2009 ACC ... Week 4
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Instant Analysis - Virginia Tech sacks Miami
GAME OF THE WEEK
at Boston College 27 … Wake Forest 24 OT
In a wild game, Boston College got a 23-yard field goal in overtime and Isaac Johnson came through with a stop forcing a Riley Skinner fumble to win the game. The Eagles got up 24-10 helped by three Dave Shinskie touchdown passes, including a 50-yarder to Jordon McMichael, but Wake Forest got a 76-yard touchdown dash from Brandon Pendergrass, and a furious rally from Skinner, who hit Chris Givens on a 12-yard score with 3:44 to play and forced overtime on a 16-yard pass to Marshall Williams with 11 seconds left in regulation.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NC State QB Russell Wilson completed 21-of-35 passes for 322 yards and four touchdowns, and he led the team with 91 rushing yards on ten carries in the win over Pitt.
CONFERENCE ROUNDUP
Boston College … at Boston College 27 ... Wake Forest 24 OT ... Dave Shinskie was nearly perfect, at least compared to expectations, and BC should’ve put Wake Forest away early in the fourth quarter. But all of a sudden, the defense couldn’t handle the up-tempo comeback attempt from Riley Skinner. However, the team showed good poise to get the stop it needed to in overtime even though the momentum was all on Wake’s side. The Eagles couldn’t afford to lose this home game with a brutal four games ahead against Florida State, at Virginia Tech, NC State, and at Notre Dame.<
Clemson … TCU 14 ... at Clemson 10 ... Someday, Clemson will be the big-time program it so desperately wants to be. TCU’s defense is for real, but the Tigers have the speed and athleticism to do far more. The problem, especially after the quarterback battle of the offseason, is that the passing attack isn’t producing. Kyle Parker was hounded all game long, but he struggled with his accuracy when he got his chances. C.J. Spiller was the lone playmaker, and he showed what a weapon he is when he’s relatively healthy. As disappointing as this was, the important game is next with a trip to Maryland coming up to keep the ACC season going. The loss to TCU was bad, but losing to a woeful Terp team would be disastrous.
Duke … at Duke 49 ... North Carolina Central 14 ... Duke needed to get the offense going a little bit and came up with a nearly-perfect balance on offense with 254 yards through the air and 233 on the ground. However, Virginia Tech isn’t NC Central, and while the Duke offense has a puncher’s chance of producing against the Hokies if QB Thaddeus Lewis gets hot, the run defense isn’t going to be able to hold up against the Tech line. Duke had better be ready to start bombing away, but the team isn’t equipped to do that.
Florida State … South Florida 17 ... at Florida State 7 ... It was this simple: the Florida State O line couldn’t handle the USF defensive front. The defense did a decent job. The USF running game sputtered, outside of a long dash from B.J. Daniels, and the passing game when nowhere outside of the two 70+ yard plays. But the offense couldn’t produce, even though Christian Ponder did what he could to get the ball out of his hands in a hurry and he didn’t make any huge mistakes. The running game went absolutely nowhere.
Georgia Tech…
at Georgia Tech 24 ... North Carolina 7 ... It was only one game. Georgia Tech made a lot out of losing to Miami when the running game got shut down, but the team certainly played night-and-day better and seemed rejuvenated by the loss as the offensive line dominated an athletic North Carolina defensive front while the defense got the Tar Heel offense off the field time after time. Long, sustained drives, with 317 rushing yards and 10-of-19 third down conversions, kept UNC from ever finding anything on offense that worked. No one will get time to properly prepare for the Tech offense the rest of the way, and Josh Nesbitt, Jonathan Dwyer and the boys have to take advantage.
Maryland … Rutgers 34 ... at Maryland 13 ... Rutgers was miserable on offense. The passing game was a disaster, the running game did nothing for 55 minutes, and there was chance after chance for Maryland to take over the game. But the Terps were bumbling and inept with two fumbles, three interceptions, and ten penalties to keep the disaster of a season sinking even further. The schedule doesn’t ease up with Rutgers coming in next week, and while Maryland might not be that good, it has to at least show that it’s not so horrible when it comes to making mistakes.
Miami …at Virginia Tech 31 ... Miami 7 .... Miami finally had to see a pass rush, and it couldn’t handle it. The Virginia Tech defense was all over Jacory Harris, and there wasn’t much from the running game to help out cause. The Canes didn’t play well, converting just 1-of-11 on third downs with dropped passes, miscues on both sides of the ball, and little production against the run, outside of a monster game from LB Colin McCarthy, but they simply ran into a buzzsaw. Call it a learning experience, and don’t assume that Miami will play the same game twice with Oklahoma up next.
North Carolina …
at Georgia Tech 24 ... North Carolina 7 ... North Carolina can’t get too hung up on the loss. Georgia Tech was jacked up, executed perfectly, and came up with the easy win. The Tech offense ran at will and got first down after first down to keep the clock moving, but the UNC offense didn’t help the cause by failing time and again to convert on third down. This is a good team that will make a lot of noise before the year is out, but after the way this game went, an easy win over a bad Virginia team next week is a must.
NC State … at NC State 38 ... Pitt 31 ... Russell Wilson is showing week after week what kind of a superstar he’s growing into. This wasn’t a normal Tom O’Brien game with 12 penalties and too many errors early on. But the team kept fighting and Wilson got hot at the right time, and now, very quietly, this is growing into an ACC title contender. The offensive line has to be better in pass protection, but the mobility of Wilson helps make up for the problems. ACC play begins this week at Wake Forest.
Virginia … Didn’t Play This Week
Virginia Tech … at Virginia Tech 31 ... Miami 7 ... Virginia Tech got a dominant performance from its defense with three sacks and several other pressures, but the real key was a running game that finally worked against a defense that could stop the run. The Hokies couldn’t operate on the ground against Alabama and Nebraska, but with 272 yards and a commitment to run and keep running, they finally showed how they could inflict their will on an opposing team instead of having to find other ways to win. There aren’t any worries for a few weeks until the trip to Georgia Tech in what might end up determining a spot in the ACC title game.
Wake Forest… at Boston College 27 ... Wake Forest 24 OT ... Wake Forest isn’t necessarily built to come up with big comebacks, but Riley Skinner was able to do it to get into overtime, but the Eagles came up big defensively. Ten penalties, three turnovers, and too many misfires in the first 50 minutes put the Demon Deacons in a hole, and that can’t happen against a hot NC State team. The secondary is struggling, and if it had problems against Boston College, it’s going to have a huge issue with Russell Wilson next week. The pass rush has to do more, and the front seven will have to manufacture pressure, to provide some help.
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