Holy cow! East Carolina 27, Virginia Tech 22

[sagegrouse]

Up by five points with under two minutes left, thanks to a blocked punt.

sagegrouse

[wilson]

DON'T YOU KNOW IT. I'm a Blue Devil first, last, and always, but the ECU Pirates are my team #2 (master's degree there). It's been quite a game, and I've also discovered the delight that is peach brandy and sweet tea.

WE ARE THE PIRATES OF E-C-U.

[Wander]

Man, the ACC really is terrible...

[throatybeard]

It may be time to dissolve the conference. This is our 2007 league champion. We've lost 8 consecutive BCS games. State got slaughtered by a mediocre South Carolina squad. Virginia will get embarrassed by SoCal. Miami's first non-AA opponent is Florida.

The league really needs Clemson to handle Bama tonight on national TV. And we can't handle any losses to AA opponents.

Big congrats to ECU. This would be their biggest win since, what, Miami in 1999?

[Wander]

This would be their biggest win since, what, Miami in 1999?

Well, I thought beating Boise State last year was pretty big. But yeah you're probably right.

To look on the bright side, there's very few games on our schedule (one?) that look like sure losses.

[DevilWolf]

It may be time to dissolve the conference. This is our 2007 league champion. We've lost 8 consecutive BCS games. State got slaughtered by a mediocre South Carolina squad. Virginia will get embarrassed by SoCal. Miami's first non-AA opponent is Florida.

The league really needs Clemson to handle Bama tonight on national TV. And we can't handle any losses to AA opponents.

Big congrats to ECU. This would be their biggest win since, what, Miami in 1999?

I could easily handle UNC losing tonight.

[wilson]

Well, I thought beating Boise State last year was pretty big. But yeah you're probably right.

To look on the bright side, there's very few games on our schedule (one?) that look like sure losses.

On a related (yet implausible) note, ECU suddenly has a chance to gain some cachet...West Virgnia next Saturday is an even tougher game than today's, but it's in Greenville, which will be painted purple and, I guarantee, BONKERS. I can assure you that the Mountaineers are concerned. If ECU can somehow pull that one off, they deserve some early consideration as potential BCS crashers. If they can hang with the likes of VA Tech and WVU, they certainly have the ability to run the table in Conference USA.

Could I please have another glass of hubris?

[Uncle Drew]

Well at least right now, it seems expansion has not delivered on making the ACC a football power like the so called experts thought it would. If anything Miami and VT are not as good as they were pre-ACC, BC is maybe about the same. And other than Clemson improving slightly (we shall see tonight and the rest of the season) the ACC looks weak. Yeah you can say Wake has turned things around, but I think that is more due to their coach & dedication to football than expansion.

As for basketball it's also pretty obvious it hasn't elevated the non-basketball school programs up either. It ruined the home / away schedule we all liked and reduced each schools chance to guage themselves against schools outside the conference. People were suggesting Duke should leave the ACC in football a few years ago. If things keep on the way they are, the ACC will be leaving the BCS. I'm still pulling for McNeese state tonight. And Go Blue Devils, and a way I go.

[studdlee10]

The ACC has been just pathetic in football. I'm not against change and I understand the reason for expansion, but boy has the move really fallen flat on its face, not only in football but in basketball as well.

I just watched USC absolutely destroy UVA. I know that UVA isn't number 1 or 2 in the ACC, but they are one of the stronger programs and should have been able to at least compete. Early in the 4th it's 45-7 and really it could be A LOT worse. What is clear though, is that there is not one team in the ACC that can hang with the USCs, OSUs, and Oklahoma's of the world.

Now would be the time for Duke to make a move, ala Wake Forest. There isn't one team in the ACC that is heads and shoulders above the others. If we can win a few, get some recruits, an ACC title isn't out of the realm of possibility.

[fan345678]

ECU is pretty darn good. They had 8 wins last year, including one over Boise State, and have like 17 starters back from that team. ECU could challenge Wake for best team in the state of NC.

Meanwhile, VT started 8 new guys on D-- 9 if you count one who changed position-- and has a new starter at every skill position on O except QB and TE.

The guys on Gameday picked ECU to win this game, so don't be too surprised. ECU should win Conference USA this year. Here's hoping they do.

[ugadevil]

Va. Tech goes down and Clemson is getting drilled by Alabama.

[Uncle Drew]

UGA is on the money. If Bama beat Clemson as badly as the score looked and MD was as close as the score indicated against Delaware it doesn't make the ACC look good. Now I realize the SEC is just THAT good, so Clemson may not be quite as bad as the score. But UNC, supposably ready to have a break out season had all they wanted but failed to choke.

I don't want to get into theories as to why the ACC can't seem to hang in general or if it's just a down year / era. Nor do I wantto get into theories as to why the SEC has five or six teams that look like they could hang with a few NFL teams. But Ray Charles could see expansion hasn't boosted ACC football play. And it looks like the SEC conference is a level better than all the others. I thought it was a crock a two loss SEC team made the Championship game last year. But their win and dominance tell me they have several teams that can really play.

[Papa John]

I just watched USC absolutely destroy UVA. I know that UVA isn't number 1 or 2 in the ACC, but they are one of the stronger programs and should have been able to at least compete.

Actually, I believe this was supposed to be a down year for UVa, in a pretty big way, so the drubbing at the hands of the nation's best program right now isn't terribly shocking...

The ECU victory over VaTech was only mildly surprising... Skip Holtz is building a nice program down there, and had a solid core back from an 8-win team last season...

I'm also not surprised that Clemson laid an egg out of the gate--what else is new... And Saban is a top-notch coach at an SEC program--we've already seen what type of success that combination leads to...


Now would be the time for Duke to make a move, ala Wake Forest. There isn't one team in the ACC that is heads and shoulders above the others. If we can win a few, get some recruits, an ACC title isn't out of the realm of possibility.

Agree... UNC, UVa, and NCState all looked very beatable in their debuts... I'd love to see us win those three and be competitive in the rest, perhaps gutting out one or two more--that would be amazing!

[SharkD]

Man, the ACC really is terrible...

Well... Duke is tied for 1st place.

[Devilsfan]

This game could be the start of something very big; the first annual good ol'boy bowl.. In fact Foxworthy added "you might be a redneck if you were in Carlotte gor the EZU vs. Va. Tech game".