find a suitable I-A opponent willing to come into Chapel Hill. Playing two I-AA teams means only one of those games can count towards bowl eligibility. At least Duke and NCSU are doing the same thing sparing us any trash talk about the schedule."
NC STATE
StateFans Nation: 2009 Football Schedule Released
"End with Carolina, so it looks like the ACC is finally starting to see the marketability of this rivalry rather than the contrived nature of the Carolina-Duke football “rivalry.” Also, since we’re apparently marked for a Thanksgiving Weekend home game every season, then making it the biggest game of the season is the most practical solution to ensure a max-capacity crowd."
Yet Another...: A look at the 2009 football schedule
"What a wonderful, wonderful site to behold: The front offices of the ACC acknowledging that this game -- not the Duke/Carolina matchup for the Victory Bell -- is the state's most significant college football game."
VIRGINIA
From Old Virginia: The schedule, obviously
"No long stretches of home games or away games - only two each consecutively. The only time we don't have a home game after a road game is early, after the Southern Miss game, which I feel like we should win. All this strikes me as a good thing. As schizoid as we were last year, and for the most part still pretty bad on the road, I think coming home after all the road games is a good way to re-align the psyche if/when we take another dump on somebody's field."
VIRGINIA TECH
Beer Control Offense: Putting the Beer back in Beer Control Offense
"The dual party ass clowns might actually do something to help out us Beer drinkers ... via helping the brewer's themselves. Not sure how the BCO feels about this since I think 70% of the stimulus bill is horseshit, this looks like it may actually give some relief to breweries. Either way it's beer news."
College Game Balls: CGB Off-Topic: The Types of Drivers I Hate
"She sees you coming from 500 feet away. Plenty of time to turn onto the road you are barreling down. 400 feet. You can see it’s clear both ways yet she isn’t turning. 300 feet. If you want to turn now is the time. 200 feet. She must be extra cautious and is waiting for you to pass. 100 feet. She decides to turn now. You slam on you brakes to avoid an accident and curse."
Tech Sideline: Can I rant for just a second?
"Schmadtke’s mistake, assuming I’m interpreting his comments correctly (always a dicey assumption), is a common one made by college sportswriters, who also like to write that the difference between a school winning a conference championship and not winning one is the $17 million paid out by the BCS bowls. No, it’s not — BCS money goes to the conferences, not the schools. Get it right!"
VT Fan: I Picked a Bad Game to Watch the Hokies Up Close
"I’ve watched this team all year, and frankly that was the worst I’ve seen the Hokies so far. It wasn’t any one thing, they just didn’t have the enery, focus, or sharpness they’ve had most of the season on Saturday. Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen especially had bad first halfs. In many ways, it was a case of Maryland just coming out more ready to play, fresher, more energetic, and shooting the lights out."
WAKE FOREST
Blogger So Dear: Startling Statistic: Jeff Teague's last six games
"With Ish Smith on the floor, Teague far too often watches Ish and does not look to score. The two are good on the floor at once, but they could be better. In addition to this, it is incredibly hard to keep up the pace that Teague had. He was seeing a huge hoop and finishing a high percentage of his shots."
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Schedule to be Announced Thursday
From the league office:
We know that many of you are anxiously awaiting the release of the 2009 ACC Football Schedule. We are happy to let you know that your wait is nearly over. TheACC.com will unveil the 2009 ACC Football Schedule on Thursday, February 12 at 11 a.m.
Jay Bilas on Expansion
Jay Bilas gave an extensive interview to ACC Sports Journal touching on a variety of topics. One of them was expansion. Jay isn't a fan.
Let's take a look at the records of the expansion teams in ACC basketball conference play before I tackle the really dumb part of Bilas' statement:
2004-05: 15-17 (.469 VT & UM only)
2005-06: 22-26 (.458)
2006-07: 24-24 (.500)
2007-08: 21-27 (.438)
2008-09: 15-13 (.536 through Feb. 9)
TOTAL: 97-107 (.475)
Does the guy have a point that it hasn't helped ACC hoops? Maybe. Looking at the standings since BC joined for the 2005-06 season, there have been two good teams and one craptacular team out of the expansion teams.
Until an expansion team contends for a regular season crown, wins the ACC tournament or makes a run in The Tournament, people like Bilas who pine for the salad days of ACC basketball will be able to make the argument that ACC basketball just isn't the same with the Hokies, 'Canes and Eagles included.
However, I'll disagree that the Big East is currently the best basketball conference. Sure, everything looked good when Notre Dame and Georgetown were highly ranked, but those two schools are solidly in the tank with big losses against UCLA and Duke, respectively, on its resumes.
What I really take issue with is that Bilas said he doesn't think expansion has done anything for ACC football. He doesn't elaborate on that part, probably because he realized just how stupid that statement was. I'm sorry, but which two teams have played each other in the ACC title game the last two years?
The point can be made that basketball isn't as exciting for the blowhards like Bilas who want all the Tobacco Road teams to play each other twice a year, but I don't think the league has been hurt by the three expansion teams. But football without Tech, Miami and BC would be just plain ugly.
ACCSports.com:
This summer was the five-year anniversary of ACC expansion. From a basketball standpoint, how did you feel about it then, and how do you feel about it now?
Bilas:
I thought it was a mistake when they did it. I still think it’s a mistake. I think the early results have borne that out.
You can make an argument that expansion has hurt ACC basketball. I’m not sure it’s done anything for ACC football, frankly. The Big East has come out the big winner in this. The Big East is the best basketball conference in the country this year, in my opinion, even though the ACC is very strong. I think the Big East has more quality teams top to bottom.
The thing I don’t like about it is, the elimination of the round-robin — playing everybody twice — I think was a big mistake. If money was the deciding factor or football was the deciding factor, then fine. But from a basketball perspective, I don’t think it has helped in any way.
Let's take a look at the records of the expansion teams in ACC basketball conference play before I tackle the really dumb part of Bilas' statement:
2004-05: 15-17 (.469 VT & UM only)
2005-06: 22-26 (.458)
2006-07: 24-24 (.500)
2007-08: 21-27 (.438)
2008-09: 15-13 (.536 through Feb. 9)
TOTAL: 97-107 (.475)
Does the guy have a point that it hasn't helped ACC hoops? Maybe. Looking at the standings since BC joined for the 2005-06 season, there have been two good teams and one craptacular team out of the expansion teams.
Until an expansion team contends for a regular season crown, wins the ACC tournament or makes a run in The Tournament, people like Bilas who pine for the salad days of ACC basketball will be able to make the argument that ACC basketball just isn't the same with the Hokies, 'Canes and Eagles included.
However, I'll disagree that the Big East is currently the best basketball conference. Sure, everything looked good when Notre Dame and Georgetown were highly ranked, but those two schools are solidly in the tank with big losses against UCLA and Duke, respectively, on its resumes.
What I really take issue with is that Bilas said he doesn't think expansion has done anything for ACC football. He doesn't elaborate on that part, probably because he realized just how stupid that statement was. I'm sorry, but which two teams have played each other in the ACC title game the last two years?
The point can be made that basketball isn't as exciting for the blowhards like Bilas who want all the Tobacco Road teams to play each other twice a year, but I don't think the league has been hurt by the three expansion teams. But football without Tech, Miami and BC would be just plain ugly.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Football Schedule Coming Tuesday?
UVa filled its non-conference schedule today by adding Indiana and according to JP Giglio at ACC Now, the full conference slate will be announced manana.
Rumors and such on the TechSideline.com message board have Tech's game with ECU getting moved to Thursday, which would mean the Hokies would have four days to prepare for a trip to play the Pirates after playing Nebraska. So, I kind of doubt that will happen. Hopefully we'll find out tomorrow.
Giglio has a good breakdown of the conference schedules in preparation for tomorrow's presumed announcement. He says Tech is one of the teams getting a good break.
Quit using "Va. Tech"!
Rumors and such on the TechSideline.com message board have Tech's game with ECU getting moved to Thursday, which would mean the Hokies would have four days to prepare for a trip to play the Pirates after playing Nebraska. So, I kind of doubt that will happen. Hopefully we'll find out tomorrow.
