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Bob Green
10-16-2014, 11:32 AM
Week 8 kicks off tonight at 7:30 Eastern with Virginia Tech traveling to Pittsburgh. Both teams are 1-1 in the conference so one team will pick up their second victory while one picks up their second loss. From Duke's perspective, it really doesn't matter who wins or losses as we still have an opportunity to beat both teams later in the season.

Saturday Games:

Syracuse at Wake Forest, 12:00, ESPN3
Virginia at Duke, 12:30, ESPN3
Clemson at Boston College, 3:30, ESPNU
N.C. State at Louisville, 3:30, ESPN3
Georgia Tech at North Carolina, 7:00, ESPNU
Notre Dame at Florida State, 8:00, ABC

The over/under for the Georgia Tech at North Carolina game is 70 points. With Carolina yielding 43.3 points per game, I'm taking the over.

Duvall
10-16-2014, 11:40 AM
Week 8 kicks off tonight at 7:30 Eastern with Virginia Tech traveling to Pittsburgh. Both teams are 1-1 in the conference so one team will pick up their second victory while one picks up their second loss. From Duke's perspective, it really doesn't matter who wins or losses as we still have an opportunity to beat both teams later in the season.


And yet, it kind of does.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToB6zj-p6k4

devildeac
10-16-2014, 11:54 AM
Week 8 kicks off tonight at 7:30 Eastern with Virginia Tech traveling to Pittsburgh. Both teams are 1-1 in the conference so one team will pick up their second victory while one picks up their second loss. From Duke's perspective, it really doesn't matter who wins or losses as we still have an opportunity to beat both teams later in the season.

Saturday Games:

Syracuse at Wake Forest, 12:00, ESPN3
Virginia at Duke, 12:30, ESPN3
Clemson at Boston College, 3:30, ESPNU
N.C. State at Louisville, 3:30, ESPN3
Georgia Tech at North Carolina, 7:00, ESPNU
Notre Dame at Florida State, 8:00, ABC

The over/under for the Georgia Tech at North Carolina game is 70 points. With Carolina yielding 43.3 points per game, I'm taking the over.

45-28 in that game would be fine from my perspective with the cheaters on the short end, of course. 49-24 would be fine, too. Heck, I'd be ecstatic if GT scores 70 themselves.

Wander
10-16-2014, 02:13 PM
Sort of a boring week in the ACC, aside from our game and FSU. This is getting ahead of ourselves, but the other game that could matter down the road is Clemson@BC - if we do win the coastal division again, it'd be nice if Clemson had a couple more losses so that we could claim the #2 ACC spot.

The Big 12 has the most interesting games, with two of their ranked teams guaranteed to pick up their 2nd loss, which will probably (but not definitely!) eliminate them from the playoffs. Baylor getting upset at West Virginia wouldn't shock me either. My mild obsession with the SEC West means that Georgia @ Arkansas is one of my favorite games of the day though... the best East team against the worst West team.

johnb
10-16-2014, 03:49 PM
And yet, it kind of does.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToB6zj-p6k4

This is terrific--I remember being outraged while watching the game, but the video didn't rewind in my head....

Duvall
10-16-2014, 08:13 PM
These teams don't look so good.

OldPhiKap
10-16-2014, 10:02 PM
These teams don't look so good.

This game is pretty brutal to watch; hope they both play this way when we meet them.

Bob Green
10-17-2014, 05:07 AM
This game is pretty brutal to watch; hope they both play this way when we meet them.

I turned it off and went to bed at halftime. It appears I didn't miss out on much 2nd half excitement. As the announcers commented several times, Pitt's quarterback struggles with the clock in his head resulting in sacks or hurried throws. Forcing Pitt to throw the ball is the way to beat them -- just make sure the defense knows where Tyler Boyd is at all times.

Virginia Tech's running game is struggling due to injuries at running back.

roywhite
10-17-2014, 07:36 AM
This game is pretty brutal to watch; hope they both play this way when we meet them.


I turned it off and went to bed at halftime. It appears I didn't miss out on much 2nd half excitement. ...
Virginia Tech's running game is struggling due to injuries at running back.

