The ACC, From The Bottom To The Top Part 1

Tune into the Gulf Coast Sports Radio Hour Wednesday at four to hear Brian Scott and Michael Felder delve deeper into Kentucky, Duke and the SEC/ACC picture.

Biggest Offseason Loss

The Blue Devil’s biggest losses come in the departure of wide receiver Eron Riley. Riley was quarterback Thaddeus Lewis’ favorite target; having accounted for 693 of Lewis’ 2171 yards and 8 of his 15 touchdowns. Riley was a sure handed, speedy target capable of getting open down field and making the big play for the Devils.

Losing Michael Tauiliili; the middle linebacker who led the ACC and finished third in the nation in tackles should also be noted. However, his loss will not be felt as significantly as Riley’s due to the Devils returning solid contributors from last season’s defense.

Best Returning Players

In Durham this question gets a simple answer; Thaddeus Lewis. Lewis is the best pure pocket passer in the ACC and with the exception of the big names at the position the senior would be an upgrade for most schools.

He is, in effect, the anti-Graham Harrell; no gaudy or inflated statistics but a legitimate pro-styled quarterback who has received great tutelage under Cutcliffe and will have a legitimate shot at the next level.

Break Out Player

Donovan Varner will be tasked with filling Eron Riley’s shoes. The 5’9” sophomore out of Miami, Floridais the best athlete on Cutcliffe’s team and after playing corner, return man and a little receiver in 2008 Varner will use his talents on offense and in the return game exclusively.

As a full time receiver Varner has already flourished, catching six balls for 116 yards in the spring game last month. He gives Thaddeus Lewis a weapon capable of breaking the big run and a dangerous asset for Cutcliffe’s offensive mind to utilize.

Three Crucial Games

Duke @ Kansas, Duke @ NC State, Duke vs Wake Forest

The Devils will have a shot at winning all of these games and to achieve Cutcliffe’s goal of a bowl appearance they will likely have to win all three. Heading to Lawrence will give the Blue Devils their first quality test of the season against a likely top 25 team. NC State, Wake Forest and a November date in Chapel Hill should all help Cut’s in-state recruiting goals if they can find a win.

Dream vs Nightmare Season

For the Blue Devils their dream season is an 8-4 masterpiece by Cutcliffe. Getting the Devils to their first bowl game since Spurrier and putting them squarely in the thick of the ACC Coastal race. Loses to VT, NC State, UNC, GT and Miami appear to be inevitable however, stealing a win from one of those schools while completing their soft non-conference schedule while beating UVA, Wake and Maryland would land the Devils in a heavenly scenario.

On the flipside of the dream scenario is the Blue Devil nightmare. Losing all league games plus contests with FCS Richmond and Kansas would truly set the Blue Devils back into the “loser” stratosphere they’ve inhabited since the departure of Spurrier.

Football, From Mass to Miami Podcast Tonight 9pm

Tonight on the podcast yours truly will again be breaking down the ACC from top to bottom and addressing the most poignant issues surrounding the conference. There's a lot to talk about regarding the week 5 events in the league as well as the quick approach of the halfway point for the ACC. So be sure to click here and listen live as we break down the nation's most underrated conference.

As with every episode of Football, From Mass to Miami you'll find:

A recap of all the Week 4 action in the ACC
Complete breakdowns of the ACC Standings
Detailed rankings of offense, defense as well as overall units
The ACC Issues of the Week
A look ahead to Week 5's games including predictions

Be sure to tune in to the show live to get your questions answered and hear some knowledgeable ACC football discussion. Check it out

Week Three: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly ACC Recap

Week Three Scores:

North Carolina 44 Rutgers 12

Maryland 35 California 27

Duke 41 Navy 31

Clemson 27 NC State 9

Virginia Tech 20 Georgia Tech 17

Florida State 49 Chattanooga 7

Virginia 10 UConn 45

This week was a solid one for the ACC as they went 4-1 in nonconference games and featured a Coastal Division showdown with the Hokies taking on the Yellow Jackets in Blacksburg.

The California Golden Bears were shocked by the Terps in the best ACC surprise of the weekend. Maryland caught the west coast Bears sleeping early and when Jeff Tedford's squad woke up in the fourth quarter it was too late for them to salvage the victory. North Carolina showed America that the preseason hype wasn't completely unwarranted as they blasted Rutgers and even Duke got into the action beating a solid Navy squad.