Giglio has a good breakdown of the conference schedules in preparation for tomorrow's presumed announcement. He says Tech is one of the teams getting a good break.
Va. Tech: The Hokies avoid FSU, Wake Forest and Clemson and go to Duke, which is basically another home game.
Quit using "Va. Tech"!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
2009 Schedule Due in 'Early February'
The ACC's Beyond the ACCtion blog has an inside look into how the conference's football schedule is made. According to the blog, the 2009 ACC football schedule will be released sometime in early February.
Some conferences, including the Big 12 and SEC, already have their conference games scheduled. However, because the ACC gives the television networks so much input into the schedule, we won't get ours for another two to three weeks.
Also, the Hokies will only have one bye week next year as conferences with title games have to play 12 games in 13 weeks in 2009. Personally, I'd like Tech's bye week to be Oct. 17 (OU/Texas Weekend), but it would probably be most beneficial to the Hokies to have a bye week between its non-conference and ACC slates on Oct. 3.
Some conferences, including the Big 12 and SEC, already have their conference games scheduled. However, because the ACC gives the television networks so much input into the schedule, we won't get ours for another two to three weeks.
Also, the Hokies will only have one bye week next year as conferences with title games have to play 12 games in 13 weeks in 2009. Personally, I'd like Tech's bye week to be Oct. 17 (OU/Texas Weekend), but it would probably be most beneficial to the Hokies to have a bye week between its non-conference and ACC slates on Oct. 3.
Friday, January 16, 2009
ACC Best of the Blogs: Postseason
I decided to let the BC coaching situation get settled before doing a postseason BOB (Actually I was just lazy. Shhhhhh. No one can know that.). From here on, these will be infrequent and irregular.
A lot's happened in the ACC since the ACCCG. There was a coaching change, players leaving, players staying, big changes at Tech Sideline and a big win for the Hokies in Miami.
BOSTON COLLEGE
BC All Access: Frank Spaziani | Keys to Success
"4. Keep the towel
The towel has been his trademark for years. And guess what? Its worked too. Take my advice Spaz--Don't mess with success. Keep the towel tradition, who knows it may catch on in Chestnut Hill."
BC Interruption: Brian's Somewhat Delayed Reaction to Spaziani Hire
"My point is that if Gene wanted coaches to stay at Boston College until the end of time, he needed to hire a head coach that would make Chestnut Hill a destination-type position. At age 61, Spaziani simply cannot become that type of coach. Yes, he played for Joe Paterno at Penn State and JoePa set him up with his first coaching positions. And yes, he stated today that he wants to be at Boston College for the next 12 years. But the days of the Joe Paternos and Bobby Bowdens of the college football world are numbered. Do I expect Spaziani to be coaching at the Heights at age 73? Highly unlikely."
Eagle in Atlanta: Spaz's To Do list
"3. Show the on the field emotion off the field. Spaz clearly has fire. We see it every Saturday in his reactions. He held his own in the press conference, but I still think his personality was muted a bit. BC fans want passion. They want hope. They want to believe. Share that passion when you speak to the press and certainly when you speak to fans. That, along with winning, will turn the skeptics around and have kids lining up to play for BC."
CLEMSON
Block-C: It's Official
"CJ just announced in his press conference that he will be returning to Clemson for his senior season. It took every ounce of my being not to write this entire post in all caps."
Sporting Gnomes: Zorn & Dabo
"I bring this up because of the somewhat similar situations between Zorn and Dabo. As I’ve mentioned before, I fear that Dabo will coach differently now that he faces dramatically different incentives. But I now also fear that he’s in the midst of the Zorn effect; he’s good because he’s new. He had room to take risks; and they worked out. In the future those same risks will bite him in the ass, so he either steps in for another round of Russian Roulette, or he becomes one of the boring coaches who tries to survive by minimizing risk."
FLORIDA STATE
Chant Rant: What if the Bowl win was Bobby's last game?
"Less coverage of FSU Football. Like it or not, Bowden is the face of the program and drives much of the team's media coverage. No offense to Jimbo, but dadgumit, he can't hold a candle to the funny, quirky quote machine known to the press simply as Bobby."
Scalp 'Em: Dr. Saturday: Don’t Trust Your Eyes
"I’m happy that FSU won of course, whether it’s by 1 or by 70. But, I’ll admit that the first half was a snore, aside from Graham Gano’s Puntstravaganza (Chili donated that word via Mobile IM last night). And the second half was fun to watch because everything went FSU’s way. On top of that, my favorite QB, Drew Weatherford got to see some playing time before riding off into the sunset. All in all it was a good way to end a 2008 season that basically met my expecations. It was a year of “something to build on” and the Noles can build on a Champs Sports Bowl victory heading into 2009."
Tomahawk Nation: Dear Gary Brown
"What is Bunkley doing right now? He just skullcracked Eli Manning. He's leading his Philadelphia Eagles past the Giants. In the Giants Stadium. The announcers are practically having an orgasm over how well he is playing. The announcer had to change his pants during the commercial break. BBunk just threw the center into Brandon Jacobs on 3rd down for a 2-yard loss."
GEORGIA TECH
The Legacy x4: Biggest Fear Confirmed
"What does this do to the season? It doesn't necessarily take anything away from this one. But next year....the hype that everyone was expecting us to ride is been taken out from under us. Paul Johnson's reputation? Well it took a hit, a big one. We were all humbled last night in a multitude of ways."
MARYLAND
Turtle Soup: A Great Day To Be A Terp
"The running game will be super solid as Da’Rel Scott wowed the nation with 174 yards rushing in about a quarter and a half. With Davin Meggett and Morgan Green, we are set. The offensive line was inconsistent, so I can’t imagine it’ll be horrible replacing a few guys. But we’ll see."
Turtle Waxing: Terps close out 2008 in style
"Still there is a sense that the program is approaching a cross roads of sorts. Friedgen is unlikely to remain as the coach at Maryland beyond his current contract and the possible coach in waiting in coordinator James Franklin had a very mixed season in his first year back at Maryland. Al Seamonson did an adequate job in his first game replacing Chris Cosh but there are still major questions about the defense and it isn't clear if Friedgen will resort to another outside hire for the defensive coordinator spot."
MIAMI
All Canes: Marve: True colors shining through...
"Not to sound callous, but The Cancer Card was played to gain more public sympathy. I know prostate cancer is no laughing matter. My father in law was diagnosed last year, had his prostate removed and is going about life in remission. Cancer is serious business and I understand what the Marves are going through. For that, they have my sympathy."
Hall of Canes: Let Marve Go
"I hope Marve can have a good career somewhere else. I thought he was going to be a star here, but it just didn't work out, in part because of some of Marve's off the field issues and immaturity and in part because of Jacory Harris."
NORTH CAROLINA
Carolina March: The Future of the Gimmick Pass at UNC
"Cooter Arnold's first quarter touchdown pass to Hakeem Nicks was the fourth attempt by a non-quarterback for the Heels this season and the third completion. I'm mildly curious as to whether Butch Davis and John Shoop are going to continue to throw such plays into the mix as they recruit more talent (with all the inherit controversies involved) and presumably become more of a favored team and less of an upstart."
TarEye or BuckHeel: 2008 Footall Season Wrap-up: A Season of What If's
"And with a tougher schedule on slate for next season, I do not expect Carolina to improve upon the 8-5 season. The likely loss of Hakeem Nicks to the NFL and Brandon Tate's graduation will severely hamper the offense, and Withers defense will continue to leave more to be desired and maintain the status quo."
Tar Heel Fan: Final Football Thoughts
"A big help in this area would be a breakout season by Shaun Draughan and Ryan Houston. Once Butch Davis figured out what he had in Draughan and Houston, the running game was much better. If this aspect of the offense can improve to a level where it dominates the offensive play calling, it will minimize the losses in the passing game."
Tar Heel Mania: World, Hakeem Nicks. Hakeem Nicks, World.
