Then last week, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi doubled down on the statement by calling the ACC “the best conference out there.”

Give credit to both for their commitment to the narrative. Even if no one outside the league, least of all the members of the College Football Playoff Committee, is buying into it. While the ACC does have 4 teams in this week’s Playoff rankings, only 1 is currently high enough to earn a spot in the expanded 12-team postseason field.

That team, No. 9 Miami, is among the 6 conference members enjoying open dates this week.

While we wait for No. 14 SMU and the rest of that “exciting collection of teams” to take the field for their Week 12 matchups, here are 5 questions to ponder before kickoff:

5. Which 5-win team has the best chance of earning bowl eligibility this week?

There are 6 ACC teams with 5 wins — 1 victory from bowl eligibility. Four play Saturday. Of that group, North Carolina is in the best position to earn its postseason ticket against in-state rival Wake Forest. The Tar Heels have won the past 4 meetings in Chapel Hill, scoring 49 or more points each time. And they’re coming off their 2 best efforts of the season prior to last week’s open date.

Cal also has some momentum after finally earning its first ACC victory last week at Wake Forest. But the Bears face a more challenging test in Syracuse, whose quarterback Kyle McCord leads the nation in passing yards per game at 350.3. Boston College, which is at league-leading SMU, and Virginia, which travels to South Bend to take on No. 8 Notre Dame, might have to wait at least another week to get to the 6-win mark.

4. Does Virginia have any shot at knocking off No. 8 Notre Dame?

If Northern Illinois can go into the House that Rockne built and take down the Irish, then anything is possible. Right? The Cavaliers can do (almost) everyone in college football a favor by knocking Notre Dame out of a Playoff position. They’ve already shown an ability to beat a ranked team on the road by taking down then-No. 18 Pittsburgh last week. And they’ll have at least some element of familiarity with former former Irish wide receiver/running back Chris Tyree in their lineup. In order to have any shot at all, Tony Elliott’s team will need to duplicate the defensive effort that held the Panthers to under 300 total yards and forced a pair of turnovers while getting a clean performance from talented, but erratic quarterback Anthony Colandrea.

3. What’s up with Thomas Castellanos?

Castellanos is a dual-threat quarterback who was the catalyst for Boston College’s winning season in 2023. He finished 3rd in the ACC in rushing with 1,113 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground and 15 scores through the air. But with the arrival of new coach Bill O’Brien and the switch to a pro-style offense, Castellano’s production has dropped off considerably. He’s run for only 192 yards this season. Last week against Syracuse, he completed only 2-of-7 passes for 14 yards and an interception before leaving with an apparent injury. His replacement, FIU transfer Grayson James, came in and rallied the Eagles to a victory. It’s a performance that earned James the start for this week’s game at SMU. And Castellanos a ticket out of town. Shortly after his benching, it was announced that the junior had stepped away from the program and will enter the transfer portal.

2. Why is Louisville important to the ACC’s and Notre Dame’s at-large Playoff chances?

The Cardinals are ranked 19th in this week’s Playoff poll. But because they already have 3 losses and won’t be playing in the conference championship game, they’re effectively eliminated from getting into the top 12. But that doesn’t mean they can’t play a role in determining which teams do make it into the newly expanded postseason bracket, since all 3 of those losses are to teams ranked above them: Miami, SMU and Notre Dame. Winning out against Stanford, Pitt and Kentucky and jumping a few spots higher in the final poll would improve the strength of schedule for both ACC frontrunners while strengthening the league’s longshot chances of getting a 2nd bid. It could be helpful to the Irish should they stumble down the stretch and suffer a 2nd loss.

1. Is there anything SMU can do get more love from the Playoff Committee?

The realistic answer is probably no. If the Mustangs haven’t already done enough to catch the committee’s attention by putting together a resume that includes an 8-1 record with the only loss coming to No. 6 BYU and an offense and defense both ranked No. 2 in the ACC, then they never will. No matter what they do. They’re woefully undervalued at No. 14, especially after dropping a spot in the rankings despite not playing last week. The good news for Rhett Lashlee and his league-leading team is that they control their own fate in the Playoff race. All they have to do to take the committee out of the equation is keep winning, starting with Saturday’s home game against Boston College.

The post Friedlander: 5 questions to ponder before kickoff of Week 12 in ACC football appeared first on Saturday Down South.

That would make now a good time to jump in on Cam Ward’s Heisman Trophy action.

People began rushing for the exits of the Miami quarterback’s Heisman bandwagon from the moment Georgia Tech, quite ironically, took a knee to close out Saturday’s 28-23 upset of the 9th-ranked Hurricanes.

Even the folks in Vegas got into the act.

According to DraftKings sportsbook, Ward now has only the 4th-best odds to win college football’s most prestigious individual honor. At +700, he’s gone from the odds-on favorite to looking up at Colorado’s 2-way star Travis Hunter (+110), Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel (+330) and Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty (+350) on the list of candidates.

The drop is understandable. Thanks to the proliferation of social media, we live in a knee-jerk reaction society. And no one jerks their knees as quickly and as dramatically as sports fans.

But the reality of the situation is that Georgia Tech did little or nothing to damage Ward’s Heisman hopes.

It’s not as if he lost the game. His team did.

Take away the numbers on the scoreboard and look only at the numbers he put onto the stat sheet and you get a much different perspective on his performance against the Yellow Jackets.

Brent Key’s strategy of defending Ward by keeping him and the rest of the nation’s top-scoring offense off the field worked to perfection. Tech shortened the game by rolling up a nearly 10-minute advantage in time of possession.

Ward still finished with 348 yards on 25-of-39 passing with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions.

No, it’s not a video game stat line.

It is, however, nearly a mirror of his stat line for the season, underscoring just how impressive his entire body of work has been.

Through 10 games, Ward is averaging 349 yards, 24.1 completions and 3.2 touchdowns per game. All of which are among the top 2 among FBS passers. With his 74-yard scoring strike to tight end Elijah Arroyo on the game’s opening possession, Ward became the first quarterback in Miami history to throw for 30 touchdowns in a season. He’s well on his way to 40, too.

And he still has as many as 3 games remaining to add to that total before the Heisman votes are tallied.

By that time Georgia Tech will have been long forgotten, the memory replaced by the more indelible moments he’s produced over the course of the season.

Heisman moments, if you will.

The Mahomes-like flip to tight end Riley Williams to set up the winning touchdown against Virginia Tech. The 25-point second half comeback he engineered to beat Cal. The 5-touchdown barrage against Duke.

Cam Ward is a MAGICIAN pic.twitter.com/O05hItdWxL

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) September 28, 2024

Those are the things the voters will remember. Not one momentary hiccup that at least in the short term had had little to no negative impact on his team’s ACC championship and Playoff chances.

The Heisman is an individual award, after all. Not a team award.

It’s also an honor in which a spectacular first impression can turn out to be more important than even the most convincing closing argument.

That was the case in 2016 in a Heisman race that came down to a pair of ACC quarterbacks.

Clemson’s Deshaun Watson won the head-to-head matchup with Louisville’s Lamar Jackson both on the scoreboard and the stat sheet. And he compiled better numbers over the final few weeks of a season that saw his Tigers win the ACC championship and Jackson’s Cardinals lose their final 2 games.

But it could be argued that the Heisman had already been decided by then.

The competition was essentially over in mid-September once Jackson accounted for 5 touchdowns and more than 400 yards of total offense in back-to-back wins against Syracuse and No. 2 Florida State. Performances he punctuated with what has become known as the Heisman Hurdle in which he leaped over an Orange defender on the way into the end zone.

Though Ward’s early work this year wasn’t quite that spectacular, it was good enough to create a buzz that reinforced his considerable preseason hype as the nation’s top transfer and more importantly, kept his name at the forefront of the Heisman conversation.

There’s no better way to promote a campaign – marketing, political or otherwise – than with name recognition.

And Ward has gained more of that than any of his fellow Heisman frontrunners.

Hunter might be doing things at Colorado no college football player since Charles Woodson in 1997 has done. But he plays for a team whose national attention is diverted to a coach whose personality is even larger than his star player’s massive snap count.

Ashton Jeanty?

Yes, he absolutely dominated Oregon (192 yards, 3 rushing TDs) and is on the verge of crossing 2,000 rushing yards and winning the NCAA rushing title. But many still view him as a guy putting up huge rushing numbers for a G5 team that few if anyone has actually seen play.

And while Gabriel is the best player on what is currently the nation’s best team, he’s thrown for 646 fewer yards and 10 fewer touchdowns than Ward.

None of this is to suggest that Ward has already wrapped up the award. As we experienced with an actual election during the past few weeks, there’s no accurate way of predicting how these things will turn out until all the ballots are cast.

But the market can usually be counted on to eventually bounce back after experiencing a slight drop. That’s why the smart money is still bullish on the Miami quarterback’s Heisman stock.

Even if the oddsmakers aren’t.

The post Friedlander: Why you should still be bullish on Cam Ward’s Heisman Trophy chances appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Much worse.

Had the College Football Playoff Committee followed the lead of voters in both the Associated Press top 25 and coaches polls and ranked Miami 12th, the ACC wouldn’t just be in jeopardy of missing out on an opening-round bye.

The conference could also have been in danger of missing out on the Playoff altogether.

It’s a doomsday scenario with a lot of moving parts, starting with the unlikely event that Army beats Notre Dame on Nov. 23. And it’s still possible, considering that both Miami and SMU also have work left to do and Mountain West leader Boise State is lurking at No. 13.

But by dropping the Hurricanes only 5 spots to No. 9 following Saturday’s loss at Georgia Tech, the Committee has kept the ACC in a position to be among the 4 highest-rated conferences in the 12-team bracket.

A distinction that comes with a free pass into the quarterfinal round regardless of how many at-large teams are slotted ahead of it.

The unexpected love the Committee showed Miami in its second weekly rankings, announced on Tuesday, is a surprise to be sure. Especially considering that 6 of the 8 SEC teams in the poll – including Georgia – were picked below the Hurricanes.

Here's a look at the full College Football Playoff selection committee rankings for games played through Saturday, November 9.

Where does your team rank this week?#CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/hcZVea7w2R

— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) November 13, 2024

Just don’t confuse it for a sign of respect toward the ACC.

It’s more a validation of the Committee’s affinity for brand-name programs.

What’s in a name, you say?

Well, let’s take those names away and see.

Team A has an 8-1 record with 2 wins against Top-25 opponents, 3 wins against bowl-eligible teams and a Strength of Record (SOR) of 13.

Team B is also 8-1 with 1 Top-25 win, 4 bowl-eligible victories and a SOR of 14.

Though the resumes are almost identical, the teams are separated by 6 places in the rankings.

Team A, Notre Dame, checks in this week at No. 8. Team B, SMU. dropped a spot from its initial ranking to No. 14 even though it had an open date and didn’t play. And its 1 loss, to No. 6 BYU, is much more respectable than the Irish’s setback at the hands of Northern Illinois.

And that’s not the only glaring disparity involving the Mustangs.

All it takes is a quick glance at the ACC standings to wonder why the Committee holds Miami in so much higher regard than the team currently in sole possession of first place in the conference.

Not even Committee chair Warde Manuel could come up with a reasonable answer when asked to explain the difference during a post-reveal conference call with the media.

The Michigan athletic director acknowledged that “both teams are very similar,” before going on a circular dissertation that concluded with him saying – without any facts, figures or other sort of analytical basis to back him up – that “just based on their body of work, the feeling was that Miami was ahead of SMU in terms of performance this year.”

CFP committee chair Warde Manuel's response when asked about the difference in rankings between 1-loss ACC teams Miami FL (#9) and SMU (#14): pic.twitter.com/pXRKFk8Z2a

— Steve Helwick (@s_helwick) November 13, 2024

More than likely, the feeling was actually that the Hurricanes have a much more recognizable pedigree and a Heisman Trophy candidate who makes them a better ratings draw than a team better known for receiving the NCAA’s Death Penalty than anything it has done on the field over the past 4 decades.

The irony of the Mustangs’ situation is that their Playoff prospects would probably be better had they remained a Group of 5 Program in the American Athletic Conference than by leveling up to join the ACC.

The good news for SMU and Miami is that this week’s standings will be long forgotten by the time the final poll is released on Dec. 8. And for at least 1 of them, the rankings won’t matter so long as the winner of the ACC Championship Game finishes among the 5 highest-rated conference winners. (The only way that doesn’t happen is if 2 Group of 5 champions finish ahead of the ACC champ.)

For the other, there’s still some slim hope of sneaking into the Playoff once the 4 Big Ten teams in the top 5 of the current poll and those 6 SEC teams below them begin cannibalizing one another.

It would certainly help for No. 19 Louisville to win its final 3 games – against Stanford, Pitt and Kentucky – and jump a few spots higher since Miami and SMU have beaten the Cardinals.

Then again, it probably doesn’t matter.

Based on recent history, it’s reasonable to assume that the Committee is more likely to fill the final spot in its bracket with a 3-loss Alabama or Georgia than any 2-loss ACC team. By keeping Miami inside the top 10 and SMU just 1 spot behind Boise State, though, it has at least positioned the 1 conference team that does get into the field to hang onto a valuable top-4 seeding.

That’s not exactly the scenario Jim Phillips and the ACC envisioned when the Playoff field was expanded to 12 teams.

But let’s face it. Things could be worse.

The post Friedlander: The Playoff Committee loves brand-name programs. And that’s good news for Miami appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Or at least until the first Duke-North Carolina game on Feb. 1.

So in the great scheme of things, Tuesday’s blue-blood battle between Duke and Kentucky at the Champions Classic in Atlanta is little more than an entertaining postscript to ESPN’s reveal of the second College Football Playoff rankings.

This isn’t the time to start worrying about tournament resumes, seeding implications or any other such nonsense.

There will be plenty of time for that later on.

And yet, simmering just below the surface are a number of subplots that make this an incredibly important game for both still-developing teams.

And at least one of their conferences.

For the 19th-ranked Wildcats, it’s an opportunity to show the nation what the post-Cal era might look like against a top-tier opponent.

Not only do they have a new coach, with 1996 national champion Mark Pope returning to his alma mater to clean up the mess left by John Calipari after his departure for Arkansas, but the roster has undergone an almost complete turnover with 10 new players.

So far, they’ve made a positive first impression in lopsided wins against Wright State and Bucknell, averaging 102 points and a nation’s-best 26.5 assists per game.

Jon Scheyer’s No. 6 Blue Devils are also off to a strong start.

They shellacked Arizona State by 56 points in an exhibition performance so impressive that had former Duke star and current Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley practically raising another banner to the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke followed with routine regular-season wins against overmatched Maine and Army. But like Kentucky, Tuesday’s game represents the first real test and a chance for its star-studded rookie class – top-ranked prospect Cooper Flagg in particular – to introduce themselves to the rest of the college basketball world.

It was in this event in 2018 that Zion Williams, RJ Barrett and another group of fantastic freshmen announced their presence with authority in a 118-84 blowout of the Wildcats. Whether Flagg or classmates Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach make the same kind of splash is inconsequential.

Zion Williamson did not disappoint in his Duke debut: 28 PTS (11-13 FG) & 7 REB in a 34 PT win over Kentucky!

(VIA @ESPN)

pic.twitter.com/PmzdWrT9pg

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) November 7, 2018

It’s the result that matters.

Not as much for the Blue Devils as the ACC.

As mentioned, games like this and upcoming tests against Arizona, Kansas and Auburn are little more than the first steps on a journey leading to March for teams like Duke. They are, however, vitally important for a conference fighting a perception problem that has led to fewer NCAA Tournament bids than any other power conference over the past few seasons.

While it’s true that championships are decided and legacies cemented in March, narratives become set early. And rarely do they change as the season goes on. No matter what happens on the court.

The ACC can’t afford for its teams to wait until the end to deliver, as they did in advancing 4 teams to the Sweet 16 and 3 to the Elite Eight a year ago. It needs them to stop throwing red meat to its army of haters by stumbling out of the gate in November and December.

And it desperately needs its brand-name programs to lead the way.

NC State going on a miracle Final Four run that evoked memories of Jimmy V and his Cardiac Pack was a nice, warm-and-fuzzy story. But fair or not, that did little or nothing to change the way the ACC is judged.

For the conference to be looked upon as more than just a nostalgic “30 For 30 episode,” it’s going to take Duke and North Carolina winning their high-profile early-season nonconference matchups and fellow blue-bloods Syracuse and Louisville returning to national prominence.

The Tar Heels gave it a good go at Kansas by rallying from a 20-point deficit to go ahead in the final few minutes. But there are no moral victories when you’re UNC. As encouraging as the comeback was, Friday’s 92-89 loss was nothing more than a missed opportunity.

Same with Louisville’s loss to Tennessee, which showed that while the Cardinals are clearly on their way back from the depths of the Kenny Payne debacle, they’re only in the first stages of their recovery.

Now it’s Duke’s turn.

While beating Kentucky would represent a positive first step on a young team’s journey toward March, the stakes are significantly higher for the ACC.

Tuesday’s result won’t necessarily be a referendum on the conference. But it will go a long way toward either changing or confirming a narrative that will follow it for the remainder of the season.

The post Friedlander: Why the ACC needs Duke to win its blue-blood battle against Kentucky appeared first on Saturday Down South.

That’s what happens when you count on Miami to take care of business and be the face of the conference. And the league’s officials are put in a position to impact an important game.

But at least there’s some good news for the conference.

No matter what happens, at least 1 team will make it into the College Football Playoff this year. And basketball season is already underway.

Those are just some of the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after a momentous though not entirely unexpected Week 11 in and around the ACC.

10. The big winner in the ACC in Week 11 was ________ ?

It wasn’t Georgia Tech, though its upset of Miami that earned it bowl eligibility was certainly a good one.

It wasn’t Cal, which finally got off the schneid with its first-ever ACC victory. Or even Virginia,

The big winner in the ACC this week was idle SMU.

By sitting on the sidelines watching both the Hurricanes and Pitt lose, the Mustangs suddenly find themselves all alone in first place with a clear path to the ACC Championship Game in their first season as a league member.

As the computer Joshua reminded us in the 1980s Matthew Broderick film WarGames, sometimes “the only winning move is not to play.”

9. Trends aren’t always what they seem

A popular narrative heading into Saturday’s showdown between in-state rivals Duke and NC State was that they were teams heading in opposite directions. It’s true that the Wolfpack had won 2 straight while the Blue Devils were on a 2-game losing streak. 

But those results weren’t an accurate portrayal of the direction each was heading. 

Duke’s 2 losses were to SMU and Miami, teams that are on pace to meet in next month’s ACC Championship Game while the Wolfpack’s wins came at the expense of Cal and Stanford, teams that have combined for only 2 conference victories.

While Manny Diaz’s team is already bowl eligible, Dave Doeren’s is still 1 win from qualifying for the postseason.

The Blue Devils’ 29-19 win wasn’t a surprise. The result was simply an extension of the direction both teams were already heading. No matter what recent trends were suggesting.

8. Georgia Tech’s Key to victory

Sometimes the best coaching hires don’t involve an intensive (and expensive) nationwide search.
They happen completely by accident. Clemson’s decision to have a young receivers coach named Dabo take over for Tommy Bowden on an interim basis in 2008 is the classic example.

Brent Key still has a long way to come close to the success Dabo Swinney has had since being elevated to the Tigers’ job permanently. But he’s off to a promising start.

It’s doubtful that Georgia Tech would have even interviewed him for the job had Key’s predecessor Geoff Collins made it all the way through the 2022 season before getting fired. But because he was given an unexpected 8-game audition to finish out the season, the unheralded offensive line assistant gave newly hired athletic director J Batt no choice but to remove the interim tag from his title.

Key won 4 of those first 12 games, which is 1 more than Collins managed in any of his 3 full seasons at Tech. He followed that up by getting the Yellow Jackets to a bowl game last season and has made even more progress this year.

Saturday’s upset of No. 4 Miami was Tech’s second win this season against an opponent ranked in the top 10 at the time of the game. It improved Key’s record against ranked ACC teams to 6-1. Not bad for a coach whose $2.9 million base salary is among the lowest in the conference, according to rankings compiled by On3 Sports.

Or about $5 million a year less than the guy he outcoached Saturday.

7. The most disappointing team in the ACC other than Florida State is ________ ?

With apologies to NC State, which has carried on its long-standing tradition of accomplishing the least when its expected to do the most, that team is Virginia Tech.

The Hokies returned virtually everyone from a team that finished 2023 on a heater and was considered a dark-horse contender for an ACC title. But things got off to a bad start with losses to Vanderbilt and Rutgers during the nonconference schedule and never got rolling after the Hail Mary controversy at Miami.

After Saturday’s loss to Clemson, coach Brent Pry has still yet to beat an ACC opponent with a winning record while falling to 5-5 overall this season, 3-3 in the conference.

6. Senior Day isn’t just for seniors anymore

Saturday was NC State’s final home game of the season. And as is Senior Day tradition, each upperclassman on the roster was introduced before the game to be acknowledged by the crowd at Carter-Finley Stadium and present a rose to their mothers.

As this was going on, I couldn’t help but wonder how many other members of the Wolfpack were also playing their final home game as a member of the program.

Let’s just say that State’s NIL collective is going to have to pony up a large chunk of change in order to keep under-used star receiver KC Concepcion and promising freshman quarterback CJ Bailey around long enough for them to celebrate their own Senior Day moments.

5. While we’re on the subject of not coming back …

This is the time of year in which coaches begin firing their coordinators in an attempt to take the heat off themselves. The process began Sunday when Florida State’s Mike Norvell sent both Alex Atkins and Adam Fuller packing in the aftermath of Saturday’s 52-3 embarrassment at the hands of Notre Dame.

It’s not as if the scapegoating isn’t warranted. Atkins’ offense has yet to gain 300 yards this season and ranks 133rd out of 133 FBS teams in scoring at 13.3 points per game. Fuller’s defense has been slightly better. But with the team cratering at 1-9 and the head coach insulated by a big buyout (reportedly $63 million), someone had to pay the price.

Now that Norvell has cleaned his house, the most likely candidates to be next on the chopping block are NC State offensive coordinator Robert Anae and Clemson special teams coach Mike Reed.

NC State coach Dave Doeren hired Anae to add some flavor to a vanilla attack. And yet, the Wolfpack’s offense remains as bland as low-fat yogurt. He’s completely wasted one of the most dynamic talents in the ACC by failing to get the ball in Concepcion’s hands. And blaming injuries for the second straight season isn’t an excuse.

That brings us to Reed.

I know Swinney is loyal to a fault. And he’s not in danger of getting fired himself. But 5 blocked field goals in a single season can’t be ignored. He’s already changed personnel on the protection team. The next step is changing the guy coaching them.

4. One coach who will be coming back

Tony Elliott put himself in a position to save his job by going 4-1 to start the season against the soft part of Virginia’s schedule. But even though the win total was already higher than either of his first 2 seasons, he found himself back on the hot seat after making the turn to the more difficult back half.

Three straight defeats punctuated a decisive home loss to a wounded North Carolina team put Elliott back on the hot seat and made a 7-game losing streak end the season a real possibility.

Not the best way to convince your boss to keep you on.

Saturday’s road upset of No. 18 Pitt, however, changed the narrative.

It didn’t just stop the bleeding and move UVa within a win of bowl eligibility, though still a long shot with Notre Dame, SMU and rival Virginia Tech left to play. It also bought Elliott – a genuinely nice guy who did a masterful job of guiding his players through an unthinkable tragedy 2 years ago – at least 1 more season in Charlottesville.

3. Mario’s gonna Mario

It was only a matter of who, where and when. At some point, it was inevitable that Miami would do what Miami always does. And Mario Cristobal would do what Mario Cristobal always does

The fact that the Hurricanes chose Saturday’s game to finally bury themselves in a hole from which even Cam Ward couldn’t dig his way out makes their implosion all the more spectacular. It was against Georgia Tech last year that Cristobal performed his most famous act of game mismanagement by failing to have his quarterback take a knee with a chance to run out the clock.

The good news for Miami is that this loss to the Yellow Jackets didn’t damage either its ACC Championship Game or Playoff possibilities. The Hurricanes still control their own destiny. All they have to do is win out – in 2 weeks against Wake Forest, at Syracuse in the regular-season finale and against SMU for the conference title.

But that’s the rub.

Not only has The U traditionally come up small in the biggest of games during its time in the ACC, but Cristobal’s teams also have a habit of letting 1 damaging loss turn into even more damaging losses. It happened in 2022 after the Hurricanes stubbed their toe against Middle Tennessee State and again last season following the Kneelgate game against Georgia Tech.

So fasten those seatbelts.

The roller-coaster ride might only have just begun.

2. Thank goodness for automatic bids

Miami’s loss to Georgia Tech will have no immediate impact on the race for the ACC Championship Game. But it has drastically changed the league’s outlook concerning the College Football Playoff.

And not for the better.

Nothing is set in stone until the final poll is announced on Selection Sunday. But with the Hurricanes set to drop from their current spot at No. 4 and No. 13 SMU likely to remain outside of the top 12, the ACC is all but assured of getting only 1 spot in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.

Clemson is the only other team still mathematically alive for a shot at the league title. But to get into the championship game, the Tigers need Miami to lose again and SMU to drop 2 of its 3 remaining games. That means the conference championship would be guaranteed to have at least 2 losses.

Thank goodness for automatic bids.

1. Charlotte, we have a problem …

The Hail Mary reversal that decided Virginia Tech-Miami was bad. The targeting call that wasn’t a week later at Cal may have been worse. But of all the game-altering decisions made by ACC officials this season, what happened at the end of Saturday’s Pitt-Virginia game topped them all.

This was more than just a missed call or confusion over what targeting is or isn’t. It involved a misapplication of a rule. And the league office only complicated matters by issuing a statement validating the mistake.

The controversy surrounds a 4th-and-1 play with just over 5 minutes remaining. Trailing by 2, the Panthers appeared to stop the Cavaliers short of the line to gain. But the play was nullified when referee Nate Black ruled that his crew “was not in position” when the ball was snapped. That gave UVa a do-over it used to extend their drive, eat up another 3 minutes off, kick a field goal and go on to a victory that eliminated Pitt from conference championship game contention.

We’ll never know how the game might have ended had the controversial play stood and Pitt taken over needing only a field goal to take the lead. But what we do know is that the ACC’s explanation for the call, reported by Stephen Thompson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, made a bad situation even worse.

“Prior to completion of the substitution process, the ball was improperly snapped before the officials were in position to officiate,” the ACC’s statement said. “There is no foul, the play clock is set to 25 seconds and the clock starts on the ready-for-play signal.”

That, however, is contrary to Rule 4, Article 4, Approved Ruling 4-1-4 of the NCAA rulebook, which states that in just such an instance when the ball is snapped before it’s been made ready for play, it should be ruled a dead ball, delay-of-game penalty. Such an application would have forced the Cavaliers to attempt a longer field goal with much more time left on the clock.

The incident is just the latest in a series of stains on the conference and its officials this season. It’s a problem commissioner Jim Phillips and the league office can’t brush off with erroneous statements. Substantive steps must be taken to address the situation this offseason before the ACC’s already shaky reputation takes any more hits.

The post 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 11 in the ACC appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Sure, it’s a worn-out clichè. But remember, most clichès are based on truth. So it was only a matter of time before Miami’s hopes for an undefeated season eventually went up in smoke.

After coming back from double-digit deficits 3 times this season, the No. 4-ranked Hurricanes finally dug themselves into a hole from which star quarterback Cam Ward couldn’t dig them out.

Ward did what he could. He threw for 348 yards and 3 touchdowns against Georgia Tech on Saturday to give his team a chance at erasing a late 12-point deficit. In the process, he became the first Miami quarterback to throw 30 TD passes in a season. Now with 32, Ward has a chance to reach 40.

But after leading improbable comebacks against Virginia Tech and Cal, then sparking a second-half blitz to rally past Duke last week, the Heisman Trophy frontrunner ran out of rabbits to pull from his hat.

The Yellow Jackets’ 28-23 win was a shocker and a result that all but guarantees that the ACC will only have 1 team in the year’s Playoff.

But other than adding a little extra intrigue and a lot less margin of error for the Hurricanes over the final 3 weeks of the regular season, the result did little to shake up the race for the ACC Championship Game.

No. 13 SMU, which was idle Saturday, is the only team with an unbeaten conference record. Miami and Clemson are tied for second with 1 loss. But because of tiebreakers, Miami and SMU are still on pace to play one another in Charlotte on Dec. 7 for the league title and an automatic Playoff bid as long as they both win out.

Sounds simple.

But as we learned from this weekend’s results, nothing is ever simple when it comes to the ACC in general and Miami football specifically.

That’s only one of the things we learned about the ACC in Week 11. Here are some of the other big takeaways from around the conference:

Get out your checkbook again, Pat

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi was fined $5,000 by the ACC earlier this season for publicly criticizing the officials working his team’s win against West Virginia.

“We beat West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl and we beat the officials, too, in one game,” he said.

If Narduzzi was that fired up about the calls in a game his team won, you can only imagine how bent out of shape he must have been after Saturday’s officiating debacle in the 4th quarter of a loss to Virginia that ended any chance of Pitt advancing to the conference championship game. He’d be justified to rip the officials again.

Regardless of the cost.

Pitt trailed by 2 with just over 5 minutes remaining when it appeared to stop the Cavaliers on a 4th-and-1 play. But because referee Nate Black ruled that his crew wasn’t in position when the ball was snapped, the play was nullified and UVa was given another shot at making the first down.

Pitt just got absolutely screwed by the refs. “Not being in position to make a call” https://t.co/Ly4NMy259O pic.twitter.com/7z4dxYvIir

— Jake Wojo (@J_Wloczewski) November 10, 2024

The Cavaliers took advantage of the do-over to extend their drive, eat another 3 minutes off the clock and kick a field goal that forced Pitt to score a touchdown rather than just a field goal to take the lead. We’ll never know how things might have turned out had the original play stood. But we can say with 100% certainty that it completely changed the dynamic of the game.

This controversy is the latest in a series of officiating issues involving ACC refs this season. And Narduzzi isn’t the only coach that has been critical of them. Louisville’s Jeff Brohm and Virginia Tech’s Brent Pry have also sounded off because of questionable, game-altering calls. It’s a problem the league must take steps to fix this offseason to avoid any further hits to its credibility.

Who’s bowling them over? Who’s not?

OK, so we’ve pretty much ascertained that the ACC is only going to have 1 team in the Playoff. So let’s turn our attention to football’s version of the NIT. All those other bowls that dot the postseason schedule between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Eight ACC teams have reached the 6-win threshold for bowl eligibility.

Georgia Tech became the latest to qualify for the postseason with its upset of Miami on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets join the Hurricanes, SMU, Clemson, Pitt, Louisville, Duke and Syracuse in the pool to fill the ACC’s 11 bowl tie-ins.

NC State and Virginia Tech each had a chance to join them. But both lost Saturday, meaning that they’ll still need at least 1 more win to avoid staying home for the holidays. Boston College, Cal and Virginia are in a similar situation after each claiming their 5th victory – the Eagles against Syracuse, the Bears against Wake Forest and the Cavaliers against Pitt.

Although everyone else is a long shot to remain in bowl contention, only Florida State and Stanford have been mathematically eliminated.

The Devils are still defensive

The coaching staff may have changed. So has much of the personnel. But Duke’s identity has remained the same despite the transition from Mike Elko to Manny Diaz.

The Blue Devils flexed their defensive muscle again on Saturday in a 29-19 win at NC State. They set the tone by sacking quarterback CJ Bailey in the end zone on the Wolfpack’s second play of the game and kept the pressure on all day while forcing 8 tackles for loss, 7 quarterback hurries, 6 pass breakups and a pair of turnovers.

Duke limited its neighboring rival to just a single touchdown while forcing 5 field-goal attempts in improving to 7-3 in its first season under Diaz, who like his predecessor was a successful defensive coordinator before becoming a head coach.

Considering the changes that have taken place since Elko took off for Texas A&M in the dead of the night last December, the comparisons between the past 2 Blue Devil defenses are remarkable. Duke led the ACC in scoring defense at 19.0 points per game in 2023. It’s currently in the top 4 with an average of 22.4. This year’s team is giving up fewer yards per game than last year – 349.1-352.7 – while allowing the fewest passing yards per game in the league at just 192.6.

It limited Bailey to 184 yards through the air and State to 268 total to get back on the winning track after losing 2 straight. Albeit to the 2 best teams in the conference, SMU and Miami.

