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jimsumner
11-30-2015, 03:07 PM
http://www.theacc.com/news/acsma-announces-2015-all-acc-football-teams


Cash, Skura, Edwards named first-team

jimsumner
11-30-2015, 03:22 PM
Dwayne Norman was named third-team LB, while both Duke kickers also made third team. Casey Blaser and Lucas Patrick were honorable mention, as was DeVon Edwards as a safety; he was first team as a specialist.

Bob Green
11-30-2015, 03:40 PM
C - Skura (1st Team)
RT - Casey Blaser (Honorable Mention)
LG - Lucas Patrick (Honorable Mention)

These awards seem to counter popular sentiment that the OL has taken a huge step backwards in 2015. Criticizing OL play (run blocking) has been rampant on some other message boards so my comments here are not necessarily directed at DBR posters.

Congratulations to all the players honored!

budwom
11-30-2015, 04:09 PM
Dwayne Norman was named third-team LB, while both Duke kickers also made third team. Casey Blaser and Lucas Patrick were honorable mention, as was DeVon Edwards as a safety; he was first team as a specialist.

Do you really think Norman (who no doubt had a good year) is better than any Florida State linebacker? I find that very difficult to believe.
I seriously doubt if the league's coaches would be in accord with a lot of these selections...

Olympic Fan
11-30-2015, 04:10 PM
C - Skura (1st Team)
RT - Casey Blaser (Honorable Mention)
LG - Lucas Patrick (Honorable Mention)

These awards seem to counter popular sentiment that the OL has taken a huge step backwards in 2015. Criticizing OL play (run blocking) has been rampant on some other message boards so my comments here are not necessarily directed at DBR posters.

Congratulations to all the players honored!

Bob,

The numbers show the OL playing at almost exactly the same level in 2015 as they did last year (and in 2013). For the third straight year, Duke led the ACC in least sacks allowed per pass attempt. The line was actually ahead of last year's pace in preventing sacks until the breakdown (and five sacks) against Virginia. I don't have the final numbers, but going into last week, Duke was seventh in the country for least yardage lost on TFL plays -- second among the Power Five conference schools (only Baylor was better).

The team averaged just over 4.5 yards a rush -- about the same as in 2013 and down slightly from 2014 (when it was 4.8 a rush). A lot of that difference is in the schedule - swapping Kansas (one of the worst run defenses in the country) for Northwestern (one of the best run defenses in the country) and swapping Syracuse (a good, not great run defense) for Boston College (No. 1 in the nation in rushing defense).

There will be minor fluctuations from year to year, but I like the way the line is set up in coming years. We lose Skura and Patrick, two of our two best offensive linemen ... but we lost Harding and Williams after 2013 and we lost Tomlinson and Cofield after 2014 ... we have a nice core coming back in Blaser (eighth in the All-ACC tackle voting), Stone and Brandner. We have some well-regarded guys waiting in line to play next year. And we're set to sign the highest-rated crop of freshman O-Line prospects we've ever had. That's a nice core.

If I can respond to the All-ACC voting, I think the worst injustice was voting FSU's Roberto Aguayo as the first-team kicker. I think we've all been told how great he is for so long, that nobody noticed that he had a very mediocre year.

The ACC hasn't updated its stats since Saturday, but going into the last weekend, he was tied for fourth in the ACC in kick scoring (tied with Ross Martin). He was fourth in field goals made (tied with Joey Slye) and fourth in field goal percentage. His longest field goal was 43 yards -- by far the shortest of any of the top 10 kickers in the league (although I think he kicked a 50-yarder in the finale against Florida). And of course, the most famous FG he kicked this year was the 54-yard try that he kicked low and was blocked and returned for a game-winning touchdown against Georgia Tech. He was a good kickoff man, but not outstanding -- his 38 touchbacks were tied with three other kickers for third place. He didn't miss an extra point, but seven ACC kickers were perfect in that category -- two kicked more than he did.

So what makes Aguayo the first team All-ACC kicker -- besides reputation?

Olympic Fan
11-30-2015, 04:12 PM
Do you really think Norman (who no doubt had a good year) is better than any Florida State linebacker? I find that very difficult to believe.
I seriously doubt if the league's coaches would be in accord with a lot of these selections...

Well, FSU LB Reggie Northrup made second-team All-ACC ahead of Norman, so you don't have to believe it.