"The vidoes and statistics speak for themselves: 8 catches, 217 yards, 3 touchdowns. Nicks now holds every major school receiving record. It’s probable that this is the last we’ve seen of the greatest wide receiver in school history, as Nicks is an NFL talent right now and has nothing left to prove in college. UNC should be fine with a talented, if inexperienced, wide receiver trio of Greg Little, Kenton Thornton and Dwight Jones in 2009. If Hakeem comes back for his senior year, however, I may end up knocking myself out from the excitement."
NC STATE
Section Six: Aw Crap
"I don't know. All I heard was my name and a stream of unintelligible profanity."
StateFans Nation: Great Wolfpack fans help save another bowl
"I’ll have more from Birmingham later, but I just wanted to start off with a big shout out to Wolfpack fans for their awesome support of the program. The Wolfpack’s presence in Birmingham was fantastic. The only thing that saved Rutgers from major embarrassment was that their colors are identical to Wolfpack red."
Yet Another...: Get Your Doughnut On!
"As of today, the 13th, there are still 22 days remaining to register for the Challenge. If you haven't done any "training" yet--either running or eating--expect this to truly be a challenge. Vomiting is a common occurrence for many of the participants (the human body wasn't designed to exercise after ingesting 2400 calories in a five minute span?) and no doubt makes for interesting walking along the sidewalks of Peace St. for several days. Pray for rain, I suppose."
VIRGINIA
From Old Virginia: What makes a blog a blog
"Meanwhile at ESPN's blogs, you get journalism school, in short clips. You get editors. And you get one person having to cover 12 teams. Heather, bless her heart, decided to do a rundown of all 12 ACC teams' recruiting needs. (Here's ours.) In the past, that would have been published all at once and called a "column." Now, they break it up into little "posts" and call it a "blog." And look, I don't exactly have the world's most important UVA site here, nor am I read by millions across the world each day (or even thousands), but honestly, I'd like to think I bring you much better recruiting content than "Virginia needs linebackers and wide receivers," especially since most of the class is already verballed in."
Good Ol' Blog: File this under “Not Believable”
"Honestly, where do some of these newsie-types get this stuff? Can anyone really put the word “reportedly” in front of any falsehood and get away with it? Let’s give it a try: “Reportedly, Al Groh is considering The Good ‘Ol Blog’s Rob Mahini to be Virginia’s next defensive line coach.” Yup, I guess so. See you on the sidelines!"
VIRGINIA TECH
Beer Control Offense: 2009 Orange Bowl Champs Thoughts
"VT wanted it more, prepared for it more and fought for it more. Why they don't come out like this for every bowl, I do not know. Beamer likes to reward his guys ... well a win is A LOT more rewarding than a loss. They got all offseason to get their drinks on ... not bowl week. Maybe this is the kick in the ass Beamer needed?"
College Game Balls: Orange Bowl Champions
Tech Sideline: What the Editorial Changes Mean for TSL
"I will still hang out on the boards, as well. I like talking about Hokie sports, plus I have always enjoyed the fine sport of detecting and eliminating message board flamers."
Tech Super Fans: VT vs. Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl
"I will give Stinespring great credit for not only calling his best game of the season (breaking tendency and throwing on 1st down in the first half was fantastic), but also having the offense execute better than it had for most of the year. However, he still demonstrates a true lack of game "sense". A perfect play after running two successful TE hitch routes in that situation would have been a pump fake to Boone and then hit a WR in the zone behind him for a big play. Also, the only catches Boone had in the game were on this drive. With a weapon like Greg Boone at 280 lbs, the Hokies should utilize him in the passing game at various times throughout a contest."
VT Fan: Virginia Tech Football: Orange Bowl Champions
"So this win feels good. its a BCS win. its a 10 win season (and thanks to ESPN for the “10-Win Streak” plug all day). Its a young team, pretty much a rebuilding year. Sets up some good hype and excitment for the 2009 season. Sometimes we as Hokie fans lose sight of the quality program we have."
A lot's happened in the ACC since the ACCCG. There was a coaching change, players leaving, players staying, big changes at Tech Sideline and a big win for the Hokies in Miami.
BOSTON COLLEGE
BC All Access: Frank Spaziani | Keys to Success
"4. Keep the towel
The towel has been his trademark for years. And guess what? Its worked too. Take my advice Spaz--Don't mess with success. Keep the towel tradition, who knows it may catch on in Chestnut Hill."
BC Interruption: Brian's Somewhat Delayed Reaction to Spaziani Hire
"My point is that if Gene wanted coaches to stay at Boston College until the end of time, he needed to hire a head coach that would make Chestnut Hill a destination-type position. At age 61, Spaziani simply cannot become that type of coach. Yes, he played for Joe Paterno at Penn State and JoePa set him up with his first coaching positions. And yes, he stated today that he wants to be at Boston College for the next 12 years. But the days of the Joe Paternos and Bobby Bowdens of the college football world are numbered. Do I expect Spaziani to be coaching at the Heights at age 73? Highly unlikely."
Eagle in Atlanta: Spaz's To Do list
"3. Show the on the field emotion off the field. Spaz clearly has fire. We see it every Saturday in his reactions. He held his own in the press conference, but I still think his personality was muted a bit. BC fans want passion. They want hope. They want to believe. Share that passion when you speak to the press and certainly when you speak to fans. That, along with winning, will turn the skeptics around and have kids lining up to play for BC."
CLEMSON
Block-C: It's Official
"CJ just announced in his press conference that he will be returning to Clemson for his senior season. It took every ounce of my being not to write this entire post in all caps."
Sporting Gnomes: Zorn & Dabo
"I bring this up because of the somewhat similar situations between Zorn and Dabo. As I’ve mentioned before, I fear that Dabo will coach differently now that he faces dramatically different incentives. But I now also fear that he’s in the midst of the Zorn effect; he’s good because he’s new. He had room to take risks; and they worked out. In the future those same risks will bite him in the ass, so he either steps in for another round of Russian Roulette, or he becomes one of the boring coaches who tries to survive by minimizing risk."
FLORIDA STATE
Chant Rant: What if the Bowl win was Bobby's last game?
"Less coverage of FSU Football. Like it or not, Bowden is the face of the program and drives much of the team's media coverage. No offense to Jimbo, but dadgumit, he can't hold a candle to the funny, quirky quote machine known to the press simply as Bobby."
Scalp 'Em: Dr. Saturday: Don’t Trust Your Eyes
"I’m happy that FSU won of course, whether it’s by 1 or by 70. But, I’ll admit that the first half was a snore, aside from Graham Gano’s Puntstravaganza (Chili donated that word via Mobile IM last night). And the second half was fun to watch because everything went FSU’s way. On top of that, my favorite QB, Drew Weatherford got to see some playing time before riding off into the sunset. All in all it was a good way to end a 2008 season that basically met my expecations. It was a year of “something to build on” and the Noles can build on a Champs Sports Bowl victory heading into 2009."
Tomahawk Nation: Dear Gary Brown
"What is Bunkley doing right now? He just skullcracked Eli Manning. He's leading his Philadelphia Eagles past the Giants. In the Giants Stadium. The announcers are practically having an orgasm over how well he is playing. The announcer had to change his pants during the commercial break. BBunk just threw the center into Brandon Jacobs on 3rd down for a 2-yard loss."
GEORGIA TECH
The Legacy x4: Biggest Fear Confirmed
"What does this do to the season? It doesn't necessarily take anything away from this one. But next year....the hype that everyone was expecting us to ride is been taken out from under us. Paul Johnson's reputation? Well it took a hit, a big one. We were all humbled last night in a multitude of ways."
MARYLAND
Turtle Soup: A Great Day To Be A Terp
"The running game will be super solid as Da’Rel Scott wowed the nation with 174 yards rushing in about a quarter and a half. With Davin Meggett and Morgan Green, we are set. The offensive line was inconsistent, so I can’t imagine it’ll be horrible replacing a few guys. But we’ll see."
