Dez Bryant the electric return man for the Okie State Cowboys has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA. He apparently had a relationship with a former NFL player that he failed to tell the NCAA about. How does this relate to Mass from Miami?
Gunter Brewer the Cowboys' esteemed wide receiver coach and one of the two heads that makes their spread attack work was my recruiting coach from UNC so eat that one. Another one of Brew's position guys gets hit hard, Adarious Bowman was another one who had a little trouble. We'll see how this works out with Mike "I'm 40" Gundy working to make everything ok.
In less than related news and more ACC pertinent T.K. Wetherell the "King of Smoothing"
North Carolina at least is flirting with the Renner idea. My only word of advice as a former Tar Heel is if we want to sniff a bowl game or have a shot at that elusive Coastal we had better stick with Yates. Putting a wet behind the ears, 195 lb true freshman in the game behind an offensive line held together with bubble gum, pipe cleaners and scotch tape is a recipe for him to get the Taylor Potts treatment early.
Please just be propaganda and fodder for the morons on message boards who get wet with every word.
Look for the weekly picks and the podcast coming out soon suckas.
Folks for the next 98 days we'll introduce you to an ACC Player that you should know heading into the 2009 season. That's right we're going to pump them out from now until the season starts just to keep you current on who's who in the ACC.
We'll kick it off with FFM2M's personal favorite Ryan Taylor of the Tar Heels. Now personal favorite doesn't mean a Madden-Favre mancrush situation its more of an older brother and little brother who somehow got more talent (plus a white family and a full scholarship) situation.
On a serious note the rising senior is a special teams dynamo for the Heels. While he's been shuttled between tight end, linebacker and halfback the Tar Heels' special teams captain has been a stalwart in the third facet of the game for the past three seasons.
Entering 2009 Taylor has found a home at the halfback spot and should give the Heels quality minutes opening holes for Shaun Draughn and company and who knows perhaps catching a pass or two out of the backfield.
As long as Taylor keeps his head on a swivel and avoids instances like the Miami Brutality he should be set to have a solid senior season.
Folks, sadly the ACC has all but fallen off the radar for this week in the television world. We've got major game in the VaTech and FSU match up that will be seen across the nation but we've been relegated to the U and RaycomACC Game of the Week for the most part. The Ron Franklin team calling the game in Tallahassee is one of my favorites, especially with Jack Arute giving those excitable sideline updates.
Heels fans, look for Doc Walker to talk about how much of a beast QuanSturdivant is, he'll definitely create a word for the young linebacker.
Lastly UVA and GT have a good team. Charles Arbuckle is one of the most underrated analysts working college football. He's got detailed analysis and he's a lot less likely to stick his foot in his mouth.
Saturday Afternoon:
Wake Forest @ Miami (ESPNU, Noon)- Dave Armstrong, Larry Coker
Boston College @ North Carolina (Raycom, Noon)- Steve Martin, Rick Walker, Mike Hogewood
Virginia Tech @ 25 Florida State (ABC/ESPN2, 3:30pm)- Ron Franklin, Ed Cunningham, Jack Arute
Virginia @ 18 Georgia Tech (ESPNU, 3:30pm)- Doug Bell, Charles Arbuckle
The NC State game up in College Park, MD didn't make the television schedule and neither did the Smart School's of the South Battle between Vanderbilt and Duke.
On last week's show we talked at length about UNC committing to football in order to keep Butch Davis. I thought the Clemson mess would solve itself but the Tigers will once again take the lead in the ACC issues with their recent firing of Tommy Bowden. The parties involved fumbled the exchange but in the end Terry Don Phillips set himself up to hire the perfect candidate and this week I'll break down MY preliminary list of go to guys. That list will also include two names that the Tigers shouldn't even invite to Pickens county.
Along with the continued Clemson melodrama we'll talk about the Brandon Tate injury and what a blow that strikes to UNC football's season expectations. The Heels will have to pick things up and make some serious personnel changes to continue their push towards the ACC title game.
Lastly this week's biggest ACC issue will be the resurgence of Virginia. The Wahoos looked awful early but the last two weeks they have proven themselves to be a team capable of winning on any given Saturday.
As with every episode of Football, From Mass to Miami you'll find:
A recap of all the Week 7 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 8's games including predictions
This show might get a little bit testy as your host bristles from the incredible let down experienced at the hands of the Clemson Tigers.
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 knowledgeableACC football discussion. Check it out
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)
The ACC season kicks off in just about a week and by now every fan has read more than their share of season previews. The words of Bruce Feldman, Phil Steele, Athlon, Lindy's and Street's and Smith have become the gospel of college football fans.
Depth charts, match-ups and schemes are all but swirling around the brain and the words "Hot Seat" and "Breakout Year" are burned into our retinas. Preseason All-ACC picks, freshmen to watch and divisional champs have been droned on about so frequently that we can all recite them in our sleep.
With only a week to go lets take a step back and check out the gameday atmosphere of the ACC and the best of what our twelve member institutions have to offer as we get set to experience another fall of ACC football.
