ACC Week 9 Review

The ACC continued to be the most unpredictable conference in the country this week.

Duke became bowl eligible for back to back years for the first time ever with a huge upset over Virginia Tech. Just when it seemed as if things were shaking out in the ACC it changed quick. It seemed that Florida State would cruise to the championship to face the winner between Miami and Virginia Tech, which may still happen if Miami loses next week and gets their first conference loss. Virginia Tech came into the game without losing since the season opener against #1 Alabama. They rose to #14 in the first BCS standings, but after this loss they dropped out. They played the same as usual defensively, only allowing 13 points, while forcing 4 turnovers and stopping Duke on every third down they had. Logan Thomas when back to the inconsistency that we saw from him most of last season, throwing multiple picks including a huge one with 4 minuets left that ultimately cost them the game.This should go down as the biggest win in school history for the Blue Devils and where they are a long ways away from getting to the point that their basketball team is at, they are finally taking a step in the right direction.

The next big game came from Miami, where the undefeated Hurricanes survived yet another scare. Wake Forest held the lead for most of the game until Miami scored to take a 17-14 lead in the 4th quarter. Wake forest responded quickly scoring with less than 5 minuets left to take a 21-17 lead. Duke Johnson and the Miami run game took over on the final drive, leading the team down the field for Johnson to take it in from 1 yard out for the game winning TD. Miami once again found a way to win, but they will need to play a near perfect game if they even want a chance at beating Florida State next week. As for Wake Forest, they continue to show that they are a solid team that can compete with anyone, but are still not at the level of ACC contender.

Florida State opened up a 35-0 lead over NC State in the first quarter Saturday, showing everyone that they are not going to get upset for a second year in a row. They seemed to be the only team in the conference to really dominate and prove their contention. They only scored twice the rest of the way, but they set up the showdown with Miami next week. This will be the second time in the last three weeks that there will be a game between two undefeated, top 10 ACC teams, both involving the Seminoles. I would expect that they will dominate Miami just as they have with both of their other ranked opponents they have faced this year (63-0 against Maryland and 51-14 against Clemson), but Miami just seems to keep games close. NC State is becoming one of the ACC's bottom dwellers as they can't seem to get a win. They put up a fight against Clemson but still fell short. They now face their inner state rivals in North Carolina next week, anther team that can't seem to get a conference victory.

North Carolina finally won a game after a horrible start to the year. The team was one of the preseason favorites to get to the ACC championship, but after a 1-5 start they found themselves having to re-evaluate their goals and hope to make a bowl game. They took a big step in that direction this week, beating a decent Boston College team, 34-10. Boston College looked flat, not being able to establish the ground game that they use so effectively in their wins. Boston College still has a good chance at a decent bowl game, but any hope of an ACC title is now lost.

Clemson continued to struggle after the blowout loss to FSU last week against Maryland. Clemson found themselves in a low scoring battle through the first half, getting the ball into the red zone 3 times before having to settle for field goals each time. They started to find themselves in the second half, scoring three fourth quarter touchdowns to pull away to a 40-27 win and stay alive in the ACC title race, altough they would need a loss from Florida State which isn't very likely. Maryland looked exceptionally well based on the fact that they were able to stick with the Clemson offense through most of the game, even though they were missing their starting QB, RB, and both of their top receivers. They didn't play great on offense, although they still scored 27 on a Clemson defense that is a lot better than they get credit for. Maryland is somewhere in the middle of the pack in the ACC and are pretty much out of the title race.