Turtle Waxing: Terps close out 2008 in style
"Still there is a sense that the program is approaching a cross roads of sorts. Friedgen is unlikely to remain as the coach at Maryland beyond his current contract and the possible coach in waiting in coordinator James Franklin had a very mixed season in his first year back at Maryland. Al Seamonson did an adequate job in his first game replacing Chris Cosh but there are still major questions about the defense and it isn't clear if Friedgen will resort to another outside hire for the defensive coordinator spot."
MIAMI
All Canes: Marve: True colors shining through...
"Not to sound callous, but The Cancer Card was played to gain more public sympathy. I know prostate cancer is no laughing matter. My father in law was diagnosed last year, had his prostate removed and is going about life in remission. Cancer is serious business and I understand what the Marves are going through. For that, they have my sympathy."
Hall of Canes: Let Marve Go
"I hope Marve can have a good career somewhere else. I thought he was going to be a star here, but it just didn't work out, in part because of some of Marve's off the field issues and immaturity and in part because of Jacory Harris."
NORTH CAROLINA
Carolina March: The Future of the Gimmick Pass at UNC
"Cooter Arnold's first quarter touchdown pass to Hakeem Nicks was the fourth attempt by a non-quarterback for the Heels this season and the third completion. I'm mildly curious as to whether Butch Davis and John Shoop are going to continue to throw such plays into the mix as they recruit more talent (with all the inherit controversies involved) and presumably become more of a favored team and less of an upstart."
TarEye or BuckHeel: 2008 Footall Season Wrap-up: A Season of What If's
"And with a tougher schedule on slate for next season, I do not expect Carolina to improve upon the 8-5 season. The likely loss of Hakeem Nicks to the NFL and Brandon Tate's graduation will severely hamper the offense, and Withers defense will continue to leave more to be desired and maintain the status quo."
Tar Heel Fan: Final Football Thoughts
"A big help in this area would be a breakout season by Shaun Draughan and Ryan Houston. Once Butch Davis figured out what he had in Draughan and Houston, the running game was much better. If this aspect of the offense can improve to a level where it dominates the offensive play calling, it will minimize the losses in the passing game."
Tar Heel Mania: World, Hakeem Nicks. Hakeem Nicks, World.
"The vidoes and statistics speak for themselves: 8 catches, 217 yards, 3 touchdowns. Nicks now holds every major school receiving record. It’s probable that this is the last we’ve seen of the greatest wide receiver in school history, as Nicks is an NFL talent right now and has nothing left to prove in college. UNC should be fine with a talented, if inexperienced, wide receiver trio of Greg Little, Kenton Thornton and Dwight Jones in 2009. If Hakeem comes back for his senior year, however, I may end up knocking myself out from the excitement."
NC STATE
Section Six: Aw Crap
"I don't know. All I heard was my name and a stream of unintelligible profanity."
StateFans Nation: Great Wolfpack fans help save another bowl
"I’ll have more from Birmingham later, but I just wanted to start off with a big shout out to Wolfpack fans for their awesome support of the program. The Wolfpack’s presence in Birmingham was fantastic. The only thing that saved Rutgers from major embarrassment was that their colors are identical to Wolfpack red."
Yet Another...: Get Your Doughnut On!
"As of today, the 13th, there are still 22 days remaining to register for the Challenge. If you haven't done any "training" yet--either running or eating--expect this to truly be a challenge. Vomiting is a common occurrence for many of the participants (the human body wasn't designed to exercise after ingesting 2400 calories in a five minute span?) and no doubt makes for interesting walking along the sidewalks of Peace St. for several days. Pray for rain, I suppose."
VIRGINIA
From Old Virginia: What makes a blog a blog
"Meanwhile at ESPN's blogs, you get journalism school, in short clips. You get editors. And you get one person having to cover 12 teams. Heather, bless her heart, decided to do a rundown of all 12 ACC teams' recruiting needs. (Here's ours.) In the past, that would have been published all at once and called a "column." Now, they break it up into little "posts" and call it a "blog." And look, I don't exactly have the world's most important UVA site here, nor am I read by millions across the world each day (or even thousands), but honestly, I'd like to think I bring you much better recruiting content than "Virginia needs linebackers and wide receivers," especially since most of the class is already verballed in."
Good Ol' Blog: File this under “Not Believable”
"Honestly, where do some of these newsie-types get this stuff? Can anyone really put the word “reportedly” in front of any falsehood and get away with it? Let’s give it a try: “Reportedly, Al Groh is considering The Good ‘Ol Blog’s Rob Mahini to be Virginia’s next defensive line coach.” Yup, I guess so. See you on the sidelines!"
VIRGINIA TECH
Beer Control Offense: 2009 Orange Bowl Champs Thoughts
"VT wanted it more, prepared for it more and fought for it more. Why they don't come out like this for every bowl, I do not know. Beamer likes to reward his guys ... well a win is A LOT more rewarding than a loss. They got all offseason to get their drinks on ... not bowl week. Maybe this is the kick in the ass Beamer needed?"
College Game Balls: Orange Bowl Champions
Tech Sideline: What the Editorial Changes Mean for TSL
"I will still hang out on the boards, as well. I like talking about Hokie sports, plus I have always enjoyed the fine sport of detecting and eliminating message board flamers."
Tech Super Fans: VT vs. Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl
"I will give Stinespring great credit for not only calling his best game of the season (breaking tendency and throwing on 1st down in the first half was fantastic), but also having the offense execute better than it had for most of the year. However, he still demonstrates a true lack of game "sense". A perfect play after running two successful TE hitch routes in that situation would have been a pump fake to Boone and then hit a WR in the zone behind him for a big play. Also, the only catches Boone had in the game were on this drive. With a weapon like Greg Boone at 280 lbs, the Hokies should utilize him in the passing game at various times throughout a contest."
VT Fan: Virginia Tech Football: Orange Bowl Champions
"So this win feels good. its a BCS win. its a 10 win season (and thanks to ESPN for the “10-Win Streak” plug all day). Its a young team, pretty much a rebuilding year. Sets up some good hype and excitment for the 2009 season. Sometimes we as Hokie fans lose sight of the quality program we have."
Monday, January 5, 2009
Final 2008 Power Poll
The conference looks good going into 2009 with young teams and emerging young, talented players.
2008 Final Power Poll
1. Virginia Tech
2. Georgia Tech
3. Boston College
4. Florida State
5. North Carolina
6. NC State
7. Maryland
8. Wake Forest
9. Clemson
10. Miami
11. Virginia
12. Duke
Notes
- The regular season has to count for more than the exhibition bowl games, so there was little movement. However, I was REALLY tempted to move GT and BC down after embarrassing losses.
- FSU, UMd and Wake were all rewarded for winning bowl games. I tried to give more reward for winning than punishment for losing.
- The Hokies, obviously, remain at No. 1 after a dominating defensive performance in the Orange Bowl.
2008 Final Power Poll
1. Virginia Tech
2. Georgia Tech
3. Boston College
4. Florida State
5. North Carolina
6. NC State
7. Maryland
8. Wake Forest
9. Clemson
10. Miami
11. Virginia
12. Duke
Notes
- The regular season has to count for more than the exhibition bowl games, so there was little movement. However, I was REALLY tempted to move GT and BC down after embarrassing losses.
- FSU, UMd and Wake were all rewarded for winning bowl games. I tried to give more reward for winning than punishment for losing.
- The Hokies, obviously, remain at No. 1 after a dominating defensive performance in the Orange Bowl.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Trading Schedules with Cincinnati
It was brought up on the TSL football board where the Hokies would have finished in the Big East and where Cincinnati would have finished in the ACC. I have a similar questions: How would the Hokies have fared against the Bearcats schedule and vice versa?
Hokies vs. Cincinnati's Schedule
Eastern Kentucky: W
@ Oklahoma: L
Miami U.: W
@ Akron: W
@ Marshall: W
Rutgers: W
@ UConn: L
South Florida: W
@ West Virginia: W
@ Louisville: W
Pittsburgh: W
Syracuse: W
@ Hawai'i: W
Record: 11-2, 6-1
Same record, same results for the Hokies against the Bearcats' schedule. The Hokies would have dropped the two toughest road games against OU and UConn. The other tough game would have been against Pitt and LeSean McCoy, but I would give Tech the edge in Lane Stadium. Yes, the Hokies would face a tough road test in the Mountaineers and the Hokies didn't play well on the road this year. But there's no way in hell I would ever say a Bill Stewart-coached team would beat a Frank Beamer-coached team. Now, what about Cincinnati against our schedule?