Clemson still isn’t getting its kicks

The Tigers’ place-kicking situation was so bad last year that Dabo Swinney literally pulled a former player with a year of eligibility remaining off the beach to rejoin the team and handle the field goal and extra point chores. This season, the kicker hasn’t been the problem. But the players up front who are supposed to be protecting him.

Freshman Nolan Hauer is 12-of-17 on field goals this season. All 5 of his misses were blocked. Two came in a win at Florida State, caused by what Swinney described as breakdowns on the left side of the line. He had the same explanation for the next 2, which came in last week’s loss to Louisville. Swinney addressed the problem by making some personnel changes to the field goal unit.

So what happened on Saturday?

Hauer got another kick blocked. This time it came from the middle of the line and resulted in a Virginia Tech touchdown when the Hokies’ Quentin Reddish caught the ball and returned it 77 yards for the score. In case you were wondering, Mike Reed is Clemson’s special teams coach. But maybe not for long.

The Bears are finally bullish

Former North Carolina, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech coach Bill Dooley had a unique way of finding something good to say about every opponent his team played.

No matter how bad it was.

One of my favorites is when he called Tulane, or Too-lane as it sounded in his distinctive Southern drawl, “the finest winless team in America.”

Cal wasn’t exactly winless entering the weekend. It’s actually undefeated against nonconference competition. But at 0-4 against the ACC in its first season in the league, an argument can be made that the Bears were the finest last-place team that was winless in its conference.

Justin Wilcox’s team leads the conference in scoring defense at only 19.3 points per game allowed. Their 17 interceptions are also the best in the league while their 29 sacks are the 2nd-most. And at 28.7 points per game, the Bears are also in the top 10 in scoring offense.

They’re good enough to have led No. 4 Miami by 25 points in the second half. Just not good enough to close games out. Their 4 ACC losses are by a combined total of 9 points. Their luck changed on Friday at Wake Forest.

Cal tried its best to cough up another lead by allowing the Deacons to narrow a 15-point 4th-quarter advantage to only a field goal. This time, though, it answered with a late touchdown to hang on for 46-36 victory.

Now that the Bears have finally broken the ice in the conference, the vibe surrounding them has changed dramatically. At 5-4 overall, they’re only 1 win away from bowl eligibility, And with a season-ending game at SMU, they can potentially have a say in both the ACC Championship Game matchup.

The post Friedlander: The biggest ACC takeaways from Week 11 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Things aren’t going to get as complicated as they might have had the chaos scenario of 3 teams with undefeated conference records panned out. But after Miami’s upset loss at Georgia Tech on Saturday, at least a little intrigue has entered back into the picture for the final 3 weeks of the regular season.

Of those 3 teams that were tied atop the league standings just 2 weeks ago, only 1 remains.

Raise your hand if you had SMU as the only team still without a conference loss after Week 11 on your bingo card.

If you did, you’re either a Mustangs fan or you’re fibbing.

Because despite winning the American Athletic Conference a year ago, Rhett Lashlee’s team was only picked to finish seventh in its debut ACC season.

But here we are.

Thanks to an offense averaging 40 points per game, a defense surrendering only a shade under 22 and an incredible escape act a couple of games ago against Duke, SMU can earn its trip to Charlotte on Dec. 7 by winning its remaining games against Boston College, Virginia and Cal. Teams with a combined 5 ACC wins between them.

Of course, Miami had that same opportunity. With an equally manageable schedule. But the fourth-ranked Hurricanes finally put themselves into a hole from which even Cam Ward couldn’t dig them out in a 28-23 loss we should have seen coming from a mile away.

All the warning signs were there.

Between the double-digit comebacks, the banged-up defense that had given up 31 or more points in 4 of its previous 5 games and coach Mario Cristobal’s propensity for making head-scratching game management decisions, Saturday’s result was almost inevitable. It was just a matter of where, when and how it would happen.

And yet, while Miami’s setback will contribute to what promises to be a significant shakeup in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings, its impact on the ACC title chase is comparatively minor.

The only real change is that the Hurricanes have used their get-out-of-jail-free card. Win the final 2 games against Wake Forest and at Syracuse and they’re still on track to play SMU for the championship and the league’s automatic Playoff berth thanks to those previously mentioned tie-breaking scenarios.

There are still too many games to play and too many things that can and probably will happen to take the time to spell all the potential outcomes out here.

This much, however, is certain:

Despite showing some signs of life in the second half to win at Virginia Tech on Saturday, Clemson needs a Hail Mary to get into the championship game.

And not the kind that can be reviewed and overturned by the guys in the ACC Control Room.

Because of last week’s loss to Louisville – a team both Miami and SMU have beaten – the only way Dabo Swinney’s Tigers can get to Bank of America Stadium on Dec. 7 without buying a ticket is if Miami loses again or SMU drops 2 of its last 3.

Pittsburgh also had a slim shot at sneaking into the championship game for the second time in four years coming into the day Saturday. But after starting the season with 7 straight wins, the 18th-ranked Panthers saw those hopes fade with a 24-19 loss to Virginia.

It’s a loss tinged with a hint of controversy after officials awarded the Cavaliers a do-over on a play in which Pitt’s defense appeared to get a key fourth down stop with about 5 minutes remaining. The Panthers trailed by 2 at the time and would only need to have kicked a field goal to go ahead.

But because it was ruled that the officials weren’t in place at the time UVa snapped the ball, the Cavaliers were given a second chance at converting. They did and after running the clock down to the 2-minute timeout, kicked a field goal and hung on for the victory that left just 3 teams in the conference title chase.

No matter how it all plays out, it’s hard to see any pathway for the ACC to end up with more than just its champion in the expanded 12-team Playoff bracket. And there’s still no guarantee that team will be ranked high enough to earn an opening-round bye.

Regardless of how the rankings fall, Miami’s loss on Saturday has turned every ACC game from here on out into an elimination game.

So start brushing up on those tie-breaking procedures.

There’s a good chance they’re going to come into play.

The post Friedlander: Miami’s upset loss will shake up the Playoff rankings, but not the ACC title race. At least not yet appeared first on Saturday Down South.

But you probably don’t need to keep an eraser nearby, either.

Even with 4 weeks still remaining in the regular season, the ACC Championship Game matchup is all but set. It would take an unexpected development as stunning as a snowstorm in South Beach to prevent Miami and SMU from meeting for the title in Charlotte on Dec. 7.

Realistically, Clemson and Pitt are the only 2 other teams loosely in contention, but 1 of them will fall out of contention when they play each other next week.

The tie-breaking possibilities are too complicated to go through this early. But for any of them to come into play, both the Hurricanes and Mustangs will have to lose at least 1 one their final 3 games.

Possible, especially considering Mario Cristobal’s history. But unlikely considering the favorable remaining schedules for both teams.

After Saturday’s game at Georgia Tech, Miami finishes with a home game against Wake Forest and a trip to Syracuse. SMU has this week off before closing out with home games against Boston College and Cal sandwiched around a trip to Virginia.

But let’s not get caught looking too far ahead. As any good coach knows, you gotta take ’em 1 game at a time. So with that in mind, here are 5 questions to ponder before kickoff of Week 11 in the ACC:

5. Was the loss to Louisville the beginning of the end for Clemson?

Dabo Swinney’s 23rd-ranked Tigers need a miracle to keep their championship game and Playoff hopes alive. But even that will become a moot point if they don’t win their 2 remaining conference games. And neither is a gimme. Saturday’s showdown with Virginia Tech in Blacksburg was devalued considerably after both teams lost last week. But the Hokies are good, especially if quarterback Kyron Drones and leading rusher Bhayshul Tuten are healthy enough to play. And Lane Stadium is never an easy place to play. With another challenging road game at Pitt next week – outdoors, in the cold – and a rivalry game against suddenly resurgent South Carolina left to play, the egg Clemson laid against Louisville could be a sign of trouble still to come rather than just an unexpected hiccup.

4. How bad of a hurt will Notre Dame put on Florida State?

The Irish have already lost a game they had no business losing, to Northern Illinois in Week 2, so the chances of them taking the 1-8 Seminoles lightly and getting caught by surprise are somewhere south of slim and none. Even if they do, it still probably wouldn’t matter.

There’s a reason the Irish are favored by 14.5 points, via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Notre Dame ranks 4th nationally in scoring defense, allowing 12.2 points per game. FSU ranks next-to-last at 132nd, averaging just 14.4 points while having yet to gain as many as 300 yards in a game. The Irish are squarely on the Playoff bubble at No. 10. With no conference championship game to play, it’s all but a certainty that they’ll be out of the 12-team field with 1 more loss. So you can bet that former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard and his offense won’t take any chances and will keep the hammer down in Tallahassee.

3. Was Pitt finally exposed last week by SMU?

The Panthers have flaws, to be sure. And quarterback Eli Holstein has hit a freshman wall, isn’t healthy or a combination of those factors. But Pat Narduzzi’s 7-1 team isn’t as bad as it looked while getting smacked around by SMU last Saturday night. They ran into the perfect storm against an opponent playing its most meaningful game in 40 years. On homecoming, no less. A couple of big plays, an untimely turnover and one bad quarter are all it took to knock the Panthers from the ranks of unbeaten. Pitt is a good team, not a great one. And it still has a shot – unlikely as it might be – at playing for a championship. Even if SMU did expose the Panthers, they’re playing a team in Virginia that will have a hard time taking advantage of it.

2. Is Tony Elliott still coaching for his job?

It seemed all but inevitable that Elliott had coached his way off the hot seat by leading UVa to a 4-1 start and exceeding his win total from each of his first 2 seasons in Charlottesville. But college football is a “what have you done for me lately” proposition. So coming off 3 straight losses – including a blowout loss to North Carolina – and a remaining schedule featuring 3 ranked teams and rival Virginia Tech, the temperature on Elliott’s seat is starting to rise again. Winning at least 1 of the remaining games, starting with Pitt on Saturday, would all but ensure Elliott is back in 2025 for a 4th year. While going 4-8 isn’t an automatic disqualifier, losing 7 straight to close out a season isn’t the best way to impress your boss.

1. Will Mario Cristobal remember to take a knee this time?

So far, Cam Ward has been the antidote to Cristobal’s iffy game-management skills and Miami’s decades-long penchant for stubbing its toe at the worst. Ward has saved the Hurricanes multiple times, including that 25-point second half comeback at Cal, to keep them undefeated and on track to finally win their first ACC championship.

Now comes his biggest test to date: Georgia Tech.

One year ago, Cristobal produced the signature moment of his 2-plus season tenure at his alma mater by running a play in the final seconds instead of having his quarterback take a knee to run out the clock with a 3-point lead. Miami fumbled. The Yellow Jackets recovered and scored the winning touchdown on a 44-yard pass with 1 second remaining.

Cristobal will undoubtedly be forced to recall his ill-fated decision many times this week. With 5 of the past 6 meetings with Tech having been decided by a touchdown or less, there’s a good chance he’ll be in a similar position in Saturday’s game in Atlanta. Maybe this time he’ll remember to take a knee. Or if he forgets, Ward can always save his coach again by doing it himself.

The post Friedlander: 5 questions to ponder before kickoff of Week 11 in ACC football appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The Crimson Tide thought so little of Cadeau’s ability to knock down 3-pointers that they stopped guarding him on the perimeter, daring him to shoot.

The North Carolina point guard made 2 early. But the defensive strategy eventually worked.

Cadeau missed his next 3 attempts from beyond the arc and was such a liability in other areas of his game, especially defense, that coach Hubert Davis pulled him 4½ minutes into the second half and never put him back in.

It’s an experience Cadeau hasn’t forgotten. Nor has he tried to forget.

“I watched it about 10 times just to motivate me,” he said of the 89-87 loss that prematurely ended the Tar Heels’ season. “I thought it was very disrespectful.”

Disrespectful, but understandable.

Although Cadeau put together a solid rookie season, good enough to lead UNC in assists and earn ACC All-Freshman honors, he struggled with his shot. He made just 18.9% from 3-point range (10-of-53) for the year and was especially cold late.

He missed 11 consecutive 3-pointers in the ACC and NCAA tournaments before finally getting those 2 to go in the Alabama game.

And he made improving those numbers his mission during the offseason.

“I’m working on my weaknesses,” he said during UNC’s preseason media day last month. “That’s been my focus all summer. Shooting and defense were things I really wanted to improve on and things the coaches thought I could improve on.

“My shot is coming along very well. It’s been more mental, confidence and reps. I didn’t change any mechanical things. I feel like I used to be an elite shooter. It’s just getting back to that.”

Cadeau spent countless hours in the gym putting up shots, building muscle memory and more important, rebuilding his confidence.

The work and the results it produced didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates and coach.

“You will not recognize Elliot Cadeau this year,” Davis proclaimed. “I mean it.”

As if to drive home that point, Cadeau changed his number from 2 to 3 this season. He then made a 3-pointer for the Tar Heels’ first basket of the new season on the way to a 3-of-4 performance from beyond the arc in No. 9 UNC’s 90-76 win against Elon.

He also had 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots to go along with his 17 points in exactly the kind of start the 5-star prospect needed heading into Friday’s marquee matchup against top-ranked Kansas at Allen Field House.

Elliot Cadeau had a promising sophomore debut: the North Carolina point guard went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and stuffed the stat sheet in a 90-76 win over Elon (17 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks)

Full Highlights https://t.co/SXTIfI4O4a pic.twitter.com/gciu3PPQxj

— CBB Europe (@CBB_Europe) November 5, 2024

“I think it helped his confidence,” Davis said Wednesday of Cadeau’s opening night success. “He knocked down 3 3s, but it’s been more than that. With Elliot, he’s taken on a leadership role that has been huge for us. It was great last year. But just the maturity of having one more extra year, you can just see the growth in him.”

That growth shouldn’t come as a complete surprise.

As a teenager who reclassified to begin his career a year early, he was essentially a high school senior playing at the highest level of college basketball. Though he never looked out of place or overwhelmed, there were times when the game seemed to be going just a little too fast for him.

He’s still anything but a grizzled veteran. But to a true grizzled veteran like teammate RJ Davis, the reigning ACC Player of the Year now in his 5th college season, the difference in Cadeau from last season to now is noticeable.

“He’s confident, he’s vocal, he’s doing what Elliot does,” RJ Davis said. “That’s a testament to his work ethic. He’s hard on himself when things don’t go his way. But that just shows he wants to be great. To see the strides he’s made up to now, I’m really proud of him. I know he’s got a lot more left in the tank to show.”

It’s said that the greatest improvement a player makes comes between his freshman and sophomore seasons.

That’s been particularly true for UNC point guards.

Kendall Marshall and Marcus Paige are 2 examples of players who became better-than-average shooters after struggling early with an inconsistent stroke. Working with Paige, now an assistant coach on the UNC staff, was especially helpful for Cadeau.

The work was validated with an opening night performance that might just prompt opponents to show the 6-1 sophomore a little more respect to this season.

“It was definitely, like, a weight lifted off my shoulders to just see a ball go in like that, especially the first play,” Cadeau said after the game. “I was very excited, very happy.”

As retired Tar Heels coach Roy Williams used to say, everything always seems better when the ball goes through the basket.

The post Friedlander: Motivated by disrespect, UNC’s Elliot Cadeau has put in the work to become a ‘shooting’ star appeared first on Saturday Down South.

And for the most part, it’s true.

Just ask Florida State.

But as it pertains to this year’s expanded 12-team Playoff bracket, there’s more to the first set of rankings than just fodder for overreaction by talk show hosts and internet trolls.

They provide an early peek into the value committee members put on specific teams and conferences and how that might influence their decisions once the only poll that really matters finally does come out on Dec. 8.

So what did we learn from Tuesday’s ranking initial release?

For one thing, the committee holds brand name programs in general and the Big Ten and SEC specifically in higher regard than everyone else.

Exhibit A is Penn State.

The Nittany Lions somehow managed to sneak in at No. 6 while undefeated Big 12 leader BYU is 3 spots lower at No. 9 and Boise State, the top Group of 5 selection is No. 12 despite having 2 more top-25 wins than Penn State — and a 3-point loss at Oregon.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, checks in at No. 10 even with an ugly loss to Northern Illinois that would be an automatic disqualifier for an ACC team.

And, of course, Alabama is the highest-rated 2-loss team in the poll at No. 11.

Eight of the 12 teams in the first projected bracket are from the Big Ten or SEC.

The good news for the ACC is that no matter what happens, it won’t have to suffer the same indignity that it did a year ago when undefeated Florida State got leap-fogged by Alabama and Texas on Section Sunday and wound up on the outside looking in of the final 4-team Playoff.

Whoever wins the conference championship will get an automatic bid because there won’t be 2 Group of 5 conference champions with a better ranking. The ACC champ also will earn an opening round bye as long as it finishes higher in the rankings than the top Group of 5 entry.

With Miami starting at No. 4, that’s all but guaranteed as long the Hurricanes can continue to buck their history of stumbles and win out. But if that happens, it’s almost certain they’ll be the ACC’s only Playoff team.

That’s because SMU is already the first team out at No. 13. Even with SEC and Big Ten teams cannibalizing each other – starting Saturday when No. 3 Georgia and No. 16 Ole Miss face off and No. 11 Alabama plays No. 15 LSU – there’s zero chance of the Mustangs jumping any higher than they already are with a second loss on their resume.

First set of in-season CFP rankings — in projected bracket form. pic.twitter.com/r2yxFfXYmB

— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) November 6, 2024

Never mind that Rhett Lashlee’s team owns a pair of Top-25 wins (No. 18 Pitt and No. 22 Louisville) and that its only loss came by a field goal against No. 9 BYU. In a game before Kevin Jennings took over at quarterback and ignited its offense.

Or that its strength of record at No. 13 nationally is better than Boise State’s at No. 16.

It’s true that the Mustangs should have lost to Duke 2 weeks ago before overcoming 6 turnovers to win after the Blue Devils failed on a 2-point conversion in overtime.

Last time I checked, though, style points aren’t supposed to matter.

Only wins.

Apparently SMU isn’t enough of a brand name to escape the eye test. And the ACC’s other ranked teams, Pitt, Louisville and No. 23 Clemson, are all ranked too low to factor into the at-large conversation and need too much help just to get into the conference championship game. Let alone win it.

The only way the ACC gets 2 teams in the Playoff is if an 11-1 Mustangs team beats a 12-0 Miami in Charlotte on Dec. 7.

The cost of that scenario could very likely be the loss of a first-round bye.

There’s one other factor to consider regarding the ACC. It’s the Jordan Travis factor. Specifically, what happens to Miami if somehow Cam Ward is injured, but his team still hangs on to win the conference title?

Playoff committee chair Warde Manuel was asked about such a possibility in a question-and-answer session with the media shortly after Tuesday’s rankings were announced.

“We don’t look at it in terms of penalizing teams,” the Michigan athletic director said. “We look at performance. If the performance is there, the performance is there. It has nothing to do with whether or not an injury is disclosed or a key player is out.”

Just in case, Mario Cristobal would be smart not to rule his star quarterback out for the Playoff in the event of an injury. Listing Travis as day-to-day, even though he actually wasn’t, might have kept Florida State from getting knocked out of the bracket last year.

But even then, the Hurricanes’ fate would be in the hands of the committee. Which is never a good thing.

Unless, of course, you happen to play in either the SEC or Big Ten.

The post Friedlander: Is the ACC really a 1-bid league? Initial Playoff rankings suggest so appeared first on Saturday Down South.

At NC State on Monday, it was multiplied by two.

Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts admitted to getting so choked up as the banners his team earned for its ACC Tournament championship and Final Four run last spring were hung from the rafters at Lenovo Center that he had to remind himself there was a game to play.

The 4 returning players from that historic Wolfpack team did a much better job of channeling their emotions into the task at hand.

Breon Pass doubled his career high by scoring 14 points and Ben Middlebrooks posted an energetic double-double, while Michael O’Connell and Jayden Taylor also made major contributions to State’s 97-66 win against USC Upstate.

The emotional night in Raleigh was 1 of 15 ACC games on the opening night of the college basketball season. But this one had just a little more meaning than all the others.

“I was very juiced. It was a very cool experience,” Middlebrooks said of the pregame ceremony that preceded his 10-point, 10-rebound, 4-block performance. “To see all the stuff we accomplished last year, it just gives you that edge going into the games we have coming up.”

Whether it was the extra oomph of the banners going up or the 3 intense practices that followed a lackluster exhibition game effort last week, the Wolfpack were a different team than the one that struggled to beat Division II Lees-McRae.

They shot 57% from the floor, recorded 20 assists on 38 baskets, forced 17 turnovers and got scoring from all 11 available scholarship players.

While this State team still has many of the same pieces that helped fuel its surprising postseason run, Monday’s debut provided a glimpse of how different this version will be.

With super-sized big man DJ Burns now playing professionally in Japan, the Wolfpack have become a much faster, more athletic unit looking to run at every opportunity.

Keatts characterized it as more of a “depth team” than a “go-to guy team” with multiple players capable of being the leading scorer on a given night.

On this banner night, it was Pass – a deep reserve over his first 3 seasons – and Bowling Green transfer Marcus Hill leading the way with 14 points each while Louisville survivor Brandon Huntley-Hatfield combined with Middlebrooks to fill the void left by Burns with 13 points.

Just the way Keatts drew it up.

“I’m glad the game went the way it went because we dropped the banners,” the Wolfpack coach said afterward. “I didn’t want to hang 2 banners and just have an okay game.”

A perfect start

Keatts wasn’t the only one around the league who could smile about the way things started on Monday.

Commissioner Jim Phillips was probably smiling ear-to-ear as well.

Phillips has made a concerted effort to try and create a more positive national perception for the ACC and help prevent it from being as “undervalued” as it’s been on the past 2 Selection Sundays. At least for this one night, all his teams helped in that effort by winning their season openers.

(That might not sound like much — but 2 ranked SEC teams lost their openers to unranked teams Monday night; UCF beat No. 13 Texas A&M, and Ohio State took out No. 19 Texas. And South Carolina lost to North Florida. Not an ideal start for a league proclaiming to be the best in the country in 2024-25.)

Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and Virginia will tip things off Wednesday.

It wasn’t always pretty for the ACC on Monday. Or easy. Both North Carolina and Syracuse struggled before pulling out closer-than-they-should-have-been victories against Elon and LeMoyne, everyone took care of business and got off to a winning start.

A Flagg flying at Cameron

Duke didn’t have any banners to raise at Cameron Indoor Stadium. At least not yet. So the Blue Devils settled for unfurling a flag for their opening night game against Maine.

That’s Flagg, as in Cooper Flagg, the 5-star freshman already being projected as the No. 1 overall pick in next spring’s NBA Draft.

The 6-9 teenager had a successful debut against the Black Bears from his home state. He filled up the stat sheet by scoring 18 points – punctuated by a SportsCenter Top 10-quality dunk – to go with 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals in Duke’s 96-62 win.

https://twitter.com/bballforever_/status/1853601379853758481

Flagg isn’t the only fantastic freshman Jon Scheyer has at his disposal. Fellow 5-star Kon Knueppel led the Blue Devils with 22 points while 4 others scored in double figures to lead their school’s 43rd straight home-opening victory, a streak that dates back to the 1982 opener.

Mike Krzyzewski’s third season at Duke.

Nervous nights in Chapel Hill and Syracuse

For RJ Davis and his Tar Heels, Monday’s opener against Elon must have seemed like an uncomfortable flashback to last season’s Sweet 16 to Alabama.

At least until the final 6 ½ minutes.

The reigning ACC Player of the Year went 1-for-9 from 3-point range in that loss to the Crimson Tide. And he was headed in that same direction after a 1-for-7 start that helped put UNC into a 71-69 hole with 6:48 remaining. Davis finally warmed up by hitting a pair of 3s down the stretch to spark a 21-5 finishing run that averted disaster.

But the Tar Heels are going to have to be better. And soon. On Friday, they head into hostile territory to take on Kansas at Allen Field House.

If there was one positive to UNC’s 90-76 win, it was the play of sophomore point guard Elliot Cadeau, who showed off his new-found shooting stroke by going 3-of-4 from distance on his way to a 17-point, 8-assist performance.

While the Tar Heels got a scare, Syracuse had an even closer call.

The Orange trailed for the better part of the first 34 minutes and led by only 1 with less than a minute to go before pulling out an 86-82 victory against a team in just its second season as a Division I program.

Unlike UNC, Adrian Autry’s team will have a couple more dress rehearsals – against Colgate and Youngstown State – before facing their first big test against Texas on Nov. 21.

A different breed of Cardinals

The only resemblance between the Louisville team that throttled Morehead State 93-45 in its first game under new coach Pat Kelsey to the one that lost 24-plus games in each of the past 2 seasons for Kenny Payne is the name across the front of its jerseys.

The Cardinals, armed with 12 new players to go with their energetic new coach, looked like a competent, cohesive unit on offense while putting on a defensive clinic in holding their opponent to just 3 field goals in the first half and 23% shooting for the game.

Transfers Kasean Pryor and J’Vonne Hadley, both of whom helped their teams into the postseason in 2023-24, led the scoring with 18 and 15 points, respectively, while helping Louisville serve notice that it once again has the potential to be a factor in both the ACC and nationally.

Kelsey, who compiled a successful resume at Winthrop and College of Charleston, wasn’t the only new coach getting off to a winning start.

Stanford beat Denver 85-62 in its first game under former Washington State coach Kyle Smith, and SMU christened the Andy Enfield era with a 96-62 win against Tarleton State. Cal, meanwhile, took down Cal State Bakersfield in its first game as an ACC member.

The post Friedlander: A banner opening night for ACC basketball … especially at NC State appeared first on Saturday Down South.

That’s more as in the most number of teams advancing to the Sweet 16 and less as in the number of bids it got compared to other power conferences.

And it’s not the first time that’s happened.

Four of the league’s 5 invited teams made it to the second week of the tournament with NC State, which finished 10th in the regular season, making it all the way to the Final Four.

It’s an accomplishment for which commissioner Jim Phillips is rightfully proud. Even though it’s not something he would like to see continue. That’s why he’s initiated a campaign designed to create a more positive national perception in the conference and keep it from being “undervalued” in the future.

Clearly he has a big job ahead of him.

Only 2 ACC teams, usual suspects Duke and North Carolina, were among the 25 ranked teams in the Associated Press preseason poll.

Talking about the problem is a good start. But the only way to change perspective is to have its teams win more during the regular season.

With that part of the process set to begin with Opening Day on Monday, here are 10 burning questions facing ACC as a new season tips off:

10. Who will be the best of the ACC’s 3 new teams?

As was the case in football, SMU stands the best chance among the newcomers of making an immediate splash. The Mustangs brought in Andy Enfield to coach a team that won 20 games a year ago, returns top 3-point shooter Chuck Harris and added Wake Forest point guard Boopie Miller from the transfer portal. Mark Madsen authored a 10-win improvement in his first season at Cal last year. But after losing his top 9 scorers from a veteran team that went only 13-19, the Bears are likely to take a step back this year. At Stanford, new coach Kyle Smith has a major rebuild ahead of him after leading Washington State to the NCAA Tournament a year ago. He does, however, have a nice piece to build around in 7-1 center Maxime Raynaud, the Cardinal’s leading scorer and rebounder in 2023-24.

9. Which 3 teams get left out of the ACC Tournament?

The league couldn’t figure out how to manage an 18-team team tournament, so it stuck with its current 15-team bracket and exclude the bottom 3 finishers in the regular-season standings. That’s certain to ruffle a few feathers among the ACC’s old guard the first time 1 of its original members doesn’t make the field. But it’s not likely to happen this season. Other than newcomers Stanford and Cal, the most likely candidate to be left home from Charlotte in March is Boston College. Although Earl Grant led the Eagles to a 20-win season and NIT bid, he has a big job ahead of him to stay out of the bottom 3 after losing his top 5 scorers, including star big man Quinten Post to the NBA, and guards Jaeden Zackery and Claudel Harris to transfer.

8. How big a jump can Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and Syracuse make in Year 2 with coaches?

It’s said that players make their biggest improvement between their freshman and sophomore years. Coaches Damon Stoudamire, Micah Shrewsberry and Adrian Autry can only hope the same holds true for building programs. Tech’s Stoudamire has the advantage of his 2 best returning players – big man Baye Ndongo and point guard Naithan George – ready to make that sophomore leap. Syracuse’s Autry got off to the best start of the 3 by leading the Orange to a 20-12 record in his first season replacing his mentor Jim Boeheim at Syracuse. But he might have the most difficult assignment in Year 2 without All-ACC guard Judah Mintz. Shrewsberry stands the best chance of making a quantum leap because of his history – he got Penn State to the NCAA Tournament in Year 2 – and the return of ACC Rookie of the Year Markus Burton.

7. Can Miami bounce back from last year’s disappointment?

The Hurricanes went from the high of a Final Four to the low of missing out on the NCAA Tournament in the course of just 1 season. Some of the drop-off can be attributed to a series of injuries, the most significant of which slowed point guard Nijel Pack even when he was able to play. Pack is healthy again and back. So is wing Matthew Cleveland, the ACC’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2022 while at Florida State. With the addition of 5-star freshman shooting guard Jalil Bethea and a transfer class led by big man Lynn Kidd, whose 8.2-point-per-game improvement last season at Virginia Tech was the league’s best, coach Jim Larrañaga’s team should be trending in the right direction again.

6. Is this the year Steve Forbes gets Wake Forest into the NCAA Tournament?

No one has suffered the consequences of the ACC’s negative perception more than the Deacons. Twice in the past 3 seasons they’ve won 20-plus games overall and 11 or more in conference. Thresholds that once guaranteed ACC teams entry into the NCAA Tournament. Both times, though, Forbes’ team was left out. That’s projected to change this season. Wake was picked 3rd, behind blue-bloods Duke and North Carolina, in the ACC’s preseason poll. The reason for the optimism is the return of All-ACC guard Hunter Sallis, along with versatile guard Cam Hildreth and big man Efton Reid, along with Forbes’ usual haul of talent off the transfer portal. He’s also addressed the strength of schedule argument that has hurt the Deacons in the past by putting together a nonconference schedule bolstered by games against Michigan, Florida and Texas A&M.

5. What do NC State and Clemson do for an encore?

The Wolfpack made history by winning 5 games in 5 days for their first ACC Tournament championship since 1987, then rode the wave of momentum all the way to the Final Four. The Tigers nearly joined them in Phoenix by advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Of the 2, Brad Brownell’s team is best equipped to repeat that success. Although cornerstone big man PJ Hall is gone, Clemson still has 2 of the ACC’s best players in Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin to build around. State’s Kevin Keatts, on the other hand, will have to revamp the way his team plays in the absence of super-sized center DJ Burns. He also has to replace leading scorer DJ Horne. Keatts has reloaded with a talented group of transfers. But as we’ve seen many times, the portal can be a hit-or-miss proposition.

4. How much better will Louisville be under Pat Kelsey?

The bar is set low after 2 historically bad seasons under Kenny Payne, including a 2023-24 campaign that saw the Cardinals go 8-24 while finishing 326th out of 351 Division I teams in scoring defense and 223rd in scoring offense. Given Kelsey’s fiery personality and a coaching resume that includes 5 NCAA Tournament appearances at Winthrop and College of Charleston, there’s reason to believe that a major jump up the ACC standings is possible. So far, so good. Kelsey and his completely rebuilt roster, stocked with the nation’s top-ranked transfer class, got off to a promising start with exhibition wins against Young Harris and Spalding. That might not seem like much. But it is a tangible step forward after exhibition losses to Division II opponents Lenoir-Rhyne and Kentucky Wesleyan over the past 2 years.

3. What will Virginia look like without Tony Bennett?

If you’re expecting the Cavaliers to suddenly morph into something different and start playing up-tempo 21st-century basketball just because Bennett suddenly walked away, you’re going to be disappointed. Interim coach Ron Sanchez has been Bennett’s right-hand man since 2003 when they were at Washington State, so their base philosophies are similar. There will be some subtle tweaks, for sure, especially now that transfer point guard Jalen Warley has announced he’s leaving the program. But because of the makeup of the roster and the timing of Bennett’s retirement, they’re not going to be drastic. So be prepared to keep embracing the pace for at least another season.

2. Will North Carolina be able to rebound without a true low post big man?

Rebounding is as much a Tar Heels tradition as pointing to the passer after an assist or wearing Alexander Julian argyle. They’ve led the ACC in each of the past 11 seasons. But with the departure of Armando Bacot, finally, and Harrison Ingram – who accounted for more than half the team’s rebounds last season – there are legitimate questions as to where this year’s rebounding will come from. Neither of the 2 biggest returners – Jalen Washington and Jae’Lyn Withers – are traditional low post big men. Freshman James Brown is a project. Vanderbilt transfer Ven-Allen Lubin plays bigger than 6-7 and will help. But as coach Hubert Davis has said, rebounding is going to have to be a team effort for UNC to reach its potential. The Tar Heels’ recent exhibition win against Memphis is a good sign. They played the Tigers to a 41-41 standoff on the glass.

