ACC Game Of The Week

The ACC had a less than stellar weekend in week one but the lone saving grace was the play in the Miami at Florida State team that saw both teams look strong. In keeping in the inter-conference thread this week’s Game of the Week is another primetime showdown. Clemson heads down to Atlanta to take on the Ramblin’ Wreck in Bobby Dodd Stadium for the rivals’ first ACC league game.

Last season this game was Dabo Swinney’s debut as the Tigers’ interim head coach and savvy veteran Paul Johnson beat him in a wire to wire struggle. The ACC needs to get another solid performance on television and while Clemson needs to win for their Atlantic title hopes the league would be better served with #15 Georgia Tech continuing to climb the polls.

Most Intriguing Storyline: Problems

Just one major storyline for both teams heading into this week’s game and that’s problems.

While the Tigers’ final score of 37 points seems impressive on the surface the fact that the team was only able to muster two offensive touchdowns against Middle Tennessee State raises a red flag entering today’s game. The bulk of their point production (23) came from special teams; either in the return facet where CJ Spiller and Jacoby Ford both had touchdown returns or from Richard Jackson’s field goals. Although the Tigers’ rushing attack picked up 202 yards on the ground, their best player, Spiller, only contributed 12 yards.

Against Georgia Tech Spiller will have to prove that his hamstring and body are capable of holding up to the “every down back” that he claims he is capable of being in the ACC.

For the Wreck their production problems revolve less around statistics and more around sustaining production. The Yellow Jackets have shown they can run the ball consistently but they laid the ball on the rug five times, losing three fumbles to the Gamecocks. In running Paul Johnson’s flexbone offense the Jackets have to be more conscious of ball security. Clemson is better prepared to take advantage of the Wreck’s mistakes and five fumbles against the Tigers would be lethal.

Match-Ups To Watch:

Morgan Burnett vs Kyle Parker

Morgan Burnett is the Jackets best defensive player and is among the nation’s elite safeties, ranking right behind the likes of Eric Berry and Taylor Mays. Burnett shared the national lead in interceptions with seven just a season ago and is a ball hawking and hard hitting safety. Kyle Parker is a redshirt freshman quarterback who is about to start only the second game of his young career.

Parker’s inexperience is further complicated by Clemson’s absence of a truly capable receiving core. Jacoby Ford, while decent as Aaron Kelly’s sidekick a year ago, hasn’t shown the ability to take the lead or be a go to receiver. Brandon Clear replaces Xavier Dye in the Tigers’ starting lineup as Dabo hopefully gets a boost in his receiving core. Kyle Parker’s going to have to overcome the best safety tandem he’ll face all year if the Tigers are going to be successful in the passing game.

Clemson’s Front 7 vs GT’s Option Attack

The Yellow Jackets’ offensive attack is one of the most unusual on the current college football landscape. Their offensive line is a group of mostly undersized, athletic, quick guys that work well as a unit. Johnson’ scheme utilizes aggressive cut blocks and pulling multiple players to create chaos with his five down linemen. The cut blocking and pulling create great angles directional blocking as well as open up the tremendous holes that Josh Nesbitt, Roddy Jones, Anthony Allen and Jonathan Dwyer take full advantage of each game.

For the Tigers, new defensive coordinator Kevin Steele has worked to mold the team into an aggressive, attacking unit. Now the savvy veteran Steele must un-teach the Tigers. Although Ricky Sapp, Kevin Alexander, Da’Quan Bowers and company are as athletic of a unit as there is in the nation their athleticism is a detriment against the Yellow Jackets. To be successful against the Jackets Steele must have his boys playing pure assignment football, not fast flow to the football.

Key To The Game: Discipline

Georgia Tech’s advantage lies in their ability to precisely execute their dynamic gameplan on a play by play basis. The team is very well trained, very well disciplined in their approach and will rigidly to adhere to Johnson’s system, a system they believe in whole heartedly. The drawback to the Jacket’s system will be in their constant exposure of the football, as was shown in their debut game against Jacksonville State as well as their losses a season ago to North Carolina and LSU.

Clemson must be disciplined in their approach as well. To defeat the Wreck the first order of business on every play must be to tackle the fullback. If the middle linebacker and defensive tackles do not accomplish this first task the Jackets will run roughshod over the Tigers. After tackling the fullback assignments must be followed; if Sapp or Bowers is responsible for the pitch back they must attack only the pitch back. A move towards Nesbitt and they leave Dwyer, Jones or Allen free in space with only a defensive back to beat before its off to the races.

This game is going to be a tight one with the Tigers a more athletic team under their first full season with Dabo Swinney at the helm and Tech a disciplined machine that, if they get rolling, can turn into a juggernaut. The short week will have less of an impact early as the Tigers have devoted practice time to this contest during both the spring and training camp but adjusting the Jackets game speed will still take time.

In this contest the discipline of the two squads will be called into question and Johnson’s unit is a proven commodity while Swinney is still searching for his team’s identity. The Jackets will run waves of running backs at the Tigers front seven and with Clemson and Kyle Parker’s inability to sustain drives the defense will eventually wear down at the hands of the three headed rushing attack.