Bearcats vs. Virginia Tech's Schedule
vs. ECU: W
Furman: W
Georgia Tech: L
at North Carolina: L
at Nebraska: W
Western Kentucky: W
at Boston College: W
at Florida State: L
Maryland: W
at Miami: W
Duke: W
Virginia: W
vs. Boston College: W
Record: 10-3, 5-3
I think Cincinnati poses match up problems for the BC defense and beats them twice. Yes, BC can stop the run cold. But that really doesn't matter to a spread offense that passes first and asks questions later. Georgia Tech's ability to get pressure with its front four and UNC's gifted secondary get them victories against the Bearcats. The offensive talent and road environment in Tallahassee would be too much for the Bearcats to overcome.
So, there you have it. Both teams would still come through with conference titles and would still likely play each other in the Orange Bowl if they played the others' schedules.
Hokies vs. Cincinnati's Schedule
Eastern Kentucky: W
@ Oklahoma: L
Miami U.: W
@ Akron: W
@ Marshall: W
Rutgers: W
@ UConn: L
South Florida: W
@ West Virginia: W
@ Louisville: W
Pittsburgh: W
Syracuse: W
@ Hawai'i: W
Record: 11-2, 6-1
Same record, same results for the Hokies against the Bearcats' schedule. The Hokies would have dropped the two toughest road games against OU and UConn. The other tough game would have been against Pitt and LeSean McCoy, but I would give Tech the edge in Lane Stadium. Yes, the Hokies would face a tough road test in the Mountaineers and the Hokies didn't play well on the road this year. But there's no way in hell I would ever say a Bill Stewart-coached team would beat a Frank Beamer-coached team. Now, what about Cincinnati against our schedule?
Bearcats vs. Virginia Tech's Schedule
vs. ECU: W
Furman: W
Georgia Tech: L
at North Carolina: L
at Nebraska: W
Western Kentucky: W
at Boston College: W
at Florida State: L
Maryland: W
at Miami: W
Duke: W
Virginia: W
vs. Boston College: W
Record: 10-3, 5-3
I think Cincinnati poses match up problems for the BC defense and beats them twice. Yes, BC can stop the run cold. But that really doesn't matter to a spread offense that passes first and asks questions later. Georgia Tech's ability to get pressure with its front four and UNC's gifted secondary get them victories against the Bearcats. The offensive talent and road environment in Tallahassee would be too much for the Bearcats to overcome.
So, there you have it. Both teams would still come through with conference titles and would still likely play each other in the Orange Bowl if they played the others' schedules.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Let's Do Some Lines: Bowls
Time for some ACC-quality homerism. All lines are from Bodog, the official illegal online gambling site of furrer4heisman. My picks are in bold.
ACC Bowls
Eagle Bank Bowl
Wake Forest -3 vs. Navy
- Hopefully Wake can protect the ball better in the rematch.
Meineke Car Care Bowl
North Carolina -0.0 vs. West Virginia
- One of the non-BCS games I'm looking forward to seeing.
Champs Sports Bowl
Wisconsin +5 vs. Florida State
- Two bad coaches. One bad bowl game.
Emerald Bowl
Cal -7.5 vs. Miami
- Two teams trending in opposite directions.
Papajohns.com Bowl
NC State +8.5 vs. Rutgers
- Lots of points in this one.
Humanitarian Bowl
Maryland +1 vs. Nevada
- ACC teams are always hit or miss on the Smurf Turf.
Music City Bowl
Boston College -4 vs. Vanderbilt
- The 'Dores lost to Duke. At home.
Peach Bowl (I know and I don't care.)
Georgia Tech -4 vs. LSU
- Although I don't like that EVERYONE is picking the Jackets now.
Gator Bowl
Clemson -3 vs. Nebraska
- Same slow defense that lost to VT.
Orange Bowl
Virginia Tech +2 vs. Cincinnati
- Please put pressure on Pike.
Other Bowls I Like
BCSCG
Florida -3 vs. Oklahoma
- OU needed a big game on the ground. With Murray out it ain't happening.
International Bowl
UConn +4.5 vs. Buffalo
- We saw a good RB dominate here last year.
Rose Bowl
USC -9 vs. Penn State
- Because the Big Ten sucks.
Holiday Bowl
Oregon +3 vs. Oklahoma State
- Seen OSU's record in big games?
New Mexico Bowl
Fresno State -3 vs. Colorado State
- CSU is the worst bowl team not playing in Shreveport or Notre Dame.
How I Did Last Week Against the Spread:
ACC: 1-0
Correct: Virginia Tech
Wrong: None
Nation: 2-3
Correct: Pittsburgh, Oklahoma
Wrong: Ball St., Alabama, West Virginia
Year to Date:
ACC: 46-34-1
Nation: 37-36
Total: 83-70-1
ACC Bowls
Eagle Bank Bowl
Wake Forest -3 vs. Navy
- Hopefully Wake can protect the ball better in the rematch.
Meineke Car Care Bowl
North Carolina -0.0 vs. West Virginia
- One of the non-BCS games I'm looking forward to seeing.
Champs Sports Bowl
Wisconsin +5 vs. Florida State
- Two bad coaches. One bad bowl game.
Emerald Bowl
Cal -7.5 vs. Miami
- Two teams trending in opposite directions.
Papajohns.com Bowl
NC State +8.5 vs. Rutgers
- Lots of points in this one.
Humanitarian Bowl
Maryland +1 vs. Nevada
- ACC teams are always hit or miss on the Smurf Turf.
Music City Bowl
Boston College -4 vs. Vanderbilt
- The 'Dores lost to Duke. At home.
Peach Bowl (I know and I don't care.)
Georgia Tech -4 vs. LSU
- Although I don't like that EVERYONE is picking the Jackets now.
Gator Bowl
Clemson -3 vs. Nebraska
- Same slow defense that lost to VT.
Orange Bowl
Virginia Tech +2 vs. Cincinnati
- Please put pressure on Pike.
Other Bowls I Like
BCSCG
Florida -3 vs. Oklahoma
- OU needed a big game on the ground. With Murray out it ain't happening.
International Bowl
UConn +4.5 vs. Buffalo
- We saw a good RB dominate here last year.
Rose Bowl
USC -9 vs. Penn State
- Because the Big Ten sucks.
Holiday Bowl
Oregon +3 vs. Oklahoma State
- Seen OSU's record in big games?
New Mexico Bowl
Fresno State -3 vs. Colorado State
- CSU is the worst bowl team not playing in Shreveport or Notre Dame.
How I Did Last Week Against the Spread:
ACC: 1-0
Correct: Virginia Tech
Wrong: None
Nation: 2-3
Correct: Pittsburgh, Oklahoma
Wrong: Ball St., Alabama, West Virginia
Year to Date:
ACC: 46-34-1
Nation: 37-36
Total: 83-70-1
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
ACC Needs a Contender
This item just showed up on my RSS reader: The ACC led all conferences in Pro Bowl selections in 2008. That's cute.
The ACC has plenty of things to be proud of on the football side of things. It usually leads college football in draft picks and first-round picks. Its players succeed at the next level. It had the best win percentage against BCS non-conference teams in 2008. A record 10 teams qualified for bowls this season.
However, its champion and BCS participant (and team this blog follows) is 9-4 overall and 5-3 in conference play. Compare that with all the conference champ-eens:
Mountain West: Utah (12-0, 8-0)
WAC: Boise State (12-0, 8-0)
Big 12: Oklahoma (12-1, 7-1)
SEC: Florida (12-1, 7-1)
Big Ten: Penn State (11-1, 7-1)
Pac 10: USC (11-1, 8-1)
Big East: Cincinnati (11-2, 6-1)
CUSA: East Carolina (9-4, 6-2)
ACC: Virginia Tech (9-4, 5-3)
Sun Belt: Troy (8-4, 6-1)
MAC: Buffalo (8-5, 5-3)
It's a good thing Buffalo beat Ball State or else the Hokies would have braggin' rights over Troy and that's it.
