Would Duke win the Atlantic?
posted by LW, Monday, October 12, 2009
That's the question I was shocked to find myself asking while watching the Blue Devils absolutely carve up N.C. State on Saturday evening.
Yeah, N.C. State's defense was atrocious. But the Blue Devils' passing game looked downright good as Thaddeus Lewis picked apart the Wolfpack secondary with downfield lasers that hit his receivers in stride every single time.
The question is almost as much a discredit to the Atlantic Division as a credit to Duke.
What a mess.
How bad is it? Bad enough that Boston College, which was seriously violated Saturday at Virginia Tech, is viewed as the favorite according to Rivals.com's Mike Huguenin.
ACC
BUZZ: The Atlantic Division, to be nice, isn't good. Coastal members Virginia Tech, Miami and Georgia Tech are the three best teams in the league. Georgia Tech plays host to Virginia Tech on Saturday, and if the Hokies win that, go ahead and mark them down as the division champs. If the Yellow Jackets win, things get interesting. In that scenario, North Carolina's games with Virginia Tech on Oct. 29 and Miami on Nov. 14 take on added importance. UNC already has fallen to Georgia Tech. As for the Atlantic, Florida State might have the best overall talent in the division, but the Seminoles are 0-3 in league play -- the first time that has happened -- and the defense is an absolute sieve. Wake Forest's game at Clemson on Saturday is huge. Boston College owns the tiebreaker over Wake, and BC has the easier remaining schedule.
KEY GAMES: Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech, Oct. 17; N.C. State at Boston College, Oct. 17; Wake Forest at Clemson, Oct. 17; Clemson at Miami, Oct. 24; North Carolina at Virginia Tech, Oct. 29; Miami at Wake Forest, Oct. 31; Wake Forest at Georgia Tech, Nov. 7; Clemson at N.C. State, Nov. 14; Miami at North Carolina, Nov. 14; North Carolina at Boston College, Nov. 21.
PROJECTED WINNERS: Virginia Tech in the Coastal, Boston College in the Atlantic.
Boston College is 2-2 with games remaining against N.C. State (home), Virginia (road), North Carolina (home) and Maryland (road).
Looking at that slate, suddenly a third straight B.C. division title doesn't look so far-fetched.
And just the thought of it has to make Clemson fans sick to their stomachs.
Wake Forest is 2-1 with games remaining against Clemson (away), Miami (home), Georgia Tech (away), Florida State (home) and Duke (home).
Doesn't look too promising.
N.C. State is 0-2 with games remaining against Boston College (away), Florida State (away), Maryland (home), Clemson (home), Virginia Tech (away) and North Carolina (home).
Not too promising.
Florida State is 0-3 with games remaining against North Carolina (away), N.C. State (home), Clemson (away), Wake Forest (away) and Maryland (home).
I could see the 'Noles putting it together. But enough to avoid another loss? Not so much.
Maryland is 1-1 with remaining games against Virginia (home), Duke (away), N.C. State (away), Virginia Tech (home), Florida State (away) and Boston College (home).
The last time I checked, the Terps still didn't have anything on the OL or DL. So ... no.
And that brings us to Clemson. The Tigers are 1-2 with remaining games against Wake Forest (home), Miami (road), Florida State (home), N.C. State (road) and Virginia (home).
The door is wide open, of course. But does anyone out there have any confidence this team is going to take advantage of it?
I'd think seriously about taking the Blue Devils if they were in this division.
Could a four-loss team win the Atlantic? That's what I see at this point. A three- or four-team logjam of mediocrity at the top of the division once this thing plays out.
I'll go ahead and establish Virginia Tech as a 24-point favorite over whoever the Hokies play in the ACC title game.
Speaking of Duke, Blue Devil football fans -- both of them -- have to like what they've seen and heard from David Cutcliffe.
As the clouds gathered in the closing minutes over a Wolfpack program suddenly reeling into the bottom of the ACC, an even more stunning realization became clear. Duke is better than N.C. State.
That was a premise not considered leading up to a game that seemed to mean very little to State and its sparse audience. But when it was over, and Duke had won 49-28 in an offensive performance for the ages, there was little else to say. David Cutcliffe, the second-year Duke coach, had plenty to talk about.
A year ago, after State had beaten Carolina and claimed a mythical state championship, Cutcliffe got word of it and fired back across the 20-mile chasm between the schools.
"They better do their chirping now," he said.
Wonder if Clemson will be capable of exploiting N.C. State's awful secondary when the teams meet in a month?
In Tallahassee, Bobby Bowden says his 'Noles are only a few plays away from a winning record.
True. But how close is FSU to a worse record? Remember, this team was exceptionally lucky to beat Jacksonville State.
Looks like Wake Forest is getting its offense in gear. The Deacs rolled up more than 500 yards against a defense that basically shut down Clemson.
Ed McGranahan of The State, er, Greenville News says the Tigers' perseverance is about to be tested.
With the season near its halfway point, Professor Sawchik hands out his interim grades for the Tigers.
Same deal with Greg Wallace of the Independent-Mail.
And in the AJC, Mark Bradley says Mark Richt needs to take notes from Paul Johnson.
Today Georgia rises no more. Today Georgia keeps tripping and falling. The Bulldogs are 9-6 over their past 15 games. They have lost to Florida by 39 points and now to Tennessee by 26, meaning the two worst losses in Richt’s nine seasons have come within a 49-week span. This is not a program getting better, or even holding its ground. This is a program in decline.
Georgia is 100th in the nation in scoring defense, 97th in total offense, 116th in penalties, 118th (of 120) in turnover margin. With those numbers, it’s lucky to be 3-3.
