Very interesting day for the ACC. Clemson went double overtime with BC only to lose. FSU seemed to be toying with Troy before closing them out and Akron took down the Wolfpack in Raleigh. Here is how it all went down.
Virginia Tech 35 UNC 10
Check out the full game analysis in the post below. VT moves to 2-0 while UNC mirrors them at 0-2.
Akron 20 NC State 17
Now since UNC is 0-2 it is bad form for me to jump up and down on a rival which has at least won once. That being said I think Wolfpack nation will be an interesting group to observe this week. This game's importance to NC State was similar to what Rutgers represented to UNC which was trying to beat a good team at home. Akron is a good team, something they showed when they held Penn State's rush offense in check last week. By and large NC State's passing game was effective but the rushing was weak which was expected against the Zips defensive front. The crucial play of the game for NC State was going for it 4th and 1 from the Akron four and being stopped. A field goal there may have been a better choice there though you have to admire the guts Chuck Amato showed by pushing for the first down there. What followed was a nice back and forth giving NC State a 17-14 lead with 1:07 left. Despite Akron's two timeouts 1:07 is not a lot of time under the new timing rules. In fact Arkon lost close to 30 seconds on the kickoff and first play alone. Akron QB Luke Getsy, hit two passes and then ran twice to get Akron to the NC State one with three seconds left then went for it. The problem is there is photo out there now which shows the Akron RB clearly down before breaking the plane which means it should have been reviewed and possibly overturned. There will be a lot of questions about how NC State's defense could completely break down during that last drive, especially given the little time that was left. Another problem NC State had was being penalized for excessive celebrating which forced them to kickoff from the 20 and set Akron up further up the field. This was a game NC State needed to win in a bad way. The Wolfpack have the same problem as UNC in terms of the schedule. They need to win the OOC games because ACC wins are tougher to come by. NC State goes to Southern Miss next week and Amato has to know that 1-2 might constitute blood in the water for the fan base.
Wake Forest 14 Duke 13
I almost feel sorry for Duke. Duke led 10-0 at half time and was up 13-7 in the fourth quarter. Wake manages to drive 63 yards to take a 14-13 lead. What follows is 59 seconds of game play which is totally indicative of how Duke's season will probably go. Duke begins driving the ball downfield, was aided by two consecutive pass interference penalties and gets the ball to the 11 yard line with six seconds left and needed only to hit a 28-yard field goal to win the game. Except Wake Forest is able to block the kick and Duke, which got a great effort from Thadeus Lewis at QB lose a game they could have easily won. There is no doubt in my mind now Duke will not win this season.
Boston College 34 Clemson 33 (2 OT)
This is the last thing Clemson needed with a date at FSU next week was to lose to Boston College this week. And what a bizzare ending. Clemson scores on their possession in the second overtime but has the extra point partially blocked by BC to leave the lead at six points. BC promptly follows up with a touchdown and are able to nail the extra point for the win. The question for Clemson is how will a fan base, who may be getting very weary of high expectations and slow starts to the season, react? So much for Clemson as a closet pick to win the ACC.
Florida State 24 Troy 17
The Seminoles were just messing around right? Truthfully I almost lost it when I saw Troy was leading 17-10 in the fourth quarter. Then all of sudden FSU turns it on, ties the game at 17, intercepts a pass to set up a go ahead touchdown. Troy has no chance after that and Florida State who probably harmed their ranking more the anything else gets ready to host Clemson next week.
Virginia 13 Wyoming 12 (OT)
What do Wyoming and Clemson have in common? They both missed extra points in OT that cost them the game. I am not sure what the odds of having two games decided on a missed extra point in overtime but I can guess that it is a pretty remote occurrence.
Maryland 24 Middle Tennessee St. 10
Georgia Tech 38 Samford 6
Miami 51 Florida International 10
Three cupcakes, three predictable results. Maryland could have shown more life on offense(only 275 yards total) but at least they cut down on the turnovers this week. Georgia Tech showed no ill effects from the close loss to Notre Dame with a efficent performance on offense. The only question for GT is when are they going to enter the polls. Miami likewise took out all their frustrations on Florida International who hopefully expected the lashing.
Record This Week: 7-2
Season Record: 15-4