1. How will the hype surrounding Cooper Flagg compare to Zionmania?

The anticipation surrounding Flagg’s arrival at Duke is higher than that of Zion Williamson in 2018. Remember, Williamson wasn’t even the highest-rated recruit in the Blue Devils’ class that year. It was RJ Barrett. It wasn’t until the 6-7, 285ish-pound freshman went off for 28 points while showing off his full range of dunks, 3-pointers and ballhandling skills in a 118-84 blowout of Kentucky in the Champions Classic that Zionmania began to take off. Flagg is legit, too. And there’s a good chance he’ll live up to his high expectations and like Williamson, be the first player taken in the NBA Draft. But that’s where the comparisons end. They have different body types and skill sets. Flagg will put up numbers and help the Blue Devils contend for a championship. Zion was a unicorn. It’s hard to imagine anything comparing to the hoopla surrounding his 1-and-done college season.

The post 10 burning questions heading into the 2024-25 ACC basketball season appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Exactly how high it rates on the Richter Scale won’t be known until Tuesday evening when the selection committee announces its initial rankings. But suffice it to say that the upset has put the conference into serious jeopardy of losing a second spot in the 12-team field.

To have any shot at avoiding a 1-bid fate, the ACC will have to hope that current league leaders Miami and SMU – ranked No. 4 and 13 in this week’s Associated Press top 25 – run the table and meet one another for the conference championship in Charlotte on Dec. 7.

And then hope that the losing team doesn’t drop below No. 11 in the final rankings.

Considering the committee’s recent history in dealing with the ACC, the odds against that happening are as long as a 60-yard field goal into a stiff breeze.

That’s just 1 of the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after an eventful Week 10 in and around the ACC.

10. A scary scene with a happy ending

It’s always disconcerting to see a player taken from the field on a cart. Especially when a head injury is involved. But it’s even scarier when the injury is so severe that medical personnel determine an ambulance is needed.

It happened again Saturday night just before halftime of SMU’s win against Pitt.

Scary scene in Dallas

Prayers to #SMU #Mustangs CB AJ Davis after being carted off the field pic.twitter.com/VlGUryvvns

— Sleeper Athletes (@SleeperAth1etes) November 3, 2024

Everyone at Gerald J. Ford Stadium held their collective breath as Mustangs defensive back AJ Davis lay face down on the field after taking a blow to his head while attempting to make a tackle on a kickoff return. It took nearly 10 minutes for him to be stabilized and loaded into an ambulance for the trip to nearby Baylor Hospital.

Thankfully, it turned out to be only a precautionary measure. Davis was evaluated by doctors and released from the hospital in time to return to the sideline before the end of the game.

9. Early wakeup call

We here on the East Coast got a taste of “ACC After Dark” when the league chose to schedule Cal’s home game against Miami for a 10:30 p.m. kickoff on Oct. 5. Saturday, it was the league’s Pacific Coast newcomers’ turn to experience the logistical challenges associated with a bi-coastal conference.

You think fans hate those dreaded noon starts? Try getting up to watch your team play at 9 a.m. Better yet, imagine being a player trying to go through your normal pregame routine for a game scheduled at a time in which your body clock thinks you should be eating breakfast.

That’s what Stanford had to deal with for its game at NC State.

The Cardinal probably weren’t going to win the game anyway. But the early wakeup call certainly didn’t help as State poured in 59 points, its most in an ACC game.

8. Pry-ing another loss from the jaws of victory

If there’s a close game and Virginia Tech is involved, you can bet Brent Pry will find a way to lose it.
Like clockwork, it happened again Saturday at Syracuse.

The Orange battled back from a 21-3 deficit midway through the third quarter to force overtime on a LeQuint Allen touchdown run with 29 seconds remaining in regulation. Allen then scored again on his team’s extra possession before Tech quarterback Collin Schlee – subbing for an injured Kyron Drones – lost a fumble while attempting to answer back.

The loss ended whatever hopes the Hokies had of getting back into ACC Championship Game contention. And it was all but inevitable once the game got close down the stretch.

Tech is now 1-11 in games decided by a touchdown or less during Pry’s 3 seasons in Blacksburg.

7. Hurricanes minus-10

It doesn’t matter what the oddsmakers say. No matter how many points Miami is favored by, it doesn’t seem as though the Hurricanes are happy until they spot their opponent at least a touchdown and field goal head start.

For the 3rd time in its 5 ACC games on Saturday, Mario Cristobal’s team fell behind by 10 or more points in the second half. But just as it did earlier against Virginia Tech and Cal, it turned on the jets and battled back to claim a 53-31 victory and stay undefeated.

Unlike those other 2 wins, the Hurricanes didn’t wait until the bitter end to pull this game out. With Cam Ward throwing 3 of his 5 touchdown passes after halftime – including a 66-yarder to Xavier Restrepo that put both the quarterback and receiver into the school record book – Miami outscored Duke by 26 points over the final 2 periods.

The comebacks have helped the Hurricanes win games they’ve lost in previous seasons. So far Ward — who tied the single-season program record with 29 TD passes — has been the antidote that has immunized them from their traditional stumbles. But you have to wonder if it’s only a matter of time before he runs out of rabbits to pull out of his hat. Or his teammates dig a hole too deep to escape.

6. Keeping ‘The Hammer’ down

Omarion Hampton’s nickname among his North Carolina teammates is “The Hammer” because of his punishing running style. So it’s only appropriate that the Tar Heels chose to keep the hammer down in its 35-11 bludgeoning of Florida State.

The strategy of giving the ball to Hampton until the Seminoles proved they could stop him worked so well that the Tar Heels needed to throw only 3 passes in the second half. And one of those was a shovel pass Hampton turned into a 49-yard touchdown. It was one of the 5 times the ACC’s leading rusher got into the end zone on the way to becoming the first UNC player since Kelvin Bryant in 1981 to score as many as 5 touchdowns in a game.

5 TDs. 253 all-purpose yards.

OMARION HAMPTON, EVERYBODY

@accnetwork x @UNCFootball
pic.twitter.com/8A0ZNTd7a6

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) November 2, 2024

Hampton ran for 172 yards on 32 carries and caught 3 passes for 95 more. His 265 yards of total offense were 64 more than gained by FSU’s entire team. In the process, he surpassed the 3,000-yard mark for his career while tying offensive analyst Natrone Means for fourth on the Tar Heels’ all-time list with 34 touchdowns.

The junior running back is one of the big reasons why UNC has recovered from its 4-game losing streak and is within 1 win of bowl eligibility. But he’s gone largely unnoticed nationally. That’s a shame, because no offensive player in the ACC has been as dominant or important to his team.

That includes Heisman frontrunner Ward.

5. Another new low for the Noles

Rock bottom isn’t a place that can be found on a map or GPS. Its location is subjective. So we’ll wait until Florida State takes on 1-8 Charleston Southern in a couple of weeks before we proclaim that things can’t get any worse for the Seminoles. We can, however, say with a high degree of certainty that things aren’t getting better for Mike Norvell’s disappointing team.

Saturday’s setback to UNC was the latest in a string of new lows that already included the program’s first loss to Duke and a beatdown at the hands of rival Miami that gave FSU the distinction of becoming the first ACC team this season to be eliminated from bowl consideration.

This latest flop saw the Seminoles manage only 201 yards, a season-low, against a defense that was torched for 70 points in a game earlier this season. But that wasn’t the only indignity they suffered.

The loss also marked the first time FSU has been beaten by a Mack Brown team. The Hall of Fame coach had dropped his previous 11 games against his alma mater between his 2 tenures at UNC and an earlier stint at Tulane. Proving that if you’re ever going to take out some frustration or settle some scores against the Seminoles, this is the year to do it.

4. Upon further review …

Apparently the folks in the ACC’s control center are more interested in getting Miami into the conference championship game than Clemson. Either that or they just figured the Tigers were already too far gone to use their help on a disputed onside kick with 6 minutes remaining against Louisville.

Clemson still needed to score twice to get back into the game, even after Phil Mafah’s short touchdown run narrowed its deficit to 26-14. But at least it had hope after reserve defensive back Ronan Hanafin appeared to recover the ensuing onside attempt.

For a moment.

That hope quickly disappeared when officials awarded the ball to Louisville. And a review upheld the call on the field. It’s a decision that sparked college football’s newest tradition: Fans showering the field with projectiles attempting to bully the refs into changing their minds.

Refs didn’t bother explaining why they determined Clemson didn’t recover an onside kick even though it looked like they may have

As a result their fans tried to pull a Texas and failed at it and then Louisville immediately scored pic.twitter.com/Nm8K5y1Jxh

— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) November 3, 2024

It worked in Texas with SEC officials.

And maybe it might have worked in the ACC had Miami been involved.

But this time, at Clemson, all it did was create a mess, endanger those on the field and delay the inevitable for a couple of minutes.

3. If only he’d have used the portal

It’s all but a certainty that the Tigers would still have lost the game even if the onside kick call had gone their way. Or been overturned on review. Louisville was the better team all night, dominating Clemson at the point of attack on both sides of the ball and on special teams.

It’s a dominance punctuated on the first play after the controversial call when freshman Isaac Brown broke off a game-clinching 45-yard touchdown run.

The Cardinals’ 33-21 victory didn’t just throw a wrench into the Tigers’ ACC championship changes and Playoff hopes. It also reopened a can of worms that has been sitting quietly on the shelf since the opening week of the season.

Dabo Swinney’s portal problem.

Just so the record is clear 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔!

Louisville had 32 transfers join them the team this year.
Clemson had 0

The portal is a one way to improve your roster & Clemsons HC continues to tie one hand behind his back. pic.twitter.com/N3jvFwmhx7

— Jason (@Canes_Chief) November 3, 2024

Swinney’s aversion to bringing transfers into his program became a huge issue after Clemson got spanked by Georgia. But sentiment quickly swung in the other direction once the Tigers began reeling off a string of impressive victories and rising back into the top 10 of the national polls.

See, you really can win big with homegrown talent.

Or maybe not.

Getting beat by a Louisville team that added 30+ transfers, including a 7th-year quarterback at his third school, will undoubtedly rekindle scrutiny on Swinney and the antiquated way he runs his program. If only he’d have brought in a couple of veterans off the portal, Saturday’s result might have been different.

Isn’t that how it works?

2. Start passing the hat around, Wolfpack fans

Speaking of the transfer portal and that other new reality of the college sports landscape, NIL …
NC State might want to seriously consider starting a GoFundMe page now to start building a war chest big enough to keep quarterback CJ Bailey beyond this season.

Considering the growth the true freshman has shown since being thrust into a starting role and the potential he has as he progresses in his career, he’ll undoubtedly attract plenty of attention from programs in need of a quarterback. And a lot of money to spend on one.

You think Miami wouldn’t be interested in a former 4-star prospect, from Miami no less, to replace Cam Ward next season.

How about Florida State?

Bailey completed 18-of-20 passes for 234 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions in Saturday’s 59-28 win against Stanford. He has a .695 completion percentage for the season with 11 touchdowns. He’s already led a 4th-quarter comeback at Cal 2 weeks ago. And he’s just scratching the surface of his ability.

He’s clearly the future of the Wolfpack. But only if Dave Doeren and his school’s NIL collective are able to make him an offer he can’t refuse.

1. The service charges might be more than the tickets

Louisville’s upset of Clemson has provided some unexpected clarity to the race for the ACC Championship Game.

All Miami and SMU have to do is win out and they’ll meet in Charlotte on Dec. 7 to decide the league title and a spot in the 12-team Playoff bracket. That might be easier said than done, even though both teams have favorable remaining schedules.

While a matchup between the Hurricanes and Mustangs might turn out to be an entertaining, high-scoring duel, it could turn into a ratings and public relations nightmare. The last thing the ACC needs is to have its championship game played before a stadium full of empty seats. In prime time. On network television.

But with a Miami fan base that can’t even fill its own stadium to half capacity and SMU with the second-smallest enrollment among power conference schools behind only Wake Forest, it’s almost a certainty that plenty of good tickets will be available.

And you won’t have to break the bank to get them.

The post 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 10 in the ACC appeared first on Saturday Down South.

You won’t need it anymore.

Louisville saw to that by going into Death Valley and taking down Clemson on Saturday.

The Cardinals’ 33-21 upset doesn’t mathematically eliminate the 11th-ranked Tigers or a handful of others from a shot at the conference championship and a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff. But with only 2 remaining unbeaten teams in the league, it has provided a lot more clarity to the ACC race than there was entering Week 10.

No. 6 Miami and No. 20 SMU find themselves on a collision course to meet for the ACC title. The Hurricanes maintained their frontrunner status by rallying in the second half to beat Duke while the Mustangs dominated No. 18 Pitt from start to finish in an unexpected battle of ranked teams.

Since they’re not scheduled to play each other during the regular season, they can both secure a trip to Charlotte on Dec. 7 by winning out over their final 3 games. But the way things are going in college football this season, that might not be as easy as it sounds.

That’s why the conference has another set of tie-breaking procedures ready just in case.

The sudden separation at the top of the standings is only one of the things we learned about the ACC in Week 10. Here are some of the other big takeaways from around the conference:

Coming up big in the Big D

SMU should have lost last week at Duke. Coach Rhett Lashlee was the first to admit it after his team somehow managed to become only the second FBS team since 2000 to commit 6 more turnovers than its opponent and still win.

It was a great escape that provided the Mustangs with a second chance at remaining tied for first place in the ACC and kept alive their chances at winning the conference in their first season as a member. And they weren’t about to waste it.

Fueled by a festive homecoming sellout crowd, the Mustangs bounced back from one of their worst performances of the season by putting together one of their best in an emphatic 48-25 rout of Pitt. Kevin Jennings threw for 2 touchdowns and Brashard Smith ran for 161 yards and a pair of scores to help SMU make a statement it hopes will reverberate beyond the boundaries of the ACC to members of the Playoff committee that will announce its first rankings on Tuesday.

Because of the circumstances involved and the stakes that were at play in the Mustangs’ long-awaited return to power conference competition, Saturday’s game was billed as SMU’s most important game since the NCAA imposed its crippling Death Penalty on the program in 1987.

It won’t stay that way for long, though. With their victory, Lashlee and his team have put themselves in a position to play even more meaningful games over the next few weeks.

‘Big Game’ Brohm strikes again

Sure, Louisville’s win at Clemson was an upset. The Tigers were at home, they were ranked and were a 10.5-point favorite. But that doesn’t mean the result was a total surprise. Considering coach Jeff Brohm’s track record for beating ranked teams, maybe we should have seen it coming.

Brohm earned his “Big Game” nickname by knocking off 3 top-10 teams during his 6 seasons at Purdue. That’s in addition to the 4 other Top-25 victories his Boilermakers earned. He enhanced that reputation by upsetting No. 10 Notre Dame last year on the way to leading Louisville to the ACC Championship Game in his first season at his alma mater.

This latest triumph was anything but a fluke.

Brohm’s Cardinals dominated the line of scrimmage and ran for 210 yards, never let Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik find his rhythm and blocked 2 field goal attempts on the way to their school’s first win against the Tigers in 9 tries since joining the ACC.

End of the line for the Hokies

Virginia Tech’s home game against Clemson next Saturday will still have ACC Championship Game implications. Just not the kind Brent Pry’s team had hoped.

At 3-1 in the conference with that head-to-head showdown coming up, the Hokies still hoped to finish in the top 2 of the standings and earn a shot at the league title on Dec. 7 in Charlotte. But that dream died Saturday at Syracuse with a 38-31 overtime loss to the Orange. It was an especially devastating defeat because of the circumstances.

Tech played the game without starting quarterback Kyron Drones and leading rusher Bhayshul Tuten, the ACC’s 2nd-leading rusher with 950 yards. Despite their absence, the Hokies still rang up 31 points and 455 yards with UCLA transfer Collin Schlee running the offense and freshman Jeremiah Coney doing most of the running.

Schlee went 16-of-24 for 206 yards and a touchdown through the air and Coney picked up 96 yards on the ground on 9 carries. That was enough to build a 21-3 lead midway through the third quarter and a 31-24 advantage heading into the final minute. But a defense that had been the team’s strength through its 3-game winning streak couldn’t hold on.

LeQuint Allen scored with 29 seconds left in regulation and again on the extra possession to help Syracuse earn bowl eligibility while relegating the Hokies to the role of spoiler when Clemson comes to Blacksburg next week.

Tar Heels continue to get defensive

It’s still hard to tell whether North Carolina’s defense has finally figured things out or simply taken advantage of 2 opponents with poor offenses. Either way, there’s no questioning that coordinator Geoff Collins’ much-maligned unit made the most of its open date 2 weeks ago.

The Tar Heels allowed an average of 30.4 points and 399.9 yards per game while going 3-4 before their week off. In the 2 games since returning to action – a 41-14 beatdown at Virginia that snapped a 4-game losing streak and Saturday’s 35-11 win at Florida State – they’ve lowered those numbers to 10.5 points and 244.5 yards.

They’ve been especially good when it comes to rushing the passer. After combining for only 15 sacks in their first 7 games, they’ve taken down opposing quarterbacks 17 times in the past 2 – 10 against UVa and 7 more against FSU. Defensive end Beau Atkinson led the way with 3.5, just a half sack off the school record set by Hall of Famer Julius Peppers against Virginia in 2001.

UNC’s defensive improvement will be put to more of a test next week against an improved Wake Forest attack. But with 5 wins already in the bank and a remaining schedule that also includes Boston College and rival NC State, the Tar Heels are all but a lock to earn bowl eligibility. A goal that was in serious doubt just 2 weeks ago.

NC State’s running men

UNC isn’t the only ACC team to make good use of a well-timed week off. Rival NC State also took advantage of its opportunity to regroup and adjust, especially when it comes to running the football. Coach Dave Doeren and his offensive coordinator Robert Anae put a major emphasis on improving a ground attack that ranked 15th out of 17 conference teams heading into last week’s open date.

And it obviously paid off.

The Wolfpack came into Saturday’s game against Stanford averaging just 106.4 rushing yards per game. Graduate Jordan Waters nearly got that on 1 electric run in the third quarter. His 94-yard touchdown dash was the 2nd-longest in school history, topped only by a 95-yard run by Hall of Famer Ted Brown against Syracuse in 1977.

Waters finished the game with 115 yards on 5 carries. But he wasn’t alone. Teammate Hollywood Smothers also reached triple figures, picking up 100 yards on 16 carries as State racked up a season-high 281 yards on the ground in their 59-28 win. Waters and Smothers are the first 2 Wolfpack players to rush for more than 100 yards in the same game since Zonovan Knight and Ricky Person did it in the 2021 season opener against South Florida.

The post Friedlander: Biggest takeaways from Week 10 around the ACC appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Two of them, 18th-ranked Pittsburgh and No. 20 SMU, play one another on Saturday.

But because SMU and the other 2 — No. 5 Miami and No. 11 Clemson — don’t meet during the regular season, there’s a realistic possibility of a 3-way tie for 1st place. That could be a problem, since that’s 1 team too many to meet in the conference championship game.

In anticipation of that possibility, the ACC has announced a tiebreaker procedure that would use the combined winning percentage of the 3 teams’ conference opponents to determine which 2 will meet in Charlotte on Dec. 7.

Even though a game of rock, paper, scissors would be more fair.

And a lot more fun.

No matter what the format, there’s still a lot of football to be played before any scenario can come into play. That starts with a busy Week 10 schedule that includes Clemson’s challenging trip to Louisville, Miami’s home date against better-than-expected Duke and the pivotal showdown between ranked opponents at SMU.

It’s a trio of games that could help provide some clarity to the conference race — or move it 1 step closer to a confusing tiebreaker.

As we wait to find out which it is, here are 5 questions to think about and consider before kickoff:

5. Can North Carolina build on last week’s winning performance at Virginia?

The Tar Heels are coming off their best, most balanced effort of the season in a 41-14 rout of the Cavaliers that broke a 4-game losing streak and potentially saved their season. Their much-maligned defense recorded 10 sacks and a pick-6, while Jacolby Criswell supplemented reliable running back Omarion Hampton with an effective passing attack. The question now is whether the strong performance was a one-off inspired by the emotion of losing teammate Tylee Craft to cancer, or if the adjustments made during the previous week’s open date provided fixes that will carry through to the end of the season. Saturday’s game in Tallahassee against struggling Florida State will go a long way toward providing the answers.

4. Will Virginia Tech get caught looking ahead to Clemson?

Because of their 1 conference loss, albeit a controversial one, the Hokies are going to need some help to get back into the championship game race. But with Clemson coming to Blacksburg next week, Brent Pry’s team can at least put itself in a position to have a realistic chance. First, though, it has to travel to Syracuse in a classic trap game. Even after a turnover-plagued loss to Pitt last week, the Orange are a dangerous opponent with an offense fueled by quarterback Kyle McCord, whose 354 passing yards per game leads the ACC. With running back Bhayshul Tuten and left tackle Xavier Chaplin both pronounced healthy enough to play after suffering injuries in last week’s win against Georgia Tech, the Hokies’ biggest challenge could be maintaining their focus and not getting caught looking too far ahead.

3. Could Cade Klubnik be a bigger threat with his legs than his arm against Louisville?

Clemson’s quarterback is averaging 262 yards per game through the air, and his 20 touchdown passes are tied for 2nd in the conference, behind only Miami’s Heisman candidate Cam Ward. But Klubnik has also been a much more effective runner than in his 2 previous seasons with the Tigers. He’s 2nd on the team in rushing with 276 yards and 4 scores. That makes him a particular threat against a Louisville defense that has had difficulty handling mobile quarterbacks. Five of the 8 quarterbacks the Cardinals have faced this year have led their teams in rushing, with 2 — Jacksonville State’s Tyler Huff and SMU’s Kevin Jennings — surpassing the 100-yard mark. Stopping the run, in general, has been a problem for Louisville, which makes a Clemson team that ranks No. 2 in the ACC on the ground a particularly bad matchup.

2. Did SMU get all its turnovers out of its system at Duke last week?

The Mustangs were among the nation’s best with a turnover margin of plus-7 when they arrived in Durham. They left at just plus-6 after coughing the ball up 6 times on 3 fumbles and 3 Jennings interceptions against the Blue Devils. Because they somehow found a way to keep Duke from scoring any points off the giveaways, they escaped with an unlikely 28-27 overtime win to become only the 2nd FBS team since 2000 to win despite a minus-6 turnover margin. Coach Rhett Lashlee can only hope his team’s ball security returns to its pre-Duke level. It probably won’t be able to get away with being as generous against a Pitt defense that picked off Syracuse 5 times last week, returning 3 for touchdowns.

1. Why isn’t Pitt getting more love from poll voters?

The Panthers are 7-0, are outscoring their opponents by a margin of 19 points per game and claim 2 out-of-conference wins against Big 12 foes. And yet they’re ranked only 18th in this week’s Associated Press Top 25. That’s tied with 2012 Rutgers for the lowest any 7-0 power conference team has been ranked in the 88-year history of the poll. The easiest explanation is that the Panthers, despite having a national championship in their history and an ACC title just 3 seasons ago, aren’t currently a brand name. And, sadly, too many in the national media are quick to dismiss programs they don’t know much about — especially when they’re an ACC team not named Clemson, Miami or Florida State. All Pat Narduzzi’s team can do to get more respect is keep winning. Beating 20th-ranked SMU on Saturday would be a good start. Eventually, the voters will catch on.

The post Friedlander: 5 questions to ponder before kickoff of Week 10 in ACC football appeared first on Saturday Down South.

SMU vs. Pitt.

A newcomer against a bottom feeder. Teams picked to finish 7th and 13th in the league’s preseason poll.

But as we all know by now, things haven’t exactly turned out that way.

Miami and Clemson are still the best bets to meet for the conference championship on Dec. 7 in Charlotte. As expected. But with preseason favorite Florida State hitting the skids, NC State underachieving and Virginia Tech stumbling out of the gate, the door has been left ajar for some unexpected contenders to emerge.

It’s an opening through which the Mustangs and Panthers have happily entered.

When the nation’s 20th- and 18th-ranked teams face off in Dallas on Saturday, the winner will remain undefeated in conference play and at the very least, tied for the league lead with 4 weeks to go in the regular season.

The matchup is by far the most important game on the ACC’s Week 10 schedule.

But that only scratches the surface of its significance.

For one of the teams involved, Saturday’s showdown between ranked teams is arguably the most important game it has played in 4 decades.

Sure, SMU won the American Athletic Conference title last season. It’s an accomplishment that shouldn’t be minimized simply because of the level of competition. Winning championships is hard, no matter who you’re playing against.

Still, this is different.

The Mustangs’ reward for winning the American was a date against 6-6 Boston College – a team that finished tied for 9th in the ACC – in Boston at the Fenway Bowl. Winning on Saturday will keep Rhett Lashlee’s team in the running for a much bigger prize.

A spot in the expanded 12-team Playoff and a shot at playing for a national title.

This is exactly the scenario the folks at SMU have been dreaming about since their program was kneecapped by the NCAA’s infamous “Death Penalty” for a series of repeated recruiting violations committed in the 1980s during the glory days of its Pony Express era.

The sanctions, which included the cancellation of the 1987-88 seasons, were so severe that they have never been handed down to a Division I school since.

What if SMU had never been given the death penalty? pic.twitter.com/REbmtFtozt

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 14, 2019

Only within the past 5 or 6 years, have the Mustangs fully recovered.

On the field, at least.

Despite the winning seasons and bowl bids produced by Lashlee and his predecessor Sonny Dykes, there remained a general apathy toward the program. A void that could only be filled with a return to the highest rung of the college football ladder.

SMU was so desperate for a seat at the power conference table that it offered to waive its entire share of media revenue for 9 years for the opportunity to join the ACC. And the ACC, equally needy of income to remain relevant in an athletic arms race dominated by the SEC and Big Ten, was only too happy to take it up on the offer.

It was a marriage of convenience, to be sure. But in just 10 weeks, the bond has quickly grown into a mutually beneficial union.

While the conference got a program that has helped deepen its competitive product and strengthen a national perception that has waned in recent years, SMU has finally gotten the relevance that has eluded it since Eric Dickerson, Craig James and Co. were running wild.

Literally.

The Mustangs are 7-1 with their only loss coming to now-No. 9 BYU in Week 3.

Fan interest has skyrocketed. Their most recent home game, a 42-16 thumping of defending ACC champion Florida State on Sept. 28, drew a crowd of 34,879 in a stadium whose capacity is listed at only 32,000.  And judging from the demand for student tickets, which sold out almost immediately, there will be at least that many at Saturday’s homecoming contest.

With a win, SMU will likely jump as high as it’s been in the national rankings since topping out at No. 3 in 1985. It will also have a clear path to a perfect conference record thanks to a remaining schedule that includes 3 teams – Boston College, Virginia and Cal – that are a combined 3-10 in league play.

The Mustangs are a 7.5-point favorite against undefeated Pitt, according to ESPNBet sportsbook, a team that may or may not have starting quarterback Eli Holstein. Whether he plays or not, it’s a dangerous matchup.

The Panthers’ defense intercepted Syracuse 5 times last week, running 3 back for touchdowns, while SMU turned the ball over 6 times and lived to talk about it in an overtime win at Duke.

Not that it matters how the Mustangs got here.

“Nobody cares at the end of the day what it looked like,” Lashlee said afterward. “All it’s going to say is SMU: 7-1.”

With even greater opportunities still to come.

Opportunities the Mustangs have spent 4 decades waiting to arrive. Even if no one else saw them coming just 10 weeks ago.

The post Friedlander: SMU-Pitt is more than just the most important game on this week’s ACC schedule appeared first on Saturday Down South.

And who’s going to be staying home for the holidays, watching it all from their living rooms?

They’re questions that will be answered over the final 5 weeks of the ACC regular season as teams outside the conference championship conversation chase their own goal of bowl eligibility.

With 6 wins being the magic number.

Five league teams – Miami, Clemson, Pitt, SMU and Duke – are already there and are guaranteed participation in the postseason. Only 1, surprisingly preseason league favorite Florida State, has been mathematically eliminated.

That leaves everyone else to scramble in search of the wins still needed to qualify for selection to one of the ACC’s 11 official bowl affiliations.

In this week's bowl tracker we start trying to figure out who's going to make it to the postseason, with a special look at Georgia Tech's remaining schedule:https://t.co/50AZWFbTku pic.twitter.com/y0DICS6ZwA

— Hokie Mark (@mark_hokie) October 14, 2024

Here’s a look at what those have left, what they need to do and what their chances are of reaching the magic 6-win threshold:

Start making those reservations

Virginia Tech: The Hokies aren’t spending much time worrying about the 1 remaining win they need to reach bowl eligibility. Despite being only 5-3 overall after a pair of early nonconference losses, Brent Pry’s team still has its sights on the loftier goal of a top-2 finish and a trip to the ACC Championship Game.

It’s a long shot thanks to that controversial finish at Miami a few weeks ago. But with a team that’s finally playing up to its preseason expectations, only 1 conference loss on its record and an upcoming date against No. 11 Clemson – in Blacksburg – a title shot could still potentially be on the table.

The rest of their remaining schedule is manageable with road games at Syracuse and Duke and a home finale against in-state rival Virginia. Regardless of how the standings shake out, the Hokies are a lock to make their second bowl appearance in Pry’s 3 seasons.

Louisville: Last year’s conference runner-up is in good shape, too, even though its road to a 6th win could be bumpier. Starting with a trip to Clemson on Saturday. It also has games against undefeated, 18th-ranked Pitt and rival Kentucky, which it hasn’t beaten since 2017.

But even in the worst-case scenario, coach Jeff Brohm has an ace in the hole with a trip to ACC bottom-feeder Stanford following an open date on Nov. 16.

Syracuse: Like Virginia Tech and Louisville, the Orange need just 1 more win to gain bowl eligibility in Year 1 under coach Fran Brown. They still have winnable games against Boston College, Cal and UConn before finishing the regular season at No. 5 Miami.

Cautiously optimistic

North Carolina, NC State: Neither Triangle rival figured to be heading down the home stretch still sweating out bowl eligibility.

But here they are, with both still needing 2 wins in their final 4 games to get to 6.

Dave Doeren’s Wolfpack have been in this position before, winning their final 5 games last season to salvage what was rapidly becoming a lost season. They took a step in the right direction with a come-from-behind win at Cal 2 weeks ago. After a week off to prepare, they’ll take on Stanford and Duke at home before closing out the schedule on the road at Georgia Tech and UNC.

That finale in Chapel Hill on Thanksgiving Saturday could turn out to be the determining factor in which rival goes bowling and which simply gets bowled over.

A lot depends on whether Mack Brown’s Tar Heels can build on last week’s dominating win at Virginia or if it falls back into the bad habits that produced the 4-game losing streak it broke. UNC is favored at Florida State this week and will likely be favored at home against Wake Forest following its second open date before finishing things off with tossup games at Boston College and against NC State.

Could go either way

Boston College, Cal, Wake Forest and Virginia: Like the Wolfpack and Tar Heels, these 4 are all sitting on 4 wins with 4 left to play.

Of that group, the Bears figure to have the best odds of making it to 6.

Even though they have yet to win an ACC game, their 4 league losses have come by a combined total of 9 points. If not for missed field goals in the final 2 minutes against Pitt and NC State, they’d already be bowl eligible.

Justin Wilcox’s team finally got back into the win column with a 44-7 blowout of former Pac-12 rival Oregon State last week and has a favorable remaining schedule with road games at Wake Forest and SMU sandwiched around home dates with Syracuse and The Big Game against Stanford.

BC could have made its task a lot easier by holding onto a 20-point lead against Louisville last Friday. Because it didn’t, it now has to find 2 more wins from a closing stretch consisting of Syracuse, SMU, UNC and Pitt.

Wake Forest’s postseason hopes hinge on games against Cal, at UNC and Miami and at Duke while Virginia’s task is even more daunting. Adding to the pressure of having to face Pitt, Notre Dame, SMU and Virginia Tech – with 3 of the 4 on the road – is the reality that the Cavaliers could be playing for coach Tony Elliott’s job.

Not just bowl eligibility.

And then there’s Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets look to be in good shape at 5-4. But there are no gimmes left for them with Miami, NC State and Georgia left to play. Especially because starting quarterback Haynes King’s status is still uncertain.

So you’re saying there’s a chance

Stanford: Mathematically, yes. Realistically, it might take more than just a band-on-the-field miracle for Stanford to climb its way out of a 2-6 hole to reach the 6-win mark.