LW
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That's the question I was shocked to find myself asking while watching the Blue Devils absolutely carve up N.C. State on Saturday evening.
Yeah, N.C. State's defense was atrocious. But the Blue Devils' passing game looked downright good as Thaddeus Lewis picked apart the Wolfpack secondary with downfield lasers that hit his receivers in stride every single time.
The question is almost as much a discredit to the Atlantic Division as a credit to Duke.
What a mess.
How bad is it? Bad enough that Boston College, which was seriously violated Saturday at Virginia Tech, is viewed as the favorite according to Rivals.com's Mike Huguenin.
ACC
BUZZ: The Atlantic Division, to be nice, isn't good. Coastal members Virginia Tech, Miami and Georgia Tech are the three best teams in the league. Georgia Tech plays host to Virginia Tech on Saturday, and if the Hokies win that, go ahead and mark them down as the division champs. If the Yellow Jackets win, things get interesting. In that scenario, North Carolina's games with Virginia Tech on Oct. 29 and Miami on Nov. 14 take on added importance. UNC already has fallen to Georgia Tech. As for the Atlantic, Florida State might have the best overall talent in the division, but the Seminoles are 0-3 in league play -- the first time that has happened -- and the defense is an absolute sieve. Wake Forest's game at Clemson on Saturday is huge. Boston College owns the tiebreaker over Wake, and BC has the easier remaining schedule.
KEY GAMES: Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech, Oct. 17; N.C. State at Boston College, Oct. 17; Wake Forest at Clemson, Oct. 17; Clemson at Miami, Oct. 24; North Carolina at Virginia Tech, Oct. 29; Miami at Wake Forest, Oct. 31; Wake Forest at Georgia Tech, Nov. 7; Clemson at N.C. State, Nov. 14; Miami at North Carolina, Nov. 14; North Carolina at Boston College, Nov. 21.
PROJECTED WINNERS: Virginia Tech in the Coastal, Boston College in the Atlantic.
Boston College is 2-2 with games remaining against N.C. State (home), Virginia (road), North Carolina (home) and Maryland (road).
Looking at that slate, suddenly a third straight B.C. division title doesn't look so far-fetched.
And just the thought of it has to make Clemson fans sick to their stomachs.
Wake Forest is 2-1 with games remaining against Clemson (away), Miami (home), Georgia Tech (away), Florida State (home) and Duke (home).
Doesn't look too promising.
N.C. State is 0-2 with games remaining against Boston College (away), Florida State (away), Maryland (home), Clemson (home), Virginia Tech (away) and North Carolina (home).
Not too promising.
Florida State is 0-3 with games remaining against North Carolina (away), N.C. State (home), Clemson (away), Wake Forest (away) and Maryland (home).
I could see the 'Noles putting it together. But enough to avoid another loss? Not so much.
Maryland is 1-1 with remaining games against Virginia (home), Duke (away), N.C. State (away), Virginia Tech (home), Florida State (away) and Boston College (home).
The last time I checked, the Terps still didn't have anything on the OL or DL. So ... no.
And that brings us to Clemson. The Tigers are 1-2 with remaining games against Wake Forest (home), Miami (road), Florida State (home), N.C. State (road) and Virginia (home).
The door is wide open, of course. But does anyone out there have any confidence this team is going to take advantage of it?
I'd think seriously about taking the Blue Devils if they were in this division.
Could a four-loss team win the Atlantic? That's what I see at this point. A three- or four-team logjam of mediocrity at the top of the division once this thing plays out.
I'll go ahead and establish Virginia Tech as a 24-point favorite over whoever the Hokies play in the ACC title game.
Speaking of Duke, Blue Devil football fans -- both of them -- have to like what they've seen and heard from David Cutcliffe.
As the clouds gathered in the closing minutes over a Wolfpack program suddenly reeling into the bottom of the ACC, an even more stunning realization became clear. Duke is better than N.C. State.
That was a premise not considered leading up to a game that seemed to mean very little to State and its sparse audience. But when it was over, and Duke had won 49-28 in an offensive performance for the ages, there was little else to say. David Cutcliffe, the second-year Duke coach, had plenty to talk about.
A year ago, after State had beaten Carolina and claimed a mythical state championship, Cutcliffe got word of it and fired back across the 20-mile chasm between the schools.
"They better do their chirping now," he said.
Wonder if Clemson will be capable of exploiting N.C. State's awful secondary when the teams meet in a month?
In Tallahassee, Bobby Bowden says his 'Noles are only a few plays away from a winning record.
True. But how close is FSU to a worse record? Remember, this team was exceptionally lucky to beat Jacksonville State.
Looks like Wake Forest is getting its offense in gear. The Deacs rolled up more than 500 yards against a defense that basically shut down Clemson.
Ed McGranahan of The State, er, Greenville News says the Tigers' perseverance is about to be tested.
With the season near its halfway point, Professor Sawchik hands out his interim grades for the Tigers.
Same deal with Greg Wallace of the Independent-Mail.
And in the AJC, Mark Bradley says Mark Richt needs to take notes from Paul Johnson.
Today Georgia rises no more. Today Georgia keeps tripping and falling. The Bulldogs are 9-6 over their past 15 games. They have lost to Florida by 39 points and now to Tennessee by 26, meaning the two worst losses in Richt’s nine seasons have come within a 49-week span. This is not a program getting better, or even holding its ground. This is a program in decline.
Georgia is 100th in the nation in scoring defense, 97th in total offense, 116th in penalties, 118th (of 120) in turnover margin. With those numbers, it’s lucky to be 3-3.
LW
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