The Best of Week 2 in the ACC

After being out of town for a week it is good to get back to the ACC and writing about the trials and triumphs of the conference. Week 2 was pretty eventful and an overall win the league. Wake Forest was the only true on the field victory of any meaning but the 'Canes, Noles, Tigers and Yellow Jackets were all impressive this week.

Disappointments include Maryland as a whole, Chris Crane from BC, NC State's utter ineptitude at quarterback and Duke losing to Northwestern (who would've thought a Duke loss would be a disappointment).

Week Three should get things pumped up here with the conference season slowly starting to get underway and some good nonconference match ups as well. Rutgers and UNC lock horns on Thursday night to highlight the conference nationally and the Heels definitely need a good showing after the McNeese State debacle. Maryland vs California as well as Virginia at UConn fill out the meaningful nonconference battles.

Before we get immersed in week three lets look at the best of week two in ACC Football country.

Best Showing: Miami's Defense

Yes, Wake Forest beat their SEC foe, yes Florida State rang up 69 points against Western Carolina but neither of those teams efforts was a herculean as the 'Canes defensive unit. Led by freshman and sophomores the unit held reigning Heisman winner Tim Tebow in check for three quarters of the game.

A questionable pass interference call and an overturned play that gave the Gators a first down deep in the red zone were the major differences that iced the game for the Gators. Shannon's young team was energetic and every bit as fast and athletic as the Fighting Tebows. Their offense has a ways to go but they've got an ACC Championship caliber defensive unit now. The Virginia Tech and UNC sexy picks for the Coastal Title are in a lot of trouble with Robert Marve slowly improving his play to keep Jacory Harris off the field.

Worst Showing: Maryland

The picture of pathetic thus far into the season. Virginia is bad, but their defense is capable of taking awful performances and making them look mediocre. Maryland's passive defensive philosophy and horrendous offensive outings have made the Terps look horrible. Darrious Heyward-Bey hasn't been able to get the ball and the blame for not using one of the nations elite receivers can be shared by Coach Friedgen and quarterback Chris Turner.

Defensively the Terps are excessively passive, laying in wait to read and react to the opposition as opposed to attacking and forcing the issue. This team clearly isn't as talented on the defensive side of the ball, missing Erin Henderson as their leader and hard nosed run stopper. In the days of EJ Henderson or Shawn Merriman the Turtles always attacked the quarterback and forced teams into third and longs to dictate the games pace.

The Terps better get aggressive on defense and find a quarterback who can get the ball to Heyward-Bey, other wise they'll be battling NC State for last in the Atlantic.

Check out the ACC photos section for our week one tailgating experience as well as some photos from Clemson Alabama and the Clemson and Citadel weekend in South Carolina.