Parity was great for the league this year. It was by far the most exciting league race to watch in college football this year. But real respect doesn't come from having players succeed at the next level or by putting 10 teams in bowls.
The ACC can definitely hang its hat on having the best record against BCS opponents and on going 6-4 against God's Conference this year. But what the ACC really needs is for a team to separate itself and be in the discussion for the BCSCG.
A lot was made of Texas, Oklahoma and Florida battling for the two spots and USC and Penn State's attractive resumes. Those teams were talked about on SportsCenter. The ACC and its exciting conference race obviously was not. It was fun for us to watch, but no one else was watching.
The ACC is a tremendous conference for all sports, including football. But parity is only fun for a short while. Seasons like 2008 are great every now and then, but the ACC needs a team to step up and have a chance to play for the national title. It should have been Clemson this year. Hopefully it will be the Hokies next year.
Once we have a team contend for and win the national championship, we can go back to having a season with the kind of parity we saw this year. Then, people outside of the ACC will actually watch.
The ACC has plenty of things to be proud of on the football side of things. It usually leads college football in draft picks and first-round picks. Its players succeed at the next level. It had the best win percentage against BCS non-conference teams in 2008. A record 10 teams qualified for bowls this season.
However, its champion and BCS participant (and team this blog follows) is 9-4 overall and 5-3 in conference play. Compare that with all the conference champ-eens:
Mountain West: Utah (12-0, 8-0)
WAC: Boise State (12-0, 8-0)
Big 12: Oklahoma (12-1, 7-1)
SEC: Florida (12-1, 7-1)
Big Ten: Penn State (11-1, 7-1)
Pac 10: USC (11-1, 8-1)
Big East: Cincinnati (11-2, 6-1)
CUSA: East Carolina (9-4, 6-2)
ACC: Virginia Tech (9-4, 5-3)
Sun Belt: Troy (8-4, 6-1)
MAC: Buffalo (8-5, 5-3)
It's a good thing Buffalo beat Ball State or else the Hokies would have braggin' rights over Troy and that's it.
Parity was great for the league this year. It was by far the most exciting league race to watch in college football this year. But real respect doesn't come from having players succeed at the next level or by putting 10 teams in bowls.
The ACC can definitely hang its hat on having the best record against BCS opponents and on going 6-4 against God's Conference this year. But what the ACC really needs is for a team to separate itself and be in the discussion for the BCSCG.
A lot was made of Texas, Oklahoma and Florida battling for the two spots and USC and Penn State's attractive resumes. Those teams were talked about on SportsCenter. The ACC and its exciting conference race obviously was not. It was fun for us to watch, but no one else was watching.
The ACC is a tremendous conference for all sports, including football. But parity is only fun for a short while. Seasons like 2008 are great every now and then, but the ACC needs a team to step up and have a chance to play for the national title. It should have been Clemson this year. Hopefully it will be the Hokies next year.
Once we have a team contend for and win the national championship, we can go back to having a season with the kind of parity we saw this year. Then, people outside of the ACC will actually watch.
Friday, December 12, 2008
ACC Best of the Blogs: Week 15
Ed. Note: The next Best of the Blogs will come after bowl season.
BOSTON COLLEGE
BC All Access: BC Falls Short Again
"Obviously this is a tough loss to swallow. I thought this was BC's game to lose, and they certainly did not play well enough to win this one. Again the story of the game for BC was turnovers. Rich Gunnell's fumble inside the 5 yard line was a huge mistake. Dominique Davis also committed several costly turnovers, including a fumble for a touchdown and a pick that led to another. Ball security has not been our strength all year and we once again showed this weakness."
BC Interruption: The Blame Game, ACCCG Edition
"Jeff: The conference fixed the problem by moving the game to Charlotte. The game will be a hot ticket there because of proximity to the schools in the game alone. Meanwhile, on average the two teams competing in the game will be ranked higher nationally than they were this year. There won't be the SEC dream game to compete with and the economy hurting ticket sales so the ACC Championship Game will get more hype and will be better attended. Nothing needs to be done beyond moving the game in 2010."
Eagle in Atlanta: Bring the band!
"I don't know where the 39 number came from. It may have something to do with the size of the charter or available hotel rooms. If a 40th member necessitates another plane, have some of the folks fly commercial. Or send the band down in a bus. These kids earned a trip too. Unless there is reason against sending a larger band, then BC should step up and get these BC guys and gals to Nashville."
CLEMSON
Block-C: DSOT of the Day: Vicarious Excellence Edition
"Sun Tzu once said something to the affect of “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” He also wisely stated “If you can’t beat ‘em - talk shit on future opponents’ messageboards.” This sad Sakerlina fan has decided to do just that over on some ‘Husker forums."
Sporting Gnomes: Koenning doesn’t help his cause
"Look, Vic deserves some respect. But if even he says that success is driven by talent, then unless he was primarily responsible for the recruiting of the defense (and he may be, I refuse to follow recruiting), then his resignation/dismissal is largely superfluous."
FLORIDA STATE
Chant Rant: Fisher "Very content at FSU" -- maybe because he now has more control to make things happen
"A less cynical view: Fisher used the mere fact of Auburn's interest to expand his role as Head Coach In Waiting. Put another way, his loyalty statement bought new concessions from T.K. Wetherell. We all know it worked last year with the West Virginia scare. According to T.K., "...he got what he wanted in play-calling and (some other concerns).""
Scalp 'Em: What Scares Me More Than Bowden Staying
"If Jimbo Fisher got hit by the proverbial bus (or in this case, left the program) tomorrow FSU Football would survive. Would it be an ideal scenario? No. It never is for a business when there’s a sudden departure of an important person. Fisher may or may not lead the Noles to national titles, but does anyone think he’s loyal to FSU? I think he’s contractually obligated to FSU as it is right now, and I think that down the road if / when a better opportunity comes along, he’ll be happy to go. It’s a business after all. I don’t fear that after watching OU put up a ton of points, and teams like Buffalo beat Ball State. There’s a ton of parity in college football and a ton of good coaches out there. Everyone is replaceable once the few legends that are left retire."
Tomahawk Nation: FSU Player Development and Attrition, and has a change in control occured?
"I'm not paid to make readers happy like Ellis is, so I'll go ahead and say that Amato is easily the guy the insiders complain about the most. They consider him a clown, a fraud, a total has been who is drawing a charity paycheck, and someone who has zero hope of ever landing another decent D1 head coaching job. Rumor has it that he is the one who frustrates Jimbo the most. Hopefully Chuck "The Clown" Amato has recruited his last kid for FSU."
GEORGIA TECH
The Legacyx4: I promise not to do this too often
"If you live in the 1st District of Illinois or 6th or 10th Districts of Texas, and are planning on voting for Reps. Bobby Rush, Joe Barton, or Michael McCaul respectively two Novembers from now, do me a favor. Don't vote. Go commit a felonious act that will bar you from voting ever again in those states."
MARYLAND
Turtle Soup: Cosh Leaving; Blitzing May Happen in ‘09!
"However, I’m very happy as a Maryland fan that we are going to get a new defensive coordinator. Like I said last week, this team has to get back to being aggressive and not passive. The defense needs to go after people and make things happen, not give up yards and hope to force teams into field goal tries."
Turtle Waxing: Early ACC report
"Outside of the two powers at the top it is oddly Maryland that probably has the best non-conference resume of any team in the league. The Terps have wins over Michigan State and Michigan and have gotten the attention of NCAA prognosticators. Over at Buster Sports Andrew Jones claims Maryland has set itself up nicely with their out of conference play. Michigan State still figures to be one of the top two or three in the Big Ten and Michigan may make some noise this year after upsetting UCLA and Duke in the last few weeks."
MIAMI
All Canes: Marve transfer rumors surface...
"Truth be told, Marve and Harris both seemed to regress a bit this year. Against Florida, Marve had moxie and the issue was a bland offensive game plan from Patrick Nix. At some point, the training wheels would come off and Marve would be unleashed on the college football world."