Still surprises me to see how much VT's program has declined, from national power to also-ran.

Beamer had it going there for a number of years. Are they losing out on recruits, and just not getting enough playmakers at QB and other positions?

budwom
10-17-2014, 01:48 PM
Still surprises me to see how much VT's program has declined, from national power to also-ran.

Beamer had it going there for a number of years. Are they losing out on recruits, and just not getting enough playmakers at QB and other positions?

I was mesmerized watching him fume, sputter and hiss when VT received their seventh (7th) pre-snap penalty.
I do think/fear they'll be better when we play them as they should have some RBs back...plus they couldn't possibly be worse..they DO have some
very good players.

Dev11
10-17-2014, 02:13 PM
Still surprises me to see how much VT's program has declined, from national power to also-ran.

Beamer had it going there for a number of years. Are they losing out on recruits, and just not getting enough playmakers at QB and other positions?

Well, they did beat Ohio State this year in Columbus. It's not like they aren't talented.

left_hook_lacey
10-17-2014, 10:28 PM
Has anyone heard anything newsworthy out of Winston Salem tonight? I was surfing the interwebs when I noticed that "Wake Forest Football" was the number one trending topic on Yahoo.

I clicked the link....nothing out of the ordinary. "Wake looks for it's first conference win" blah blah blah. Did a google search, same thing, run-of-the-mill previews of ACC games.

I just find it hard to believe so many people are searching for "Wake Football" without some back story going on. Weird.

brickey
10-17-2014, 11:07 PM
Has anyone heard anything newsworthy out of Winston Salem tonight? I was surfing the interwebs when I noticed that "Wake Forest Football" was the number one trending topic on Yahoo.

I clicked the link....nothing out of the ordinary. "Wake looks for it's first conference win" blah blah blah. Did a google search, same thing, run-of-the-mill previews of ACC games.

I just find it hard to believe so many people are searching for "Wake Football" without some back story going on. Weird.

Maybe the real story is the decline of Yahoo search. (It only takes two to make a trend.)

ice-9
10-18-2014, 04:51 AM
Maybe the real story is the decline of Yahoo search. (It only takes two to make a trend.)

Bing powers Yahoo search, and together they have nearly double the share in search than the iPhone does in smartphones.

OldPhiKap
10-18-2014, 09:02 AM
Has anyone heard anything newsworthy out of Winston Salem tonight? I was surfing the interwebs when I noticed that "Wake Forest Football" was the number one trending topic on Yahoo.

I clicked the link....nothing out of the ordinary. "Wake looks for it's first conference win" blah blah blah. Did a google search, same thing, run-of-the-mill previews of ACC games.

I just find it hard to believe so many people are searching for "Wake Football" without some back story going on. Weird.


Maybe the real story is the decline of Yahoo search. (It only takes two to make a trend.)

Well, now we're all searching Wake Føøtball so it is a self-fulfilling thing. Kinda like if two people look at the sky and point; soon a whole crowd is looking up too.

Newton_14
10-18-2014, 08:35 PM
Observation. As much as people lament the black color in our uniforms, unc has flat at ruined their already ugly as crap football uniforms. Every uniform choice they have available now in Football looks gawd-awful with the black in there. Tonight they are wearing all black, helmets, shirts, pants, with that ugly baby blue striping, numbering, and logos... Hideous. Pure hideous...

BigWayne
10-19-2014, 02:14 AM
Observation. As much as people lament the black color in our uniforms, unc has flat at ruined their already ugly as crap football uniforms. Every uniform choice they have available now in Football looks gawd-awful with the black in there. Tonight they are wearing all black, helmets, shirts, pants, with that ugly baby blue striping, numbering, and logos... Hideous. Pure hideous...
Yes that was ugly. Only way it could have got any worse would have been if they had mixed in some pink to match the field.

Olympic Fan
10-19-2014, 12:59 PM
Wild week in the ACC, capped by a great game between FSU and Notre Dame.

Any controversy on the late pass interference call that took away Notre Dame's game-winning TD? The experts seemed almost unanimous that it was a good call.

