ACC Football Preview

“Va. Tech Is The Best of ACC’s Blah Dreck”

Coastal

1. Virginia Tech 11-1

Big Wins: Alabama, North Carolina    Big Loss: @Georgia Tech     Over/Under Win Total: 9 OVER
Frank Beamer has one of the best looking teams during his tenure at Virginia Tech, which means a lot considering the amount of talent that has run through this program. Look for the Hokies to make a statement September 5 against Alabama, when they meet in Atlanta. QB Tyrod Taylor has a lot on his plate but he also has a defense that can bail him out of any situation. Knowing that your defense is going to create two or three turnovers a game is a very good feeling. RB Darren Evans comes off a strong freshman campaign in which he ran for 1,265 yards and 11TDs, which also bodes well for Tech. Here’s our big concern: They are going to face a Georgia Tech team in the middle of the season that will have their back against the wall after losing a few close games early on. It will end up being the biggest game on their schedule. If they can get past the Ramblin’ Wreck, in Atlanta, we could be talking about a National Championship contender. The rest of their tough games are at home and Blacksburg is one of the most uncomfortable places to play in America. While Taylor must improve his accuracy and pocket savvy to become a championship-level leader, the defense boasts some of the best athletes in the ACC. DE Jason Worilds and CB Stephan Virgil are two of the best players in the country at their respective positions. The linebacking core needs to find a leader but Beamer has never had a problem developing those on the defensive side of the ball. Combine that with the tremendous special teams play you receive out of a Frank Beamer coached club and it adds up to a fifth straight season of 10 or more wins for the Hokies.

2. North Carolina 9-3

Big Wins: Florida State, Miami     Big Losses: @ Georgia Tech, @Virginia Tech    Over/Under Wins: 8 OVER
Butch Davis has to replace the best group of wide receivers in the country from last season, but the beautiful thing about Davis’ recruiting is that skill positions never lack speed or athleticism. With athletes like Dwight Jones and Josh Adams on the outside, North Carolina’s biggest question should be answered with confidence and QB TJ Yates should have enough weapons to scare any opponent. The defense is led by star DT Marvin Austin, who, at 6′3″, 300lbs with a ton of athletic ability, has the makings of a high first round pick when he decides to enter the NF Draft. LB Zach Brown, who runs a sup-4.3 40 yard dash, might be the next big thing for the Tar Heels on defense while FS Deunta Williams is garnering pre-season accolades from a number of publications. North Carolina is probably a year away but they are ready to make a name for themselves in 2009. While they won’t sneak up on anybody, they have the talent to compete with every team in the ACC on their best day.

3. Georgia Tech 8-4

First year coach Paul Johnson’s flexbone offense brought the Yellow Jackets a ton of success last season. The hard part will be repeating their performance when they have a target on their back. Blessed with the best running back in the conference, if not the country, in Jonathan Dwyer, Johnson’s offense gets the most out of Georgia Tech’s ability. While they return 17 starters, their schedule is one of the toughest in the conference but they do get their toughest competition at home. Games against North Carolina (who forms a terrible match-up problem with an athletic D-Line), Virginia Tech and Wake Forest all come at Bobby Dodd Stadium but asking this team to pull of more than one win in those games seems like too much. They have been a surprisingly consistent program over the last five years but haven’t seemed to be able to get over that hump. Don’t look for it to happen this year either.

4. Miami 6-6

You have to give the Randy Shannon and his Hurricanes credit for one thing: They do not duck anybody! Check out their first four games. Start off on the road against Florida State in an emotionally charged, in-state battle. Then come back home to play a Georgia Tech team that is on the rise and looking for respect followed by a trip to Blacksburg to play Virginia Tech, who will be a National Title contender by this time. Cap everything off with a game at home against the BCS runners-up, Oklahoma and Heisman winning quarterback Sam Bradford’s offense who will be in full swing. If Miami makes it through this punishment undefeated, they are National Championship contenders. The problem is, we don’t see them winning any of these games and the recovery from starting 0-4 is going to take Randy Shannon’s finest coaching job to date. We do have faith that they will recover to finish .500 or better, for whatever that is worth.

5. Virginia 4-8

When your quarterback is academically ineligible, even at a brainy school like Virginia, it’s not a good sign. Al Groh has his hands full for the second year in a row after using smoke and mirrors to win 8 games in 2007. They simply don’t return anything fascinating, so it’s hard to get a read on what their identity will be. You can’t point to an ACC game and confidently say the Cavs should definitely win it.

