2009 ACC ... Week 3
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Week 1
| Week
2
GAME OF THE WEEK
at Virginia Tech 16 … Nebraska 15
Deep in his own territory and down five, Tyrod Taylor found Danny Coale for an 81-yard pass. Taylor gave the Hokies the win with a scrambling 11-yard touchdown pass to Dyrell Roberts with 21 seconds to paly to get the comeback victory. Nebraska outgained Virginia Tech 343 yards to 278, but only managed five Alex Henery field goals.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Miami QB Jacory Harris completed 20-of-25 passes
for 270 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Georgia Tech.
CONFERENCE ROUNDUP
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Instant Analysis - Miami 33 - Georgia Tech 17
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Instant Analysis - Florida St 54 ... BYU 28
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Instant Analysis - Va Tech 16 ... Nebraska 15
Boston College … at Clemson 25 ... Boston College 7 ... Uh oh. This was an embarrassing offensive performance by BC with just 54 total yards of offense, four turnovers, four first downs, and just one-of-12 conversions on third downs. The biggest problem was the passing of Justin Tuggle, who, simply put, couldn’t throw. He only completed 4-of-20 passes and was erratic all game long. With no running game to help him out, BC never had a chance. Wake Forest is up next, and to get the win, the Eagles are going to have to win the turnover battle and have to capitalize on every opportunity.
Clemson/strong> … at Clemson 25 ... Boston College 7 ... The Clemson defense was fantastic in the sloppy conditions, but there has to be a huge concern that C.J. Spiller just can’t be counted on. The passing game was inconsistent in the rain, and no one else helped pick up the rushing slack. Making matters worse was an inability to get into the end zone. This should’ve been an easier blowout win, worse than it actually was, but several drives that should’ve been touchdowns turned into field goals. Against NC State next week, the offense has to convert its chances into seven.
Duke … at Kansas 44 ... Duke 16 ... The offense relied more and more on the passing game against Kansas because it had to, with Sean Renfree doing almost as well as Thad Lewis and providing another option. Now the Blue Devils have to figure out what works offensively with NC Central coming up next to use as a tune up. Finding a steady runner would be nice, so the quarterbacks don’t have to do everything, and generating more pressure from the line is a must. On the plus side, offensively, Duke is spreading the ball around well. Now a dangerous No. 1 needs to emerge. Basically, Duke needs playmakers to rely on before the ACC season kicks in.
Florida State … Florida State 54 ... at BYU 28 ... Florida State played with Florida State swagger again. Almost no one picked the Noles to beat BYU, but the FSU defense had other ideas playing aggressively, with speed, and with good discipline against the Cougar passing game. Offensively, QB Christian Ponder was nearly perfect with the time to throw and make the throws that were there to make. He also ran well, helping FSU to convert 12-of-15 third down chances. This was a special performance that should trigger a rebirth of sorts for the great program.
Georgia Tech… at Miami 33 ... Georgia Tech 17 ... It's not time to panic even though Clemson dominated the Tech offense over the second half of last week's game and Miami owned the attack seven days later. The offense looked tired and sluggish, and it didn't help to lose RB Jonathan Dwyer early on to a shoulder injury, but Miami simply played better. A lot better. While the offense will receive most of the scrutiny, the defense had the bigger problems with no ability to slow down Jacory Harris and the short-to-midrange passing attack that cranked out 270 yards and three scores. There's time off now with nine days until the North Carolina game for a team that looks like it needs some rest and focus.
Maryland … Middle Tennessee 32 ... at Maryland 31 ... Maryland is now officially a disaster
defensively. Needing overtime to beat James Madison is one thing, but to collapse and be unable to hold down Middle Tennessee in a loss showed how far the defense has to go before it’s remotely passable. There’s one more non-conference game, Rutgers, before facing Clemson to start the ACC season, and while the offense has been doing a decent job of hitting the home runs, it doesn’t matter when the defense is getting torched in every way possible.
Miami … at Miami 33 ... Georgia Tech 17 ... Miami was fully focused and extremely fired up to show that this is a new team and a new year after getting dominated by Georgia Tech last season, and just about everything worked. On the down side, PK Matt Bosher missed a few easy kicks and it was a sloppy effort late to close things out, but that's nitpicking. Jacory Harris got time and picked apart the Tech defense, while the Miami D got a total team effort with everyone filling their roles to near-perfection. After two emotional wins, now the team has to do the near-impossible and stay jacked up against a Virginia Tech team that will try to run the ball, but in a far different way than Georgia Tech did. If the Miami defensive front can generate the push it did against the Yellow Jackets, Miami will come up with another win and will get the college football world crazy for the Oklahoma showdown.
