Stunner in Blacksburg
posted by LW, Friday, October 30, 2009
No way, no how did I or any of you expect North Carolina to walk out of Blacksburg with a victory last night.
Virginia Tech had an open date to stew over its loss at Georgia Tech (and to whine about illegal blocks).
North Carolina completely gagged away an 18-point lead seven days earlier against Florida State in Chapel Hill.
John Shoop vs. Bud Foster.
All that considered, the only question was whether this game would be worth watching after halftime.
North Carolina's defense is the real deal, so Virginia Tech's offensive struggles were no great surprise. But man, stunned the Tar Heels were able to move the ball that methodically. They converted nine of their final 14 third downs. Crazy.
Plenty of implications from last night's stunner:
-- The ACC's hopes of snaring its first BCS at-large bid might've flown out the window. Georgia Tech is now the conference's only representative in the Top 15 of the BCS standings. In the 11-year history of the BCS, the ACC has yet to place a second team in the BCS. That, coupled with the ACC's lack of BCS title-game participants (Florida State was the last in 2000) is the biggest contributor to the perception that the conference stinks.
-- Miami can win the Coastal Division if it wins out and Georgia Tech suffers a loss. Doesn't appear likely, though. All the Jackets have to do to seal a trip to Tampa is beat Wake Forest (home) and Duke (road). The Canes still have games remaining against Wake Forest (road), Virginia (home), North Carolina (road) and Duke (home). If Miami did end up getting to the title game, they'd be the sixth different team to reach it. The teams that have won division titles thus far are Virginia Tech, Florida State, Wake Forest, Boston College and Georgia Tech.
-- Two weeks ago, the Hokies were considered a national contender. Now they have three losses and are in danger of failing to reach 10 wins. They have reached the 10-win mark five straight years, joining Southern Cal and Texas as the only programs to pull that off. With five wins, they'll have to win their final four regular-season games to reach nine wins. That's hard to believe, given the Hokies were considered overwhelming favorites to win the ACC entering the season.
-- Virginia Tech was a 16.5-point favorite. The last time the Hokies lost to that big an underdog at home? A 2001 loss to Syracuse, which entered getting 17 points.
College football. Gotta love it.
Honest to goodness, I didn't even know who was playing in the World Series until I saw the score on the crawl during last night's game. And the NBA? Please.
To borrow a line from the old Metallica song, nothing else matters.
In the Newport News Daily Press, David Teel calls the Hokies' loss "inexcusable."
And my pal Norm Wood surveys the wreckage.
Officiating was pretty bad last night, BTW. Hokies appeared to get lucky at least once on replays that weren't overturned, and that was a bogus pass-interference call on North Carolina's drive for the game-tying field goal.
Here's the story from North Carolina's side of the fence.
Also, Butch Davis says he's a fan of Thursday-night home games in Chapel Hill.
This is relevant to Clemson because the Tigers' administration has been steadfastly against playing host to Thursday-night games.
I understand there are lots of logistical problems, and it's no fun for a lot of fans who have to travel long distances to and from Clemson on a weeknight.
But it's time for the school to rethink its stance. The Thursday-night concept has become too much of an institution. It is exponentially more popular than it was 10 years ago, and the Tigers can't afford to shun that type of exposure for their school and their program.
The secret to Georgia Tech's five-game winning streak? Second-half ball control.
Take the nearly 11-minute march Tech used to deflate Virginia on Saturday. It's a habit. During this winning streak, the Jackets have been holding the ball an average of 21 minutes, 20 seconds of the second half. More specifically, in each game they have put together consecutive drives that have eaten up at least 11:46 in the third and fourth quarters, which just squeezes the life from the game.
This sounds really crazy, but I wouldn't be surprised if Georgia Tech lost one of its next three games. The Yellow Jackets are due a hiccup.
