ACC Roundup - Week 9 Standings & More

CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Oct 27, 2008


ACC conference roundup, standings, player and game of the week

Click on each team for game recaps, thoughts, schedules and more and scroll down for the games, results, players of the week and the conference roundup.

Conference Roundups
- ACC | Big East | Big 12 | Big Ten | C-USA | Ind.
- MAC | M-West | Pac 10 | SEC | Sun Belt | WAC

 
Atlantic
Boston Coll | ClemsonFlorida St | Maryland | NC State | Wake Forest

Coastal Duke | Georgia Tech | Miami | North Carolina | Virginia | Virginia Tech
ACC Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7
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Week 8
 
ACC Game of the Week

Virginia 24 … Georgia Tech 17
Virginia broke a late tie with a big Cedric Peerman run leading to a three-yard touchdown with just over three minutes to play, and defense was able to hold on. The Yellow Jacket offense was held to 259 yards, but it managed to use three Virginia Tech turnovers to get short touchdown runs from Josh Nesbitt and Jonathan Dwyer to go along with a 39-yard Scott Blair field goal to tie it in the fourth. Marc Verica gave Virginia the lead with touchdown passes from 14 yards out to Kevin Ogletree and 34 yard out to Maurice Covington, but the offense stalled until the late game-winning drive. Virginia held on to the ball for 34:18.


ACC Player of the Week
North Carolina WR Hakeem Nicks caught eight passes for 139 yards and three touchdowns, and he ran three times for 31 yards and a score in the win over Boston College.

 

Conference

Overall

Atlantic

W-L

PF

PA

W-L

PF

PA

STK

Florida St

3-1

100

88

6-1

254

116

W4

Maryland

3-1

73

72

6-2

187

154

W2

Boston Coll

2-2

106

118

5-2

203

125

L1

W Forest

2-2

34

52

4-3

122

117

L2

Clemson

1-3

68

62

3-4

177

113

L3

NC State

0-4

81

118

2-6

155

241

L4

 

Conference

Overall

Coastal

W-L

PF

PA

W-L

PF

PA

STK

Virginia

3-1

74

61

5-3

142

178

W4

Ga Tech

3-2

101

77

6-2

190

105

L1

No Carolina

2-2

103

84

6-2

249

159

W1

Va Tech

2-2

83

92

5-3

191

169

L2

Miami

2-2

128

110

5-3

244

180

W3

Duke

1-2

62

79

4-3

164

148

W1

Saturday, October 25
at North Carolina 45 ... Boston College 24
CFN Prediction: UNC 23-17  UNC -3
-
BC throws 3 picks |
Hicks scores 4 times
at Miami 16 ... Wake Forest 10
CFN Prediction: Miami 27-17  Miami -3
-
Wake 3-8 passing | Miami wins with Marve
Duke 10 ... at Vanderbilt 7
CFN Prediction: Vanderbilt 27-14  Vandy -10
-
Duke O struggles, but it enough to get win
at Florida State 30 ... Virginia Tech 24
CFN Prediction: FSU 24-16  FSU -6.5
-
VT QBs hurt
FSU's Carr comes up big
Virginia 24 ... at Georgia Tech 17
CFN Prediction: GT 21-10  GT -12.5
-
Virginia stays hot | GT running game stalls
at Maryland 27 ... NC State 24
CFN Prediction: Maryland 28-16  Mary. -11.5
-
State improving | Terps win on late FG
Games of the Week
Aug. 30 - ECU 27 ... VT 22
Sep. 6 - Wake Forest 30 ... Ole Miss 28
Sep 13 - VT 20 - GT 17
Sep 20 - NC St 30 - ECU 24 OT
Sep 27 - UNC 28 - Miami 24
Oct 4 - FSU 41 - Miami 39
0ct 11 - WF 12 - Clemson 7
Oct 18 - GT 21 ... Clemson 17
Oct 25 - UVa 24 ... GT 17
Players of the Week
Aug. 30 - Jonathan Dwyer, GT
Sep. 6 - Sam Swank, Wake Forest
Sep 13 - DaRel Scott, Davin Meggett, Maryland
Sep 20 - Jon Dwyer, GT
Sep 27 - Tremaine Goddard, UNC
Oct 4 -Bruce Carter, UNC
0ct 11 - Quan Sturdivant, UNC
Oct 18 - Jacory Harris, Miami
Oct 25 - Hakeen Nicks, UNC

