Adam Gold's unofficial top 25

Now that we’ve seen a weeks worth of games, what have we learned?
Not a whole heckuvalot, if you ask me. But, let’s delve into it anyway.

There are a whole lot of people under the impression that NC State has no passing game (25), but I say that we don’t know the answer to that question because they really didn’t try to use it. Marcus Stone only threw for 36 yards which certainly gives off the impression that the Wolfpack remain one-dimensional. But, when you’re just trying to get out of game one against an inferior opponent I don’t think you can draw any conclusions about the passing game. It would have been a lot worse had they been unable to run the ball effectively, because the line of scrimmage battle is the most important in any football game.

In any case, Akron will pose far more of a threat to State on both sides of the ball. Quarterback, Luke Getsy is the top returning passer in the Mid-American conference (24) – a league that has produced the likes of Ben Roethlisberger, Browns’ QB Charlie Frye, and Tampa’s back-up QB, Bruce Gradkowski. Defensively, the zips are salty, as Wake Head coach Jim Grobe likes to say. They return 9 starters on that side of the ball including nose tackle Kiki Gonzalez (23), who’s listed at 6'2", 300 lbs., but looks bigger – and wider.

State is most likely going to be without Senior cornerback, A.J. Davis (22), who injured a hamstring early in State’s win over Appalachian, and that will challenge the Pack against a team that can throw it.

In Chapel Hill, you hate to talk about a gut-check Saturday when we’re still in the first week of September, but there really isn’t any other way to view the Tar Heels home game with Virginia Tech. There are few questions offensively for the Heels, although I’d like to know if Ronnie McGill (21) is going to be able to stay on the field when it matters. For me, and just about all of you, the biggest issue is what happened to the improved defense? Larry Edwards (20) is a great player, but one man can’t play defense for everybody. The Heels didn’t attack the line of scrimmage, didn’t fill gaps, didn’t get penetration into Rutgers’ backfield, and didn’t make the plays needed to win the game.

Biggest non-play might have been a "should have been" interception that slipped through the hands of Jacoby Watkins in the 1st half. If he holds on to the errant pass he scores. At this level, if you score on defense or on special teams, you have a great chance of winning. Speaking of, that’s exactly the way Virginia Tech likes to play. The Hokies blocked two kicks (19) in their opening-weekend win over Northeastern – the first of which set up a 12-yard scoring drive.
However, it wasn’t all chocolate cake for VT, offensively they weren’t sharp in the running game, and defensively they allowed a few big plays in the passing game, so while I’m not going to go out on a limb and say that the Heels are going to win, I have a sneaky suspicion that they’ll play better than most think.

Over in Winston-Salem, the early stage of the dream season for the Demon Deacons continues when they host Duke, a game you can actually watch on FOX50 (18). Wake’s dream was seemingly interrupted last week when Junior quarterback Ben Mauk suffered a broken right arm and a dislocated shoulder while trying to recover a fumble, but redshirt freshman Riley Skinner took over and the play book will not change despite the inexperience under center. The best part about the Demon Deacons is that they have a whole bunch of athletes on defense. They’re not necessarily deep, nor huge. But, they have two really good linebackers (17) in Jon Abbate and Aaron Curry and a very experienced secondary.

Duke is also going to feature a freshman quarterback. Even though Ted Roof hasn’t officially declared it to be the case, expect Thaddeus Lewis to play considerably more than Marcus Jones against Wake. Jones started last week’s loss to Richmond, but Lewis entered the game in the 1st quarter and he was the man the rest of the way. The much larger issue for Duke are the injuries to running backs Justin Boyle and Ronnie Drummer (16). These two guys are vital to any success Duke hopes to have on offense and it’s extremely doubtful that either will play after getting hurt early on last week.

Ranking the games...

(15) Samford and Georgia Tech, Middle Tennessee at Maryland, Troy at Florida State, and Florida A & M at Miami are all going to be blowouts. The first two don’t offer any coverage at all, the FSU game is a pay-per-view option for those in Florida, and the Canes’ rout will be available on-line.

(14) Wyoming at Virginia is hardly a compelling match up, especially with the Cowboys coming off a 4-win season. But, any time you have the chance to see Al Groh’s sour face you need to take advantage. No TV coverage though, so you’ll have to make the drive to Charlottesville.

