Around the ACC

CLEMSON BEATS WAKE FOREST IN 2OT
I listened to some of the game and watched a little. Wake could have won the thing and blew it. As far as our game with Clemson, here are some early comments
- Charlie Whitehurst is a good QB and through no fault of his own, has been somewhat overhyped. He threw 2 INT's and he just doesn't have the same quality of WR's this season. But he made plays at the end to win the game. He is a gamer and he IS one of the best in the ACC.
- Having said that Chauncey Stuckey is a player, so we need to watch where he is on the field at all times.
- Clemson's rushing defense is weak and we should be able to run the ball on them. However, WF is a running team and Chris Barklay had a better game than PJ Daniels Saturday.
- Their secondary is one of the best in the ACC, so it will be an interesting test for our WR core.

MARYLAND HOLDS OFF N.ILLINOIS 23-20
Maryland's offense was up-and-down all day, sophomore QB Joel Statham was mediocre and actually fumbled the ball 3 times. A Ralph Freidgen offense that is mediocre. Who'd a thunk it? Remember that N.Illinois is the team that shocked the Terps last year by beating them.

VIRGINIA BEATS TEMPLE SOUNDLY
Well, the media has been singing UVA's praises for a few years now, and maybe eventually they will live up to it. But this game was not a sign of greatness for the Cav's. Temple was just plain awful. Samford probably would have beat them. They turned the ball over more than they had 3rd down conversions.

NC ST SHUTS OUT RICHMOND
In the first game in 4 years without Philip Rivers, NCST played well, with Jay Davis at QB - going 16-22 for 168 yards. The Pack looked good and much like the GT/Samford game, it probably doesn't tell us much about how good they will be........On a side note, there was tragedy at the game when an NCST student and his brother apparantely murdered a marine and another fan during the pre-game festivities. Link here.

NORTH CAROLINA IS..... NORTH CAROLINA
The Tarheels prove that they have not changed one bit, scoring 49 points and giving up 38, squeeking out a 4th quarter victory against powerhouse William AND Mary. Double you pleasure I guess. Great offense, no defense - welcome back for one more week Jon Bunting.

DUKE JOINS THE VILLAGE PEOPLE
Sing with me - "In the Navy, yes you can sail to victory.... In the Navy, Duke players look like Minny-Me...."...... Look I like Ted Roof. We ALL like Ted Roof. We want him to do well. But I don't care how motivated you make your players, attitudes will only carry you so far. Navy takes it to the BlueDevils, bringing them crashing back to Earth after late season hopes in 2003.

THE ACC RUNNING BACKS
So how did the ACC running backs stack up? Did you know that the ACC has 8 Doak Walker candidates, given to the nation's top RB. No other conference comes close.

Chris Barklay, WF............29-179 yds,
PJ Daniels, GT.................25-169 yds, 3 TD's (2 rushing, 1 catch)
Ronnie McGill, UNC.........13-133 yds, 3 TD's (all TD's in Q4)
Cedric Dargan, Duke........20-114 yds, (only 3 yards in 2nd half)
Wali Lundy, UVA.............25-104 yds, 3 TD's (only carried once in Q4)
Bryan Randall, VT...........17-82 yds, yes the QB.
Rashaun Grant, GT..........17-75 yds (most in the 2nd half)
Darrell Blackman, NCST...9-62 yds,
Yusef Kelly, Clemson........19-57 yds
T.A. McLendon, NCST........the best RB in history..... didn't play....again