Their APR score is tied for 20th, too, meaning they’d need a lot of help to qualify as a 5-7 team.

Bottom line: Unless the Cardinal run the table against NC State on Saturday – in a game that starts at 9 am Pacific Time – Louisville, Cal and San Jose State, the only bowling they’ll be doing this year is at their local alley with 10 pins and a 15-pound ball.

The post Friedlander: Handicapping the ACC’s bowl possibilities entering Week 10 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

So while it’s easy to get carried away and resort to hyperbole after 1, albeit impressive, exhibition performance a week before the regular season begins, the Arizona State coach’s assessment of his alma mater’s current team shouldn’t be taken lightly.

“They have a lot of good pieces,” Hurley said. “I’ve seen a lot of good teams over the years and I think they’ve got a chance to be really good.”

The Blue Devils are already “really good.”

They showed off their talent, depth, versatility and energy on Sunday in a 103-47 manhandling of the Sun Devils in a charity exhibition game designed to welcome Hurley back to Cameron Indoor Stadium and raise money for Duke Children’s Hospital.

Duke shot 53.5%, recovered from a 2-of-11 start to make 17-of-34 3-pointers, won the rebounding battle by a 47-31 margin and forced 18 turnovers in administering the kind of beatdown usually reserved for low-major directional schools.

Not a member of the Big 12.

And the Blue Devils did it with arguably their best player, projected No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg, contributing only 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in just over 20 minutes of court time.

If this was only the starting point, one can only imagine how much better Jon Scheyer’s team has the potential to be come March. The ceiling is so high that freshman center Khaman Maluach, who has a standing reach measured at 9-foot-8, can’t even touch it.

7’2 Duke Freshman From South Sudan, Khaman Maluach in his 2nd Exhibition game vs ASU..

8 PTS (4-7 FG)
12 REBS
2 BLKS
1 STL
1 AST

How we feeling about bro potential, we like what we’re seeing so far?? pic.twitter.com/93Tbb8OJFl

— Frankie Vision (@Frankie_Vision) October 28, 2024

Maluach, who played for South Sudan at the Paris Olympics, is part of the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class that also includes fellow 5-star prospect Kon Knueppel. Both showed on Sunday that they’re ready to make significant, immediate contributions.

Heat Check de Kon Knuppel face à Arizona state
19 PTS
5 REB
4 PAD

Ho… et le tout à 6/11 au tir et 4/8 à 3PTS
pic.twitter.com/L7jm27ZWT8#basketball #NCAA #NBA

— Prospect Sport (@ProspectSport23) October 28, 2024

But while Knueppel wowed the Cameron Crazies with his 3-point shooting prowess by going 4-of-8 from long range and Maluach displayed the kind of rim-protecting defensive force last year’s Blue Devils lacked, the most impressive aspect of the blowout victory is the way a team with only 2 returning scholarship players fit together.

“My biggest thing is how hard we played and how connected we were,” Scheyer said.

While the cohesiveness the Blue Devils displayed against Arizona State is unusual for this early in the season, especially for a team still trying to figure out what it has and who it is, it’s not a surprise to Scheyer.

It’s exactly what he had in mind when he began putting the roster together in the spring.

Scheyer already had a dynamic veteran backcourt with holdovers Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster to go with that star-studded 6-man recruiting class. So instead of trying to build a fantasy lineup by going after the highest-rated players on the transfer portal, the third-year coach brought in carefully selected players capable of filling specific roles.

Maliq Brown, a member of the 2024 ACC All-Defensive team from Syracuse, was brought in to rebound and help defend the post. Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year Mason Gillis from national runner-up Purdue was added for his toughness and winning mentality. Sion James came from Tulane to provide backcourt depth and instant offense off the bench.

“It was all about fit for us,” Scheyer said. “It was all about understanding. You have to come here to earn it. You can’t be given something.”

That’s a philosophy the current Duke coach learned from his predecessor Mike Krzyzewski and is the foundation upon which the Blue Devils’ success has been built.

“For me, this was a time to get back to the roots of the value of our program, which is about competing,” Scheyer said. “It’s about being all-in and then going to earn what you want individually.”

Scheyer wasn’t the only coach at Cameron on Sunday raised on that philosophy.

Hurley was, too.

The older brother of 2-time defending national champion coach Dan Hurley of UConn, he helped Coach K plant the roots Scheyer mentioned by helping to hang a pair of championship banners – along with his retired No. 11 – to the rafters of Duke’s legendary arena.

His return, which included a rousing ovation from the Blue Devils faithful and a heartfelt hug from Krzyzewski during a pregame ceremony, helped him feel as though he never left.

Even though it was his first visit to Cameron in 3 decades.

The return of a legend.

Check out Duke's full tribute to Bobby Hurley. pic.twitter.com/qNvi5opmWH

— Blake Niemann (@Blakes_Take2) October 28, 2024

Hurley, wearing his 1992 national championship ring for the occasion. explained his prolonged absence by saying that he just didn’t feel comfortable returning to the site of his glory days without being out on the court playing.

“I never wanted to come back here because it was so good to me,” he said.

It was good to him again Sunday. At least until the game started.

After going 119-26 with 3 Final Four appearances in his 4 seasons at Duke, the NCAA’s all-time assists leader finally got to experience what it’s like to be on the other side of the Cameron experience.

“I’ve been here long enough to know that what just happened has happened before and that it could happen to me,” he said of the lopsided final margin. “And it did.”

Hurley was philosophical about the beatdown, primarily because it was only an exhibition game.

But he can also take solace in the knowledge that his Sun Devils are only the first of many to suffer a similar fate against a “really good” Duke team that’s only going to get better.

The post Friedlander: If this is only the starting point for Duke basketball, I can’t wait to see the finished product appeared first on Saturday Down South.

That’s apparently the approach taken by a large number of voters on the Associated Press football poll. How else do you explain the reasoning behind Clemson’s drop from No. 9 into a tie with Iowa State for No. 11 in this week’s rankings despite not playing?

I guess “Open” is a much tougher opponent than those played by Notre Dame, Texas A&M and BYU, all of which leapfrogged the idle Tigers. Then again, Tennessee had the week off as well. And yet somehow the Vols managed to stay at No. 7.

Is it a conspiracy to make it as difficult as possible for the ACC to get more than 1 team in the Playoff? Or simply a case of recency bias?

You know. Out of sight, out of mind.

That’s just one of the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 9 in and around the ACC.

10. College football’s overtime format is superior to the NFL’s

And it’s not even close.

Look no further than SMU’s 28-27 win at Duke on Saturday for proof. The Mustangs got the ball first and scored quickly on a 24-yard touchdown run by Brashard Smith. In the NFL, it would have been game over.

Drive home safely.

Sorry, Duke. Better luck next time.

But because this was a college game, the Blue Devils got an equal shot at answering back. And they wasted no time taking advantage, taking only one play for Maalik Murphy to hit Eli Pancol in the end zone.

That’s when the real fun began. Spooked by a kicker who had already missed an extra point and 2 field goals, including 1 that would have won the game on the final play of regulation, Manny Diaz decided to go for 2 and the win instead of rolling the dice on another kick to extend the game.

The try was unsuccessful and Duke lost. But the mere fact that Diaz was in a position to make the decision gave the game a dramatic finish that never could have happened under the NFL’s rules.

9. They keep shotgunning themselves in the foot

I’ve asked this question before. And no one seems capable of providing a good answer. So I’ll keep asking in the hope that someone can explain the logic to me like I’m a third grader.

Why do coaches keep insisting on running out the shotgun instead of having their quarterbacks under center in situations where there’s a yard or fewer to gain?

Doing so backfired on Virginia’s Tony Elliott and Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson on Saturday.

It nearly cost Clawson’s Deacons a victory when quarterback Hank Bachmeier was stopped short of the goal line on a 4th-down keeper out of the shotgun early in the 4th quarter at Stanford. The Cardinal then proceeded to drive 99 yards in the opposite direction for the tying touchdown.

Even though Wake eventually won on a late field goal and a game-saving interception, it should never have come to that.

I admit that I’m not good at math. But I can figure out that it makes more sense to gain 1 yard from 1 yard away rather than 5 yards.

Why is that such a difficult concept for coaches to grasp?

8. Adding insult to injury

Cal has gone out of its way to make friends in the ACC by playing just well enough to lose to its new conference opponents. The Bears are 0-4 in league play, with the losses coming by a combined 9 points. They’ve even missed a pair of makeable game-winning field goals in the final 2 minutes to keep up the goodwill.

The Calgorithm wasn’t as kind to a fellow Pac-12 leftover on Saturday.

Justin Wilcox and his team could have felt some sympathy for Oregon State. If not for the ACC throwing it and Bay Area neighbor Stanford a lifeline last fall when their former conference imploded, Cal would have suffered a similar fate and been thrown into realignment purgatory.

Instead, the Bears added insult to the Beavers’ injury while also taking out a little of their own frustration by administering a 44-7 beatdown on them. From the sound of things, they took great pleasure in doing so.

“Coach Wilcox talks about trying to take down the dam,” quarterback Fernando Mendoza said after the game. “Ironically enough because beavers build dams, we broke the dam today.”

7. Let’s not get carried away, Mario. At least not yet

As a proud graduate of Miami who was hired by his alma mater to help restore it to the championship glory he helped build as a player, it’s understandable that Mario Cristobal would revel in beating rivals Florida State and Florida. Especially when it entails kicking the Seminoles while they were down.

Still, the Hurricanes coach might want to pump the brakes a little when it comes to making big-picture proclamations regarding the trajectory of football in the Sunshine State.

@CanesFootball pic.twitter.com/jZ5Hl3BCiK

— ACC Network (@accnetwork) October 27, 2024

Being undefeated and ranked No. 5 is a great place to start. It does have a positive impact on recruits. Just remember, though, FSU was an undefeated top-5 team at this time last year.

The script can flip in a hurry. And Cam Ward won’t be around long.

Staying there is even harder than getting there.

6. Coaching seat temperature check

As we like to say in North Carolina – and probably a lot of other places, too – if you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes and it will change. The same can be said about coaches whose job security might be in doubt.

The climate can change literally from week to week.

So let’s take stock of where some of the ACC’s most vulnerable coaches stand:

• North Carolina’s Mack Brown: Cooling. Speculation was rampant that Brown might step away during his Tar Heels’ open week. But the death of Tylee Craft changed everything. Forget football. There are more important things at play. Brown is the father figure whose leadership is important in helping his players get through a heartbreaking situation. Based on Saturday’s performance at Virginia, he and his staff have done a great job of that. Although Brown might still retire after the season, his presence in the locker room and on the sideline is too important to think about that right now.
• Virginia’s Tony Elliott: Warming. Elliott put himself in position to save his job with a 4-1 start that surpassed his team’s win totals from each of his first 2 seasons. But Saturday’s 41-14 loss to Brown’s Tar Heels could be a turning point that puts him back in hot water. UNC was the most beatable opponent left on the Cavaliers’ schedule. And if the difficult competition wasn’t enough of a warning sign, Elliott has a quarterback controversy brewing. A coach’s worst nightmare.
• Florida State’s Mike Norvell: 7 inches from the midday sun. He has a prohibitive buyout thanks to a new extension. But the folks in Tallahassee have shown they’re willing to throw a lot of money around while they’re crying poor. Norvell’s Seminoles are a mess. And there’s still time for things to get worse.

5. How to win a game without even trying

SMU beat Duke 28-27 in overtime to stay undefeated in the ACC and keep alive the possibility of a chaotic 3-way tie for the regular season championship. But for the life of him, Mustangs coach Rhett Lashlee couldn’t figure out how his team did it.

“We … probably put on a clinic on how to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat,” he said afterward. “There’s 4 or 5 times in the last 10 minutes of the game that I just say, ‘You know, it’s not our night.’”

It shouldn’t have been. Lashlee’s team did everything in its power to gift the the Blue Devils the victory. And Duke refused to accept it.

According to OptaSTATS, the Blue Devils became only the second FBS team since 2000 to record a +6 turnover margin and lose, joining Memphis in a 23-22 loss to Marshall in 2011, in the indignity. It’s inconceivable that a team could force 6 turnovers and fail to turn any of them into points. But the Blue Devils managed to pull it off.

Three interceptions and 3 fumble recoveries. Half of them coming in the 4th quarter of a tie game. With nothing to show for it other than a pair of missed field goals, a failed 2-point conversion in overtime and a result that defied logic.

“We should have lost that game 5 different times late,” Lashlee said. “If we played it 100 times, we’re probably losing 99 of them the way the game unfolded. It just happened to be the 1 time.”

The good news for Duke is that basketball starts next Monday. Judging from the way Jon Scheyer’s team looked in Sunday’s 103-47 exhibition blowout of Arizona State, the sting of Saturday’s football loss won’t last long.

4. Who are those guys in Carolina Blue?

It certainly wasn’t the same team that gave up 70 points to James Madison. Or that coughed up a game by giving up a 68-yard touchdown run to Georgia Tech when the Yellow Jackets were trying to run out the clock to play for overtime.

Maybe it was the motivation of playing to honor their late teammate Tylee Craft. Maybe it was the adjustments made during an opportune open date. Or maybe it was a combination.

Whatever the reason, North Carolina’s defense actually looked like it knew what it was doing in Saturday’s 41-14 rout of Virginia. The Tar Heels recorded 10 sacks, their most since matching that number in a 2000 win against Wake Forest, including 3 by star edge rusher Kaimon Rucker – finally healthy again for the first time since early in the season.

Rucker also had an interception, as did fellow lineman Jahvaree Ritzie, who returned his 84 yards for a touchdown.

Combined with an equally productive offensive performance, UNC snapped a 4-game losing streak and rekindled hope of salvaging a season that once appeared unsalvageable. With remaining games against foundering Florida State, Boston College and in-state rivals Wake Forest and NC State, finding the 2 wins necessary for bowl eligibility is hardly out of the question.

But only if the defense that showed up in Charlottesville on Saturday decides to stick around.

3. Eli Holstein hitting the wall

Pitt is still undefeated heading into its showdown against SMU in Dallas next week, a game that will identify one of the teams as a realistic ACC contender. But while Pat Narduzzi’s 18th-ranked Panthers appear to be riding high, there is at least one red flag that can’t be ignored.

After getting off to a blazing start, quarterback Eli Holstein is looking like just another freshman rather than the ACC’s Freshman of the Year frontrunner.

The Alabama transfer is still among the conference leaders at 258 passing yards per game with a .642 completion percentage and 17 touchdowns. His performance has dropped off considerably, however, in his past 2 games. He threw for only 133 yards with a pair of interceptions in a 17-15 win against Cal 2 weeks ago. Then Thursday against Syracuse, he hit on only 11-of-15 passes for 108 yards.

It’s still to be determined whether Holstein has hit a freshman wall or whether his “slump” is nothing more than opposing coaches figuring out how to defend him. If it’s the latter, it’s up to the young quarterback to make some adjustments of his own.

The sooner, the better if the Panthers hope to make a serious run at an ACC title shot.

2. Unraveling of McCord

Oh, so that’s why Ohio State coach Ryan Day decided to push Kyle McCord out the door.

It took 7 games at Syracuse to finally show up. But McCord’s questionable decision-making under pressure – the fundamental flaw in his game that led to his departure from the Buckeyes despite going 11-1 as their starter last season – reared its ugly head in Thursday’s 41-13 rout at the hands of Pitt.

McCord threw 3 touchdown passes in the first half.

All to the wrong team.

His mistakes dug the Orange into a 31-0 hole, all but deciding the outcome before the marching band played the first note of its halftime show. McCord was intercepted 5 times in all, giving him 11 for the season.

In his defense, Thursday’s debacle is the exception, not the rule during his short time with the Orange. He’s thrown for 19 touchdowns to his own receivers and surpassed the 300-yard mark in every game he’s played for Syracuse. Including 321 against Pitt. That might be good enough for a building program trying to get off the ground. Not as much for a team whose legitimate Playoff chances can go up in smoke with 1 inconsistent performance.

Like Thursday in Pittsburgh. Or last November in Ann Arbor.

1. Are the poll voters setting Clemson and the ACC up for an even bigger fall?

It’s easy to write off Clemson’s drop in the media poll as little more than a harmless topic for talk show discussion and social media outrage. Especially since the Tigers actually moved up a notch to No. 8 in this week’s coaches rankings.

It should also be noted that the only poll that really matters, the one compiled by the Playoff committee, is still 8 days from being released.

A lot can and probably will happen in Week 10 that will impact that Nov. 5 poll. Let alone before Selection Sunday.

Still, there’s an ominous vibe to Clemson’s off-week drop. It’s a reminder of how easy it can be for the Committee to stick it to the ACC again – as it did with Florida State last year – if its members decide that the conference is only worthy of a single bid. Even if an unbeaten Miami and 1-loss Clemson meet for the league title in Charlotte on Dec. 7.

Unless the Group of 5 representative is placed among the top 12 of the final poll, a team will have to be rated 11th or higher to get into the Playoff field.

Which coincidentally, is exactly where Clemson is ranked this week.

Or maybe it’s not such a coincidence.

The post 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 9 in the ACC appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Some get discouraged and never overcome it. Others use it as motivation and bounce back better than before.

North Carolina chose the latter course Saturday in Charlottesville.

Faced with the most demoralizing circumstances imaginable, the Tar Heels channeled their emotion into their best performance of the season in a 41-14 demolition of Virginia in their first game back after the death of teammate Tylee Craft.

“We told these kids, keep swinging,” coach Mack Brown said following the game, echoing a phrase that became Craft’s rallying cry throughout his losing battle against cancer. “This is the start of the rest of the season for us.”

Craft died on Oct. 12 during UNC’s loss to Georgia Tech. His teammates were given the bad news in the locker room afterward, adding to the disappointment of a late breakdown that allowed the Yellow Jackets to score the winning touchdown on a long run in the final seconds.

Fortunately, a well-timed open date on the schedule gave them a full week to mourn. After traveling as a team to attend a memorial service for Craft in Sumter, SC, they used the extra practice time to regroup and fix some of the problems that have plagued them since their most recent win – on Sept. 14 against North Carolina Central.

Among the most inspired performances was that of Craft’s fellow wide receiver JJ Jones. The graduate student, who wore Craft’s No. 13 in the Georgia Tech game as a tribute to his friend, caught 5 passes for a career-high 129 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the victory.

The Tar Heels’ much-maligned defense was even more impressive. The same unit that got torched for 70 points against James Madison and came into the game allowing an average of 30.4 points and 399.9 yards per game limited UVa to only 288 yards and 14 points.

The biggest improvement came in the pass rush.

Crushed it

The Tar Heel defense totaled 10.0 sacks, 12.0 TFLs and 2 interceptions capped by a pick 6 in their 41-14 win over UVA@UNCFootball | @GoHeels | #UNCommon | @drpepper pic.twitter.com/yrYKYKOUfY

— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) October 26, 2024

The Tar Heels had only recorded 15 sacks in their first 7 games combined. And none in the previous 2 games before taking last week off. They got more than half that many Saturday by taking Cavaliers quarterback Anthony Colandrea down in the backfield 10 times. It’s the first time since a win against Wake Forest in 2000 that the Tar Heels reached double-digit sacks in a game.

All-ACC edge rusher Kaimon Rucker led the way with 3 while bookend Beau Atkinson had 2 to lead the sack attack. Teammates Jahvaree Ritzie, Antavious Lane, Amare Campbell, Desmond Evans and Alijah Huzzie each finished with one. Rucker and Ritzee also had interceptions, with Ritzee taking his back 84 yards for a touchdown.

The Tar Heels’ positive reaction to adversity is only one of the things we learned about the ACC in Week 9. Here are some of the other big takeaways from around the conference:

Six turnovers … no points

The Cameron Crazies have a cheer they use to taunt opposing basketball players with a propensity for committing fouls without getting into the scoring column.

“Four fouls … no points,” they chant. “Four fouls .. no points!”

A variation of the cheer would have been appropriate for SMU fans who were next door to Cameron at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday night.

Six turnovers … no points. Six turnovers … no points.

The Blue Devils’ defense recorded 6 takeaways against the Mustangs.

Three interceptions. Three fumble recoveries.

Including 2 picks and a fumble recovery in the 4th quarter.

And yet, a week after ringing up 17 points off 4 Florida State turnovers in a close win, all that thievery against SMU resulted in exactly zero Duke points.

Nada.

And the result was an incredibly frustrating 28-27 overtime loss.

Duke wasted 2 of those takeaways later in the game when kicker Todd Pelino missed potential game-winning field goals – a miss from 42 yards and a blocked 30-yarder on the final play of regulation. Pelino also missed an extra point, kicking woes that prompted coach Manny Diaz to go for 2 and the win in overtime rather than taking his chances with another kick.

Duke may have let SMU off the hook by losing a game while winning the turnover battle by plus-6. But in the process, it may have done the ACC a favor by helping to keep the 22th-ranked Mustangs in the national polls for at least another week.

A potentially costly win for Virginia Tech

Despite having lost 3 times already this season, the Hokies are still very much in play for a trip to the ACC Championship Game and a shot at the College Football Playoff. They improved to 3-1 in the conference with a 21-6 win against Georgia Tech on Saturday in a game that saw star quarterback Kyron Drones account for all 3 of his team’s touchdowns. One rushing, one receiving and one passing.

But the victory, which also featured another strong performance by a defense that has yielded only 34 points during a 3-game winning streak, had a potential cost.

Leading rusher Bhayshul Tuten and starting left tackle Xavier Chaplin both left the game with injuries. Chaplin was the first to go down, leaving early in the game with a left shoulder issue. He returned briefly in the second half but returned to the sideline again after apparently aggravating the injury.

Tuten ran for 79 yards on 17 carries before limping off with an apparent ankle injury late in the game.

Coach Brent Pry didn’t provide much information about either player during his postgame remarks, saying only that their situations will be evaluated Sunday. “(That) will be the tell-all for both of those guys,” he said.

The Hokies need both players to be healthy and available to give themselves their best shot at staying in the ACC race with pivotal matchups at Syracuse and at home against Clemson coming up in the next 2 weeks.

Pitt is back on brand

Pat Narduzzi is an old defensive guy at heart, so it was incredibly out of character to see his Panthers ride an offense led by a 31-year-old coordinator and a dynamic freshman quarterback to the best start since the days of Dan Marino. But when times get tough, teams always trend back to what they do best.

And Pitt is no different.

With Eli Holstein hitting the first rough patch of his young career and Kade Bell’s up-tempo offense accounting for less than 300 total yards in each of the past 2 games, Narduzzi’s 19th-ranked team has returned to its roots by showing it still knows how to win games with defense.

Led by a deep, talented linebacking corps that calls itself “The Sharks,” the Panthers recorded 6 sacks in shutting down Cal 2 weeks ago. Thursday night against Syracuse, in their first game back after an open date, they were even more dominant and opportunistic in a 41-13 beatdown of the Orange.

Proving that a good defense is the best offense, Pitt picked off Kyle McCord 5 times, returning 3 for touchdowns – 1 each by Rasheem Biles, Kyle Louis and Braylan Lovelace – to improve to 8-0 for the first time since 1982 and 3-0 in the ACC for the first time since its championship season of 2021.

The ACC’s road warriors

Who needs a home-field advantage?

Not Wake Forest.

Or Stanford, apparently.

Saturday’s victory at Stanford improves the Deacons to 3-0 on the road this season. By contrast, they’re just 1-4 at home. With the only win coming on opening night against FCS opponent North Carolina A&T. All 3 of their road wins have come by 4 points or less – 34-30 at NC State, 23-20 at UConn and now 27-24 in Palo Alto.

The Cardinal, on the other hand, have now lost 12 straight home games against FBS competition. Their last FBS win at Stanford Stadium was a 15-14 triumph against Arizona State more than 2 years ago, on Oct. 22, 2022.

Wake didn’t make things easy on itself. It gave up a touchdown on a strip sack, failed on a 4th-down run from inside the 1 and committed 10 penalties for 90 yards. But Hank Bachmeier led a late drive that resulted in a game-winning field goal and Nick Anderson intercepted an Ashton Daniels pass in the final minute to improve the Deacons to 4-4 and keep their realistic bowl hopes alive.

They’ll need 2 more wins to qualify for the postseason. Fortunately, they still have 2 more road games remaining. At North Carolina on Nov. 16 and at Miami on Nov. 23. They also have home games against Cal and Duke.

The post Friedlander: Biggest takeaways from Week 9 around the ACC appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Plenty.

Who could have imagined at the start of the season that on Week 9 of the ACC schedule, the week in which blue bloods Florida State and Miami play their rivalry game, the most consequential matchup to the league standings would be between newcomer SMU and basketball school Duke?

But here we are.

The 1-6 Seminoles have imploded, while the Mustangs are ranked 22nd and the surprising Blue Devils are 6-1 for the first time since 2015 and have a chance to win 10 games for just the 2nd time in program history.

It’s a lot to grasp. So while we let the reality of how much things have changed sink in, here are 5 questions to think about and consider before kickoff of this week’s action in ACC football.

5. Will Miami take Florida State seriously?

Mario Cristobal and his players have been saying all the right things leading up to their rivalry game. The question is, do they believe what they’re saying? It definitely would be helpful, because even though the Seminoles are a hot mess right now – especially on offense – it is a rivalry game. And it’s not as if the Hurricanes have been blowing away the opposition since the start of the conference season. In theory, this game shouldn’t be close. Miami is a 20.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel sportsbook, for a reason. But FSU was a double-digit favorite last year, too. And it had to hold on for dear life to escape with a 27-20 win. So the Hurricanes might not want to get too overconfident.

4. What chance does Florida State have of at least beating the spread?

It’s a long shot, to be sure. We’re talking about a team that ranks dead last in the ACC in scoring at 15 points per game, has yet to post a 300-yard performance and ranks 126th out of 133 FBS teams with a minus-10 turnover margin. And it’s playing an opponent that boasts a Heisman-caliber quarterback (Cam Ward) and has the 2nd-highest-scoring offense in the nation at 48.3 points per game. To keep things respectable, the Seminoles will have to follow a similar script to the one they wrote in a 16-point loss to Clemson. Extend drives by converting third downs. Keep Ward in the pocket and don’t let him create plays with his legs. Force the Hurricanes to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns. And most of all, hope quarterback Brock Glenn doesn’t turn the ball over. All of which is easier said than done.

3. Can Duke rely as heavily on its defense against SMU as it did last week against Florida State?

The Blue Devils have the top-ranked defense in the ACC, allowing only 17.3 points and 306.7 yards per game. Duke’s D was so dominant against the Seminoles that coach Manny Diaz and offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer only marginally tried to score after converting 3 turnovers into an early lead. They felt it was better to play it safe and punt than risk making mistakes. The strategy worked. Duke won 23-16 to earn bowl eligibility and its first victory against FSU. It’s going to take a different game plan to beat SMU. Containing quarterback Kevin Jennings and slowing a diverse, high-powered offense that averages 40.7 points will still be key. But Duke will need a much more aggressive approach and better execution in the passing and running game to have any shot at upsetting the 22nd-ranked Mustangs.

2. Does it matter who plays quarterback for Georgia Tech against Virginia Tech?

The short answer is probably not. It certainly wouldn’t hurt the Yellow Jackets’ chances if they get starter Haynes King back after missing last week’s game against Notre Dame with a shoulder injury. He’s completed 71% of his passes for 1,568 yards and is the team’s 2nd-leading rusher while combining for 16 touchdowns through the air and on the ground. But his backup Zach Pyron is hardly chopped liver. He completed his first 9 passes against the Irish and finished 20-of-36 for 269 yards. The matchup will ultimately decide Saturday’s game will likely be a Yellow Jackets offensive line that has allowed the fewest sacks in the ACC (3 in 8 games) against Antwaun Ryland-Powell and a Hokies defense whose 24 sacks are tied with Duke for the league lead.

1. Was 1 week long enough for North Carolina to regroup from another loss and an actual real-life heartbreak?

The Tar Heels’ open date couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. It would have been bad enough trying to bounce back from a 4th consecutive loss, one in which they gave up the winning touchdown to Georgia Tech on a 68-yard run with less than a minute remaining. But that wasn’t even close to the worst thing that happened to them 2 Saturdays ago. Shortly after the game, Mack Brown and his players were informed that teammate Tylee Craft had lost his battle with cancer.

It was a crushing emotional blow. One that required time to mourn and cry. The last thing they needed was to be thrown right back out onto the field to try and play a game. One week off still might not be enough time. It will help that Saturday’s game is at Virginia, which knows a little about dealing with tragedy. But it won’t be easy.

The post Friedlander: 5 questions to ponder before kickoff of Week 9 in ACC football appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Funny how things change with the seasons.

Because now that we’re heading toward the home stretch of the college football schedule, the ACC would give its left coast to be a 2-bid league.

As things stand now, that’s a realistic possibility. Miami, at No. 6 in the latest Associated Press Top 25, and No. 9 Clemson would both safely be into the expanded 12-team field in the season ended today.

But there’s still a long way to go and plenty of potential hurdles to clear before even the first official Playoff committee rankings come out in 2 weeks. Let alone the only poll that matters. The one that’s announced on Selection Sunday, Dec. 8.

If there’s one thing the ACC has going in its favor, it’s that the Hurricanes and Tigers don’t play each other during the regular season. That gives each a clear path to run the table and maintain their current positions until meeting on Dec. 7 in Charlotte in a top-10 conference championship game showdown.

That scheduling advantage could quickly flip and become a major disadvantage, however, if one or both teams suffer an upset along the way.

This isn’t the SEC, where pretty much any conference loss is portrayed as a “good” loss.

With Clemson having suffered 1 loss – albeit to No. 2 Georgia – and Miami already struggling to stay undefeated against a cream-filled schedule put together by Entenmann’s, 1 loss could be all it would take to put either of their fates into the hands of the selection committee.

And we don’t have to ask Mike Norvell how that’s likely to turn out.

Unless the Group of 5 representative is placed among the top 12 of the final poll, a team will have to be rated 11th or higher to get into the Playoff field.

While it’s still a realistic possibility for a 3-loss Virginia Tech or another outlier such as Duke or Syracuse to sneak into the ACC championship game, pull off an upset and steal a Playoff bid, that would all but eliminate the possibility of a 2nd ACC team getting into the bracket.

No. 19 Pitt and No. 22 SMU are the only other ACC teams in this week’s rankings. And both would have to climb over a lot of teams just to get within hailing distance of the top 11.

That means virtually every game on the schedule from here on out will have Playoff implications.

Especially those involving Miami.

Given the way the Hurricanes have been teetering on the tightrope over the past 3 games, it feels as though it’s only a matter of time before they eventually lose their balance and fall.

It probably won’t happen this week against Florida State, in what would have been considered their toughest remaining test just 9 weeks. There’s a reason FanDuel sportsbook has established the Hurricanes as a 20.5-point favorite.

Stranger things have happened.

Especially in a rivalry game where one of the teams is coached by Mario Cristobal.

But it’s hard to imagine the self-destructive 1-6 Seminoles, who couldn’t beat an opponent only marginally trying to score last week, finding a way to put enough points to take down Cam Ward and an offense averaging 48 points per game.

Or even keeping things close enough for Miami to need another favorable review to squeak by.

That won’t be the case when the Hurricanes travel to Georgia Tech in 2 weeks for a rematch of last year’s infamous Kneelgate game. Or if they survive that, another dangerous road encounter at Syracuse against a Kyle McCord-led offense that can legitimately match Ward and Co. touchdown-for-touchdown.

Clemson’s road to Charlotte is equally as treacherous.

After this week’s open date, the Tigers will face back-to-back road games at Virginia Tech, which might be playing the best of any team in the ACC right now, and Pitt, a place where the Tigers’ championship hopes went to die the last time they played there in 2021.

That Pitt-Clemson game on Nov. 16 could turn out to be the ACC’s most important of the season. But only if the 6-0 Panthers stay unbeaten between now and Week 12.

First, though, they’ll have to negotiate their way through a gauntlet that begins on Thursday against Syracuse. And continues next week at SMU.

The matchup with the Mustangs is especially intriguing because it will effectively eliminate one of the ACC’s fringe contenders. It might not be the kind of game that attracts national attention or brings College GameDay to town.

But will help provide a clearer picture of whether Jon Rothstein got it right.

Just about the wrong sport.

The post Friedlander: The ACC is a 2-bid Playoff league, for now, but it has a lot of work to do to stay that way appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It takes all 11 men on the field, working together as a unit, to be successful. Even if 10 are doing their jobs well, it sometimes only takes 1 being out of position or missing a tackle to bring a play, a game or sometimes even an entire season down.