Best Stadium: North Carolina
Most folks don't look to Chapel Hill when they think of the best college football stadiums. Most folks also confuse the idea of the best with the biggest.
Kenan Stadium is a simple 60,000 seat horse shoe that is nestled right into the heart of the UNC campus. Surrounded by pine trees with a view of the legendary Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower just over the west endzone visitors to the venue are never disappointed.
As several publications have ranked Kenan Stadium is one of the premier places to take in a college football game in the nation, including a paper in the heart of the SEC, the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Ringed by the pine trees as well as dormitories, a dining hall, class rooms, the hospital and the Bell Tower there is no denying the picturesque qualities of Kenan.
Best Tailgating: Clemson
There are pockets of tailgating greatness scattered throughout the ACC. However, for overall community atmosphere there are only four true contenders.
The Tigers edge out NC State, FSU and Virginia Tech because of the sheer size of their tailgating Saturdays in Pickens County. The spacious fields filled with RVs, law enforcement concerned more with helping and patron safety than ticketing and arresting as well as committed lifelong tailgaters make Clemson an environment perfectly conducive to enjoying a fall Saturday.
Generators rumble, grills sizzle, the southern rock blairs in the air all the while televisions set on tables and hung on the side of RVs show the highlights of the college football world. Solid Orange nation offers beers, bourbon and barbecue to old friends, new friends and perfect strangers alike.
The aromas of Carolina barbecue, fried turkey, homemade jambalaya, chili and the rest of a veritable cornucopia of traditional southernfare mix in the air to produce a heavenly scent that simply screams Southern Football Saturdays. Its a set up that would make any SEC fan proud.
Best Pre-Kickoff Ritual: Clemson, Florida State and Virginia Tech
With the mixture of old school and new school in the ACC it was too tough to pick a winner in this category, hence three schools share the title.
Howard's Rock, the Hill, Tiger Rag and C-L-E-M-S-O-(wait for it)-N. There really isn't much to explain here as every self respecting college football fan knows the story and the drama that surrounds "The Most Exciting 25 Seconds in College Football." It is one of the most original entrances in the game.
The cheery tones of FSU's fight song end with the resounding WHoOOoOO and then Chief Osceola and Renegade charge out on to Bobby Bowden Field in Tallahasee, a flaming spear held high above his headdress. As the Chief plants the spear at midfield the eruption of the 82,000+ 'Noles fans into the War Chant and the gravity of the game sets in as FSU, the fans and their opponents know that the niceties are over; its time for football.
Virginia Tech's pregame entrance is just a baby compared to the traditions of Clemson and FSU. But this baby is an experience that every true fan owes themself. At 66,000+ Tech's Lane Stadium is modest in size compared to Death Valley and Doak Campbell, but the eerily vertical stands create a noise level capable of rattling most opponents. As the "Let's Go Hokies" stadium wide chant gives way to Metallica's Enter Sandman the Hokie faithful go wild making, Lane Stadium physically shake under the crowd. One of the loudest entrances in the nation, simply put, the Hokie's fans hold their own in Blacksburg.
Honorable mention goes to the Canes' often imitated but never duplicated "Running Through The Smoke" and the Yellow Jackets coming into the Dodd led by the Wrambler.
Best Uniforms: Wake Forest
The ACC has some very intriguing uniform combinations, from Clemson's all purple getup that would make Grimace jealous to the UNC all blues that would make Papa Smurf proud. The Seminoles and Terps both have experimented with all black but the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest do it right.
Grobe's boys don the all blacks for every home game and the greatness of the unis is in their simplicity. No multicolor stripes like the all black duds of FSU. No white helmets offsetting the black jerseys as is the case with the Terps. Just black; basic black uniforms with gold lettering and a whole lot of attitude.
Shifting from the bottom of the barrell just a decade ago to the sleek all black uniforms let the rest of the ACC know that the Deacs have arrived on the scene.
Best Helmets: Miami
FSU's spears and tomahawk stickers are as crucial to the 'Noles as Bobby Bowden and Renegade. The interlocking NC of the Heels is as recognizable as any in the college football ranks. NC State's giant S and tiny NC has a classical look but strong Wolfpack feel and BC's basic gold helmet with the lone stripe is about as traditional as it gets.
However there is only one school that is recognized by a single letter; The U. That orange and green decal on the side of the Hurricane's helmets is uniquely and unabashedly South Florida. They don't need to dress it up with stickers, they are the U and their helmets let the world know.
As simple as the design is there isn't any doubt that the 'Canes helmet is in the top tier of NCAA headgear along with the likes of Alabama, Nebraska, Michigan and Penn State.
As it stands now the ACC has got some solid traditions across the board and breaking them down to the best and brightest for the sake of ranking them was no small task. From Chestnut Hill down to Coral Gables the conference covers more mileage than any other BCS league and with expansion finalized in 2005 the ACC is still ascending that mountain to the upper echelon of college football.
With a good showing in the 2008 season the ACC should be well on its way to changing the basketball first sentiments the league generally evokes.
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