Wasn't expansion supposed to mean better football?

I think we’d all like to believe that the ACC is one of the elite leagues in the college football universe. But, if the first 15 days of the season tells us anything, it’s that our beloved league is going the way of Pluto in the college football galaxy.

Last night, Maryland – which won 31 games in Ralph Friedgen’s first three seasons but just 10 in the last 2 – turned it over five times and allowed over 300 yards rushing to a West Virginia team which only threw the ball to prove that they had a passing section of the Mountaineer play book. The Terps were down 28-0 before the 1st quarter came to an end and never threatened in a 45-24 loss to WVU, their 3rd straight in a series that dates back to 1980.

In week one, the Big East took a bite out of the ACC in 2 of the three meetings. Pittsburgh overwhelmed Virginia – remember when they were on the verge of becoming part of the national elite under Al Groh – at Heinz Field, 38-13, while North Carolina allowed over 200 yards rushing to Rutgers’ tailback Ray Rice in a 5-point loss in the Tar Heels’ home opener. Only Wake Forest managed a win over a Big East school, and they needed a couple of late scores to break a 10-10 tie to beat a Syracuse team that went 1-10 a year ago.

Last week, however, was the real kick in the ass. The Tar Heels imploded into a pile of horrible interceptions and blown opportunities in a 35-10 loss to Virginia Tech; NC State couldn’t muster a 1-play goal line stand against Akron – yes, I know what the photograph showed – and lost on the last play of the game; and Duke shoulda-woulda-coulda-how did they not beat Wake Forest in Winston-Salem.

On top of that, Florida State, the league’s national championship contender, needed a pair of 4th quarter touchdowns to rally to beat Troy – AT HOME! I’ll let you figure out where Troy comes from, but don’t take too long because they play at Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Virginia beat Wyoming in Charlottesville, 13-12, in overtime, when the Cowboys missed an extra point that would have forced another OT. Hard to be really proud of that. Nor can you be really excited when you waste 490 yards of total offense and lose because you don’t respect the impact of special teams on the game. Maybe that’s a little harsh to throw that at the Clemson Tigers, but at what point do you stop kicking the ball to Boston College freshman Jeff Smith? He’s already hit you for over 100 yards in kick off returns in the game including three big one’s that brought the ball back out near midfield and beyond, and you kick it to him again.
96 yards later, Smith was handing the ball to an official and BC had a score without their offense taking the field. In addition to that, Clemson’s Jad Dean had a field goal and an extra point blocked – the PAT coming in the 2nd OT – and when BC scored, their extra point gave them a win despite allowing nearly 500 yards in total offense.

Gang, this has been a bad start for ACC football. It’s a good thing all those bowl contracts are long-term. Let’s see if we can’t find some positives this week.

Duke is at Virginia Tech at Noon (FOX50) hoping that they’ll be able to ride the right arm of freshman QB Thaddeus Lewis to a strong performance. But, I’m afraid for his safety because when Tech knows what’s coming, they usually make you pay for it. And, without even the threat of a running game, I think this ends up as a comfortable win for VT. Duke’s defense is good, but I’m going to budget the Hokies in for at least 3 scores off defense and special teams....VT 44, Duke 10.

BYU is at Boston College at noon (ESPN) and the Eagles defense is banged up and not all that great to begin with. They’ve allowed over 400 yards per game and almost 250 per through the air. The Cougars are averaging a little more than that in their 2-0 start so expect a lot of points and maybe even an upset....BC 34, BYU 31.

Wake Forest looks to start the season 3-0 when they visit Connecticut at Noon (ESPN 360). The last time these two teams met it was a Huskies rout at Groves Stadium and U-Conn is going to try and pound the ball right at Wake’s defensive line and they’ll move their quarterback around and let him run. A mobile QB gave the Deacons problems last week, but let’s hope that Wake’s offense won’t wait until the 4th quarter to figure things out....CT 27, WF 23.

Georgia Tech hosts Troy at 1:30 and I’ll just say that the Jackets need to impress this week. GT 41, Troy 17.

Miami visits Louisville at 3:30 (ABC) as the ACC takes another crack at a Big East team. Louisville has a lot of guys from Florida that the Hurricanes didn’t offer scholarships to coming out of high school and they’re on the verge of becoming one of the unexpected national powers in college football. Their offense (best in the nation at more than 650 yards per game) will give Miami’s 7th ranked defense all it can handle. I’m from Missouri, the Hurricanes are going to have to show me something first....Louisville 20, Miami 16.

Western Michigan visits Virginia in an ESPN 360 contest at 3:30. I haven’t mentioned this before, but I have no idea what that is. I’m told you can watch the game on your computer, but I have no idea if it’s worth the effort. I do know that this game won’t be. Watch out for the Mid-American Conference. Akron probably isn’t their only good team....UVA 23, WMU 17

Now we hit prime time, at night when the stars come out. And, for the first time since 1999, Furman enters Kenan Stadium. The last time the Paladins made the trip from Greenville, SC they thumped the Heels 28-3. They’ll try and run the ball and pass only when they have to. Here’s hoping they have to and here’s hoping that the Tar Heels can control the line of scrimmage and establish an offensive rythym. Carolina is staring down the barrel of a 1-4 start as it is (with games at Clemson and Miami in the next two weeks), they need to find their offense this week before they attack the rest of their schedule. Cameron Sexton makes his first start and needs confidence or else this season could turn into a disaster. UNC 33, Furman 13.

NC State is in Hattiesburg to meet Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles are the prototypical "team you don’t want to face". When the NCAA tournament comes around there are always a handful of those smaller conference schools that cause trouble for the big boys. Schools like Butler, SW Louisiana, Western Kentucky, and George Mason have traditionally made life difficult for the favorites. The football equivalent would be schools like Southern Miss. They live in an SEC world and play non-conference games – usually on the road – at many SEC and Big 12 schools. In the past few years, they’ve beaten Nebraska and Oklahoma State and every year they give Alabama a hard time. Last year, State needed 248 rushing yards from Andre Brown to win by 4. This year, they’re going to need another powerful day on the ground to keep the Eagles in check. But, they also need to start developing some semblance of a balanced offense because if they can’t throw the ball against Southern Miss it’s hard to imagine them getting away with a one-dimensional offense against the ACC schedule. Then again, I’ve spent the last 1000 words describing how pathetic the league is, so maybe it won’t matter at all....NCSU 24 USM 20

And, we cap off the Saturday extravaganza with the Bowden Family Football Picnic in Tallahassee. Last year, daddy (Bobby Bowden) paid a visit to his son (Tommy Bowden), and Clemson beat the stuffing out of daddy’s Seminoles. This year, FSU is a team still trying to find a running game and the Tigers just might be the panacea. Clemson is missing two of their best linebackers and a safety, and the middle of the defensive line wasn’t a strength to begin with. On top of that, their best defensive end, Gaines Adams, is nursing a bad shoulder and won’t be at 100% even if he does play. FSU MUST run the ball between the tackles to make things easier for Drew Weatherford. Of course, the Noles almost never make things easy for them. Clemson has a great running game, talented wide receivers, a veteran offensive line and a senior quarterback. But, FSU’s defense is scary – even though they’ve got their own injury issues in the middle of the defensive line. If Clemson doesn’t forget that special teams matter they can keep it close....FSU 34 Clemson 30.

But it’s hard to be a college football fan and not wish that none of those games were on the schedule so we could concentrate on games like LSU at Auburn; Florida at Tennessee; Michigan at Notre Dame; Oklahoma at Oregon; and Nebraska at Southern Cal. I’ll be counting the sports agents on the Trojans’ sideline.

Have a great weekend!