Spring Snapshot- The ACC
by whiskey OFD on Apr 21, 2009 4:50 PM EDT
Email
Print
Now that the ND spring game is in the books I’ll check out a few other conferences that I have yet to really comment on this spring. This summer I’ll be moving Team Whiskey back East after a long stint in Pac-10 country. The down side is that the early game will no longer kick off at 9:00am which I love. I’m going to miss switching from coffee to beer somewhere around half time of that first contest of the day. I guess I’ll have to spend those first few hours of the morning putting my one year old little boy through Oklahoma drills or something. With the East Coast move pending I figure I might as well get back into these other conferences by taking a look at what is going on in the ACC. If you happen to be interested in my spring outlook on the SEC and Big XII after you read this one please scroll down. I still don’t get the Atlantic/ Coastal Division split the ACC came up with. It seems to me a North and South would make more sense here. I'm sure it came down to some geek running numbers on projected TV profits or something. Anyway, here it goes.
Atlantic
Clemson- Florida State and Miami are the only two teams in the ACC sitting on a better stockpile of raw talent than Dabo Swinney is at Death Valley. Despite this the Tigers are one of those teams that seem unable to ever live up to any expectations. Swinney is attempting to buck that trend and spent some time this spring taking his staff on a field trip to visit Mack Brown and Texas to learn how they do it. C.J. Spiller is the real deal but I still don’t anticipate these guys are going to suddenly get it together and make a run at the ACC title.
VT- Frank Beamer has won the ACC Title three times in the five years since the Hokies defected from the Big East with the same simple formula. Beamer and his assistants take relatively unspectacular kids and coach them up to play great defense and outstanding special teams. OC Bryan Stinespring could probably stand a lesson in play calling from any 12 year old that plays NCAA Football on his PS3 or XBox but who am I to argue with the Hokies overall formula for success. It works for them. Beamer spent the spring hashing out his backup QB situation and it looks like Ju Ju will back up Tyrod. No I didn’t make that up. Regardless just having Sean Glennon out of the QB rotation has to be good for a few extra points per game in 2009. The Hokies lost very little to graduation and I expect another outstanding Bud Foster Defense and some "Beamer Ball" to keep them in the thick of the ACC title race in 2009. That will definitely be the case if Tyrod Taylor finally comes into his own a little bit and shows some of those Mike Vick/ Bryan Randall type skills the Hokies recruited him for.
UVA- Groh’s Cavs are a train wreck. He even fired his own son this off season. I'm sure everyone is looking forward to Christmas at the Groh house now! Don’t expect any kick saves in any time soon. I’ll be surprised if Groh can hang onto his job beyond 2009.
1 comment
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
You are right on the money about Clemson, Va Tech and UNC. I think you are a little off when it comes to Fla State. They still have kids. Additionally, Miami will win 2 of the four games you mentioned. I look for the U to finish in the top twenty this year. The way I see it you have a conference much like the Big 12 where 80% of the talent is in one division. The U, Ga Tech, and UNC probably all win the Atlantic. Look for Wake to suck again. Duke is a good matchup for those teams who like to play basketball school’s in football due to name recognition. LOL. Maybe “they” should schedule someone like Syracuse, a service academy, or Indiana too.
by Whiskey on Apr 21, 2009 4:53 PM EDT reply actions