Conference
Roundup

Boston College … The BC defense was supposed to be able to stop big runs and keep games from getting out of hand. That didn’t happen against North Carolina as the secondary couldn’t handle Hakeem Nicks. The offense didn’t help the cause with three interceptions and nothing from the running game. This isn’t a good enough attack to overcome mistakes and mediocre defensive play. After this loss, a win over Clemson next week is a must of the great season could quickly take a major turn downward.
Clemson … Didn’t Play This Week
Duke … Can Duke start thinking about a bowl game? At 4-3, the possibility is there, but it could be nice if there was more of a running game to count on. Vanderbilt stuffed the Blue Devil offense was too often, but the defense was able to force turnovers to stall drives and the O did just enough to keep things moving. Thaddeus Lewis failed to generate the big play, but he was steady and wasn’t bad on third downs. Duke isn’t going to win too many games when it generates 250 yards; take it and run.
Florida State … The defense continues to be nasty. The pass rush, thanks to Everette Brown, was bothering Virginia Tech quarterbacks all game long, while the run defense did its part. The Florida State running game couldn’t get moving against the Hokie defensive front, but Christian Ponder didn’t make any mistakes, even if he didn’t do anything to get the passing game moving outside of two big plays to Greg Carr in the third quarter. The Noles are more than just in the hunt for the ACC title game; they’re the leaders of the pack.  
Georgia Tech… Every game Georgia Tech plays is going to be interesting. It’ll be close either way with the way the offense plays, and while the team is good enough to be on the right side more often than not, it’s still a young team that’ll make the type of mistakes that’ll lose a few games now and then. Three turnovers, not enough offense, and the lack of a key defensive stop late ended up giving Virginia the win, but wins over Florida State and North Carolina over the next two weeks can turn things around. Or else losses would mean a lousy bowl destination.
Maryland … Maryland wasn’t pretty in the win over NC State, but Da’Rel Scott was great at pounding away and getting the offense on track when Chris Turner wasn’t throwing well. The ground game was the difference, but it didn’t control the game. NC State was able to move the ball way too easily up until the fourth quarter, but the Terps still held tough and came through clutch to get the win. Now bowl eligible with a week off, the team can get ready for a nasty finishing kick starting with a trip to Virginia Tech.
Miami … Miami might not always be pretty, but if the defense can keep on improving, and if it can keep on playing like it did against Wake Forest, this should be a decent second half of the season. The offense got a decent day out of Robert Marve, while Jacory Harris, who completed 4-of-8 passes for 41 yards but wasn’t able to run much, didn’t lay claim to taking over the job. Now comes the Virginia game and a chance to avenge last year’s 48-0 loss. Now we’ll see just how far the program has come in 12 months.
North Carolina … With Brandon Tate done for the year, Hakeem Nicks has stepped up to become the NFL caliber superstar he has been expected to grow into. He ripped up Boston College, as did the UNC offense, with the best performance of the season. Cam Sexton took three sacks, but he was red hot after the first quarter and did a good job of not making mistakes. The running game was fine against the tremendous BC D, but nothing special. It didn’t have to be. The UNC secondary has now gone to another level with three more interceptions.
NC State … NC State might have lost to Maryland, but things are improving. Russell Wilson is playing well with a strong, accurate performance in bad weather. There was a nice mix of running between Wilson, Jamelle Eugene and Andre Brown, but the offense stalled too much in the second half. With a week off to regroup before going to Duke, things appear to be coming together even with a four-game losing streak. Next year, an improved team will win these games. 
Virginia
… Virginia keeps on rolling with a great performance against Georgia Tech to take the lead in the ACC race. The run defense did a nice job keeping the Tech offense under wraps, while the offense overcame three turnovers to keep things moving with the passing of Marc Verica and running of Cedric Peerman to balance things out. The offensive line deserves the credit for holding up against the NFL caliber Tech defensive front. This is the ACC’s hot team, but it has to prove it with a win over Miami next week to follow with a trip to Wake Forest.
Virginia Tech … The focus will be on Cory Holt now that Tyrod Taylor and Sean Glennon have gimpy ankles. The Florida State game was a nightmare for the Hokies with the quarterback injuries, the lack of a running game, and the inability of Macho Harris to come up with the stops on bit plays against Greg Carr. The offense is going to have problems throughout the year, it hasn’t been consistent yet, and going 1-of-11 on third downs didn’t help. Now, more than ever, the offensive line has to gear it up and has to start pounding away for Darrell Evans and the running game, while the defense and special teams will have to play better than they have all season long. Fortunately, there’s a week off to rest everyone up and hope the quarterbacks can get healthy before Maryland.
Wake Forest
… What happened to the Wake Forest offense? Miami had something to do with the problems, but Riley Skinner was way off completing a mere 3-of-8 passes for 57 yards. Skinner came into the game the ACC leader in total offense and top passer, but he was held under wraps and the running game didn’t help him out. The defense was fine, Stanley Arnoux came up with a huge game and Aaron Curry was unblockable into the backfield; this loss is on the O.