Still, there’s something to be said for individual accomplishment. And the glory that goes with it.
It just feels better when your team is winning.

This list of “dudes who deserve better” is a tribute to the many talented ACC players who are having great seasons, even if their teams aren’t. Or those who, in one case, aren’t getting the kind of opportunity they hoped to contribute to a winning team’s success.

These 10, in no particular order, are the kind whose efforts each Saturday often go unnoticed. But when you do notice, you can’t help but shake your head and say to yourself: “Man, that dude deserves better.”

Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina

No one in the ACC has been dealt a more frustrating hand than Hampton. He led the conference in rushing last season and was being counted on to be even more of a factor this year in the absence of star quarterback Drake Maye.

He’s certainly held up his end of the bargain. With 901 yards through 7 games, the rugged back is again on pace to lead the league. He’s among the national leaders in yards after contact and he’s scored 7 touchdowns, to go with 20 receptions out of the backfield.

Not even that has been enough to overcome the Tar Heels’ quarterback struggles, offensive line inconsistency and a defense that is again among the worst in the ACC. UNC’s season might be going down in flames after 4 straight losses and an 0-3 start to the conference schedule. But it hasn’t been Hampton’s fault.

Alijah Huzzie, CB, North Carolina

Hampton’s UNC teammate is the kind of defender with a knack for being around the ball. He led the Tar Heels with 3 interceptions last season and has 15 for his career, which started at East Tennessee State. It’s tough to be around the ball, though, when the other team isn’t throwing it your way.

That’s been the case for the senior cornerback so far this season. He’s been good when tested. He’s tied for the ACC lead with 7 pass breakups. But with opponents picking on several other weak links in the UNC secondary, Huzzie has had fewer opportunities to make plays. He has yet to pick off a pass through 7 games.

Huzzie has, however, been able to make an impact on special teams. His 16.8-yard average on 8 punt returns is the best in the conference and includes a 69-yarder for a touchdown that helped the Tar Heels rally from a late deficit against Georgia Tech. A game UNC, naturally, still found a way to lose.

Nohl Williams, CB, Cal

Williams is putting together a truly memorable individual effort in the midst of a forgettable season that has seen the Bears lose their first 4 ACC games by a combined total of 9 points. He leads the nation with 6 interceptions, 2 more than anyone else. And he took one of those picks, against Heisman Trophy frontrunner Cam Ward no less, back 40 yards for a touchdown in helping Cal build a 25-point second half lead, which Miami eventually erased.

The senior cornerback, who started his college career at UNLV, has been just as effective as a kick returner. He returned 1 80 yards for a touchdown in the season-opening win against UC Davis, and his average of 36.2 yards per return would lead the ACC if he had enough attempts to qualify.

Williams still isn’t getting the kind of attention he deserves and might be getting if he played for someone other than Cal. But he’s at least starting to get recognition. In addition to being added to the Bednarik Award watch list, he was also 1 of 3 ACC players – along with Ward and Boston College edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku – on ESPN’s list of the nation’s top 25 players.

Fernando Mendoza, QB, Cal

Despite being the incumbent starter who helped the Bears earn bowl eligibility last season, Mendoza had to win back his job during the preseason after coach Justin Wilcox brought in transfer Chandler Rogers to compete with him. He won the competition and carried the momentum into the season as a passer and a leader.

Mendoza is completing 67.4% of his attempts for 1,734 yards and 8 touchdowns with only 3 interceptions. All while taking a physical beating virtually every time he drops back to throw. While the sophomore from Miami has done everything he can to keep Cal competitive in its inaugural ACC season, he hasn’t gotten much help from an offensive line that has allowed a league-leading 27 sacks.

Elic Ayomanor, WR, Stanford

Ayomanor introduced himself to the college football world last season with a school record-setting performance in a double-overtime win against Colorado, punctuated by a spectacular grab off Travis Hunter’s helmet for 1 of his 3 touchdowns.

He made an early splash this season in a nationally televised Friday night game at Syracuse. He showed off his hands and agility by making a tough 1-handed catch in the end zone. Then with the game on the line and everyone in the stadium knowing he could get the ball, he made a contested 4th-down catch that set up a game-winning field goal for the Cardinal’s first conference win as an ACC member.

Ayomanor has continued to be productive. He’s caught 31 passes for 388 yards and 4 touchdowns. But because his team is going nowhere fast, with 4 straight lopsided losses since the Syracuse game, he’s become little more than an afterthought. Until his name gets called in an early round of the NFL Draft.

Demond Claiborne, RB, Wake Forest

The Deacons’ leading rusher was carted from the field with a dislocated kneecap during the first half against Louisiana on Sept. 28. It’s an injury that would have ended the day and perhaps even the rest of the season for most backs.

But Claiborne returned for the second half. And broke off a 60-yard touchdown run.

He’s been by far the best player on one of the worst teams in the ACC, playing major roles in 2 of Wake’s 3 wins by scoring the winning touchdown with 1:01 remaining against NC State and getting into the end zone twice in last week’s victory at UConn. He is 6th in the ACC in rushing yards (584) and tied for 2nd with 8 rushing touchdowns while also catching a pass for a score.

KC Concepcion, WR, NC State

The dynamic receiver was the Wolfpack’s only consistent offensive threat last season on the way to earning ACC Offensive Freshman of the Year honors. He got off to a promising start by catching 9 passes for 121 yards and 3 touchdowns in State’s opener against Western Carolina. But the combination of defenses game planning to stop him and an injury to starting quarterback Grayson McCall has limited his production since.

Coach Dave Doeren and offensive coordinator Robert Anae are still finding ways to get him touches. Last week against Cal he ran for a short touchdown off a direct snap, caught 4 passes for 52 yards and even completed one for a key 28-yard gain. His production, however, is way down from a year ago.

He’s accounted for only 244 receiving yards and 1 more touchdown in the 6 games since his big opening night performance. He’s had 3 games in which he has caught at least 4 passes but averaged fewer than 4 yards per reception. And after rushing for 365 yards, 2nd-most on the team in 2023, he’s run for only 13 yards on 10 carries this season.

Davin Vann, DE, NC State

A 5th-year senior who returned to help his draft stock and anchor a Wolfpack defense that lost much of its leadership, Vann has done everything he’s set out to do. He ranks 4th in the ACC with 10.0 tackles for loss, including 4.5 sacks. And he leads the nation with 4 forced fumbles.

Not even that has been enough to prevent State from suffering a huge drop-off. The Wolfpack have given up 50-plus points twice and are 15th out of 17 teams in the ACC in scoring defense at 31 points allowed per game. And they’re just 4–4 after being picked to finish 4th in the conference.

Vann’s performance on the field isn’t the only thing flying under the radar. Though praised locally, his effort to provide aid and support to victims of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina is the kind of thing that would receive national attention if he played for a team with a higher profile.

Nate Yarnell, QB, Pitt

Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi spent the entire offseason pumping up Yarnell as his starting quarterback. He even brought the redshirt junior to the ACC’s preseason media event in Charlotte. But when the season began, Yarnell was on the sidelines while Alabama transfer Eli Holstein was on the field taking snaps.

You can’t argue with Narduzzi’s decision. Holstein has been lighting it up and has led Pitt to a 6-0 record and a No. 19 national ranking. Still, you have to feel bad for Yarnell. The kid has been a good soldier and done everything he’s asked as a backup quarterback. He’s resisted the lure of the transfer portal to wait for his turn to be the Panthers’ starter. He’s played well when given a shot.

Unless he really likes where he is and is comfortable with being a career backup, it might be time for Yarnell to start considering a change of scenery. Because if he hadn’t already figured it out yet, they’re just not that into him at Pitt.

Patrick Payton, Edge, Florida State

Payton is an NFL-caliber prospect who thrived as the bookend to 1st round-pick Jared Verse last season. He recorded 44 tackles, 14.5 TFLs and 7.0 sacks last season while helping the Seminoles to an undefeated regular season and ACC championship.

After briefly flirting with the transfer portal in search of name, image and likeness opportunities in the same ballpark as Verse, the 6-5, 235-pound combination of speed, length and power decided to remain in Tallahassee and become FSU’s next 1st-round success story.

Think he’s regretting that decision now?

Payton has done nothing to hurt his pro prospects. He ranks among the ACC’s top 10 in sacks and TFLs with 4 and 8, respectively. As one of the few remaining holdovers from last year’s team, however, that can’t be much consolation as his 1-6 team implodes around him.

The post Friedlander: Introducing this season’s ACC ‘Dudes Who Deserve Better’ team appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It was more than just the wins and the championships, although the trio of Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim and Roy Williams amassed plenty of both. They combined for more than 3,000 victories and 9 national titles at Duke, Syracuse and North Carolina.

The personalities, their competitiveness and the aura that surrounded them helped make every conference game a must-see event.

But those days are gone.

Retirements among the old guard have thinned the league’s coaching ranks. And now with Virginia’s Tony Bennett abruptly walking away less than 3 weeks before the start of the new season, the ACC finds itself without a single national championship coach for the first time since Michael Jordan helped Dean Smith break the ice in 1981-82.

That void hasn’t just hurt the ACC’s national perception. It has also jumbled the pecking order among the league’s current coaches.

Leonard Hamilton, Jim Larrañaga and Brad Brownell have been around the longest. Larrañaga, Hubert Davis and Kevin Keatts have been to the Final Four, and Jon Scheyer is one of several promising youngsters just getting their feet wet.

https://twitter.com/andreweatherman/status/1847073864225845721

Who’s the new top dog?

Take your pick. But for the sake of argument, here are our rankings among the ACC’s 18 coaches heading into the 2024-25 campaign.

18. Ron Sanchez, Virginia

As the beneficiary of Bennett’s abrupt retirement, Sanchez has the coming season to audition for the job on a permanent basis. It’s still unclear if or how much his Cavaliers will be different from those of his predecessor. But considering that he’s been with Bennett since their days at Washington State and left a head coaching position at Charlotte after winning a CBI championship to return to UVa 2 seasons ago, any tweaks are likely to be minimal. Sanchez was 72-78 in his 5 seasons at Charlotte.

17. Mark Madsen, Cal

A graduate of rival Stanford, Madsen has moved across the Bay to try and help rebuild a Cal program that hasn’t posted a winning record since 2017. Three coaches ago. The former Los Angeles Lakers forward went 13-19 in his debut with the Bears last season. He’s hoping to make the same kind of progression that he did in his previous job at Utah Valley, where he went from a 19-loss season in 2019-20 to 28 wins and an NIT semifinal appearance 4 years later.

16. Damon Stoudamire, Georgia Tech

Stoudamire has all the makings of a standout coach. He has a pedigree as a player at Arizona and the NBA, and as an assistant coach at the highest level with the Boston Celtics. He also has a 20-win season as a college coach during his previous stop at Pacific. But like his Yellow Jackets, who scored wins against North Carolina and Duke last season but still finished below .500 at 14-18, he has some rough edges left to smooth out.

15. Adrian Autry, Syracuse

Autry got off to a strong start as Jim Boeheim’s hand-picked successor. He went 20-12, had a winning ACC record and nearly got the Orange into the postseason in his rookie year as a head coach. Now comes the hard part: Building on that initial success without star guard Judah Mintz, who left a year early, but went undrafted and is currently on the roster of the G-League’s Delaware Blue Coats.

14. Earl Grant, Boston College

A product of Brad Brownell’s coaching tree, Grant earned his shot with the Eagles by putting together a successful 7-season run at College of Charleston, which included a CAA championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018. BC has made progress since his arrival by improving from 13 to 16 wins in Seasons 1-2 to 20 and an NIT bid last season. That still hasn’t translated to success in the ACC standings, though. His teams have yet to finish higher than 10th in the league.

13. Micah Shrewsberry, Notre Dame

Shrewsberry did a nice job by getting Penn State to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in more than a decade and convinced last year’s ACC Rookie of the Year Markus Burton to stick around South Bend for at least 1 more year. But with only 3 seasons of head coaching experience and a 13-20 record in his inaugural campaign with the Irish in 2023-24, the book is still out on how good a coach he is.

12. Pat Kelsey, Louisville

Kelsey is a Skip Prosser protegé whose 110 conference wins in 9 seasons at Winthrop makes him the 2nd-winningest coach in the history of the Big South Conference. He won 4 league titles with the Eagles before moving to College of Charleston and getting to 2 more NCAA Tournaments there. He has both the fiery personality and the coaching chops to clean up the mess left behind by former Cardinals coach Kenny Payne. The biggest question is whether he can translate his success at the mid-major level to the ACC.

11. Steve Forbes, Wake Forest

Nothing has come easy for Forbes. He started his career at the junior college level and moved slowly up the ranks as an assistant, then as a mid-major head coach at East Tennessee State before getting his shot at Wake. A skilled recruiter and extraverted salesman, he’s become known as The Portal Whisperer for his success in evaluating and landing top transfer talent. But while he’s put together 3 straight winning seasons with the Deacons, he’s yet to get over the hump and into the NCAA Tournament.

10. Kyle Smith, Stanford

Smith might still be at Washington State had the Pac-12 not imploded. He was well on the way to building a successful program there, including a 25-win, NCAA Tournament team last season, before taking on the challenge of building a Stanford program that has suffered through 4 straight losing seasons and hasn’t made an NCAA appearance since 2014. Smith, whose coaching style has earned the nickname “Nerdball” because of his heavy reliance on analytics, has a 258-193 career record with previous stops at Columbia and San Francisco.

9. Jeff Capel, Pitt

It took 4 seasons and a lot of patience on the part of now-former athletic director Heather Lyke for Capel to finally find his footing at Pitt. The former Duke point guard, who had previous coaching experience at VCU and Oklahoma before returning to his alma mater as an assistant to Coach K, finally broke through by winning 24 games in 2022-23, Last year’s team went 21-11. Although that wasn’t good enough to end up on the right side of the NCAA bubble, Capel clearly has the Panthers heading in the right direction.

8. Mike Young, Virginia Tech

A late bloomer in the coaching ranks, Young spent 17 seasons at Wofford, winning 299 games and making 5 NCAA Tournament appearances, before finally getting his ACC opportunity at Virginia Tech. His final team with the Terriers won 30 games in 2018-19, including an NCAA Tournament upset of Seton Hall before finally losing a close game to Kentucky in the Round of 32. Several players from that team moved with him to Blacksburg and in 2022 they combined to win the Hokies’ first ACC Tournament championship.

7. Andy Enfield, SMU

Enfield put together 21 or more wins in 7 of the past 9 seasons at Southern Cal. But rather than move to the Big Ten with the Trojans, the veteran coach made the head-scratching move of leaving and taking on the challenge of leading SMU’s much less accomplished program into its first season of ACC competition. Enfield has previous ACC experience as an assistant to Leonard Hamilton at Florida State before gaining prominence as the architect of the amazing “Dunk City” team at Florida Gulf Coast that upset Georgetown on the way to becoming the first 15th seed to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2013.

6. Leonard Hamilton, Florida State

Hamilton’s teams have fallen off considerably over the past 3 seasons as the old-school coach, like UVa’s Bennett, has struggled to adjust to the new realities of the transfer portal and NIL era. His body of work, however, is Hall of Fame worthy. He’s the longest-tenured coach in the ACC and the winningest coach in Seminoles’ history with 443 wins during his 22 seasons. Combined with previous stops at Oklahoma State and Miami, he has 643 career victories to go with a .567 winning percentage, 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, an ACC championship and 3 conference Coach of the Year awards.

5. Brad Brownell, Clemson

Brownell’s ability to last 14 seasons at his current position is a testament to the relative importance of basketball at football blue-blood like Clemson and the coach’s ability to put together his best seasons when his seat is the hottest. He’s put together a 265-189 record with 4 NCAA Tournament appearances with the Tigers and is on the best run of his tenure with 3 top-5 finishes in the ACC in the past 4 seasons. Last year was by far his best with 24 wins and the first Elite 8 appearance in school history.

4. Kevin Keatts, NC State

Keatts is the prime example of how fickle the coaching profession can be. He entered last year’s ACC Tournament squarely on the hot seat. But after winning 5 games in 5 days to earn State’s first championship in 36 years, then leading an even more miraculous run to the Final Four, he’s suddenly secure with a contract extension and new-found respect. Former Wolfpack athletic director Debbie Yow coined the phrase “Kevin Keatts is a winner” when she hired him following 2 straight NCAA Tournament appearances at UNC Wilmington. Now in his 8th season in Raleigh, he’s finally following through on that promise.

3. Jon Scheyer, Duke

Coach K’s former point guard and understudy has picked up right where his mentor left off by leading the Blue Devils to back-to-back 27-9 seasons. While he has yet to get the Blue Devils to a Final Four or hang another banner from the rafters at Cameron Indoor Stadium, he has progressed from a second-round exit as a rookie coach to the Elite 8 last year. While his coaching acumen is still a work in progress, Scheyer has already distinguished himself as an elite recruiter. His current class, highlighted by projected top overall NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg, is ranked No. 1 nationally. Scheyer is a rising star who should soon shoot even higher on this list.

2. Hubert Davis, North Carolina

The former UNC shooting guard and ESPN analyst was a surprise choice to succeed Hall of Famer Roy Williams because of his relative lack of coaching experience. But Davis has grown into the job during his 3 seasons, in which he has combined a 78-31 overall record to go along with an NCAA Tournament final appearance in 2022 and a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed a year ago. While he’s improving steadily as an Xs and Os coach, his strength is his passion for his alma mater, his positive outlook and his ability to bring out the best in his players.

1. Jim Larrañaga, Miami

Overlooked and underappreciated for most of his career with the Hurricanes, Larrañaga finally began gaining the recognition he richly deserves in 2022-23 when he became a first-time nominee for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Although he still hasn’t earned induction to the shrine, he enhanced his candidacy later that season by leading Miami to the Final Four. While it was the school’s first trip to the national semifinals, it was the second time for Larrañaga. He also got there 17 years earlier with George Mason in one of college basketball’s most unlikely postseason runs. Although last year’s injury-riddled team failed to make the tournament, the now 74-year-old coach – who boasts a 740-500 career record – remains at the top of his game.

The post Friedlander: Ranking the ACC’s 18 basketball coaches heading into the 2024-25 season appeared first on Saturday Down South.

And this was one of the wildest, most unpredictable yet.

There was another Miami replay controversy. Another Cal meltdown. An unlikely NC State comeback, yet another history-making new low point in a season full of lows for Florida State and a potentially “big” fundraising opportunity at Wake Forest.

They’re all among the 10 things I’m overreacting to after an eventful Week 8 in and around the ACC.

10. They’re incompetent, not corrupt

It’s become a weekly tradition for Miami to be involved in a controversial officials’ call that inevitably ends up going its way upon review by the ACC’s control center. It happened again Saturday on a play originally ruled a strip sack and score for Louisville. But was changed to an incomplete pass.
The Hurricanes retained possession and eventually scored what proved to be the winning touchdown.

Piled on top of the Hail Mary prayer that was answered against Virginia Tech and the targeting call that wasn’t called against Cal, the reaction on social media was predictable. The outrage is understandable. And the memes were entertaining. But the fun and games ended when Cardinals coach Jeff Brohm got into the act with his postgame comments.

It’s not that he was salty about the call. That’s what coaches do. All would have been fine if he’d have just stopped at “I thought it was a bad call. I don’t know how you overturn it. I really don’t.”
Pay your $200, pass Go and move on to the next game.

That’s not what he did, though.

Jeff Brohm on the fumble that was overturned, taking a touchdown off the board for Louisville: "I thought it was a bad call. I don't know how you overturn it, I really don't. This has happened multiple times, so it's disappointing. But I don't know. I guess I was wrong." pic.twitter.com/6zgRqbCXXE

— Tyler Greever (@Tyler_Greever) October 19, 2024

Brohm crossed the line from blowing off steam to perpetuating a dangerous narrative when he added that “this has happened multiple times, so it’s disappointing.” In doing so, he insinuated that the fix is in and that the ACC is in the tank trying to help Miami stay undefeated and in Playoff contention. By extension, he’s feeding into the frenzy that doesn’t just threaten the integrity of the games, it has the potential to threaten the safety of the guys wearing stripes.

For the record, there’s no evidence of any dark conspiracy to prop up the Hurricanes, Until proven otherwise, their good fortune has been more the product of incompetence than corruption.

9. Call it both ways, ref!

While we’re on the subject of coaches airing their grievances about officiating in their postgame comments, let’s have a little chat about Kirby Smart. Georgia’s top Dawg was incensed that a pass interference call against Texas was reversed after fans started throwing things onto the field in protest.

Again, no problem there.

But Kirby didn’t act very smart when he decided to tee off about the reversal in his postgame interview with ESPN sideline reporter Katie George. Even though his team won the game by 15 points.

“They tried to rob us with calls in this place,” he said.

Smart has every right to be angry over the optics of the reversal, which came after Longhorns fans began showing their displeasure with the call by throwing things onto the field, thus delaying the game and allowing officials time to huddle and discuss. Ultimately, officials got the call right, by the way. But if he’s grousing about the call being changed, he has no room to talk.

Seven weeks ago against Clemson, in the much friendlier confines of Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, his team benefitted from a DPI call that was overturned just before when the outcome was still very much in doubt.

Funny how fans and coaches want officials to “call it both ways,” until one of those ways goes against their team.

8. Hurricane warning

Back to Miami.

It’s pointless to debate the merits of the calls that have helped the Hurricanes get here. Like it or not, they’re 7-0 and ranked No. 6 in the nation. So instead of looking backward, let’s look forward.

Despite controlling its fate in the race to finish among the top 2 in the ACC and play for the league championship – and presumably an automatic Playoff berth – Mario Cristobal’s team is anything but a lock to make it to Charlotte on Dec. 7.

Miami’s remaining schedule might be conducive to going undefeated, but it could also be an anchor that sinks the Hurricanes if they don’t take care of business. The combined record of the 7 teams they’ve already beaten is just 23-25. And they don’t play any ranked teams from here on out.

While 1 loss won’t mathematically eliminate them from contention, this isn’t the SEC where every loss by a top team is considered a good loss. Stumble once and Miami is all but done. That is unless ESPN thinks Cam Ward is enough of a first-round ratings draw to bump a 2- or 3-loss Alabama out of the 12-team bracket.

7. It’s not that hard, Big Ten

The ACC isn’t the only conference that has gone bi-coastal this season. With the addition of Southern Cal and UCLA, the Big Ten’s geographic footprint also now stretches from sea to shining sea.

With all the logistical issues that entails.

When it comes to travel, however, early returns suggest that the ACC is doing a better job of managing its newly expanded status.

While Big Ten teams traveling across 2 or more time zones to play a conference opponent are just 5-11 through the first 8 weeks this season, ACC teams under similar circumstances are over .500 at 5-3 after wins by NC State at Cal and SMU at Stanford this week.

I’m sure somehow, the national media will find a way to spin that disparity as a positive for the Big Ten and further sign of the ACC’s imminent demise.

6. No, they’re (still) not rushing the field

I can’t believe we’re still having to do this. But here goes.

Clemson fans didn’t rush the field after Saturday’s win against Virginia. It’s something that happens after every home win. It’s a tradition called Gathering at the Paw. Fans are welcomed onto the field to mingle with the players and take photos around the tiger paw logo. It’s more of a meet-and-greet than a celebration.

And it’s been going on for years.

Clemson upsets Virginia and rushes the field. I love sports! pic.twitter.com/paI7BQQF5S

— Trey Kelleher (@treykelleher3) October 19, 2024

So if you’re posting photos of the gathering on social media suggesting that it’s anything other than that, you either haven’t been following college football very closely or you’re deliberately trying to poke the hornet’s nest by creating a false narrative.

5. Cal makes another new friend

You have to hand it to those folks in Berkeley. They’re so happy to have been rescued by the ACC and not left out in the cold like those other former Pac-12 stragglers Washington State and Oregon State that they’re bending over backward to show their appreciation to their new conference rivals.

They’ve charmed us with their creativity on social media. They convinced ESPN to send College GameDay to their beautiful campus for the first time. And their team is making new friends every week by playing just well enough to lose.

The Bears have helped Miami and Pitt stay undefeated while playing the foil for the only conference wins by Florida State and NC State. Saturday’s loss to the Wolfpack was eerily similar to the previous week’s setback against the Panthers with a missed field goal – albeit by a different kicker – deciding the outcome in the final 2 minutes. Cal’s 4 ACC losses have come by a combined 9 points.

The Bears will step out of conference next week against Oregon State before traveling to Wake Forest for a Friday night game on Nov. 8. You can bet the Deacons will be welcoming their new friends with open arms.

4. The first ACC coach to get a pink slip will be ________ ?

Mike Houston became the first coach to be fired this season when East Carolina parted ways with him on Sunday. Now that the ice has been broken, others are sure to follow. That begs the question of who will be the first ACC to be shown the door.

North Carolina’s Mack Brown is the first name that comes to mind. But he has a more important job than winning games right now in the wake of receiver Tylee Craft’s recent death. Besides, he’s likely to retire on his own at the end of the season. So you can take his name off the last.

Same with Virginia’s Tony Elliott, who barring a total second-half collapse may already have done enough to earn at least another season with the Cavaliers.

That makes Florida State’s Mike Norvell the prime candidate, $60+ million buyout be damned.

Unimaginable as it might seem, Norville is well on the way to coaching himself out of a job just 1 year after being the ACC’s Coach of the Year. He’s already guaranteed his 3rd non-winning record in 5 years with the Seminoles.

FSU is desperate to make itself as attractive as possible to the SEC or Big Ten on the off chance its lawsuits are successful and it becomes a free agent. Going from first to worst in the ACC isn’t the best way to do that.

Or enhance a coach’s job security.

Even one with a hefty buyout.

3. The team no one in the ACC wants to play right now is  ________ ?

Virginia Tech.

The Hokies turned themselves into an afterthought with early losses to Vanderbilt and Rutgers. But they’ve since found their mojo and are finally playing like the Darkhorse ACC contender many thought they would be coming into the season.

Their offense is a nightmare to defend thanks to the passing of quarterback Kyron Drones and the running of rugged back Bhayshul Tuten. And their defense, anchored by ACC sacks leader Antwaun Powell-Ryland, is playing at an equally high level.

Tech has outscored its past 2 opponents – Stanford and Boston College – by a 73-28 margin. With a date against Clemson coming up in 3 weeks, it could have a big say in who eventually heads to Charlotte for the conference title game on Dec. 7. Had it not been for the controversial reversal of an apparent game-winning touchdown against Miami 3 weeks ago, the Hokies would be right in the thick of the championship conversation themselves.

2. Revenge of the Nerds

When Matt Doherty dragged North Carolina basketball to new depths during a disastrous 8-20 season in 2001-02, he was at least able to salvage at least 1 shred of pride for the Tar Heels’ proud program. His team was still able to beat Clemson to preserve the distinction of never having lost to the Tigers in Chapel Hill.

It’s a similar crutch to the one Florida State football was clinging to when it came to Wallace Wade Stadium to play Duke on Friday. The Seminoles had never lost to the Blue Devils in 22 previous meetings, including the 2 that were vacated because of NCAA sanctions. All but 1 of those games were decided by at least 2 scores.

But that streak went out the window with a self-inflicted 23-16 loss that provided Mike Norvell’s team with yet another new low in its already lost season.

It wasn’t anywhere as Earth-shattering as Vanderbilt beating Alabama thanks to Florida State’s implosion. But Duke’s victory against the Seminoles – on the scoreboard, not just their average SAT scores – is still noteworthy as long as FSU continues to fancy itself as a college football blueblood.

The Seminoles have spent the better part of the past year arguing in both the court of public opinion and actual courtrooms that they’re too good for the ACC.

In retrospect, maybe the opposite is true.

1. A real endowment fund

As the smallest school among the Power 4 conferences, Wake Forest is always looking for ways to get an edge on the competition. Especially when it comes to building an NIL war chest.

That’s why the Deacons should jump on the unique fundraising opportunity presented to them this weekend by, of all people, Donald Trump. The former President made some cringe-worthy remarks about Arnold Palmer’s putter during a rally in the golf great’s hometown of Latrobe, Pa.

Since Palmer was a proud alumnus of Wake Forest, the school should capitalize on his renewed notoriety by starting an Arnold Palmer Endowment Fund.

It’s destined to be a big success.

The post 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 8 in the ACC appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Say hello to Miami and Cal.

The book is still out on how good the 6th-ranked Hurricanes really are. But as long as they have Cam Ward playing quarterback, they’re good enough to still be undefeated and in the thick of the ACC championship and College Football Playoff conversation.

The Heisman Trophy frontrunner didn’t need any come-from-behind heroics Saturday at Louisville, as he and his team did in 2 previous wins against Virginia Tech and Cal. But with the score tied and the game on the line, Ward led a pair of 80-yard 4th quarter touchdown drives to will Miami to a 52-45 victory.

The Hurricanes are now 7-0 overall, with the past 3 wins – all against conference opponents – coming by a combined total of 12 points.

Cal, by contrast, checks in at the extreme opposite end of the close game spectrum. Its 4 straight losses, including Saturday’s 1-point heartbreak against NC State, have come by a grand total of 9 points. With the past 2 decided by missed field goals in the final 2 minutes.

Last week against Pitt, Ryan Coe missed a 41-yarder that would have turned a 17-15 loss into an 18-17 win. This time, it was Coe’s replacement Derek Morris who turned Oct. 19 into Groundhog Day by shanking an even more makeable 28-yard attempt.

“We’ve got to find ways to win, obviously,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said afterward. “I’ve got to do a better job coaching the team so we can get another point or 2 points. We’ve got to do a better job.”

If misery loves company, then Wilcox and his Bears can take solace that they’re not alone in that they’re not the only ACC team that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory this weekend. Florida State, whose only win came against Cal, found a way to lose to Duke for the first time ever on Friday despite outgaining the Blue Devils 291-180.

Defining the thin line between good and bad, winning and losing is only 1 of the things we learned about the ACC in Week 8.

Here are some of the other big takeaways:

NC State’s new offensive catalyst

No, we’re not talking about CJ Bailey, although the freshman quarterback continued to show growth and signs of his unlimited potential by rallying the Wolfpack from a 13-point, 4th-quarter deficit to victory at Cal on Saturday. And it’s not star receiver KC Concepcion, even though he continues to find ways to contribute, including a rushing touchdown and a completed pass. Or sure-handed tight end Justin Joly, who caught 4 passes for 95 yards.

The offensive playmaker with the ability to make the biggest impact on State’s effort to finish strong and salvage its season is running back Hollywood Smothers. The transfer from Oklahoma has the skill set to match his nickname and be a threat to take it to the house on each touch.

https://twitter.com/theACCDN/status/1847792500188041447

He was a difference-maker against the Bears, despite getting only 13 touches in the game. Seven runs and 6 receptions. Two of those catches were front-and-center in the Wolfpack’s winning comeback. A 28-yard reception on a trick play from Concepcion set up the 1st touchdown. He then accounted for the winning score himself by turning a 3rd-and-7 screen pass into a 41-yard sprint down the far sideline to the end zone.

Smothers’ role in both the running and passing game has already increased since returning from a 2-game injury absence. And it only promises to grow after Saturday’s performance.

Hokies are hitting their stride

We’re all aware of the impact that controversial reversed call in Miami 3 weeks ago had on the Hurricanes’ ACC championship and College Football Playoff chances. That’s only distracted us from its repercussions on the other team involved.

We all wrote Virginia Tech off after its early losses to Vanderbilt and Rutgers. But those were both nonconference games. Had Kryon Drones’ last-play Hail Mary remained a game-winning touchdown, as it was originally ruled on the field, the Hokies – not Miami – would be in the driver’s seat for a trip to the conference championship game.

That’s become particularly important now that Brent Pry’s team has finally begun playing up to its lofty preseason expectations. Since the Miami game, Tech has outscored its 2 opponents by a 73-28 margin. That includes a 42-21 blowout of Boston College on Thursday in which all its stars shined brightly.

Drones completed 14-of-18 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 2 scores. Running back Bhayshul Tuten ran for 266 yards, breaking Darren Evans’ single-game school record, while accounting for 4 scores – 3 on the ground and 1 through the air while on defense, edge rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland recorded 4 sacks to tie his own school mark and increase his ACC lead.

With a date against Clemson in Blacksburg coming up in 2 weeks, there’s still a chance for the Hokies to play their way back into the race for the top 2 spots in the conference. But even with a win, they’ll still need some help to get to Charlotte on Dec. 7.

Florida State’s quarterback situation is an absolute mess

DJ Uiagalelei was awful and was well on the way to being benched before a hand injury saved coach Mike Norvell from the trouble of sitting him down. But his replacement Brock Glenn has been just as bad.