6. Duke 4-8

See Virginia minus the quarterback problem. QB Thaddeus Lewis is actually a playmaker but he doesn’t have anybody around him to distribute the ball to. Same old Dukies.

Atlantic

1. NC State 9-3

Big Wins: Pittsburgh, @Florida State     Big Losses: @Va Tech, North Carolina    Over/Under Wins: 7 OVER
NC State QB Russell Willson is one of the most athletic QBs in a conference that prides itself on a history of athleticism at the position. After a sub .500 record to end the 2008 season, Wilson and his crew look to make the biggest jump in the ACC this year. They have the horses to do it, now it will just be a matter of winning the games they’re supposed to. Wilson is the rare mix of athleticism and pocket poise and his 17:1 TD to INT ratio proves exactly that. He comes into the season just 21 attempts shy of breaking the ACC record for most consecutive pass attempts without an INT. The O-Line has four seniors and a junior starting, which means the time is now for the hogs up front. The defense returns seven starters from a team that became a force against the run toward the end of the season, allowing opponents to average less than 100 yards in the final five games. With a 1st-team ACC quarterback, a good offensive line, a stable of solid running backs and a defense looking to build on momentum, the Wolfpack are primed to become an ACC contender in 2009.

2. Florida State 8-4

While he is more of a figurehead than head coach at this point, Bobby Bowden still has to feel exhausted after this offseason saw Florida State hit with more NCAA sanctions; some that may possibly take wins away from the record breaking coach’s incredible win total. Bowden returns shaky quarterback Christian Ponder and a young, yet experienced offensive line from a 9-4 team that squeezed out a win, 41-13, against Wisconsin in the Champs Sports Bowl last season. The defense only returns 3 starters and will have to make up for the losses of DE Everette Brown, a first round pick in the NFL Draft, and S Myron Rolle, who was the heart and soul of the defense and football program as a whole. It’s ironic that a program on four years of academic probation is going to miss its Rhodes Scholar safety more than anyone else. To make it worse, they also lost their All-American K/P Graham Gano, who took a lot of pressure off both the offense and defense at times last season. This has all the makings for a down year at FSU, but they have the athletes to compete in the ACC and will be a few bounces away from an ACC Championship game at the end of the season.

3. Wake Forest 7-5

QB Riley Skinner returns for his senior season in what will turn out to be a very pivotal year for the Demon Deacons. He has a bunch of receivers coming back on offense but the defense has to replace Aaron Curry, Alphonso Smith and a few other NFL-caliber players. It will be interesting to see if the offense, which returns seven starters, can carry the load for a change. The defense, which returns only four starters, has been Wake’s calling card since Jim Grobe became head coach. Clemson and Georgia Tech are their only really tough road games, so they should be in the mix come bowl season, just not in position for an ACC title the way they have been for the last three seasons.

4. Clemson 6-6

After a disappointing season last year, when they came into the season ranked in the top ten only to be brought back to earth by Alabama, Clemson looks to bounce back under now-full time coach Dabo Swinney. They have talent in the backfield and on the outside, but too much emphasis is being placed on the offensive line. Looked at as a point of weakness last year, all five starters return to a team that must run the ball to win. RB CJ Spiller is as good as anyone in the country and will give you five scores on his own every year. It’s so hard to predict where Clemson will end up because they have the talent, but they seem to be confused about what their identity is. Sophomore LB Brandon Maye could be the real deal.

5. Maryland 4-8

Ralph Friedgen lost a ton of weight in the offseason which is really good for him. But he also lost 12 of his starters on offense and defense which will turn out to be really bad for him. RB Da’Rel Scott returns to give the offense a little bit of punch and the line isn’t that bad. You can’t look at their ACC schedule and be confident about too many wins though.

6. Boston College 4-8

We’re about to find out what happens when an AD gets too big for his seat and decides to fire someone based on principle. Jeff Jagodzinski was replaced after interviewing for the Jets head-coaching position, one he wasn’t really in the running for. It tells you a lot about his happiness in Chestnut Hill. Now, Frank Spaziani will take over a team without a quarterback and looking to replace its two All-American level defensive tackles. The offense has a few playmakers with WR Justin Jarvis and RB Montel Harris but who gets them the ball is the biggest question. If gutsy LB Mark Herzlich, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, returns after a battle with cancer, he will be the heart and soul of this team. A strong defense will again be their identity. The BC Program has always been a point of pride in the northeast and with Syracuse already in the toilet, BC’s slip would further hurt northeast college football.