NORTH CAROLINA
Tar Heel Fan: The Scholarship Numbers Game
"In all likelihood something similar could happen here. Players will quit, transfer, Hakeem Nicks might go to the NFL, some recruits won’t qualify, some recruits will enroll in down the road. It is definitely a huge puzzle and as Allen Wallace points out hugely complicated. The real debate in this whether a coach can or should cut a current player off in favor of giving his scholarship to a new recruit? This seems to be the beef Wolfpack fans have with Davis thus their use of the term “waiver wire” which is used in professional sports to cut a player a team no longer wants."
Tareye/Buckheel: Heels joining Big East?
"Perhaps, as part of some sort of conspiracy the UNC-Chapel Hill Tar Heels are considering joining the Big East as they face their third Big East team this season -- Rutgets, UConn and now West Virginia -- or maybe it's just coincidence."
NC STATE
Section Six: A Quick Glance At Rutgers
"With a couple of hot offenses going up against a couple of blah defenses with bad secondaries, the Pizza Bowl looks like it's going to be one of the most exciting games of the bowl season. Sounds good to me--we haven't had a good shootout in a while."
StateFans Nation: Laugh. Think. Cry.
"It’s important that even the young generation of State fans understands why Jimmy V was such an endearing – and polarizing – personality for those of us that can never remember being anything but a State fan. But it’s not a romantic history; in fact, it’s quite tragic."
Yet Another...: Three Non-BCS Bowl Games You Should Watch
"This game scares me silly, to be honest. Rutgers passes the ball well; State struggles at times in pass defense. The Pack's not nearly as bad as their 90-something-ranked pass defense numbers suggest, but no one would ever confuse this team with one that's impossible to pass against. Teel is playing lights out, as is Wilson, so it may come down to which quarterback dazzles more when the lights come on."
VIRGINIA
From Old Virginia: Ch-ch-changes
"So is this such a good thing? Well, yes. By all accounts, of course, Mike Groh is a good man, hard worker, great with the players, etc. etc. etc. Most coaches are, and I'm not here to impugn the man's character. But there was a direct correlation between Mike's hiring as OC and the sudden plop sound of our offense hitting the water in the porcelain bowl. The playcalling was a particular point of complaint; I maintain that the playcalling was the one single factor more than any other that cost us a bowl trip. So Mike had to go. Mike's been a loyal Wahoo since 1991 and hasn't held a job at any other college; it can't be fun, firing your son, which is why you don't hire him in the first place. 99% of coaching hires end badly, or at least with some degree of animosity, and it only gets worse and more awkward and more uncomfortable and more acrimonious and really adjectivey when flesh and blood is involved."
Good Ol' Blog: Who would want this job?
"As a Virginia fan, I’m generally not shy about allowing my bias to color my blogging. I’m a UVa supporter with a blog, not a journalist living up to objective standards. You know, like those of a Dick Vitale or other non-partisan journalistic types that clearly aren’t rooting for a specific team. So, often, my arguments and contentions are influenced by my desire for UVa and the Wahoo nation to succeed in everything they do. And that’s pretty standard in the world of sports blogging."
VIRGINIA TECH
Beer Control Offense: Champions Again ... a ramble
"What a weird year. Young and crappy on O til the last couple of games, young and mediocre on D til about game 6 then, like gang busters the DT's did their job and everyone got better. The holiday season known as college football is almost over, but luckily for VT their last game is in an enviable, if overlooked BCS game."
College Game Balls: But… But… We’re Texas
"A Sooner fan held this up during the Oklahoma rout of Missouri. This is just a huge fuck you from Oklahoma to Texas."
Fire Bryan Stinespring: The Marcus Vick Effect
"Something else happened in 2005, of course. Marcus Vick self-destructed for the last time and was abruptly shown the door, leading to no small amount of embarrassment and humiliation for Frank Beamer and the entire program and leaving us without a quarterback. And then, as some of you probably well know, that next season, 2006, was the first season for Mike O'Cain and Curt Newsome."
Tech Sideline: Your ACC championship winning Eye in the Sky
"The best news is that Frank and Staff once again correctly measured how many points it would actually take to beat so-and-so. This time it technically (pardon the pun) only took 13 points to to beat B.C., the other 17 were a version of O&M gravy to use that holiday colloquialism loosely. But will that far-right offensive approach be enough to take the next step and get back to a MNC game before Tyrod leaves? I’ll leave that vote and discussion to you…but it is worthy of some consideration in my book."
TechSuperFans: Game Review - VT vs. BC in ACC Championship
"Look no further than with 10:00 left in the game and Boston College taking possession at their own 29 yard line having just cut the score to 24-10 and forced a Hokie punt. Jason Worilds, whose shoulder has popped out in EACH of the last 3 games and been popped back in on the sidelines, willed his way past the BC offensive tackle to swat the ball out of BC QB Dominique Davis' hands. Former walk-on Orion Martin, who showed up at Tech 4 years ago weighing 230 lbs and trying to make the team as a tight end, bull rushed his man into the QB and snatched the ball off of the bounce to dash into the end zone and put the game out of reach. What scored that touchdown and clinched the game was a burning desire to leave everything on the field for one's teammates."
VT Fan: Woe, These Hokie Hoopsters
"It has to be killing Coach Seth Greenberg. Let’s face it, his team is guilty of many of the “ills” of a team that doesn’t have “it”. They fail to win close games. They struggle to beat inferior teams, then get up and play well against good teams, only to fall just short. They are not scrappy as in years past. They get in foul trouble. They can’t put teams away when they get ahead. But most of all, against good teams, late in games, you just don’t feel they’ll rise up and win."
BOSTON COLLEGE
BC All Access: BC Falls Short Again
"Obviously this is a tough loss to swallow. I thought this was BC's game to lose, and they certainly did not play well enough to win this one. Again the story of the game for BC was turnovers. Rich Gunnell's fumble inside the 5 yard line was a huge mistake. Dominique Davis also committed several costly turnovers, including a fumble for a touchdown and a pick that led to another. Ball security has not been our strength all year and we once again showed this weakness."
BC Interruption: The Blame Game, ACCCG Edition
"Jeff: The conference fixed the problem by moving the game to Charlotte. The game will be a hot ticket there because of proximity to the schools in the game alone. Meanwhile, on average the two teams competing in the game will be ranked higher nationally than they were this year. There won't be the SEC dream game to compete with and the economy hurting ticket sales so the ACC Championship Game will get more hype and will be better attended. Nothing needs to be done beyond moving the game in 2010."
Eagle in Atlanta: Bring the band!
"I don't know where the 39 number came from. It may have something to do with the size of the charter or available hotel rooms. If a 40th member necessitates another plane, have some of the folks fly commercial. Or send the band down in a bus. These kids earned a trip too. Unless there is reason against sending a larger band, then BC should step up and get these BC guys and gals to Nashville."
CLEMSON
Block-C: DSOT of the Day: Vicarious Excellence Edition
"Sun Tzu once said something to the affect of “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” He also wisely stated “If you can’t beat ‘em - talk shit on future opponents’ messageboards.” This sad Sakerlina fan has decided to do just that over on some ‘Husker forums."
Sporting Gnomes: Koenning doesn’t help his cause
"Look, Vic deserves some respect. But if even he says that success is driven by talent, then unless he was primarily responsible for the recruiting of the defense (and he may be, I refuse to follow recruiting), then his resignation/dismissal is largely superfluous."
FLORIDA STATE
Chant Rant: Fisher "Very content at FSU" -- maybe because he now has more control to make things happen
"A less cynical view: Fisher used the mere fact of Auburn's interest to expand his role as Head Coach In Waiting. Put another way, his loyalty statement bought new concessions from T.K. Wetherell. We all know it worked last year with the West Virginia scare. According to T.K., "...he got what he wanted in play-calling and (some other concerns).""