Interesting story from Josh Hoke of the Myrtle Beach Sun-News. Hoke, an accomplished kicker for the Chanticleers a few years back, documents some of the connections between the two teams that'll square off Saturday.
Coastal corner Josh Norman is hoping that he finds himself across the line of scrimmage from Clemson receiver Xavier Dye at some point Saturday. They have a history together as teammates at Greenwood, but that was before Dye bailed on the Eagles in 2006 by transferring to Byrnes for his senior season.
"When he left, nobody heard anything from him," Norman said. "He just took his stuff and left. We thought he was just playing, but he was serious. It just motivated guys to step up in his place."
Dye missed most of his senior season because of an investigation into his transfer, but Norman and Co. didn't end up needing him, besting Conway in the Class AAAA, Division II state championship game. Byrnes did not win the state championship, the school's only misstep in its seven-year reign over South Carolina.
Norman and Dye have talked since 2006, but they're not exactly best friends either.
"We've put some of the differences aside," Norman said. "We're moving on."
Also, Coastal H-back Tommy Fraser is engaged to a Clemson cheerleader. This might not end well.
Bart Wright weighs in on C.J. Spiller, and Coastal coach David Bennett recalls growing up a Clemson fan.
Eating fried chicken in the parking lot outside Death Valley and playing touch on the hill with drink-cup “footballs” are fond memories from David Bennett’s childhood. Born in Greer and reared in Cheraw, Bennett said he was a Clemson University football fan “from the time I was knee high to a boll weevil.”
After finishing at Presbyterian College, he served two years as a graduate assistant on Danny Ford’s staff (1985-86).
“Growing up, you dreamed of coaching at Clemson,” said Bennett, coach at Coastal Carolina University. “I never dreamed it would be with the other team.”
In the Independent-Mail, a piece on Jamie Harper and Chad Diehl developing into a viable short-yardage tandem.
In the Post and Courier, a story on DeAndre McDaniel's extra study.
More on McDaniel in The State, complete with the revelation that McDaniel has caught more passes than most of the Tigers' receivers.
Ouch.
LW
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No way, no how did I or any of you expect North Carolina to walk out of Blacksburg with a victory last night.
Virginia Tech had an open date to stew over its loss at Georgia Tech (and to whine about illegal blocks).
North Carolina completely gagged away an 18-point lead seven days earlier against Florida State in Chapel Hill.
John Shoop vs. Bud Foster.
All that considered, the only question was whether this game would be worth watching after halftime.
North Carolina's defense is the real deal, so Virginia Tech's offensive struggles were no great surprise. But man, stunned the Tar Heels were able to move the ball that methodically. They converted nine of their final 14 third downs. Crazy.
Plenty of implications from last night's stunner:
-- The ACC's hopes of snaring its first BCS at-large bid might've flown out the window. Georgia Tech is now the conference's only representative in the Top 15 of the BCS standings. In the 11-year history of the BCS, the ACC has yet to place a second team in the BCS. That, coupled with the ACC's lack of BCS title-game participants (Florida State was the last in 2000) is the biggest contributor to the perception that the conference stinks.
-- Miami can win the Coastal Division if it wins out and Georgia Tech suffers a loss. Doesn't appear likely, though. All the Jackets have to do to seal a trip to Tampa is beat Wake Forest (home) and Duke (road). The Canes still have games remaining against Wake Forest (road), Virginia (home), North Carolina (road) and Duke (home). If Miami did end up getting to the title game, they'd be the sixth different team to reach it. The teams that have won division titles thus far are Virginia Tech, Florida State, Wake Forest, Boston College and Georgia Tech.
-- Two weeks ago, the Hokies were considered a national contender. Now they have three losses and are in danger of failing to reach 10 wins. They have reached the 10-win mark five straight years, joining Southern Cal and Texas as the only programs to pull that off. With five wins, they'll have to win their final four regular-season games to reach nine wins. That's hard to believe, given the Hokies were considered overwhelming favorites to win the ACC entering the season.