(13) Akron at NC State (ESPN U at Noon), the game’s a sell out and The Carter should be vibrating, of course most of those people will be waiting for the first Marcus Stone attempted forward pass. Don’t worry about it gang, he’s going to have to throw this week because I’ll be a little shocked if the Pack will have their way on the ground against the Zips like they did against the Mountaineers. Akron slowed down Penn State’s running game last week.

(12) Duke at Wake (FOX 50 at Noon), wait, how can this game be better than the State game? If for no other reason than the fact that there shouldn’t be a separation at all between these two teams but the gulf is wider than Kirstie Alley’s rump. Duke’s defense isn’t too bad, however, and Wake will have problems maintaining a balanced offense.

(11) Virginia Tech at Carolina (ESPN at Noon), a must-play-well game for Carolina. They lost one they needed to win last week, and they looked bad on defense in the process. It’s critical that they play better, smarter and more aggressively on defense against Tech otherwise it will get ugly.

(10) Clemson at Boston College (ABC at 3:30), both teams suffered personnel losses last week. Clemson lost star linebacker Anthony Waters for the season with a knee injury, while BC might be without quarterback Matt Ryan thanks to a sprained ankle. The Eagles will definitely be without defensive tackle BJ Raji for the first half as the junior was ejected from last weeks’ win over Central Michigan and will have to sit the first half for disciplinary reasons. I think we’d all love to see the Tigers 2-0 heading over to Tallahassee next week for the father-son picnic.

(9) Air force at Tennessee intrigues me because the Vols just knocked the snot out of California, they host Florida next week and Air Force runs that wishbone offense that is always difficult to prepare for. Could Tennessee be looking ahead?

(8) Washington at Oklahoma could also be interesting. Hey, UAB scared Bob Stoops more than a letter from Big Red Imports. And, if the Blazers nearly beat the Sooners in Norman there’s no reason why Washington can’t hang around a little as well. And, just for the sake of mentioning, Oklahoma visits Oregon next week and that will be a good game.

(7) Texas Tech at Texas-El Paso is going to be a fun football game. If you can find it somewhere on the tube, don’t leave the room because you’re liable to miss a score. The Red Raiders are an offensive machine under Mike Leach, scoring more than 50 points in 5 different games last year. But, Mike Price has The Bachelor’s younger brother – Jordan Palmer – and he’s one of the top returning quarterbacks in the country and a 3-year starter.

(6) Oregon at Fresno State matches two very offensive-minded teams. But, the real reason to stay up late (10 pm start) is to see what uniforms the Ducks will wear. Last week, they beat Stanford in the all-green get up, this time around I’m predicting all white.

(5) Arizona at LSU should be a blowout on paper, especially considering that the Wildcats have only 6 Pac 10 wins in the last four years combined. But, nine returning defensive starters and someone with the last name Stoops (Mike) on the sidelines says that this might be a ballgame, even in Death Valley.

(4) Notre Dame at Penn State, Charlie Weis vs. the Old Professor, Joe Paterno. I’d love to think that the Nittany Lions can slow down the Irish, but we just don’t know. They have four new starters in the secondary and 3 new guys up front and that doesn’t bode well for covering receivers and pressuring the quarterback. Maybe Penn State can keep the ball away from Brady Quinn.

(3) Georgia at South Carolina, this game wouldn’t be nearly as interesting if this game were played between the hedges. I think the Bulldogs are just a better football team than the Gamecocks. But, in Columbia, in front of a national television audience, The Visor will have something cool ready to go.

(2) Ohio State at (1) Texas. Last year, this was the 1st game of the season (USC at Notre Dame was the 2nd), and it didn’t disappoint. Vince Young led his team to a 4th quarter comeback victory – where have we heard that before? – in Columbus in a game that stamped the Longhorns National Title worthy. Ohio State’s Troy Smith could be this year’s Vince Young and he has the same opportunity to show the nation that V.Y. did a year ago. The difference is that Texas is probably a better team than Ohio State was a year ago and the Buckeyes didn’t look all that spectacular on defense last week against Northern Illinois.

We’ll talk next week.

AG