The week got off to a crazy start with Pitt coming out of a three-week funk to beat VPI on Thursday night. I'm not so sure how much they beat the Hokies as Beamer's team self-destructed. They looked terrible. This is the team that went to Columbus and beat Ohio State?

Syracuse dominated Wake in the battle of true freshmen quarterbacks. Al Long has looked pretty good in relief of Terrell Hunt, but he's performed against the ACC's best team (FSU) and the ACC's worst (Wake). And after Saturday, there is no doubt Wake is the worst -- hope the young QB is not hurt bad.

Clemson at BC was a heartbreaker, if you were pulling for BC as I was (to help our Orange Bowl chances). Clemson is nowhere near as good with Stout at QB. BC easily could have won that game -- one of their kids (Rouse?) dropped a reasonably easy game-winning TD pass in the final minute.

NC State showed some life at Louisville, but lost for the fourth straight week ... running their ACC losing streak to 12 in a row under Doren. They've got a near-certain win coming up Nov. 15 vs. Wake Forest ... this week's game at Syracuse is their chance to get enough wins to be bowl eligible. Louisville looks -- blah! -- mediocre offense and their top-ranked defense gave up a LOT of yards to NC State.

Hated to see Georgia Tech waste a chance to bury UNC. They "only" scored 43 points, but the real disappointment was the total meltdown of their defense. I know UNC has a potent offense (even if their defense is one of the worst in Division 1), but c'mon Ted Roof, I thought you were better than that.

uh_no
10-19-2014, 01:44 PM
with the win over UVA, duke continues to control its own destiny in the coastal division, having the tiebreaker or a game remaining against any remaining 2-1 teams. Further, the two other two coastal games seem to have gone in duke's favor, with the (IMO) weaker team winning in each game. So with destiny control locked up, perhaps we can look at what it would take for duke to lose and STILL win the coastal. Ranking games from most to least recoverable:

Syracuse or Wake:
If duke were to lose out of division, it fortunately wouldn't have any tiebreaker implications, but it would give us a second loss. In this case, assuming a win out otherwise, the two concerns would be UVA with 1 loss, and miami, who would have 2 losses. In this case, we would need UVA to have another loss, and would need to have the tiebreaker. If miami has another loss, we'd be golden with the win over UVA (regardless of whoever else ends up tied, as we'd have beaten them). But, should miami NOT have another loss, it would get hairy. I do not believe there is a possible scenario for 4+ teams to end up at 6-2 (with us only losing a game to syracuse or wake), so it would have to be a 3 way tie which in the worst case would include miami. If miami beats UVA, we're hosed. but should UVA beat miami, it would come down to record against 5-3 teams, which very well might include GT, which would eliminate miami. we win head to head over UVA.

On the other hand, it could be a 3 way tie with GT and miami. In this case, GT would be eliminated on division record and miami wins.

BUT, FSU has yet to play miami or UVA...lets be real...they aren't losing those. so we can just say we probably win the division if we lose to cuse or wake. :)

UNC or VT:
pretty bad but not doom and gloom. We'd need a miami loss (since they'd have an in division record tiebreaker), and UVA to lose another in division game (probably). If the loss is to VT, we'd need them to lose another game somewhere....and UNC to have another couple of in division losses. Fortunately there's lots of games left, but if some team wins most of them, we're in trouble.

Pitt:
if we lost to pitt, we'd need pitt to amass 2 other losses somewhere else....and one of those losses would have to be against GT, Miami, or UNC...all of whom we could likely end up in a tiebreaker with....especially problematic if they beat GT and UNC...still possible....but slim chances, especially if they pull out a win this week

So, the games this week and who might we want to win while we're enjoying sipping mimosas on an off week?

Miami vs VT:
I actually think the pick has to be miami. If miami wins, they'll finish with 3 losses at best (FSU), and that puts VT at 3 losses as well...giving us a 2 game buffer over either. If VT wins, it puts miami out of contention, but means that we're are in BIG trouble if we lose to VT...putting us each at two divisional losses...we'd need another team to get in the tiebreaker to help us out.