North Carolina …at North Carolina 31 ... East Carolina 17 ...
North Carolina is 3-0 and appears to be just scratching the surface on what they can become. The young wide receivers, particularly Erik Highsmith, came up with big performances to show that the passing game has moved on after the loss of the top pass catchers, while the defense is starting to dominate when needed. The Tar Heels didn’t let ECU do anything on the ground, and tightened up in the second half. Georgia Tech and it running game should have a tough time against the Tar Heel linebackers next week.
NC State … at NC State 45 ... Gardner-Webb 14 ... Russell Wilson passed former Kentucky QB Andre Woodson for the most consecutive passes without an interception, pushing the mark to 329. The team got a chance to get the offense moving after the problems in the season opener against South Carolina, and now after ripping up Murray State and Gardner-Webb, the big test comes against a Pitt defense that’s one of the best in the Big East, but if Wilson can continue to be mistake-free, and if the nation’s No. 2 defense keeps stopping drives cold, the Pack has a great shot at 3-1 before the ACC starts out against Wake Forest.
Virginia … at Southern Miss 37 ... Virginia 34 ... At least the Cavaliers showed a sign of life. But even when everything was going the team’s way, it couldn’t come up with the big stops needed late to get what would’ve been a strong road win. While the 0-3 start, and the seven-game losing streak, is a disaster, there’s a chance to start anew in ACC play at North Carolina. The line play has to be night-and-day better, and the offense has to be more consistent, but if Jameel Sewell can throw as well as he did against the Eagles, the Cavs will have a fighting chance.
Virginia Tech … at Virginia Tech 16 ... Nebraska 15
... Virginia Tech still needs to be able to run the ball and needs to be able to stop the run. The Hokies have played two strong run defenses this year, Alabama’s and Nebraska’s, and didn’t do nearly enough on the ground against either one. The Tide gashed the Hokie run D, while Roy Helu ran for 169 yards for the Huskers. If Tech wants to win another ACC title, it can’t count on miracle after miracle from Taylor, even though he’s the type of star who can pull games out of the fire.
Wake Forest… at Wake Forest 35 ... Elon 7 ... The team needed a breather with several big plays while opening up the offense a wee bit, and it got it. Riley Skinner found his targets in places they could do something with the ball, while the defense was excellent against the run and never let the game get interesting. Boston College is offensively challenged, so if Skinner and the Wake offense can get up early next week, the chance will be there for a nice run with home games against NC State and Maryland to follow.
Saturday, September 26
Wake Forest at Boston College
Central Michigan at Clemson
North Carolina
Central at Duke
South Florida at Florida State
North Carolina at Georgia Tech
Rutgers at Maryland
Miami at Virginia Tech
Pittsburgh at NC State
Saturday, October 3
Florida State at Boston College
Clemson at
Maryland
Virginia Tech at Duke
Georgia Tech at Mississippi State
Oklahoma at Miami
Virginia at North Carolina
NC State at Wake
Forest
Saturday, October 10
Boston College at Virginia Tech
Duke at NC State
Georgia Tech at Florida State
Maryland at Wake Forest
Florida A&M at Miami
Georgia Southern at North Carolina
Indiana at Virginia
Saturday,
October 17
NC State at Boston College
Wake Forest at Clemson
Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech
Virginia at Maryland
Miami at UCF
Thursday,
October 22
Florida State at North Carolina, ESPN
Saturday,
October 24
Boston College at Notre Dame
Clemson at Miami
Maryland at Duke
Georgia Tech at Virginia
Wake Forest
at Navy
Thursday, October 29
North Carolina at Virginia Tech,
ESPN
Saturday, October 31
Central Michigan at Boston College
Coastal Carolina at Clemson
Duke at Virginia
NC State at Florida State
Georgia Tech at Vanderbilt
Miami at Wake Forest
Thursday,
November 5
Virginia Tech at East Carolina, ESPN
Saturday, November 7
Florida State at Clemson
Duke at North Carolina
Wake Forest at Georgia Tech
Maryland at NC State
Virginia at Miami
Saturday,
November 14
Boston College at Virginia
Clemson at NC
State
Georgia Tech at Duke
Florida State at Wake Forest
Virginia Tech at
Maryland
Miami at North Carolina
Saturday,
November 21
North Carolina at Boston College
Virginia at
Clemson
Duke at Miami
Maryland at Florida State
NC State at
Virginia Tech
Saturday, November 28
Boston College at Maryland
Clemson at South
Carolina
Wake Forest at Duke
Florida State at Florida
Georgia at Georgia Tech
Miami at South Florida
North Carolina at NC State
Virginia Tech at Virginia
Saturday, December 5
Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game, Tampa, Fla., ABC