With that said let's get into The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of the ACC's third week of football action.

The Good

Maryland Rush Defense: The Terps defense against the run was spectacular, holding Jahvid Best and the Bears to a measly 38 yards for the game. Best entered the game with over 300 rushing yards on the season but was held to only 25 yards by a defense that looked passive in the weeks leading up to the game. David Philistin led the way with 13 tackles including one for loss as the Terps stacked the line and shut down the Bears rushing attack.

Florida State Quarterbacks: Devontrey Richardson and Christian Ponder were a combined 22-36 for 297 yards and 4 TD's Saturday against Chattanooga. Yes the Mocs are an FCS team but for the 'Noles this is a sign that the two quarterback system of D-Vo and Ponder is slowly maturing and readying itself for the ACC schedule quickly approaching. It is clear that the Seminoles have started their crawl way back to national prominence, entering the Coach's Poll at #25 this week.

UNC Defensive Back Seven: The unit is young but the linebackers are starting to understand their fits and the secondary is benefiting from the experience from a season ago. Nabbing 4 interceptions from Rutgers' quarterback Mike Teel the unit is beginning to gel nicely in their zone drops and making good reads on the football. If they can play as physical with the Tech's and Miami the team will definitely be competing for the Coastal Division title come November.

The BAD

NC State Offense: The Wolfpack produced only 288 yards against the Clemson Tigers' less than suffocating defense. While the team moved the ball well at times between the twenties they continued their 13 quarter offensive touchdown drought. Yes, it has been over three games since the Pack offense has put the ball in the end zone against a FBS team. Next week against ECU the countdown continues.

Virginia Rushing Attack: Mikell Simpson and Cedric Peerman were expected to be All-ACC contenders entering the 2008 season, a tandem second only to CJ Spiller and James Davis of Clemson. The two were supposed to take the heat off Peter Lalich and giving opponents fits with their smash and dash running styles. The duo rumbled for 24 total yards at Connecticut, bringing their combined season total to 200 yards. Without some increased production from these backfield mates Virginia's woes will continue.

The UGLY

Virginia Tech Passing Attack: The un-redshirting of Tyrod Taylor was designed to jump start the Hokies offensive attack. In a way it worked as VPI has two wins with Taylor at the helm and their rushing production has increased substantially. But, Taylors 48 yards passing was one of the worst showings for a quarterback in the modern era. He threw for 61 fewer yards than the triple option conservative attack of the Ramblin' Wreck.

Sure he completed around 64% of his passes but to put it in perspective; Taylor was 9-14 for 48 yards, Georgia Tech had one pass for 41 yards during the game. In other words, if all of Taylor's completions were lined up from the one they wouldn't even reach midfield.

Virginia Rushing Defense: The Wahoos offense looked bad, their rushing defense was abhorrent. Donald Brown is nobodies All-American but the Hoos defense sure did their best to make him look like a world beater in allowing him to rush 20 times for 206 yards through three quarters. The Cavaliers surrendered 382 total rushing yards or 163 more rushing yards than their offense gained total. Clint Sintim, Jon Copper and Antonio Appleby, the senior linebackers and core of this defensive football team have got to find a way to turn this once proud defense around.

All in all this week was strong for the ACC and next week the conference schedule features only two games as the Tar Heels play host to Virginia Tech and Wake Forest heads down to Tallahassee. The ACC also has nonconference games against the SEC (GT vs MSU), Big XII (UM vs TAMU) and Conference USA (BC vs UCF, NCSU vs #15 ECU)

Catch A Podcast Featuring Yours Truly Tonight

Click to hear the podcast

Hey fellow ACC folks tune in to Brian Sakowski's In The Bleachers podcast tonight to hear me give my predictions for the 2008 college football season. I'll go on at ten and along with the other guests I'll be giving my predictions for the following regular season action:

-ACC (Atlantic and Coastal Divisions)
-Big East
-Big Ten
-Big Twelve (North and South Divisions)
-Pac-10
-SEC (East and West Divisions)

Plus the 2008 post season action:

-BCS National Title Game Match-Up
-BCS National Champion

Be sure to tune in to the live podcast so you can ask questions before and after I go on the air.

Can't be there for the live the podcast?

Don't worry I'll post the direct podcast link so no one has to miss out on all the picks for the 2008 college football season.

Look for the ACC Football Now preseason BCS predictions to be posted shortly after my chat with In the Bleachers' host Brian Sakowski.