UNC vs UVA:
I think the pick is UVA, for similar justification of above. If UVA wins, we have a 2 game buffer over UNC, as well as an effective 2 game buffer over UVA (FSU + tiebreak). If UNC wins, it puts UVA effectively out of contention (3 losses, tiebreak issues), as well as makes UNC very dangerous to lose to....putting them at 6-2 with only a SINGLE divisional loss. There is no situation in which we win a 6-2 tiebreak involving UNC.

Pitt vs GT:
Gotta be GT. If GT wins, pitt has 2 losses, and if we lose to pitt, we can end up in a 6-2 trio with GT and Pitt, all at 1-1 in among tied teams, and 4-2 against the division. It would come to record against 5-3 teams, which might include virgina or miami and could go a number of ways. If pitt wins, and we lose to pitt, pitt must lose 2 of their last 3....


So, last commends, in who controls their own destiny:

Duke: obviously win out, and tiebreak over UVA
UVA: duke can win out and beat them
Pitt: UVA can win out and beat them
GT: duke can win out
Miami: duke can win out
VT: Pitt can win out
UNC: VT can win out

but most teams are only an untimely loss by another team of controlling their own destiny again....ESPECIALLY UNC with only a single loss to VT, who only has 2 losses....they still have yet to play everyone else in the division that they need to lose (except VT)

BigWayne
10-19-2014, 01:54 PM
Any controversy on the late pass interference call that took away Notre Dame's game-winning TD? The experts seemed almost unanimous that it was a good call.


Two things....
1) ND got away with the same play on a touchdown earlier in the game. If that one gets called, it's a different game probably.
2) They just aren't doing it right. This play is completely legal if the receiver catches the ball behind the line of scrimmage.

uh_no
10-19-2014, 01:57 PM
Two things....
1) ND got away with the same play on a touchdown earlier in the game. If that one gets called, it's a different game probably.
2) They just aren't doing it right. This play is completely legal if the receiver catches the ball behind the line of scrimmage.

they didn't even need such a huge screen on that play...a quick bump and the guy was wide open....instead the receiver pushed the defender 7 yards away like he was a bulldozer

Bob Green
10-19-2014, 02:38 PM
So, the games this week and who might we want to win while we're enjoying sipping mimosas on an off week?

Miami vs VT:

UNC vs UVA:

Pitt vs GT:



Excellent summation of the situation!

uh_no
10-19-2014, 03:55 PM
agonizingly close to the AP top 25....argh....108 points vs 118 for UCLA@ #25

nyesq83
10-19-2014, 04:07 PM
This team knows it is good, with a chance at achieving greatness.

Let others underestimate Duke.

We know better. The team knows better.

Midseason polls are squishy numbers; though meaningful, they are ultimately not driving what Duke does.

Our number has been, and will be, 1.

Next (1) play.

Or...

Next (1) game.

Even if it is two weeks away.

BigWayne
10-20-2014, 02:34 AM
This team knows it is good, with a chance at achieving greatness.

Let others underestimate Duke.

We know better. The team knows better.

Midseason polls are squishy numbers; though meaningful, they are ultimately not driving what Duke does.

Our number has been, and will be, 1.

Next (1) play.

Or...

Next (1) game.

Even if it is two weeks away.
This week the focus is on rest and repair, then one game each week. The polls will take care of themselves if Duke can keep putting marks in the W column.

It's a bonus that Pitt has a visit from Paul Johnson and crew this week while Duke gets to rest. The numbers right now show Pitt as Duke's toughest remaining game.

budwom
10-20-2014, 07:10 AM
Yes, it's fortuitous that we have two weeks to prepare for Pitt (UVA players said Cut had a great offensive scheme vs. them) while Pitt will have to
have their ankles and knees attacked all day long vs GT on Saturday...Pitt is a solid team, but clearly a beatable one. Should be a tossup I would think...

OldPhiKap
10-20-2014, 02:58 PM
Probably belongs on a Week 9 thread, but Clemson's leading rusher Adam Choice is gone for the year and needs ACL surgery. Hope for a full recovery, the freshman's got game.

-bdbd
10-21-2014, 01:19 AM
Really nice little write-up on Duke's changed fortunes, and expectations, following the UVA game.


http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/76094/bowl-eligibility-no-longer-the-goal-at-duke