If not worse.

Yes, he showed flashes of promise during the 2nd half of his first start against Clemson 3 weeks ago and Friday night against Duke. But in between, he’s been just as erratic and mistake-prone as his predecessor.

In one disastrous sequence midway through the first half against the Blue Devils, Glenn committed 3 turnovers on 3 consecutive offensive snaps – a pick-6, a fumble and another interception that resulted in 17 Duke points. Things got so bad that Norvell ended up pulling him in favor of true freshman Luke Kromenhoek.

Kromenhoek answered the call. But he was clearly unprepared and Norvell went back to Glenn in the 2nd half. He finished 9-of-19 for 110 yards and didn’t get his team into the end zone. FSU’s only touchdown came on a 95-yard return of the second half kickoff.

If there’s a bright side to the Seminoles’ dark quarterback situation, it’s that it’s helping Norvell decide on what he’ll have to do this offseason to avoid a repeat performance. If Glenn isn’t the guy moving forward and Kromenhoek doesn’t impress in the 3 games he has left before losing his redshirt, Norvell will have to try his luck with the portal again.

And hope he doesn’t whiff as badly as he did with DJU.

Not-so-friendly reunion at Death Valley

Dabo Swinney was Tony Elliott’s position coach when he was a player at Clemson. He went to become Swinney’s offensive coordinator and a trusted friend who helped him get his current job at Virginia. While Saturday’s game between their teams at Death Valley was a bit uncomfortable for both, their reunion was cordial.

Punctuated by a pregame hug.

Their players also had a “moment” during the game. Only it wasn’t nearly as cordial. Early in the fourth quarter of the Tigers’ 48-31 victory, UVa defensive end Ben Smiley III was ejected for a “flagrant personal foul” resulting from an altercation that led to players from both teams leaving the sidelines and congregating on the field before order was restored.

Kick to the helmet isn’t an ejection? pic.twitter.com/anxmojAZda

— Matt Anderson (@Matt_Anderson34) October 19, 2024

Smiley was flagged for going after Clemson offensive lineman Tristan Leigh at the end of a play. It’s likely that his aggression was an attempt at sticking up for teammate Bryce Carter for an earlier incident. Replays posted on social media showed Leigh doing his best Christian Laettner impression on Carter’s helmet while Carter was down on the ground.

Leigh wasn’t penalized for the foot stomp. But you can bet the video will be sent to the ACC office for further review.

The post Friedlander: Biggest takeaways from Week 8 around the ACC appeared first on Saturday Down South.

That’s probably the best thing the Florida State coach has going for him right now. Because there’s not a lot to be optimistic about with his Seminoles.

Not even an extra week to prepare or an opponent they’d beaten every previous time they’d met could prevent the defending ACC champions from hitting another new low in a season riding the express elevator toward rock bottom.

With 5 games left to play and no remaining margin for error just to reach bowl eligibility, it’s hard to imagine how much worse things can get still for FSU.

It’s gotten to the point where opponents no longer have to find ways of beating the Seminoles. They only need to sit back and wait for them to self-destruct, as they did Friday in a sloppy 23-16 loss at Duke.

The game and in many ways, the entire season can be summed up in one 7½ minute sequence midway through the first half at Wallace Wade Stadium.

It started with Duke’s Chandler Rivers intercepting a Brock Glenn pass on a 3rd-and-9 play and returning it for a 36-yard touchdown. On the first snap after the ensuing kickoff, Glenn fumbled the ball away as he was taken down by linebacker Ozzie Nicholas.

That turned into another Blue Devils touchdown.

Glenn then compounded his comedy of errors by throwing another interception, again on the first play of the possession, to gift Duke a field goal.

Three plays, 3 turnover, 3 Blue Devils scores that turned a 3-0 FSU lead into a 17-3 deficit from which the Seminoles never recovered.

Brock Glenn with his best DJU impression

Chandler Rivers with the Pick-Six
pic.twitter.com/uFg08R7fMa

— SleeperCFB (@SleeperCFB) October 18, 2024

“I think there’s been times when the result is a negative play,” Norvell said, “we’ve allowed that to carry over.”

It’s a snowball that began rolling with a loss to Georgia Tech the week before the season officially and has been growing and picking up speed ever since.

Less than a year after going undefeated during the regular season, beating Louisville for the ACC championship and getting snubbed by the College Football Playoff committee, Novell’s Noles have won only once in their first 7 games this year and are 1-5 against conference competition.

Friday’s loss to Duke is arguably the worst yet. Not because of the caliber of the competition. Manny Diaz’s Blue Devils are no slouch at 6-1 (2-1 ACC). But because of what the result represents.

This is the first time in 23 meetings, 2 of which don’t count on the record because they were vacated as punishment for NCAA violations, that FSU has lost to Duke.

Even when Matt Doherty let most of North Carolina’s impressive standards of basketball success fly out the window during his disastrous 8-20 season in 2001-02, his Tar Heels were at least able to preserve the distinction of never having lost to Clemson at home.

This Seminoles team doesn’t even have that much to hold onto.

Other than winning out and perhaps getting to play for a chance at eating a giant animated Pop-Tart, there isn’t much left to salvage from this lost season. And that’s not likely with Miami and Notre Dame coming up on the schedule.

They’ve dug themselves into a bottomless pit so deep that only an eternal optimist can see a way for them to dig their way out.

“I believe in these players,” a defiant Norvell said. “I believe in what we do and how we do it. I can’t allow these guys to get caught up in the record right now because our record is what it is. It’s still about where we go and what we do with the opportunity we have in front of us.

“That is our focus. Our focus last year when we won 13 games, it was the same thing. If you let yourself get distracted by the circumstance you miss out on the opportunity to get better.”

The focus might be the same. The execution is a different story.

The Seminoles outgained Duke 291-180 on Friday. They had 13 plays of 10 or more yards compared to only 3 for the Blue Devils and ran the 2nd half kickoff back 95 yards for a touchdown.

But they offset those advantages by losing 4 turnovers, allowing 6 sacks and 11 tackles for loss, committing 9 penalties for 65 yards, having a field goal blocked and dropping 3 passes, one by Kentron Portier in the end zone for what would have been a momentum-swinging touchdown late in the first half.

They’re the kind of mistakes bad teams make. And even after an open date Norvell said was spent working primarily on improving fundamentals and preparing young players to play a bigger role, FSU continues to make them.

“The team we have and the people we have, I’m going to say it again, it’s the right people. For multiple reasons, it’s not working right now,” sophomore linebacker Justin Cryer said. “At the end of the day there’s nothing we can do about it but work. We’re going to get through it. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. We’re not going to stay in this situation forever.”

Apparently, Norvell’s optimism has rubbed off on his players.

So at least they’ve got that going for them.

The post Friedlander: Florida State’s downward spiral hits a new low … and there’s still 5 games left for it to get worse appeared first on Saturday Down South.

His deliberate, defense-oriented style of play isn’t the type that attracts elite high school talent. And his developmental approach toward building a program is as antiquated as the peach basket in the era of NIL and the transfer portal.

It’s a combination that has contributed heavily to 3 1-and-done NCAA Tournament exits — and an NIT bid — since leading Virginia to the national championship in 2019.

So it’s hardly a surprise that Bennett has followed in the footsteps of Jay Wright, Nick Saban and others at the top of their game by deciding to walk away rather than conform.

The only thing shocking about Thursday’s announcement of his retirement, effective immediately, is the timing. The Cavaliers are only 20 days shy of their scheduled season opener against Campbell on Nov. 6.

Bennett gave no indication of his impending announcement at last week’s ACC Tipoff media event in Charlotte. He talked passionately about adjusting to the new challenges of his sport, the success of former players in the NBA, his attempt to speed up the tempo of his offense and the 5-man transfer class he brought into the program. He seemed upbeat and energized about the start of the coming season.

His abrupt about-face toward the exit door led to immediate speculation that his departure was health related.

But that was quickly debunked by multiple published reports.

At a tearful press conference at John Paul Jones arena on Friday, Bennett explained that he’s simply grown tired of the 24/7, 365 grind that college coaching has become. And that he no longer has the desire to keep turning back the clock by trying to beat teams playing a different game than his own.

“I was equipped to do the job her the old way. That’s who I am,” he said. “The thing that’s choked me up the most and the hardest thing to say is that when I looked at myself and I realized I’m no longer the best coach to lead this program in this current environment.”

Bennett, who won 6 ACC regular season titles in his 15 seasons in Charlottesville, went on to say that “the game and college athletics is not in a healthy spot” and that significant changes are needed for the sake of everyone involved.

That’s hardly a revelation that came to Bennett as he sat down for breakfast Thursday morning. He’s been dealing with the evolution of the college model since the NCAA began allowing athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness in 2021.

He first entertained the idea of walking away immediately after his Cavaliers were blown out by Colorado State in the NCAA First Four last March. But because of the quick turnaround in the recruiting calendar and a couple of key transfer pickups, he was briefly re-energized.

He even signed a 6-year contract extension over the summer.

But the doubts quickly began creeping back, until finally coming to a head last week when he and his wife Laurel spent a few quiet days at The Tides Inn resort on Chesapeake Bay during UVa’s fall break.

Tony Bennett gets choked up during his retirement announcement:

"I've been here for 15 years… This position has been on loan to me. It wasn't mine to keep. And it's time for me to give it back" pic.twitter.com/zz9UIh8ZF0

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) October 18, 2024

While the now-former UVa coach said that the timing of his announcement wasn’t “pre-meditated,” he admitted that it wasn’t exactly an accident, either.

Bennett’s mentor and role model in basketball may be his father Dick Bennett, a successful coach in his own right at Green Bay, Wisconsin and Washington State. His decision to step down this close to the start of a new season takes a page from the playbook of another college basketball luminary.

Dean Smith.

The North Carolina legend had just become college basketball’s all-time winningest coach when he surprised everyone by calling it quits in October 1997. He cited waning enthusiasm for the job as his reason for walking away.

That was the explanation at least. The real reason is that Smith wanted to ensure his top assistant, Bill Guthridge, would be named as his replacement. A decision school administrators had little choice but to make because of the short turnaround time before the opening game.

While the line of succession at UVa isn’t as clear-cut, the motivation is similar.

“The reason I did it (now) instead of waiting is that I’ve always wanted this to be taken over by one of my staff members,” Bennett said. “I just felt if I knew it was the time, instead of trying to delay it, I wanted these guys on the staff to have 3 weeks before they play games to get it together. And I’ll step out of the way.”

Leaving now allows Bennett’s associate head coach Ron Sanchez to take over the team, put his own stamp on it and audition for the job on a full-time basis. Sanchez, who has head coaching experience at Charlotte, inherits the Cavaliers on an interim basis.

A successful season, another NCAA Tournament bid and maybe even a win or 2 in March could go a long way toward ensuring earning him a long-term contract and a seamless transition without having to go outside the program to find the next coach.

As for Bennett, it’s hard to imagine him completely divorcing himself from the game he loves.

He’s a basketball lifer, after all.

Even though his preferred pace of play hasn’t kept up with the speed with which college athletics are changing, there should still be some way someone with his background, passion and resume can contribute.

At 55, he’s still too young to be hanging around the golf course like UNC’s Roy Williams. He could go into broadcasting like Villanova’s Wright and Alabama’s Saban. His knowledge and temperament, however, make him a better candidate to follow a trail blazed by another former UVa coach of note, Terry Holland, and go into athletic administration.

“Sometimes when you’re in it you have to step away,” Bennett said. “Maybe I can be an advocate for the student-athletes and coaches to get the changes” that need to be made.

Regardless of what he decides, Bennett’s departure leaves a major void the ACC will be hard-pressed to fill.

He was the league’s last remaining coach to have won a national championship. And the most recognizable face and name in a league that has lost much of its stature in recent years with the exodus of Hall of Famers Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim and Williams.

Though he didn’t stick around as long, the word “retirement” in Bennett’s statement suggests that he was just as aware as those 70-something coaching dinosaurs that it was time for him to go.

In hindsight, we should have seen it coming.

Maybe not 20 days before the start of a new season. But sooner rather than later.

The post Friedlander: Only the timing of Tony Bennett’s abrupt retirement decision is a surprise appeared first on Saturday Down South.

For a team that’s going well, the time off can be an unwanted break that slows momentum. But the opposite can be true for a team that’s been scuffling and needs a reset.

In either case, open dates provide coaches with an opportunity to address areas of concern, while giving players a chance to rest up and in some cases, recover from injuries.

Six ACC teams spent last week on the sidelines doing just that.

With 4 of them matched against one another – Boston College vs. Virginia Tech on Thursday, and Florida State vs. Duke on Friday – it shouldn’t be difficult to tell who was most productive in using their time off. Miami, which travels to Louisville, and SMU, which heads West to Stanford, will be back in action on Saturday after their week off.

The rest of the Week 8 schedule has NC State at Cal in a game matching teams still looking for their first ACC win this season, while Georgia Tech and Wake Forest step out of conference against Notre Dame and UConn, respectively.

While we wait for the season to officially make the turn to the back half of its schedule, here are 5 things to think about before kickoff:

5. Will Dabo take it easy on his friend and former assistant Tony Elliott?

Elliott isn’t just a former player and assistant to Dabo Swinney. They are friends. Swinney is a close friend who helped Elliott navigate his program through the tragic shooting deaths of 3 players in 2022. So Saturday’s reunion at Clemson will be awkward for both men. It might get even more uncomfortable as the game progresses and Swinney’s Tigers begin to dominate Elliott’s upstart Cavaliers. Will Dabo take his foot off the accelerator and take his starters out early so as not to embarrass a member of the Clemson family, whose job could still be on the line if UVa doesn’t finish strong? Maybe. But with a top-10 ranking and at-large Playoff aspirations to protect, he’s just as likely to keep the hammer down and go for maximum style points.

4. How bad of a matchup is Cal’s secondary for NC State’s freshman quarterback CJ Bailey?

Facing the Bears in general and senior cornerback Nohl Williams can be a nightmare for any quarterback. But it’s especially dangerous for a freshman, on the road, in just his 5th career start. Williams leads college football with 6 interceptions this season, 2 more than anyone else in the FBS. His team is tied with Minnesota and UNLV for No. 1 nationally with 13 picks and is among the top 3 with a plus-10 turnover margin. Although Bailey has shown flashes of his potential by completing 66.4% of his passes for 1,070 yards and 6 touchdowns this season, he’s also had trouble with turnovers. Including 4 interceptions and a couple of fumbles on strip sacks. State’s cumulative turnover margin is -2. How well Bailey protects the ball will go a long way toward determining which team comes away with its first ACC win.

3. Are conditions right for Brent Key to upset another ranked team?

Key’s Yellow Jackets have been their best when the competition has been the toughest. They’ve beaten 5 ranked opponents in his short 28-game tenure over parts of 3 seasons. They’ll get another shot Saturday against No.12 Notre Dame at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Irish are coming off a 49-7 beatdown of Stanford and are an 11.5-point favorite, according to ESPNBet sportsbook. But they’re a banged-up team with star cornerback Benjamin Morrison joining center Ashton Craig, defensive ends Jordan Botelho and Boubacar Traore and offensive tackle Charles Jagusah on the injured list.

Beyond that, Tech could also find advantages in a ground attack that, like Northern Illinois earlier this season, could give the Irish trouble and the extensive scouting report they have on quarterback Riley Leonard from his time at former Coastal Division rival Duke. If the Yellow Jackets are going to pull off the upset, though, they’re going to have to do it with backup quarterback Zack Pyron under center. Starter Haynes King has been ruled out with an injury suffered in last week’s win at North Carolina.

2. Is the off week an advantage or disadvantage for Miami?

The open date couldn’t have come at a better time for the 6th-ranked Hurricanes. They barely escaped with their undefeated record intact after close calls against Virginia Tech and Cal, and have plenty of rough edges to smooth out in order to get their mojo back. They’ll need to be at or near their best on the road against Louisville, a team that will likely be their toughest opponent the rest of the regular season.

History, however, suggests that the opposite might be true. Miami is 0-2 after a bye week in Mario Cristobal’s 2 seasons – falling to North Carolina in 2022 and Georgia Tech in the infamous Kneelgate game last year. Cristobal said that his team spent last week “polishing technique and fundamentals.” It will also help if the Hurricanes remember to play with urgency through the first 3 quarters instead of waiting almost until the bitter end as they did against the Hokies and Bears.

1. Duke is 0-20 vs. FSU. Can Blue Devils finally break through?

The Blue Devils have lost all 20 previous meetings with the Seminoles. FSU has scored 40 or more points in 18 of those games, including 6 of the past 8. But the roles have been revered for Friday’s showdown at Wallace Wade Stadium. Duke is 5-1 (1-1 ACC) in Year 1 under Manny Diaz and a 3-point favorite against the preseason ACC favorites, who are 1-5 (1-4). Because of their history, losing to the Blue Devils would mark a new low for the Seminoles in a season that has long since fallen off the deep end.

If there’s 1 thing Mike Norvell has going for him, it’s that the open date provided an opportunity to start incorporating some young players into the lineup for the 2nd half of the season. If not to try to salvage this year and gain bowl eligibility, then to start building for 2025. The main beneficiary of the extra preparation tie could be freshman quarterback Brock Glenn, who showed positive signs of growth in his start against Clemson 2 weeks ago.

The post Friedlander: 5 questions to ponder before kickoff of Week 8 in ACC football appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Then there’s the kind of loss Alabama suffered 2 weeks ago.

Vanderbilt?

Sure, Diego Pavia is a dynamic talent. And at 4-2 at the midway point in the season, the Commodores are on pace for their first winning record since 2013.

But it’s still Vanderbilt.

In the old days – you know, back when only 4 teams made the College Football Playoff and there were no automatic bids – such a loss would all but disqualify a team from playing for the national championship.

Let alone winning it.

That’s all changed under the current system. An expanded field and the increased parity created by the cross-pollination of conference realignment has opened the Playoff door to more teams than ever. Including those with losses to Vanderbilt. Or Northern Illinois in the case of Notre Dame and Arizona in the case of Utah.

With half the regular season still to play, there’s a good chance a team will make it into this year’s Playoff with an even more glaring blemish on its record.

While we wait to see who that might be, here’s a look back at the 5 worst losses by a national champion in the BCS/Playoff era (1998-2023; keep in mind only 12 of those 26 national champions lost a game.):

5. 2003: Florida 19, LSU 7; Cal 34, USC 31 (3 OT)

The 2003 season produced the most recent split national champions.

LSU earned the official BCS title after beating Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl; Southern Cal was voted No. 1 in the AP poll after taking down Michigan in the Rose Bowl. It doesn’t matter which champion you prefer to recognize. They both suffered ugly losses on the road to their share of the title.

Nick Saban’s Tigers lost at home in Week 6 to a Florida team that went on to lose 5 times in Ron Zook’s next-to-last season coaching in Gainesville. While LSU was never in the game after taking an early 7-0 lead, at least Pete Carroll’s Trojans held out until the 3rd overtime before suffering their defeat in Week 4 at Berkeley. The Bears were quarterbacked that day by an unknown JUCO transfer named Aaron Rogers. But they were only 8-6 that season.

4. 2007: Kentucky 43, LSU 37 (3 OT)

The Tigers became the first (and so far only) 2-loss team to play for and win a national championship since the BCS was established in 1998. Both defeats came in triple overtime. And both – in Week 7 to Kentucky and the regular-season finale to Arkansas – came against teams that lost 5 times and finished at .500 or worse in the SEC.

Of the 2, the lost to Kentucky was by far the worst, although it might not have seemed like it at the time. Kentucky was 5-1 and ranked No. 17 when it took down the top-rated Tigers. But after rallying from a 27-14 deficit in the final 17 minutes of regulation to beat LSU, the Wildcats went 2-4 the rest of the way.

The 2007 season was a strange one in the SEC. The league was so balanced that both division winners finished with 2 losses. LSU won the West and beat East champion Tennessee for the conference crown to earn its national title shot against Ohio State.

3. 2014: Virginia Tech 35, Ohio State 21

The Hokies were already in decline by the time they arrived at the Horseshoe in Week 2. They’d lost 11 games in the previous 2 seasons and were on the way to a 7-6 overall record (3-5 in the ACC). But on this day, they provided Hall of Fame coach Frank Beamer with what might have been his last hurrah by using a dominating defense to beat the Buckeyes. The game was notable in that it marked JT Barrett’s first career start in place of an injured Braxton Miller. Jarrett struggled and was intercepted 3 times – including 1 by Donovan Riley, who returned his for a 63-yard touchdown.

Barrett rallied from the loss to lead OSU to 10 consecutive wins before suffering an injury of his own after running over a photographer in the regular-season finale against Michigan. Instead of scuttling the Buckeyes’ national championship hopes, Barrett’s injury helped spark the legend of Cardale Jones. The 3rd-stringer stepped in and was the catalyst for wins against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game, Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and Oregon in the inaugural Playoff final.

2. 2016: Pitt 43, Clemson 42

Remember Clemsoning?

That was the term used to describe the Tigers’ seemingly annual habit of losing a game they had no business losing. And there’s no better example of it than their 2016 loss to Pitt. The Panthers, who would finish the season at 7-5, came to Death Valley on a 2-game losing streak. But thanks to the running of James Conner and a defense that picked off Deshaun Watson 3 times, they were able to end Clemson’s bid for an undefeated season. It was also the Tigers’ last home loss for the next 40 games, a streak that spanned nearly 6 years.

Clemson, ranked No. 2 at the time, had several opportunities to put Pitt away. But instead of adding onto a 42-34 4th quarter lead, Saleem Brightwell picked Watson off to set up a Conner touchdown. Then with less than a minute remaining, Wayne Gallman was stopped short on a 4th-down run near midfield to set the stage for Chris Blewitt’s winning 48-yard field goal as time expired.

The loss, though disappointing, was only a temporary setback. The Tigers regrouped to beat Virginia Tech for the 2nd of their 6 straight ACC titles before going on to rout Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl and beat Alabama in the national championship game.

1. 2008: Ole Miss 31, Florida 30

The Rebels limped into The Swamp having already lost to Wake Forest and everyone’s favorite doormat Vanderbilt, and were a 22-point underdog against the Tim Tebow-led Gators. Tebow threw for 319 yards and Percy Harvin accounted for 286 combined rushing and receiving yards in the game. But Ole Miss scored 17 unanswered points in the 3rd quarter to take charge and held on for an upset that appeared to knock Florida out of the national championship picture. The disappointing loss prompted Tebow to make what has come to be known as “The Promise” in his postgame comments.

“I promise you one thing,” he said. “A lot of good will come out of this. You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of this season, and you’ll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season.”

Tebow followed through on his vow. The Gators ran the table the rest of the way, including a 31-20 win against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game before beating No. 1 Oklahoma for the BCS title.

The post Looking back at the 5 worst losses by a national champion in the BCS/Playoff era appeared first on Saturday Down South.

“This is a different Miami team.”

Even I’m guilty of drinking the orange and green Kool-Aid by buying in on the Hurricanes this time.

Why not?

Mario Cristobal’s team is 6-0, ranked No. 6 in the nation. It has survived the kind of close calls other top teams have not in recent weeks. Twice. And it has the best odds among ACC teams to make the College Football Playoff, according to FanDuel sportsbook.

But is this really a different Miami team?

Is Cam Ward the proverbial Heimlich maneuver to the championship obstruction blocking the Hurricanes’ airwaves since joining the ACC 2 decades ago? Or is it simply a case of repeating something so often that we begin to believe it’s true?

Even though deep down, you know it probably isn’t.

With half the regular season left to play, starting with Saturday’s challenging test at Louisville, there’s still plenty of opportunity for history to repeat itself.

It doesn’t take a deep dive into the record books to find a parallel to the Hurricanes’ current trajectory. And a valid reason for slamming on the brakes of this latest dose of Miami hype.

In 2017, Mark Richt’s Hurricanes got off to a similarly hot start that helped it climb steadily in the polls. Like this year’s team, they needed a little luck to stay undefeated.

OK, a lot of luck.

It took a game-winning touchdown with 6 seconds remaining to pull out a victory at Florida State in Week 4, then a 4th-down completion on a tipped pass and a field goal with 4 seconds left a week later to produce another miracle against Georgia Tech.

Miami stayed alive with this crazy #SCtop10 catch.

Then the Canes kept going and beat Georgia Tech on a last-second field goal. Wow. pic.twitter.com/4CF0T6CnSh

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 14, 2017

Right on cue, the bandwagon began filling up.

Certainly, the great escapes were a sign that the swagger was finally back at The U. And that this was a different Miami team.

Until it wasn’t.

After starting 10-0 and rising to No. 2 in the nation, the Hurricanes’ charmed life reached its expiration date. They lost their regular-season finale on a cold afternoon in Pittsburgh to a Panthers team that finished 5-7, then got blown out 38-3 by Clemson in the ACC Championship game and fell to Wisconsin in the Orange Bowl.

This is not to suggest that history is doomed to repeat itself. As those late-night infomercials always warn: Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Especially since, as mentioned, this Miami team has the kind of X-factor its program has lacked at least since its most recent national championship in 2001.

Ward isn’t just the best quarterback in the country. He has a flair for the dramatic and a cockiness that would have fit right in on any of Jimmy Johnson’s wild championship-caliber teams of the 1980s.

It’s a confidence that sometimes gets the best of him, as it did during the opening 2 1/2 quarters against Cal 2 weeks ago. But he has the talent to put his team on his shoulders and climb out of almost any hole he digs for it. As he did in leading the Hurricanes back from a 25-point deficit during the final 18 minutes of that 1-point win.

Even with Ward’s heroics, it took some help from the ACC and its review officials for Miami to stay unbeaten.

While it’s sometimes better to be lucky than good, doing so too many times isn’t a sound championship strategy. Especially given Cristobal’s history in close games.

This team has all the elements necessary to hoist a trophy in Charlotte on Dec. 7 and make its long-awaited return to the national stage. It just needs to utilize them better than it has over its past 2 games.

In that respect, last week’s open date came at an opportune time.

The midseason break provided the Hurricanes with a chance to refocus while also giving them a chance to work on improving their tackling on defense and blocking on offense. Areas that have been a particular recent concern. It also allowed star edge rusher Rueben Bain and others nursing injuries extra time to regain their health and strength for the stretch run to come.

If this really is a different Miami team, this is the chance to prove it.

The back half of the schedule sets up well if the Hurricanes can get past Louisville this week. Rival Florida State is a mess. Duke, Georgia Tech and Syracuse are improved and dangerous, but beatable. And Wake Forest is, well, Wake Forest.

All things considered, the most difficult opponent Miami may have to face from here on out is the one team that’s caused it the most headaches over the past 2 decades since joining the ACC.

Itself.

The post Friedlander: Is this really a different Miami team? Or is history doomed to repeat itself? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Two weeks ago, we saw 5 of the nation’s top 11 teams go down to defeat within hours of each other, including No. 1 Alabama. This week, No. 2 Ohio State bit the dust.

They’re the kind of results that remind us why they wait until the end of the season to start handing out trophies instead of awarding them in mid-October. With half the schedule still to be played, there’s no telling what might happen and how much more things might change.

But what fun is waiting?

Since we don’t have any actual hardware to present, there’s no harm in jumping the gun by honoring the best of the best in the ACC for their achievements during the 1st half of the season.

Offensive Player of the Year

As the highest-rated player in the transfer portal, Cam Ward was already a Heisman Trophy frontrunner before he ever threw his 1st pass for Miami this season. Halfway through his 1 season with the Hurricanes, he’s only added to the hype. The Washington State transfer doesn’t just lead the nation in both passing yards per game (369.8) and touchdown passes (20). His late-game comeback heroics have almost singlehandedly kept Miami undefeated, ranked in the top 10 and in the hunt for its first ACC championship and Playoff Berth.

Defensive Player of the Year

After a breakout sophomore season in which he recorded 7.5 sacks in 2022, Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku all but disappeared last season. He failed to record a sack in 11 of the 12 games he played and only had 2 for the entire year. But he’s bounced back with a vengeance in 2024. Energized by the arrival of new coach Bill O’Brien, The senior edge rusher equaled his sack total from last year in the Eagles’ season-opening win at Florida State. He’s already surpassed his career high with 9, all solo, to rank 2nd nationally. He also has an ACC-leading 11.5 tackles for loss while amassing 43 tackles and a forced fumble.

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Isaac Brown had some big shoes to fill at Louisville after the Cardinals top 2 rushers from last season were taken in the NFL Draft. But the former 3-star prospect has picked up right where Jawhar Jordan and Isaac Guerendo left off. He ran for 123 yards and a touchdown in his college debut against Austin Peay and is averaging 8.6 yards per carry for the season, He’s coming off his best game to date, a 146-yard, 2-touchdown performance in a come-from-behind win at Virginia. Brown is also an effective receiver out of the backfield with 14 catches, 4 of which came 2 weeks ago against SMU.

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Sammy Brown came to Clemson with even higher expectations than Brown. He was a 5-star prospect and the No. 2-rated linebacker in this year’s recruiting class. And while Dabo Swinney has been careful about working him into the lineup on a full-time basis, Brown still ranks 4th on the Tigers in tackles with 20 while recording a pair of pass breakups. He showed his dominating potential in a win against Stanford 2 weeks ago by collecting 2 sacks, 3.5 TFLs and a team-leading 8 tackles. He was recently named one of the nation’s 15 impact freshmen by ESPN, along with the likes of Alabama’s Ryan Williams and Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith.

Breakout player

Desmond Reid wasn’t the best-known transfer to enter the ACC this season. He wasn’t even Pitt’s most heralded arrival from Western Carolina. That honor went to dynamic young offensive coordinator Kade Bell. It didn’t take long, though, for the undersized 5-8, 175-pound running back to start making a name for himself. Along with freshman quarterback Eli Holstein, Bell has helped inject energy into a Panthers offense that has gone from one of the worst in the conference a year ago to one of its best this season. He’s already amassed 494 yards on the ground and 341 as a receiver while accounting for 7 touchdowns with an explosiveness best illustrated by his electric 72-yard sprint on a 4th-and-1 play in Saturday’s win against Cal.

Coach of the Year

Who says you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. Especially old dogs that happen to be former defensive coordinators. But Pat Narduzzi has. Coming off a disastrous 3-9 season with his job potentially on the line, Pat Narduzzi broke the stereotype and got himself off the hot seat by hiring a 31-year-old offensive coordinator and giving him free rein to install an up-tempo spread attack that has helped transform the Panthers from an also-ran to an ACC contender.

Biggest surprise

Narduzzi’s Panthers were picked to finish 13th in the ACC’s preseason poll. Six games into the season, they’re 1 of just 26 remaining undefeated FBS teams, ranked 20th in the nation, off to their best start since Dan Marino was their quarterback and tied for 1st in the ACC. It doesn’t get much more surprising than that.

Biggest disappointment

Florida State is the poster child for how quickly fortunes can turn in college football. In the span of just 7 months, the Seminoles have gone from an undefeated conference champion enraged over being unjustly left out of the 4-team Playoff to an ACC bottom-feeder 2 losses from being eliminated from bowl contention. Florida State’s plummet from the top of the polls into the gutter can be traced directly to coach Mike Novell’s transfer portal decisions, which haven’t gone as well as those of a year ago. The biggest whiff was at quarterback, where DJ Uiagalelei failed to put up more than 21 points in any of his 5 games as a starter before being sidelined with a hand injury. At 1-5 overall (1-4 ACC), FSU is going nowhere fast. Much less to the SEC or Big Ten.

Best game

Miami-Virginia Tech had it all. Friday night national television exclusivity. A star attraction. A back-and-forth game with the potential for a top-10 upset. And, of course, some epic controversy to argue about at the end. We’ll never know who actually came down with Kyron Drones’ Hail Mary heave into the end zone as time expired. Or if the reversal that gave the Hurricanes a wild 38-34 victory was the right or wrong call. But we’ll be talking about it for a long time to come. Especially if Miami goes on to win the conference championship.

Best individual performance

Ward was outstanding in throwing for 343 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead his team from behind in the 4th quarter to beat the Hokies. But he was even better in an even closer call 1 week later at Cal. The star quarterback produced a Heisman-worthy moment by helping the Hurricanes rally from a 25-point 2nd half deficit for a 39-38 victory that spoiled the Bears’ home ACC debut. Ward threw for 437 yards – 382 of which came in the final 18 minutes while leading Miami on scoring drives of 75, 75, 70 and 92 yards to produce the 2nd-biggest comeback in school history. The only downside of his performance, which was punctuated by the game-winning touchdown pass with less than a minute remaining, is that because of the late starting time hardly anyone on the East Coast was awake to see it.