My Pick: Georgia Tech 34 Clemson 27

ACC Game Of The Week

This week’s ACC game of the week takes place in Atlanta where the second annual Chic-Fil-A Kickoff Classic gets underway pitting the Hokies against the Alabama Crimson Tide. A year ago this game had a devastating effect on the ACC’s overall national perception and rightfully so as the Clemson Tigers were blitzed by Nick Saban’s Alabama squad. Not only do the Hokies need this game to start their ’09 season off on the right foot, the league needs Beamer’s team to show the nation that it’s much improved from last years beat down.

Most Intriguing Storylines: Redemption and Distraction

Distractions

For the Hokies the biggest distraction has been answering questions concerning star running back Darren Evans’ torn ACL. The teams best player in 2008 and Orange Bowl MVP Evans was expected to tote the rock heavily for the run reliant Hokies.

Most programs would be reeling from this loss; however, Frank Beamer is not most leaders. His reaction was, in short, I’ve got more players on the bench than I’ve got on the field. The stoic, no nonsense coach will rely on three talented young guns to pick up the slack; Ryan Williams being the most dynamic with David Wilson and Josh Oglesby helping out.

On the Bama side distractions are also abound. Terrence Cody and several other Alabama players were stricken with Swine Flu, Mark Ingram and Julio Jones recently emerged from amidst a fishing trip scandal and most recently defensive end Brandon Deaderick was the victim of a robbery/shooting in his apartment complex.

Nick Saban, the master of focus and blocking out distraction gets Ingram and Jones back into the line up, the swine flu appears to have left Tuscaloosa just Deaderick remains unresolved. With Saban’s new contract, the slap on the wrist from the NCAA plus the aforementioned issues there’s no doubt Saban has circled the wagons.

Redemption

Twice in the Georgia Dome the ACC was embarrassed lasts season; opening the season when Clemson got steamrolled by Alabama and closing the year out with LSU’s drubbing of Georgia Tech. Virginia Tech not only needs this game to kickoff their 2009 campaign but they need to show the nation that the ACC is better than the 72 – 13 margin of last season’s whippings.

The onus is on the Hokies in the spotlight to carry the torch for the ACC against a very nasty Alabama squad.

Match Ups To Watch

Stephan Virgil and Kam Chancellor vs Julio Jones

The two Hokies are the best players in the secondary for Bud Foster’s defense and they will face their toughest test of the season in containing world beater Julio Jones. Jones diced up LSU (128 yards), Georgia (94 yards) and Florida (124 yards) just a season ago and looks to build on his stellar freshman campaign. Virginia Tech’s defense is known for their stout play in the back end and Chancellor, one of the nation’s premier safeties, will get a chance to prove his worth against Jones, the nation’s top receiving talent.

Mount Cody vs Hokies Offensive Line

Terrence Cody, coming off the swine flu is still listed at a stout 354 lbs by Alabama. The Mount spent his junior year at Alabama proving double teams inadequate and dominating the line of scrimmage. The Hokies have an experienced offensive line featuring guard Sergio Render, one of the nation’s elite interior linemen.

At 319 lbs Render is still outweighed by the Alabama behemoth but the All-ACC guard is a dominating road grader in his own right. Look for Render, along with fellow mates RG Jaymes Brooks and C Beau Warren, to force the big man to battle cut blocks, double teams and trap blocks to keep him from getting that big body moving forward.

Key to the Game: Quarterback Play

Both teams will come out looking to run the football; Bama with Ingram and Virginia Tech with Williams, Wilson and Oglesby. Both teams will come out looking to stuff the box and shut down the other teams’ ground game. Both teams feature coaches that are cut from the hardnosed, no nonsense, no gimmick school of pure football. The parallels between the two teams are truly remarkable.

With an abundance of similarities the divergence is where the game will be won. The most obvious difference is the quarterback situation. VT features Tyrod Taylor, while the Tide trots out Greg McElroy. Experience versus Inexperience. Dual Threat versus Game Manager. 10-3 record in 2008 as a starter versus 11 total pass attempts in 2008.

The quarterbacks could not be more different and here lies the key to this Saturday evening match up. Taylor’s experience in big games and dual threat ability will come in handy against an Alabama defense that is chomping at the bit to atone for their last two outings that ended in embarrassing fashion. Saban’s got a heck of a defensive mind but due to Taylor’s scrambling capability and the talent to extend plays with his legs the Tide defense will be forced to play a passive defense that contains Taylor rather than attacks the junior.

On the other hand, McElroy is an inexperienced quarterback walking into his first major battle against Bud Foster’s highly vaunted defense. The Hokies, with an experienced secondary and defensive line, will throw confusing pre-snap looks, difficult zone blitzes and complicated pressure schemes to discombobulate the first year starter.

As the teams are so evenly matched this game boils down to McElroy’s ability to make plays with his arm against Foster’s defense.

My Pick: Virginia Tech