Scalp 'Em: What Scares Me More Than Bowden Staying
"If Jimbo Fisher got hit by the proverbial bus (or in this case, left the program) tomorrow FSU Football would survive. Would it be an ideal scenario? No. It never is for a business when there’s a sudden departure of an important person. Fisher may or may not lead the Noles to national titles, but does anyone think he’s loyal to FSU? I think he’s contractually obligated to FSU as it is right now, and I think that down the road if / when a better opportunity comes along, he’ll be happy to go. It’s a business after all. I don’t fear that after watching OU put up a ton of points, and teams like Buffalo beat Ball State. There’s a ton of parity in college football and a ton of good coaches out there. Everyone is replaceable once the few legends that are left retire."
Tomahawk Nation: FSU Player Development and Attrition, and has a change in control occured?
"I'm not paid to make readers happy like Ellis is, so I'll go ahead and say that Amato is easily the guy the insiders complain about the most. They consider him a clown, a fraud, a total has been who is drawing a charity paycheck, and someone who has zero hope of ever landing another decent D1 head coaching job. Rumor has it that he is the one who frustrates Jimbo the most. Hopefully Chuck "The Clown" Amato has recruited his last kid for FSU."
GEORGIA TECH
The Legacyx4: I promise not to do this too often
"If you live in the 1st District of Illinois or 6th or 10th Districts of Texas, and are planning on voting for Reps. Bobby Rush, Joe Barton, or Michael McCaul respectively two Novembers from now, do me a favor. Don't vote. Go commit a felonious act that will bar you from voting ever again in those states."
MARYLAND
Turtle Soup: Cosh Leaving; Blitzing May Happen in ‘09!
"However, I’m very happy as a Maryland fan that we are going to get a new defensive coordinator. Like I said last week, this team has to get back to being aggressive and not passive. The defense needs to go after people and make things happen, not give up yards and hope to force teams into field goal tries."
Turtle Waxing: Early ACC report
"Outside of the two powers at the top it is oddly Maryland that probably has the best non-conference resume of any team in the league. The Terps have wins over Michigan State and Michigan and have gotten the attention of NCAA prognosticators. Over at Buster Sports Andrew Jones claims Maryland has set itself up nicely with their out of conference play. Michigan State still figures to be one of the top two or three in the Big Ten and Michigan may make some noise this year after upsetting UCLA and Duke in the last few weeks."
MIAMI
All Canes: Marve transfer rumors surface...
"Truth be told, Marve and Harris both seemed to regress a bit this year. Against Florida, Marve had moxie and the issue was a bland offensive game plan from Patrick Nix. At some point, the training wheels would come off and Marve would be unleashed on the college football world."
NORTH CAROLINA
Tar Heel Fan: The Scholarship Numbers Game
"In all likelihood something similar could happen here. Players will quit, transfer, Hakeem Nicks might go to the NFL, some recruits won’t qualify, some recruits will enroll in down the road. It is definitely a huge puzzle and as Allen Wallace points out hugely complicated. The real debate in this whether a coach can or should cut a current player off in favor of giving his scholarship to a new recruit? This seems to be the beef Wolfpack fans have with Davis thus their use of the term “waiver wire” which is used in professional sports to cut a player a team no longer wants."
Tareye/Buckheel: Heels joining Big East?
"Perhaps, as part of some sort of conspiracy the UNC-Chapel Hill Tar Heels are considering joining the Big East as they face their third Big East team this season -- Rutgets, UConn and now West Virginia -- or maybe it's just coincidence."
NC STATE
Section Six: A Quick Glance At Rutgers
"With a couple of hot offenses going up against a couple of blah defenses with bad secondaries, the Pizza Bowl looks like it's going to be one of the most exciting games of the bowl season. Sounds good to me--we haven't had a good shootout in a while."
StateFans Nation: Laugh. Think. Cry.
"It’s important that even the young generation of State fans understands why Jimmy V was such an endearing – and polarizing – personality for those of us that can never remember being anything but a State fan. But it’s not a romantic history; in fact, it’s quite tragic."
Yet Another...: Three Non-BCS Bowl Games You Should Watch
"This game scares me silly, to be honest. Rutgers passes the ball well; State struggles at times in pass defense. The Pack's not nearly as bad as their 90-something-ranked pass defense numbers suggest, but no one would ever confuse this team with one that's impossible to pass against. Teel is playing lights out, as is Wilson, so it may come down to which quarterback dazzles more when the lights come on."
VIRGINIA
From Old Virginia: Ch-ch-changes
"So is this such a good thing? Well, yes. By all accounts, of course, Mike Groh is a good man, hard worker, great with the players, etc. etc. etc. Most coaches are, and I'm not here to impugn the man's character. But there was a direct correlation between Mike's hiring as OC and the sudden plop sound of our offense hitting the water in the porcelain bowl. The playcalling was a particular point of complaint; I maintain that the playcalling was the one single factor more than any other that cost us a bowl trip. So Mike had to go. Mike's been a loyal Wahoo since 1991 and hasn't held a job at any other college; it can't be fun, firing your son, which is why you don't hire him in the first place. 99% of coaching hires end badly, or at least with some degree of animosity, and it only gets worse and more awkward and more uncomfortable and more acrimonious and really adjectivey when flesh and blood is involved."
Good Ol' Blog: Who would want this job?
"As a Virginia fan, I’m generally not shy about allowing my bias to color my blogging. I’m a UVa supporter with a blog, not a journalist living up to objective standards. You know, like those of a Dick Vitale or other non-partisan journalistic types that clearly aren’t rooting for a specific team. So, often, my arguments and contentions are influenced by my desire for UVa and the Wahoo nation to succeed in everything they do. And that’s pretty standard in the world of sports blogging."
VIRGINIA TECH
Beer Control Offense: Champions Again ... a ramble
"What a weird year. Young and crappy on O til the last couple of games, young and mediocre on D til about game 6 then, like gang busters the DT's did their job and everyone got better. The holiday season known as college football is almost over, but luckily for VT their last game is in an enviable, if overlooked BCS game."
College Game Balls: But… But… We’re Texas
"A Sooner fan held this up during the Oklahoma rout of Missouri. This is just a huge fuck you from Oklahoma to Texas."
Fire Bryan Stinespring: The Marcus Vick Effect
"Something else happened in 2005, of course. Marcus Vick self-destructed for the last time and was abruptly shown the door, leading to no small amount of embarrassment and humiliation for Frank Beamer and the entire program and leaving us without a quarterback. And then, as some of you probably well know, that next season, 2006, was the first season for Mike O'Cain and Curt Newsome."
Tech Sideline: Your ACC championship winning Eye in the Sky
"The best news is that Frank and Staff once again correctly measured how many points it would actually take to beat so-and-so. This time it technically (pardon the pun) only took 13 points to to beat B.C., the other 17 were a version of O&M gravy to use that holiday colloquialism loosely. But will that far-right offensive approach be enough to take the next step and get back to a MNC game before Tyrod leaves? I’ll leave that vote and discussion to you…but it is worthy of some consideration in my book."
TechSuperFans: Game Review - VT vs. BC in ACC Championship
"Look no further than with 10:00 left in the game and Boston College taking possession at their own 29 yard line having just cut the score to 24-10 and forced a Hokie punt. Jason Worilds, whose shoulder has popped out in EACH of the last 3 games and been popped back in on the sidelines, willed his way past the BC offensive tackle to swat the ball out of BC QB Dominique Davis' hands. Former walk-on Orion Martin, who showed up at Tech 4 years ago weighing 230 lbs and trying to make the team as a tight end, bull rushed his man into the QB and snatched the ball off of the bounce to dash into the end zone and put the game out of reach. What scored that touchdown and clinched the game was a burning desire to leave everything on the field for one's teammates."
VT Fan: Woe, These Hokie Hoopsters
"It has to be killing Coach Seth Greenberg. Let’s face it, his team is guilty of many of the “ills” of a team that doesn’t have “it”. They fail to win close games. They struggle to beat inferior teams, then get up and play well against good teams, only to fall just short. They are not scrappy as in years past. They get in foul trouble. They can’t put teams away when they get ahead. But most of all, against good teams, late in games, you just don’t feel they’ll rise up and win."
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