The post Friedlander: Handing out midseason awards for ACC football appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It’s only a game. No matter how important the outcome might seem.

If the devastation caused by hurricanes that ripped through Florida, Georgia and Western North Carolina in the past month weren’t enough of a reminder, then the events that took place in Chapel Hill on Saturday should be.

Losing to Georgia Tech on a last-second touchdown was disappointing. But for North Carolina, losing a teammate was heart-breaking.

The death of Tylee Craft hit the Tar Heels hard. Mack Brown’s tearful hug with Craft’s mother during the game and his emotional comments afterward speaks volumes about keeping things in perspective.

That makes this a difficult column to write. Because as the title suggests, it’s all about overreacting to events on the field of play.

So here are the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 7 in and around the ACC. Keeping in mind that it’s only a game.

10. Next man up at Alabama?

We all know about the stigma attached to being the man who follows The Man. So Kalen DeBoer knew exactly what he was getting into when he decided to take on the challenge of being Nick Saban’s successor at Alabama.

Six games into his tenure, he’s already feeling the heat.

Losing to Vanderbilt will do that.

Had it not been for Jalen Milroe and a little luck against South Carolina on Saturday, things might have gotten even worse for him. Even in victory, DeBoer rubbed the Crimson Tide’s demanding fans the wrong way when he said that his team is “getting accustomed” to playing close games.

Even though DeBoer might eventually grow on the folks in Tuscaloosa, it’s never too soon to speculate on who might eventually be the man who follows the man who followed The Man.

Hello, Dabo. You ready to come home now?

Better yet, you ready to embrace him now, Bama? That whole transfer portal thing doesn’t seem like such an issue now that his team is back in the top 10.

Funny how perceptions can change in just the span of a few months.

9. The most explosive offensive player in the ACC is _________ ?

Desmond Reid.

Desmond Who?

Exactly. The Pitt running back was an under-the-radar transfer portal pickup for coach Pat Narduzzi. But he’s been just as big a reason for the Panthers’ surprising 6-0 start as his higher-profile teammate Eli Holstein.

He came from Western Carolina along with offensive coordinator Kade Bell and he’s become the ACC’s answer to Christian McCaffery – an undersized back who is equally as dangerous as a receiver as he is a runner.

Reid ranks 4th in the ACC in rushing with 494 yards. He’s also among the league’s top 10 in receiving with 25 catches for 341 yards. He’s combined for 7 touchdowns, including an electric 72-yard sprint on a 4th-and-1 play that was the difference in Pitt’s 17-15 win against Cal on Saturday.

At his current pace, he’s a lock to be the first-team All-ACC selection at the “all purpose” position. Assuming, of course, enough voters learn who he is.

8. Kyle McCord’s go-to guys

Kyle McCord is a big reason the Fran Brown era at Syracuse is off to a promising 5-1 start. He’s thrown for 300-plus yards in all 6 of his games, a school record, including 346 in Saturday’s 24-17 win at NC State. But beyond his elite arm talent, a big reason McCord is off to such a promising start is the incredible stable of receivers he inherited.

Most quarterbacks have only 1 go-to guy they look for when all else fails. That can be a problem when defenses make a concerted effort to take him away. Just ask NC State’s KC Concepcion.

But McCord has 3.

He effectively spread the ball around to each of them against the Wolfpack on Saturday, hitting Georgia transfer Jackson Meeks 11 times for 116 yards and a touchdown, Trebor Pena had 8 catches for 75 yards and All-ACC tight end Oronde Gadsden II 6 for 74.

Between them, the trio has already combined for 112 catches and 12 touchdowns. They all rank among the top 10 in the conference in receiving yardage. If they’re not the best collection of receivers in the ACC, they’re a close 2nd to Cam Ward’s crew at Miami.

And nobody else is close.

7. Cal keeps making new friends

The Bears have made a lot of new friends during their short time in the ACC. And not just because of their creative social media presence or the way they’ve embraced becoming a member of a conference named for the opposite coast of them.

They’ve also endeared themselves to their ACC rivals with their penchant for playing just well enough to lose.

Justin Wilcox’s team is off to an 0-3 start in the league. It could just as easily be 3-0. Its 3 losses – to Florida State, Miami and Pitt – have come by a combined total of 7 points. Along the way, Cal has provided the Seminoles with their only ACC win despite outgaining them by more than 100 yards, helped the Hurricanes stay undefeated by squandering a 25-point lead in the final 18 minutes and gifted the Panthers their best start since Dan Marino was their quarterback by missing a potential game-winning field goal in the final 2 minutes.

NC State’s Dave Doeren can only hope the Bears’ generosity continues for at least another week. His Wolfpack, who share the ACC cellar with Cal and rival UNC, play in Berkeley next Saturday.

6. The 24-hour rule doesn’t apply

Most coaches subscribe to the concept that gives their players a day to celebrate a win or stew over a loss before moving on to the next game. The 24-hour rule, however, no longer applies to ACC equipment managers whose teams are scheduled to play one of the league’s new West Coast teams the following week.

As noted in a social media post by Cory Smith of PackPride.com, NC State’s equipment truck was already loaded up and ready to leave for the trip to California less than 2 hours after the end of Saturday’s game.

Watched the staff loading up last night at 1:30 am before finally getting on the road.

Really tough for equipment to go cross country for a 12:30 pm PT game next week after an 8 pm ET game last night. https://t.co/OLpxEEe3KN

— Cory Smith (@RCorySmith) October 13, 2024

It’s not that the Wolfpack were in a hurry to move past their loss to Syracuse. The early start to the trip was a matter of necessity. While the team will be able to get from Raleigh to Berkeley in a matter of hours by air, it will take several days for the truck to complete the nearly 3,000-mile trek. And then do it again in the opposite direction next week. At least State has an open date in Week 9.

Just one more unintended consequence of the silliness of bi-coastal conference expansion.

5. 50 is the new 30

I’m old enough to remember the days when 50-yard field goals were as rare for college kickers as a solar eclipse. And when coaches would elect to punt from the plus side of midfield much more often than they would risk giving up the field position that comes with a long 3-point miss.

That’s no longer the case. Whether it’s improved strength and weight training, the introduction of Red Bull and other brands of go-go juice or some other factors, the range of college kickers has expanded exponentially over the past few years.

On Saturday, Pitt’s Ben Sauls tied a school record by splitting the uprights from 58 yards out in the Panthers’ win against Cal. And that’s not even the longest field goal of the year in the ACC. Against Georgia Tech in Ireland in Week 0, Florida State’s Ryan Fitzgerald converted a 59-yarder. He also made a 52-yard chip shot in that same game.

A total of 11 ACC kickers have combined to make 19 field goals of 50 yards or longer
this season. Three of them – Fitzgerald, SMU’s Collin Rogers and Virginia Tech’s John Love – have made 2 in the same game. By contrast, only 1 ACC kicker – Pitt’s Alex Kessman – kicked multiple 50-yarders in a game during the 6 years between 2018-23.

There’s a good chance before the season is over that someone will break the 60-yard mark. Maybe it’s time for football to make things more interesting and go the way of basketball by establishing a 4-point line for field goals of a certain distance.

4. Glass half empty or glass half full?

NC State and UNC are a combined 0-6 in the ACC and headed nowhere fast. Both will be lucky just to earn bowl eligibility.

But there’s still reason for optimism among their fans. They only have to endure their misery for 3 more Saturdays.

Basketball season begins on Nov. 4.

3. Another week, another mystifying targeting call

When it comes to enforcing college football’s ambiguous targeting rule, the ACC has shown the inconsistency of a golfer suffering from the putting yips. It showed up again Saturday in the 2nd half of the NC State’s loss to Syracuse.

Wolfpack nickel Tamarcus Cooley was called for the infraction and ejected upon review for a hit on Orange receiver Trebor Pena that was far less egregious than the shot Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza that wasn’t called a week earlier against Miami.

Unlike the Mendoza hit, the call on Cooley didn’t affect the outcome. But it could potentially have an impact on State’s next game since Cooley will have to sit out the first half as part of his punishment.
As previously mentioned in this column, it’s anybody’s guess what constitutes targeting and what doesn’t from week to week, game to game. My guess is that the guys in the control center aren’t sure, either.

So they just flip a coin.

2. Geoff Collins finally does something to make Tech fans happy

Saturday’s game in Chapel Hill was billed as the Geoff Collins revenge game.

Revenge was exacted, all right. Just not by the former Georgia Tech coach.

Checking-in on Georgia Tech fans after the Jackets defeated North Carolina, with their former head coach as DC… pic.twitter.com/XBG9C2CpxU

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) October 12, 2024

For a few fleeting moments, it did appear as though the UNC defensive coordinator might get the last laugh on the team that fired him 4 games into the 2022 season, manned by many of the players he recruited. His unit got 2 big stops late in the 4th quarter to set the stage for a game-tying 10-point rally in the final 3 1/2 minutes.

That only served to make what happened next all the more stunning.

Tech wasn’t even trying to score. With starting quarterback Haynes King sidelined with an injury, the Yellow Jackets seemed satisfied to keep the ball on the ground, run out the final 44 seconds of regulation and play for overtime. Instead, running back Jamal Haynes broke through a massive hole and sprinted 68 yards untouched for the winning touchdown. It was a massive breakdown at the worst possible time by Collins’ much-maligned defense.

Worst possible time from a UNC perspective, at least. For those partial to the Yellow Jackets, the dramatic finish was viewed as a form of retribution for the frustration they endured during Collins’ 3-plus season tenure in Atlanta. The Yellow Jackets won only 10 times in 38 games during his tenure.

According to one social media poster, Saturday’s outcome should count as No. 11.

1. It’s time, Mack

The disappointment of a 4-game losing streak, extended in the cruelest possible way, combined with the unthinkable emotional strain of learning that one of his players had died earlier in the day showed on Mack Brown’s face as he addressed the media in an emotional postgame press conference Saturday.

It was understandable. But at that moment, the 73-year-old coach looked even older than he actually is. And it added to the growing speculation that this will be his final season of coaching the Tar Heels.

Brown doesn’t need any of this. He’s already in the Hall of Fame. He has a national championship ring. Most importantly, he accomplished what he set out to do by cleaning up the mess left behind by his predecessor Larry Fedora and returning UNC to respectability.

The time has come for him to walk away. Finish out the season and call it a career. With an open date in the Tar Heels’ schedule, this week is an opportune time for him to announce it.

The post 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 7 in the ACC appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The visiting team won 4 of the 5 conference matchups on the ACC’s condensed Week 7 schedule with Clemson, Georgia Tech, Louisville and Syracuse all notching victories away from home, Their success continues a trend that has seen road teams go 10-3 over the past 2 weeks in league games.

That’s not the only recurring theme that played out Saturday.

Four of those 5 conference games were decided by a touchdown or less. With 3 – Georgia Tech-North Carolina, Pitt-Cal and Louisville-Virginia – coming down to decisive plays in the final 2 minutes.

Those kinds of close games have been the norm in the ACC this season. Fourteen of the first 25 conference games that have been decided by 7 or fewer points. Clemson’s 49-14 win at Wake Forest was the only outlier Saturday.

Just one more example of the parity that exists around the league.

But that’s not the only thing we learned about the ACC in Week 7. Here are some of the other big takeaways:

Tar Heels find another new way to lose

You have to give Mack Brown’s team credit for creativity. The Tar Heels’ season might be circling the bowl at a rapid pace, but they still haven’t run out of new ways to lose.

The downward spiral began on Sept. 21 with the 70-burger they allowed against James Madison. Then came the 2nd half meltdown in which they squandered a 20-0 lead against rival Duke, followed by another close loss to Pittsburgh punctuated by Brown’s unsuccessful 4th down gambles.

Saturday’s 41-34 setback to Georgia Tech may have been the most devastating yet.

UNC put itself in a position to earn a season-saving victory by rallying from a 10-point deficit in the final 3½ minutes. But in the process of celebrating Noah Burnette’s tying field goal with 44 seconds remaining, the Tar Heels forgot to play defense.

Instead of going to overtime against an opponent whose starting quarterback was sidelined with an injury – and who appeared to be satisfied with running out the clock in regulation – UNC watched Jamal Haynes break free for a 68-yard run for the winning touchdown.

And that wasn’t even the worst thing that happened to the Tar Heels on Saturday. After the game, they received the news that teammate Tylee Craft had lost his battle with cancer. Craft was honored in a moving ceremony between the 1st and 2nd quarters that saw Brown reduced to tears as he hugged his ailing player’s mother.

The emotional toll of Craft’s death, combined with the 4-game losing streak, has only intensified speculation about Brown’s future at UNC after this season.

Orange back in the end zone

Clemson’s red-zone struggles last week at Florida State were the cause of at least some minor angst among Tigers fans.

Not to worry.

It took a full quarter to remember how to get there. But after settling for 7 field goal attempts in the 29-13 win against the Seminoles and getting shut out for the first 15 minutes at Wake Forest, Cade Klubnik and his offense finally found their way back into the end zone Saturday.

Klubnik hit Antonio Williams from 22 yards out for the first of his 3 touchdown passes, sparking a 28-point 2nd period that got the 10th-ranked Tigers rolling again. Williams also threw a touchdown pass while Phil Mafah ran for a pair of scores to help Clemson earn its 5th straight win – all by at least 2-score margins – since its opening week loss to Georgia.

The Tigers rolled up 566 total yards (343 passing and 223 rushing) while playing a clean game without a turnover.

“We’re just resilient in everything we do,” Klubnik said after the game. “Just to finish the way we did was awesome.”

There’s still a ‘D’ in Narduzzi’s Pitt Panthers

Pitt’s newly energized offensive attack got the Panthers into the national rankings for the first time since winning the ACC 3 seasons ago. Saturday, it was an old-school Pat Narduzzi defense that will likely help them stay in the polls for at least another week.

Quarterback Eli Holstein was intercepted twice and admittedly played like a freshman for the first time this season as the 22nd-ranked Panthers managed only 277 total yards – 72 of which came on a 2nd-quarter touchdown run – and were shut out in the 2nd half. But that turned out to be good enough to get by thanks to a defense that sacked Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza 6 times, recorded 11 TFLs, came up big on a potential game-tying 2-point conversion attempt and got a little lucky in the final 2 minutes.

The 6 sacks, 3.5 of which were by linebacker Jimmy Scott, were half as many as Pitt recorded in its first 5 games combined. And they came at an opportune time. So did Braylan Lovelace’s tackle of Chandler Rogers on a 2-point play early in the 4th quarter that preserved what turned out to be the Panthers’ winning margin.

Although Saturday’s performance was by far its least impressive of the season, the 17-15 win that improves Pitt to 6-0 for the first time since 1983 is significant nonetheless in that it shows the Panthers’ ability to win even when their usually explosive offense isn’t in high gear.

Another close call for Cal

Cal has endeared itself to the rest of the ACC with the way its players, coaches and fans have embraced their new association with the conference. The Bears have also made some new friends by playing just well enough to lose in each of their 1st 3 conference games.

Those losses – to Florida State, Miami and Pitt – have come by a combined 7 points. And in 2 of the 3, they’ve either had the lead or been in a position to score the winning points in the final 2 minutes.

As with the targeting infraction that wasn’t called last week against the Hurricanes, it would be easy to blame Cal’s latest loss on the missed 40-yard field goal by Ryan Coe with 1:55 remaining. While was definitely a difference-maker, the game might not have come down to that decisive kick had Justin Wilcox not outcoached himself by going for 2 – unsuccessfully – after his team’s first touchdown early in the game. Or if the Bears hadn’t given up those 6 sacks and continually hurt themselves by committing 12 penalties for 110 yards.

They’re just another reminder of how thin the margin between winning and losing can be.

“We don’t have the margin to go play bad football from time to time and expect to win against a top-25 team,” coach Justin Wilcox said. “ (We) can’t expect that. So I don’t feel sorry for us. I don’t feel sorry for our players. I don’t feel sorry for anybody. Those are the things we have to fix.”

The post Friedlander: Biggest takeaways from Week 7 around the ACC appeared first on Saturday Down South.

That’s because the 6th-ranked Hurricanes aren’t playing.

They’re 1 of 6 ACC teams with open dates, a midseason break that makes for a light schedule around the conference. But don’t let that fool you. If we learned anything from last week’s wild results, which saw 5 of the top 11 teams go down to defeat, it’s that upsets can happen any time and any place.

Even Vanderbilt.

So as we wait to see what surprises, if any, await in Week 7 here are 5 questions to think about and ponder before kickoff:

5. Can Georgia Tech continue its dominance of North Carolina?

The Yellow Jackets might be the last team the Tar Heels want to see as they try to break their 3-game losing streak. Tech has owned UNC since 2017, winning 5 of the past 6 meetings between the former Coastal Division rivals. Even Geoff Collins, who’s now UNC’s defensive coordinator, was able to beat Mack Brown’s team. And he won only 10 times in 3½ seasons with the Yellow Jackets. If there’s 1 thing the Tar Heels have going for them, it’s that the roles are reversed this year. After being favored in each of the 5 games since Brown returned to Chapel Hill in 2019, including last season’s 45-42 loss in which Tech rolled up 348 yards on the ground and 635 yards overall, UNC is a 5-point home underdog this time.

4. Will NC State have an answer for Kyle McCord and Syracuse’s newly explosive offense?

The Wolfpack defense appeared to make positive strides in a win against Northern Illinois 2 weeks ago. But it took a major step back last Saturday while coughing up a 10-point 4th quarter lead in a loss to Wake Forest. State is the only ACC team allowing more points than the Deacons this season, which could be a recipe for disaster against a Syracuse offense loaded with playmakers. McCall threw the ball 62 times, completing 40 for 355 yards and 3 touchdowns in last week’s 44-41 overtime win at UNLV. The Ohio State transfer and his stable of talented receivers have the potential to do just as much damage against the only ACC team allowing more points than the Deacons this season.

3. How long will Clemson keep settling for field goals?

The Tigers went to Tallahassee last week and did what they had to do against imploding Florida State. They jumped out to an early lead, doubled up the Seminoles on the stat sheet by outgaining them 500-250 and were never seriously threatened in a 29-13 win. But it was anything but a clean performance for Dabo Swinney’s crew. While Clemson was able to move the ball up and down the field almost at will, its inability to finish drives led to 7 field goal attempts by kicker Nolan Hauser. Two of which were blocked. Scoring touchdowns will be a point of emphasis this week against a Wake Forest defense that has given up a lot of them this season. The Deacons are allowing 31 points per game, the 2nd most in the ACC.

2. Will Cal be motivated or deflated after last week’s controversial loss to Miami?

The Bears will have more to overcome than just their 3rd cross-country trip in the past 6 weeks when they travel to Pittsburgh on Saturday. They’ll also have to regroup from a long, emotional day that began well before dawn with a festive College GameDay broadcast and ended in disappointment just before midnight local time with a heart-wrenching 39-38 loss to a top-10 opponent. On the plus side, Justin Wilcox’s team put up its best offensive numbers of the season against the Hurricanes. It will need to continue that upward trend against a Panthers team that has been putting up big numbers of its own with an up-tempo attack fueled by the passing of Alabama transfer Eli Holstein and the running of Western Carolina transfer Desmond Reid.

1. Will Pitt fare any better as a ranked team than ACC rivals Georgia Tech and Boston College earlier this season?

The Panthers improved to 5-0 with last Saturday’s win at North Carolina and returned to the national polls for the first time since Kenny Pickett’s final game in 2022. But as the Yellow Jackets and Eagles can attest, the euphoria of that No. 22 ranking can wear off quickly if you don’t keep winning. Both those teams learned that lesson the hard way by dropping out of the polls after just 1 week. As 1 of only 2 remaining undefeated teams in the ACC, Pitt could thrust itself into the thick of the ACC championship race with a victory. But as only a 3-point favorite, according to ESPNBet sportsbook, it just as easily face a similar fate as Tech and BC if it doesn’t bring its “A” game against a dangerous opponent already with experience traveling to and winning in the Eastern time zone.

The post Friedlander: 5 questions to ponder before kickoff of Week 7 in ACC football appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Even though they’ve gone their separate ways to schools 2,000 miles apart. Davis at North Carolina. Love at Arizona.

So it’s not surprising that the former teammates reached out to one another almost immediately after suffering through identical 0-for-9 shooting performances from 3-point range in upset Sweet 16 losses on the same floor in Los Angeles last March.

“We exchanged texts after our games,” Davis said Thursday at the ACC’s Basketball Tipoff media event. “He played Clemson, we played Alabama. We kind of just made sure we were uplifting and supporting each other, even though we’re at different schools.”

Davis didn’t go into the specifics of the call. But there’s a good chance that at some point the high-scoring guards – who each won their respective conference’s Player of the Year awards last season – discussed their upcoming decisions to enter the NBA Draft or use the extra year of college eligibility they were granted during the COVID pandemic.

Both opted to return, a decision Davis attributed to “unfinished business.”

But it’s not one he made while the sting of the Tar Heels’ 89-87 loss and the way it ended – with his potential tying layup getting blocked by the Crimson Tide’s Grant Nelson – was still fresh.

“It definitely wasn’t right after Alabama,” Davis said. “I took a lot of time off to just kind of sit with my thoughts and emotions to make sure I was making the best decision for me. It was a hard decision because of the team we had, the year I had and the ultimate goal. There were definitely a lot of mixed emotions and thoughts.”

Among those Davis leaned on for advice was teammate Armando Bacot, who also delayed a professional career by playing a 5th college season, along with other former Tar Heels including Theo Pinson and Joel Berry.

Davis has already earned the right to have his jersey hung in the Smith Center rafters as a consensus 1st-team All-American. He’s 784 points away from surpassing Tyler Hansbrough as UNC’s all-time leading scorer.

Individual honors, however, aren’t what he considers his “ultimate goal.”

“My goal when I came to college was to win a national championship,” he said. “That’s still on the table for me.”

Here are some other random sights and sounds from Day 2 of the ACC’s preseason media event:

Isaac McKneely’s recurring nightmare

Maybe it was by accident. Maybe it was someone’s idea of a cruel joke. Either way, the irony was unmistakable when McKneely sat down at the same table in the interview room that NC State’s Michael O’Connell occupied the day before.

The 2 players will be forever linked in ACC history because of their roles in the play that changed the course of last season for both their teams.

McKneely is the Virginia player whose missed free throw set the stage for O’Connell’s desperation 3-pointer that sent their ACC Tournament semifinal game into overtime and jump-started the Wolfpack’s miracle run to the Final Four. If that wasn’t enough, the 6-foot-4 junior is also the Cavalier defending O’Connell when he let the shot go.

https://twitter.com/wolfpackstation/status/1768852540794311002

It’s a sequence McKneely said he’s watched nearly as many times as O’Connell. But unlike the Wolfpack star, his viewing of the replay hasn’t been by choice.
“Unfortunately, I’ll be on social media and it will just come up,” he said. “I try not to watch it. But it’s everywhere. Looking back, there’s nothing I can do about it now.”

McKneely, an 85% free throw shooter who averaged 12.3 points per game last season, admitted that he was “pretty bummed” about the game, which UVa lost in overtime. But he said that he’s learned to embrace the experience, going as far as calling it “A cool memory.

“I should be thanked by NC State for helping them make that run,” he said with a smile.

Embracing a faster pace?

There isn’t a whole lot of major breaking news that comes out of these preseason media scrum events. But in talking with Virginia shooting guard Taine Murray, it sounded as though I’d stumbled onto an absolute bombshell.

“We’ve changed some things up in terms of pushing in transition a little faster,” the native of New Zealand said. “We’re still trying to take good shots, the right shots we want. Defense will always stay the same. But we’re trying to get a little faster. It’s been exciting for us so far.”

Wait. What?

Is Tony Bennett no longer embracing the pace and dramatically changing his philosophy after another early NCAA exit last season?

Not really.

His interpretation of “pushing in transition a little faster” is still a lot different from that of the rest of the basketball world.

“We’ll make some adjustments to our offense. But not throwing everything away,” Bennett said, adding that the idea behind the changes is to open up more space on the floor for the Cavaliers’ shooters. “If there is an opportunity to get it and push multiple players and we can get something, great. But the majority of your offense is going to be in the halfcourt whether you’re a running team or not. You have to be effective at that.

“Absolutely we’ve worked on getting down the floor and if there’s something good, take it. But you’ll see most of the difference is in spacing.”

The ACC’s real expansion team

Cal, Stanford and SMU are the actual newcomers to the newly enlarged ACC this season. But in terms of roster makeup, the team that looks most like an expansion franchise is existing member Louisville.
Only 1 scholarship player, deep reserve guard Aiden McCool, is back from the team that lost 24 games and went 3-17 in the ACC last season under former coach Kenny Payne.

The rest of the team is made up of freshmen and a group of transfers brought together from literally every corner of the country – and a lot of places in between – by energetic new coach Pat Kelsey. Guard Koren Johnson came from Washington. Wing J’Vonne Hadley from Colorado. Guard Chucky Hepburn from Wisconsin. Wing Terrence Edwards from JMU and center Kasean Pryoer from South Florida.

Putting together a talented roster is the 1st step toward bringing the Cardinals back from the depths of the 2 worst seasons in school history. Blending all those new pieces together into a functioning unit will be much more of a challenge.

“Thirteen is a lot. A whole team is a lot. But from the first time we met with our guys on June 5 I had a great sense that this team has a chance to have a very special connectivity, said Kelsey, a fiery Skip Prosser disciple who put together an impressive mid-major resume at Winthrop and College of Charleston. “They’re about the right things. They’re winners. They come from winning programs. And they’ve done nothing to disappoint me in that regard.”

The process of building chemistry has been accelerated by a summer exhibition trip to The Bahamas that served as a bonding experience both on and off the court.

“We went down to the Bahamas for a great 4-5 days together, played well,” he said. “That helped build our camaraderie and rapport. I really like how the pieces have come together.”

Stanford grad Mark Madsen is a Cal Bear at heart

There’s no love lost between Bay Area neighbors Stanford and Cal. Their annual football rivalry is so intense that it’s known simply as “The Big Game.” With the winner earning possession of an ax rather than a trophy.

So you’d think it might be just a little uncomfortable for a Stanford grad like Mark Madsen to cross enemy lines to become the basketball coach at Cal. But that’s not the case. As it turns out, the former Los Angeles Lakers star is actually a Bear at heart.

“I went to Stanford for undergrad. I went there for my full-time MBA. A lot of my life is at Stanford,” Madsen said. “I love Stanford. Nothing will ever change that. But I’m at Cal now. I’m a Bear now. And I’m all in on Cal. My wife loves the area. My kids come to the games and I’m fired up.”

Truth be told, Madsen’s quirky, free-spirited personality is much more in tune with the vibe of the school that now employs him than that of the school he attended. His awkward dance moves at the Lakers’ 2001 championship celebration – which makes Seinfeld’s Elaine Benes look graceful – are still a popular internet meme.

“People said I had no rhythm … those people are mistaken.”@madsen_mark's dance skills: 20/10 @CalMBBall pic.twitter.com/r61EeD8wPb

— ACC Network (@accnetwork) October 10, 2024

And when he noticed there was a barber shop in the lobby area being used as radio row during a break in his interview schedule Thursday, of course, he decided it was a good time to pop in for a little trim.

Madsen said the transition from Stanford cardinal to Cal blue was awkward for “maybe the 1st 3 days.” But in retrospect, the transition was easier than it might seem. In fact, he was all set to attend Cal in 1993 until Lou Campanelli was fired as coach and his successor Todd Bozeman stopped recruiting him.

“People forget I grew up 20 minutes from Cal,” Madsen said. “My high school English teacher was a Cal grad who taught me all about the Beatniks and all that stuff. So it’s cool. It’s cool.”

A lot less to love about Steve Forbes

Wake Forest’s outgoing coach has always been able to poke fun at himself. Especially when it comes to his trademark bald head and slightly rotund features. When he was at East Tennessee State, he once led the charge that helped fans get him voted onto a list of the “10 Sexiest Coaches of Mid-Major Basketball.”

But the laughing stopped last spring when he began reviewing the recently completed season by watching replays of all its games. Disappointed by the Deacons’ omission from the NCAA Tournament and worn out from the stress of helping his wife Johnetta recover from a stroke, he realized that it was time to make some changes.

“At the end of the year you go through the season and you look on television and you’re like, holy (crap), look at yourself,” Forbes said. “I just had to take care of myself for a little bit. I feel better. And we’re in a better place family-wise.”

Forbes is looking svelte after losing 50 pounds. He sad he achieved the weight loss “the hard way” through diet and exercise. Not only has his trimmer frame helped him feel better physically. The continued improvement in Johnetta’s condition has put him in a much better place emotionally. That, he said, has already made him a better coach.

“When you have that thing going on in your life, you trick yourself and say ‘I can do both,’” Forbes said. “And I did. I don’t know how. Did 1 do a great job? Probably not. We did win 21 games and 11 ACC games. But maybe we could have won more. And that’s on me.”

Seniority has its privileges

Each of the ACC’s 18 basketball playing schools brought 2-3 players to Charlotte for this week’s event to represent their teams and talk about the upcoming season. Most coaches selected their best or most important players. Noticeably absent from the list of attendees was Notre Dame’s Markus Burton.

The 2024 conference Freshman of the Year and one of its top 3 returning scorers was left home in South Bend in favor of senior guard Julian Roper and senior forward JR Konieczny.

Burton’s omission wasn’t a disciplinary issue or a motivational tool. It was coach Micah Shrewsberry’s way of honoring upperclassmen who have paid their dues, in much the same way North Carolina’s Dean Smith used to do.

“I’m sure a lot of people wanted to talk to Markus and there will be opportunities to do that. But we have a little bit of an older team,” Shrewsberry said. “Getting the opportunity to come down here, be in front of the cameras, I’m trying to reward some of the older guys for their loyalty.”

The post Friedlander: Sights and sounds from Day 2 of the ACC’s Basketball Tipoff Event appeared first on Saturday Down South.

For all the craziness one of the divisions was famous for producing during its 19 years of existence, including a 7-year stretch from 2013-19 in which each of its teams won a title, we never got to experience the ultimate Coastal Chaos scenario.

A 7-team logjam for 1st in which everyone finished with a .500 record, requiring a convoluted tiebreaker procedure that included a game of rock, paper, scissors.

Now that the ACC has adopted a system that guarantees a championship game matchup between its 2 best teams, all that’s left are the memories.

Or maybe not.

The Coastal Division has gone the way of the 99-cent cup of coffee. But the potential for chaos is still alive and well.

How about 3 teams finishing the season with undefeated conference records?

It’s a very real possibility in a 17-team league with an unbalanced schedule in which none of its top contenders – No. 6 Miami, No. 10 Clemson and No. 25 SMU – play one another during the regular season.

The ACC has prepared for just such an occurrence by compiling a convoluted list of tiebreaking procedures that stops just short of the rock, paper, scissors option.

More on that shortly.

First, let’s take a look into how likely those tiebreakers will be necessary.

While Miami continues to inch higher in the national rankings and is 1 of only 19 remaining undefeated FBS, the Hurricanes have the look and feel of a ticking time bomb waiting to go off after barely escaping upsets in the past 2 weeks.

They can only count on the brilliance of Heisman hopeful Cam Ward to pull them through so many times. On the plus side, though, the recent close calls against Virginia Tech and Cal are games they would almost certainly have lost in previous seasons.

So maybe this really is a different Miami team.

We’ll get a better read on that in 2 weeks when the Canes travel to Louisville. The schedule lightens up considerably after that. But given Mario Cristobal’s history, a rivalry game against Florida State and a regular-season finale at Syracuse, anything is possible.

Clemson’s Dabo Swinney has a much better track record when it comes to taking care of business and playing for championships. His Tigers have won 7 of the past 8 ACC titles and have gotten better each week since a crushing opening game loss to Georgia.

Quarterback Cade Klubnik has finally begun to live up to his 5-star potential, his freshman receivers have been difference-makers and the defense is better than the statistics suggest since a majority of the points scored against it have come with the starters watching from the sidelines in lopsided victories.

The remaining schedule, however, is anything but easy. The road to Charlotte is lined with at least 2 potential stumbling blocks in back-to-back road trips to Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh in early November.

It goes without saying that the ACC would love a Clemson-Miami matchup in its championship game on Dec. 7. As any conspiracy theorist will tell you, the league has already taken steps to ensure it happens.

But even if the Tigers and Hurricanes do run the table, there’s 1 contingency Jim Phillips and the guys in Charlotte can’t control.

SMU might be a newcomer to the conference. But the Mustangs have the talent, the momentum, the championship pedigree and the schedule manageable to throw a wrench into the works and create some old-school ACC chaos.

