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College Football Conference Predictions - ACC
For the next several weeks, I will make predictions and comments for the three college football conferences that people in this region care about the most: the ACC, BIG TEN, and BIG EAST. I'll start off with the ACC this week.
ACC
Atlantic Division
1. Clemson
2. Wake Forest
3. Maryland
4. Florida State
5. N.C. State
6. Boston College
Coastal Division
1. Miami
2. Virginia Tech
3. North Carolina
4. Virginia
5. Georgia Tech
6. Duke
ACC Championship game: Clemson vs. Miami
ACC Champion: Clemson
Atlantic Division:
As long as their young QB Willy Korn gets his feet wet and hits his stride in the first couple of games, Clemson should be the best team out of the whole ACC. Senior RB James Davis coming back for his senior year is huge. They should have a strong running game with the tandem of Davis and junior C.J. Spiller. They should also probably have the best defense in the conference, featuring a scary-good defensive line that should rack up lots of sacks comprised of junior DEs Ricky Sapp and James Cumbie, and true freshman DT DaQuan Bowers.
The thing I like best about Wake Forest is coach Jim Grobe and QB Riley Skinner. Grobe always seems to get the most out of the players or talent he has the past couple of years. Skinner is a calm and cool competitor who gives you the feeling he is capable of bringing a team back and winning any game, even if they are down by a couple TDs. Sophomore RB Josh Adams looked really good at times last year. Having the best kicker in the country doesn’t hurt either. Sam Swank will likely win 2 or 3 games for them at the end of games, …after Skinner has drove them down the field with seconds left.
Maryland will definitely miss guard Andrew Crummey on offense and OLB Erin Henderson on defense, but 6’2” 4.3 speed junior WR Darrius Heyward-Bey should have a huge year and become one of the top WRs in the country by half way through the season. They need a RB to step up and carry the load, but they should have a pretty potent offense because of their talented WRs and TEs. They also get Florida State, Wake Forest and North Carolina at home this year.
Florida State still has lots of talent on both sides of the ball, and it was evident in their wins over Boston College and Maryland last year. Whether Drew Weatherford plays his final year at QB or freshman E.J. Manual takes over at some point, I think shaky QB play and lack of team discipline overall will continue to keep them from returning to the dominant team they used to be year in and year out.
I don’t see N.C. State improving much from their 5 win - 7 loss season last year.
Boston College will fall the furthest; from the ACC Championship game one year to last place the next year. Their team slogan this year should be “The Cupboard is Bare”. Almost all of their offensive and defensive starters were seniors. Winning games will also be much harder without having crafty Matt Ryan at quarterback.
Coastal Division:
Last year was like the twilight zone for Miami. …Losing seven games, getting blown out three times, getting blown out at home, even losing to both North Carolina and N.C. State. This is the year that Miami returns to the powerhouse it traditionally has been. Even after loosing superstars Kenny Phillips at S and Calais Campbell at DE to the NFL Draft, they still have more talent on both sides of the ball than most of the teams in the ACC. Their weakest area this year will be offensive line. If they only had a better line, both Javarris James and Graig Cooper would be rushing for 100 yards every game. With a top notch recruiting class of freshmen this year, they should have one of the better defenses in the ACC by mid-season and then be even better next year and the year after that. I’ll call it right now that Miami will have the best defense in the ACC for both 2009 and 2010.
Virginia Tech lost almost their entire defense with the exception of CB Macho Harris who decided to stay for his senior year. I don’t think they’ll be able to reload their defense this year after loosing that many key starters. Their offense should keep them in every game they play, but their defense will likely lose a couple of games for them.
North Carolina is the team on the upswing in the ACC. Thanks to an unbelievable recruiting class last year, they should win more games this year and likely pull off an upset or two.
Virginia lost two key players to the NFL in DE Chris Long and G Branden Albert. Long was a monster and single handedly won a couple of games for them last year and was the leader and catalyst for a whole team that managed to win almost every close game they were in last year. With several key players possibly ineligible for next season, including starting QB Jameel Sewell and DE Jeffery Fitzgerald, they could be in for a free fall this year. A lot will depend on how QB Peter Lalich plays if he is named the starter. A lot of those close games could go the other way this year.
Most of Georgia Tech’s talent lies in their underclassmen, so they could challenge Miami and Virginia Tech this season, but most likely will be more of a force in 2009.
Duke just doesn’t have the talent from top to bottom that many of the other teams in the conference have and will finish in the cellar.
Man, Duke's got to get out of the cellar at some point, don't they?
I definitely agree with the Clemson pick, I love watching that ground game. I don't think I can follow you on the Canes, though you do have to like their conference schedule. Of course, Florida and possibly Texas A&M will pound them in the nonconference, and Miami has no QB or OL, so it's all relative.
Posted by S_Cburke
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