-- Virginia Tech was a 16.5-point favorite. The last time the Hokies lost to that big an underdog at home? A 2001 loss to Syracuse, which entered getting 17 points.
College football. Gotta love it.
Honest to goodness, I didn't even know who was playing in the World Series until I saw the score on the crawl during last night's game. And the NBA? Please.
To borrow a line from the old Metallica song, nothing else matters.
In the Newport News Daily Press, David Teel calls the Hokies' loss "inexcusable."
And my pal Norm Wood surveys the wreckage.
Officiating was pretty bad last night, BTW. Hokies appeared to get lucky at least once on replays that weren't overturned, and that was a bogus pass-interference call on North Carolina's drive for the game-tying field goal.
Here's the story from North Carolina's side of the fence.
Also, Butch Davis says he's a fan of Thursday-night home games in Chapel Hill.
This is relevant to Clemson because the Tigers' administration has been steadfastly against playing host to Thursday-night games.
I understand there are lots of logistical problems, and it's no fun for a lot of fans who have to travel long distances to and from Clemson on a weeknight.
But it's time for the school to rethink its stance. The Thursday-night concept has become too much of an institution. It is exponentially more popular than it was 10 years ago, and the Tigers can't afford to shun that type of exposure for their school and their program.
The secret to Georgia Tech's five-game winning streak? Second-half ball control.
Take the nearly 11-minute march Tech used to deflate Virginia on Saturday. It's a habit. During this winning streak, the Jackets have been holding the ball an average of 21 minutes, 20 seconds of the second half. More specifically, in each game they have put together consecutive drives that have eaten up at least 11:46 in the third and fourth quarters, which just squeezes the life from the game.
This sounds really crazy, but I wouldn't be surprised if Georgia Tech lost one of its next three games. The Yellow Jackets are due a hiccup.
Interesting story from Josh Hoke of the Myrtle Beach Sun-News. Hoke, an accomplished kicker for the Chanticleers a few years back, documents some of the connections between the two teams that'll square off Saturday.
Coastal corner Josh Norman is hoping that he finds himself across the line of scrimmage from Clemson receiver Xavier Dye at some point Saturday. They have a history together as teammates at Greenwood, but that was before Dye bailed on the Eagles in 2006 by transferring to Byrnes for his senior season.
"When he left, nobody heard anything from him," Norman said. "He just took his stuff and left. We thought he was just playing, but he was serious. It just motivated guys to step up in his place."
Dye missed most of his senior season because of an investigation into his transfer, but Norman and Co. didn't end up needing him, besting Conway in the Class AAAA, Division II state championship game. Byrnes did not win the state championship, the school's only misstep in its seven-year reign over South Carolina.
Norman and Dye have talked since 2006, but they're not exactly best friends either.
"We've put some of the differences aside," Norman said. "We're moving on."
Also, Coastal H-back Tommy Fraser is engaged to a Clemson cheerleader. This might not end well.
Bart Wright weighs in on C.J. Spiller, and Coastal coach David Bennett recalls growing up a Clemson fan.
Eating fried chicken in the parking lot outside Death Valley and playing touch on the hill with drink-cup “footballs” are fond memories from David Bennett’s childhood. Born in Greer and reared in Cheraw, Bennett said he was a Clemson University football fan “from the time I was knee high to a boll weevil.”
After finishing at Presbyterian College, he served two years as a graduate assistant on Danny Ford’s staff (1985-86).
“Growing up, you dreamed of coaching at Clemson,” said Bennett, coach at Coastal Carolina University. “I never dreamed it would be with the other team.”
In the Independent-Mail, a piece on Jamie Harper and Chad Diehl developing into a viable short-yardage tandem.
In the Post and Courier, a story on DeAndre McDaniel's extra study.
More on McDaniel in The State, complete with the revelation that McDaniel has caught more passes than most of the Tigers' receivers.
Ouch.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.