Should that happen, the teams meeting in Charlotte will be determined by a descending list of criteria spelled out on the ACC’s website:

• Win-percentage versus common opponents based upon their order of finish (overall conference
  win-percentage, with ties broken) and proceeding through other common opponents based upon
  their order of finish.
• Combined win-percentage of conference opponents.
• The tied team with the highest ranking by the Team Rating Score metric provided by SportSource
  Analytics following the conclusion of regular-season games.

If all that fails to break the tie, “the representative shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the commissioner or commissioner’s designee.”

That doesn’t bode well for Rhett Lashlee and his team. Think NBA Draft when the Cleveland Cavaliers “just happened” to have its ping pong ball bounce the right way the year hometown hero LeBron James was the top overall pick.

If the same folks who handle the video reviews in the ACC control room are the ones administering the draw, it’s a good bet SMU will end up being the odd team out.

Welcome to the ACC, Mustangs.

The post Friedlander: The Coastal Division is long gone, but the potential for ACC chaos is alive and well appeared first on Saturday Down South.

There are those in the national media and on the NCAA Tournament selection committee that might debate that claim.

But you have to give the ACC credit for at least trying to yell a little louder so that its voice won’t be as drowned out by the noise.

The campaign is part of a concerted effort to promote and create a more positive national perception about a conference commissioner Jim Philips described as “undervalued” because of its comparative lack of NCAA Tournament bids over the past few seasons.

“I know you don’t get credit for past successes. I totally get it,” he said Wednesday during his semi-annual media forum. “But we just feel like the last 3 years with 5 invitations is not reflective of the basketball that’s being played in this league.

“We have to fix it. We have to be more intriguing and deserve to be selected than maybe what we’ve done. That’s why we did a complete kind of rebuild to look at this thing objectively.”

Phillips said that the ACC initiated “an extensive statistical analysis with multiple experts” last spring in order to get a better understanding of the metrics involved in the NCAA’s NET ranking system.

The primary emphasis of that study has been scheduling. But because of the human element involved in the selection process, Phillips said the league plans to be more aggressive with television partner ESPN “to make certain our coverage is appropriately reflecting the talent and the teams we have in this outstanding league.”

Talking points and signage isn’t enough, though. If the ACC really wants to be taken seriously when it calls itself the nation’s premier college conference, it has to prove it on the court.

And not just in March.

“Now we have to go play. Now we have to go win games,” Phillips said, adding that “Whether we like it or not, the narrative starts to get set in November and December in the nonconference games. You have to perform at a greater level.”

Familiar faces in different places

Jaylen Blakes is no stranger to the ACC. It’s just the uniform he was wearing on Wednesday that made him seem out of place.

Blakes is one of the last remaining active college players from Mike Krzyzewski’s final team in 2022. But after 3 seasons at Duke, the senior guard has traded in his Blue Devils blue for the red and white of the Stanford Cardinal.

He’s one of 2 players at the ACC Tipoff representing a different conference team than the one he’s played for previously. Boopie Miller, who transferred to SMU after playing point guard at Wake Forest is the other.

“It’s definitely surreal, wearing a different jersey,” Blakes said. “I’m truly grateful to be wearing this jersey, but also wearing a Duke jersey for the past 3 years.”

Blakes was primarily an energy player and defensive stopper off the bench for the Blue Devils. He averaged only 1.8 points and 9.2 minutes per game a year ago and figured to move farther down in the rotation with the influx of freshman talent brought in by coach Jon Scheyer this year.

Even though he now plays for an ACC rival, Blakes said he’s still a member of the Duke family. It’s an opinion that was validated when into former teammate Tyrese Proctor in a players’ lounge area outside the interview area.

Tyrese Proctor and Jaylen Blakes catching up at ACC Tipoff: pic.twitter.com/2t7Vj7bdA4

— Matt Giles (@MattGilesBD) October 9, 2024

“I still stay in touch with him, but it was great seeing him again,” Proctor said. “I’m happy he’s happy, so nothing but love.”

Blakes is hoping the Cameron Crazies who once cheered for him feel the same way when he returns to Cameron Indoor Stadium as a member of the opposing team on Feb. 15.

“They’re still family to me, so I hope they’ll be nice,” he said. “But you want the full fan experience being there. It’s going to be strange. But it’s going to be great going back.”

Miller, who averaged 15.3 points and 3.5 assists last season, won’t have to worry about his reception from Deacons fans. Wake Forest is scheduled to play his Mustangs in Dallas. Also on Feb. 15.

“I’m in a happy space right now,” he said. “I’m thankful for the coaching staff at Wake Forest for giving me an opportunity to make a name for myself in the ACC. But I’m just happy to be at SMU with my teammates and excited to come out and play.

Duke’s ‘other’ freshman sensation

Khaman Maluach hasn’t gotten as much advance hype as freshman teammate Cooper Flagg, the nation’s top-rated recruit and the odds-on favorite to be the 1st overall pick in next year’s NBA draft. But according to point guard Proctor, the 7-foot-2 center might have an even bigger impact on the Blue Devils’ success this season.

Proctor ought to know. He already has experience playing together with Maluach while both were at the NBA Global Academy.

“He’s the backbone of our defense,” Proctor said. “It’s going to be sort of like my freshman year with (Dereck Lively II).”

Lively averaged 2.4 blocked shots per game and was named to the All-ACC Defensive team in 2022-23. But he left for the NBA Draft after just 1 season, leaving the Blue Devils without a rim protector last year.

It turned out to be the team’s most glaring weakness. Maluach’s promises to fill that void. He’s a 5-star prospect with a 7-5 wingspan and a standing reach of nearly 10 feet. He showed his vast potential as a member of the South Sudan National Team, particularly in a pre-Olympic exhibition in which he blocked multiple shots by NBA All-Star Anthony Davis while also knocking down a 3-pointer.

Michael O’Connell still amazed by his ‘shot heard ‘round the ACC’

O’Connell became an NC State legend last March when he hit what is arguably the most important shot as last since Lorenzo Charles’ alley-oop dunk to beat Houston in the 1983 national championship game.

The graduate guard banked in a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer to send State’s ACC Tournament semifinal game against Virginia into overtime and spark an even more improbable run to the Final Four. Seven months later, it still amazes him everytime he watches a replay of the shot. And he’s watched it “more times than can count.”

“Rewatching that video is something unbelievable,” he said. “I still don’t realize I did it sometimes.”

O’Connell was an important, but understated contributor to the Wolfpack before his buzzer-beating heroics against UVa. But that’s not the case anymore. The former Stanford transfer said he gets noticed away from the court a lot more now than before his memorable shot.

“I don’t need the attention,” he said. “But I definitely enjoy it because it usually makes a fan’s day when it happens.”

Hurricanes travel plans doused by a real Hurricane

Miami was scheduled to fly to Charlotte on Wednesday to take its turn running the ACC Tipoff media gauntlet on Thursday. But because of travel restrictions caused by the approach of Hurricane Milton, the ACC issued a statement announcing that coach Jim Larrañaga and players Matthew Cleveland and Nijel Pack won’t be attending.

The post Friedlander: Sights and sounds from Day 1 of the ACC’s Basketball Tipoff Event appeared first on Saturday Down South.

“Sometimes wrong, never in doubt,” he’d tell me.

I bring this up because I can just hear him saying it while looking over the “25 ACC Bold Predictions” column I wrote just before the start of the season.

Some of the takes were out there, I’ll admit. But amazingly, I’ve actually hit or still have a chance of hitting more than I’ve missed.

Georgia Tech did, in fact, beat Florida State in Ireland. Jacolby Criswell is UNC’s starting quarterback. Pat Narduzzi is well on the way to saving his job. If he hasn’t already. And the ACC still hasn’t imploded.

Still, there are plenty of picks about which I was never in doubt, but in hindsight have turned out to be wrong. Now that we’ve reached the midway point in the season, here are a few of those I’d like to have back:

North Carolina’s defense will get the Tar Heels to a bowl game

At 3-3, it’s still possible that Mack Brown’s team will find the 3 wins it still needs to sneak into the postseason. But even if the Tar Heels do snap out of their current slide and become bowl eligible, it won’t be because of an improved defense.

New coordinator Geoff Collins received rave reviews for his unit’s opening week performance in a 19-17 win at Minnesota that saw UNC hold the Gophers to fewer than 100 yards rushing and only 2 touchdowns. But the good vibes wore off quickly.

The first warning signs came when Charlotte put up 309 passing yards against the Tar Heels, with 6 completions of 25 yards or more. Then came the 70-point embarrassment against James Madison, followed by the 2nd half meltdown against Duke. Six games into the season, UNC is allowing 28.7 points per game. That’s even more than the 27.3 points per game that got Gene Chizik fired last year.

Jalen Brown will have a breakout season for Florida State

The transfer from LSU is a potential game-breaker who has the kind of ability that can turn every catch into a potential touchdown. His addition was supposed to help the Seminoles make up for the 91 catches and 13 touchdowns lost with the departures of top receivers Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson.

That’s not how it’s turned out. Though much of the failures of FSU’s passing game thus far can be traced to quarterback play and a porous offensive line, Wilson has been a nonfactor. He has only 8 catches for 75 yards, with only 1 reception over 20 yards and no touchdowns.

Tony Elliott won’t survive the season

Elliott hasn’t officially saved his job yet. His Virginia Cavaliers still have a brutal back-loaded schedule that could derail a 4-1 overall start, and 2-0 in the ACC, that’s their best since Bronco Mendenhall’s penultimate season in Charlottesville in 2019.

But he’s already surpassed his win total from each of his 1st 2 seasons on the job. More importantly, his team has shown tangible signs of growth along the way. Especially in the way it has learned to win games that would almost certainly have been losses in the past.

Five of the Cavaliers’ 9 defeats in 2023 were by a touchdown or less, with 4 coming by 3 or fewer points. They’ve flipped the script this year by battling back from a 30-17 4th quarter deficit to beat Wake Forest on the road in Week 2, then battled back from an early 14-point hole to take down Boston College 24-14 last week.

Elliott’s leadership has never been in question. He showed that in the way he navigated his program through an unthinkable tragedy in 2021. Now he’s showing that he can coach, too.

NC State will finally get over the 10-win hump

It made sense at the time. The Wolfpack were going off yet another 9-win season in 2023. Coach Dave Doeren and his staff went all-in on the transfer portal to build an offense to supplement an already elite defense. And the schedule laid out nicely for a run at getting into double-digits for only the 2nd time in school history.

I wasn’t the only one who thought so highly of State. The Pack were picked to finish 4th in the ACC’s preseason poll and received 8 1st-place votes.

Even with lopsided losses to Tennessee and Clemson, 10 wins was still a realistic possibility with a bowl game factored into the equation. Not anymore. Saturday’s loss to Wake Forest and a major regression on defense have the Wolfpack at 3-3. Even with a similar 2nd half surge to the one that saved last season, 10 wins is only possible if they win out.

One of the Wolfpack’s wins will be against Tennessee

Yeah, I went out on a limb by picking Georgia Tech’s upset of Florida State in Week 0 and got it right. But this turned out to be a leap of faith that went off the deep end. The bigger, faster, deeper Vols outclassed the Wolfpack in every aspect of the game, outgaining them in a 51-10 rout that could have been even worse had Tennessee not stumbled over its own feet several times in the 1st half.

Virginia Tech will play Florida State for the ACC championship and both make the Playoff

It didn’t take long for this beauty to go up in flames. By the time we’d reached Week 2, the Seminoles were already 0-2, the Hokies had lost to Vanderbilt and everybody’s preseason predictions were headed for the round file.

FSU’s season has turned into such a dumpster fire that it will be hard-pressed just to earn bowl eligibility, let alone a shot at Playoff redemption after last year’s snub. And while the Hokies are finally beginning to look like the team I thought they’d be before the season began – and that Vandy loss doesn’t look quite so bad anymore – their chances of contending in the ACC took a major hit with that controversial loss to Miami.

They might not be out of the race. But between the tiebreaker they gave up to the Hurricanes and Brent Pry’s record in close games, getting to Charlotte on Dec. 9 is a longshot at best.

Of that, I’m certain. Even if I turn out to be wrong.

The post Friedlander: Preseason ACC football takes I’d like to have back appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Time flies at an even greater pace for coaches whose jobs are on the line.

Athletic directors might have a little more tolerance for losing than disgruntled fans in the stands or on the internet. Especially when there are extenuating circumstances involved.

But even they have limits to their patience.

At a certain point, you better start winning. Either that or hope you have a nice buyout.

It’s a choice Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi and Virginia’s Tony Elliott were staring squarely in the eye when this season began. Though it’s tough to gauge the exact temperature beneath their seats, let’s just say that Sean Evans might well have been scouting them for his popular show “Hot Ones.”

Both have since slowed the clock down by getting off to fast starts.

Narduzzi’s Panthers surpassed last year’s win total by Week 4 and at 5-0 are ranked for the first time since Kenny Pickett was leading them to the ACC championship 3 seasons ago. Elliott’s Cavaliers, at 4-1 (2-0 ACC), already have more wins overall and in the conference than in each of the past 2 seasons.

Their early success has elevated their status from the 2 most likely coaches to get fired to 2 of the leading candidates for ACC Coach of the Year.

That’s about the only similarity between their situations.

Narduzzi had a little more leeway than Elliott because of a resume that includes 6 winning seasons, the 2021 conference championship and a contract that runs through 2030.

But coming off a 3-9 season in which he publicly threw his players under the bus following a lopsided loss to Notre Dame, with a new athletic director about to be hired, he wasn’t in a position to take any chances. That urgency prompted him into doing the 1 thing coaches hate more than a 3rd-and-long situation with a game on the line.

Change.

And not just a minor tweak. We’re talking about a dramatic shift in offensive philosophy that goes against everything old-school defensive coordinators like Narduzzi hold dear.

No more playing to win games 17-14. No more line ’em up, smash ’em in the mouth and wear ’em down. With his stock plummeting and his future at Pitt suddenly in doubt after 9 seasons on the job, he decided it was time to take a giant leap into the 21st Century.

He did so by hiring 31-year-old Kade Bell as his new offensive coordinator. And like a father handing the keys to his Buick land yacht to his newly licensed 16-year-old son, Narduzzi turned the kid loose.

Bell didn’t just bring a diverse, up-tempo spread offense with him from Western Carolina. He also brought his top 3 playmakers – leading rusher Desmond Reid and receivers Raphael Williams and Censere Lee – with him. All have made immediate contributions.

But the biggest reason for the Panthers’ transformation from the lowest-scoring team in the ACC in 2023 to the 6th-highest-scoring offense in the nation this season at 45.6 ppg is the emergence of quarterback Eli Holstein.

After spending the entire offseason hyping incumbent Nate Yarnell, a move that was a shrewd job of sandbagging or simply a case of Holstein showing he was a better fit for Bell’s offense during preseason camp, Narduzzi surprised everyone by starting the Alabama transfer in Pitt’s opener against Kent State.

It’s turned out to be the right decision.

Holstein has thrown for 1,186 yards and 12 touchdowns with only 2 interceptions. After Saturday’s win at North Carolina, he became the first Pitt quarterback to start his college career 5-0 since Hall of Famer Dan Marino in 1979. His play has elevated Pitt into an unlikely ACC championship contender.

“We’ve got a helluva football team,” Narduzzi said after his program’s first win in Chapel Hill.

The book is still very much out on how good UVa really is. Not even Elliott knows for sure.

“I don’t know yet. I’m trying to get to the end,” he said when asked about the significance of Saturday’s win against Boston College, in which the Cavaliers rallied from an early 14-0 deficit to score the game’s final 24 points.

“What I think it shows is that the guys in the locker room are buying into what we’re trying to build as a program. … I believe it shows that the foundation that we paid in those first 2 years is starting to produce results.”

No coach in recent memory has had to deal with as much off-the-field adversity as Elliott during those first 2 seasons in Charlottesville. His leadership and compassion in the aftermath of the shooting deaths of 3 of his players in November 2022 helped guide UVa’s program through the most unthinkable of circumstances.

It’s a performance for which he should and has been commended. But at a certain point, life returns to normal and winning once again becomes the top priority.

So far, Elliott is delivering.

In contrast to Narduzzi, he’s done it by resisting the urge to panic and make major changes. He’s remained patient, trusted his players and coaches to grow and learn, and laid a solid foundation on which to build.

With a demanding upcoming schedule that includes games against ACC frontrunners Clemson, Louisville, SMU, Pitt and rival Virginia Tech to go along with a nonconference clash at Notre Dame, the Cavaliers are anything but a lock to find the 2 remaining wins they’ll need to earn bowl eligibility.

But at least they’re showing tangible signs of finally heading in the right direction.

That’s enough, for now, to turn down the temperature on Elliott’s hot seat. And like Narduzzi at Pitt, buy a little more time to finish the job he’s started.

The post Friedlander: Pat Narduzzi and Tony Elliott are off the hot seat and into the Coach of the Year conversation appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Congratulations. You got it.

In the span of just 1 epically long day, you and your newly reenergized fan base got the full ACC experience Saturday.

And it was both glorious and heart-wrenching.

The exhilaration of College GameDay and Marshawn Lynch coming to campus and a kid in checkered Vans kicking a field goal for 100 large?

Check.

The anticipation of a historic victory and the wild celebration that followed?

Check.

A head-scratching call – or in this case, non-call – accompanied by the feeling of angst that goes along with the belief that your team got hosed?

Bingo has been called.

While all that is true, it’s also a fact that the Bears were active participants in their own demise against No. 6 Miami. The specifics of their collapse against No. 6 Miami and the Hurricanes’ 2nd miraculous escape in as many weeks are just 2 of the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 6 in and around Cal’s new conference.

10. A long day’s journey into night … too long

The concept of ACC After Dark sounds great in theory. But in practice, it makes for a long day of football. Especially when it starts 3 hours before the kickoff of the first game of the day with College GameDay at a conference site, as it did Saturday.

Starting with the 4 early window games that started at noon ET through the final play of the Cal-Miami game in Berkeley early Sunday morning, the ACC had at least 1 game going on for a solid 14 straight hours.

I’ll admit, the football fest was fun. But only as a 1-off. Even though there are 2 West Coast members now among the ranks, ESPN needs to remember that the ACC is still the Atlantic Coast Conference. So how about let’s not make these late-night starts a regular thing? OK?

9. Shotgunning themselves in the foot

Somebody please explain to me like I’m a 5th grader why coaches insist on lining up in the shotgun when going for it on 4th-and-short yardage?

Doing so burned 2 ACC coaches Saturday.

One of them twice.

In Chapel Hill, Mack Brown’s North Carolina Tar Heels wasted a 19-play drive that ate up 9 minutes off the clock against Pitt when Jacolby Criswell threw incomplete to running back Omarion Hampton on 4th down and less than a yard to go.

Then in the 4th quarter, with his team trailing by a touchdown, Brown did it again. This time it was a running play to Hampton, who was stuffed at the line on another 4th-and-1 situation from the Panthers’ 8.

4th and less than a yard, and @UNCFootball lined up in the shotgun.

What a moronic decision.

— Tar Heel (@UNCisFamily) October 5, 2024

Later in the evening in Atlanta, Duke found itself in its own 4th-and-1 situation from inside the Georgia Tech 10 with a chance to take its first lead. But instead of having his 6-6 quarterback Maalik Murphy line up under center where he can lean forward for the 1st down, Manny Diaz had him in the shotgun. With a similarly bad result.

It makes absolutely no sense to try and gain 1 or 2 yards to extend a drive or score a touchdown by lining your quarterback up 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage. And yet they all do it.

8. College football’s favorite feeder program

Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson built one of the ACC’s most consistent programs during the 7 seasons from 2016-2022. He did it with a developmental philosophy that relied heavily on player retention and the continuity that comes with it.

He still believes in those things. The only difference is that these days, a lot of the talent they develop doesn’t stay long enough to keep the Deacons on the winning track.

It’s no coincidence that Saturday’s win at NC State notwithstanding, Wake’s fortunes have fallen off considerably since the rule change that allows college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness. It’s almost as if the Deacons have become a farm system for bigger, richer programs with a higher profile.

Just this year, they lost cornerback DaShawn Jones to Alabama, running back Justice Ellison to Indiana and receivers Jahmal Banks to Nebraska, Ke’Shawn Williams to Indiana and Wesley Grimes to rival NC State. A season earlier, they delivered quarterback Sam Hartman to Notre Dame, cornerback Gavin Holmes to Texas and edge rusher Rondell Bothroyd to Oklahoma. You could only imagine how much better this year’s team would be with that kind of talent on the roster.

Depth is always going to be an issue at the smallest school in the FBS. It’s an obstacle that’s making Clawson’s job even more difficult in the current environment.

7. When in doubt, (don’t) punt … especially if you’re Syracuse

UNC coach Mack Brown had such little faith in his defense that he made the conscious decision to avoid kicking the ball to Pitt whenever possible. His Tar Heels ended up going for it on 4th down 6 times. Including the 2 noted earlier.

It’s an approach Syracuse’s Fran Brown should consider copying starting with this week’s game at NC State. But for the opposite reason.

As unreliable as UNC’s defense is, Brown’s kicking game is even worse. Much worse. The Orange came into Friday night’s game at UNLV having converted only 3-of-7 field goals while ranking dead among FBS programs with 3 blocked kicks allowed (2 field goals and a punt). And they added to the total against the Rebels.

Punter Jack Stonehouse had 1 punt blocked for a touchdown and another that would have been blocked had he not attempted to run for his life. He was stopped short of the 1st down for a turnover UNLV quickly turned into another touchdown. Syracuse still won 44-41 in overtime. But if never would have been that close without the 14 points the Orange gifted the Rebels.

Brown might want to spend a little extra time working on kick protection this week at practice. Either that or find a new special teams coach.

6. A hand injury that forced Mike Norvell’s hand

DJ Uiagalelei’s throwing hand is in a cast. So much for the notion that his medical condition was a subtle ploy for Norvell to bench the struggling quarterback for the game against his former team without actually benching him.

The injury did spare DJU the indignity of getting outplayed by Cade Klubnik, the quarterback who replaced him at Clemson, and enduring further booing from his home crowd at Florida State. But its greatest impact is that it forced Norvell to look to the future by putting redshirt freshman Brock Glenn under center rather than wasting any more time trying to salvage something from an already lost season.

Glenn didn’t put up impressive numbers. He completed 23-of-41 passes for 228 yards and 2 touchdowns, with an interception in the Seminoles’ 29-13 loss. But he gained confidence after a shaky start and looked much more poised – and competent – than in his 2 previous starts at the end of last season.

The opportunity to play meaningful snaps over the 2nd half of the season will allow Glenn to grow and improve while at the same time giving Norvell more of a chance to determine how he fits into FSU’s plans moving forward.

5. What exactly is “targeting?”

The letter of the law is cut-and-dried. Enforcement of the NCAA’s targeting rule, however, is incredibly arbitrary. You can never be certain from one game to the next what’s legal and what isn’t. Let’s just say there’s a lot of gray area involved anytime a player gets his gray matter jogged by a head-to-head hit.

According to the NCAA’s definition, targeting is” any hit that goes beyond the legal tackle or legal block or playing the ball,” specifically when it involves making “forcible contact against an opponent with the crown of his helmet.” In other words, exactly what Miami’s Wesley Bissainthe did to Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza in the final minutes Saturday.

Miami just took out Mendoza with this play, gotta call targeting here. pic.twitter.com/FoTFNOwdEi

— Austin (@deviousduck_) October 6, 2024

Bissainthe didn’t intentionally attempt to injure Mendoza. He was trying desperately to stop an opponent from getting a 1st down that would have denied his team an opportunity to get the ball back and win the game. But in the process, he lowered his shoulders, led with his head and initiated forcible helmet-to-helmet contact, visibly snapping Mendoza’s head back.

Textbook targeting. Right?

Not so fast, my friend.

Upon further review, it was ruled that the hit was not targeting. And the rest, as they say, is history.
The decision, which came from the ACC’s command center not the officials on the field, sparked immediate overreaction from conspiracy theorists convinced the fix was in to keep Miami undefeated.

Sunday musing: How many more makeup calls will Miami get before we declare the debt paid on the bogus PI flag that cost the Canes the 2002 natty?
Gotta be getting close, right? Or will it just continue in perpetuity until the Canes win another natty?https://t.co/Ik44GurZxF

— Saturday Down South (@SatDownSouth) October 6, 2024

And there is some reason for suspicion because of the way the Hurricanes’ previous game against Virginia Tech ended. The more likely explanation is that interpretation of the targeting rule is incredibly inconsistent. Just ask NC State’s Grayson McCall, who nearly had his head removed by a helmet-to-helmet hit against Wake Forest that caused him to be carted off on a backboard Saturday. On a play that wasn’t even reviewed.

4. Time to McCall it a season

NC State’s Dave Doeren’s decision to bring McCall back for Saturday’s game was immediately questioned, even as the injured quarterback was still lying motionless on the field from the massive, helmet-ejecting hit he took from Wake Forest linebacker Quincy Bryant.

McCall has already suffered 1 confirmed concussion while at Coastal Carolina last season. And it’s believed he absorbed another earlier this season against Louisiana Tech, forcing him to miss the next 2 games. To be clear, Doeren would never allow a player onto the field unless he was fully cleared my the Wolfpack’s medical staff. He cares too much about the welfare of his players to even think about that.

NC State QB Grayson McCall was just stretchered off after suffering a brutal hit vs. Wake Forest.

Prayers up pic.twitter.com/HdpNZFt9QU

— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) October 5, 2024

Because of that concern, Doereen and the doctors need to shut McCall down at least for the rest of the season. Even though the severity of Saturday’s injury has yet to be reported other than that he was released from the hospital and is doing well, a 4th significant blow to the head within a 12-14 month span could potentially be catastrophic.

McCall has seen action in only 4 games this season, so a medical redshirt would likely be on the table if he decided to continue to play and return next season. Either to State or somewhere else. Bringing him back again Saturday might not have been too soon. But allowing him to play again this season might be.

3. How to lose the Heisman, then win it again, all in the same game

Cam Ward started Saturday’s game as the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. He finished the game the same way.

In between?

Let’s just say that the Miami quarterback could have used a GPS to navigate all the unexpected detours his journey to the Downtown Athletic Club in New York took during the first 2 1/2 quarters in Berkeley. He held onto the ball too long and took sacks, overthrew open receivers on deep balls and made bad decisions – including one that turned into a pick-6 and helped Cal build a 35-10 lead midway through the 3rd period.

But just as his name was about to be deleted from the invitation list for the Heisman ceremony, Ward produced a few more highlights to be shown at the event. Just as he did the previous week in leading the Hurricanes from behind against Virginia Tech.

This time he completed 23 of his final 34 passes for 382 yards and 2 touchdowns while also running for a score. He led his team on drives of 75, 75, 70 and 92 yards, with the latter coming in the game’s final 2 minutes, to produce the 2nd-biggest comeback in school history.

Ward has the arm talent and confidence to make all the throws. But it’s his flair for the dramatic that has helped Miami stay on course for an ACC championship and keep him out front in the race for the Heisman.

2. If not Miami and Clemson, then who?

The Hurricanes are a ticking time bomb just waiting to implode (if the ACC lets them). The Tigers, who have risen back into the top 10, looked either disinterested or vulnerable on the way to disposing of the smoldering dumpster fire that is Florida State.

They’re still the heavy favorites to meet for the conference championship in Charlotte on Dec. 7 (Clemson is at +140 and Miami at +150, according to DraftKings sportsbook). And even if one or both do falter, the list of realistic contenders has already been narrowed down to a precious few.

1, SMU. 2. Pitt. 3. Virginia Tech. 4. Louisville.

There’s a good chance the battle to become the best will be decided in Dallas on Nov. 2 when the Mustangs take on the Panthers.

Exactly as we expected when the season began.

1. No wonder Greg Sankey wants all those automatic bids

The SEC and Big Ten will reportedly meet this week in Nashville to discuss a power grab designed to guarantee each league 4 automatic bids into future College Football Playoffs.

My initial reaction to the news was: Why? If the most powerful of the power conferences are as dominant as they think and say they are, they shouldn’t need automatic bids to get more teams than everyone else into a 12- or 14-team bracket.

Then Saturday happened. And now we know the reason why.

The SEC is going to need them.

Vanderbilt? Really? The Commodores have been the dregs of college football for as long as anyone can remember. And Alabama, the SEC’s best team, couldn’t beat them? Tennessee losing to Arkansas was nearly as bad.

Inevitably, Paul Finebaum and the SEC’s other mouthpieces will spin those embarrassments as “good losses” and proof of the league’s depth and competitiveness. In other words, exactly the opposite of how Virginia Tech’s opening week loss to Vandy was interpreted.

If “good losses” are the criteria for earning an excessive number of automatic bids, then maybe the ACC should get 4, too.

That’s how it works. Isn’t it?

The post 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 6 in the ACC appeared first on Saturday Down South.

You have to be kidding.

If you didn’t stay up past your bedtime to see what Miami did at Cal early Sunday morning, you’re not going to believe what happened. I did make it to the final tick of the clock at just past 2:30 a.m. on the Atlantic Coast. And I’m still trying to decide if it was real or if I just dozed off and dreamt it.

The 9th-ranked Hurricanes spoiled Cal’s 18-hour College GameDay party by rallying for their 2nd come-from-behind 1-point win in as many weeks, a 39-38 victory that was even more improbable than the Houdini act they pulled 8 days earlier against Virginia Tech.

It took some magic from Cam Ward, some help from the ACC’s command center and one incredibly timely defensive breakdown. But Miami somehow found a way to defy logic and remain undefeated.

Ward recovered from a horrendous opening 2 1/2 quarters to throw for 437 yards and 2 touchdowns, including the game-winner to Elijah Arroyo with 26 seconds remaining. The winning score was preceded by a hit on Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza that looked like targeting to everyone but the replay official and a 77-yard completion from Ward to an inexplicably wide-open Xavier Restrepo.

The fact that it all happened on a day in which 5 of the nation’s top 11 teams lost, including No. 1 Alabama to perennial SEC bottom-feeder Vanderbilt, makes the Hurricanes’ comeback all the more improbable.

Somebody up there, either in Charlotte or an even higher authority, must like this Miami team. Because at least for now, it’s living an incredibly charmed existence.

That’s not the only thing we learned about the ACC in Week 6. Here are some of the other big takeaways:

It’s not that complicated

Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson was asked what adjustments he and his staff made to help bring about the 10-point 4th-quarter rally that led the Deacons to a 34-30 win at NC State. His answer might sound simplistic, but it’s to the point. And spot on.

“Get your best player the ball,” he said.

Clawson did just that by giving Demond Claiborne 12 touches in the 4th quarter on 11 runs and 1 reception. And the junior running back responded by picking up 65 yards and getting into the end zone twice – including the go-ahead score with 1:01 remaining – to lead his team to the win.

The concept of feeding the beast is one Clawson’s counterpart Dave Doeren might want to study.

In contrast to Wake, NC State’s best player Saturday and its best player overall combined to touch the ball 1 time in the final 15 minutes. KC Concepcion gained 8 yards on a run 1 play before CJ Bailey hit tight end Justin Joly for a touchdown that put the Wolfpack ahead 30-20 with 13:51 remaining. But that was the last time either he or running back Kendrick Raphael saw the ball.

The decision to keep Raphael on the bench was particularly head-scratching. He led the Wolfpack in rushing with 48 yards on 10 carries. His 2 best runs came on a punishing 5-yard pickup on 3rd-and-short, followed by an even more physical 20-yard touchdown run with 3:07 left in the 3rd quarter. But instead of rolling with the hot hand to try and put the game away, Doeren chose to use graduate transfer Jordan Waters, who picked up 7 yards on his final 3 carries, the rest of the way.

And it cost him.

Move over, Dan Marino

No one is going to confuse Eli Holstein with Dan Marino. Not yet, at least. But Pitt’s redshirt freshman quarterback already has at least one thing in common with the Hall of Famer other than the position they both play.

With Saturday’s win at North Carolina, the transfer from Alabama became the first Panthers quarterback to win each of his first 5 starts since Marino did in 1979. Along the way, he also broke Alex Van Pelt’s single-game school record for passing yardage by a freshman by throwing for a career-high 381 yards in a 34-24 win against the reeling Tar Heels.

The 5-0 start is Pitt’s first since 1991 and moved the Panthers within 1 win of bowl eligibility after winning only 3 times all last season.

Holstein is a big reason for the turnaround. He has thrown for 300 or more yards in all but 1 of his team’s games this season. And the one he didn’t, he only played a half in a 73-17 rout of Youngstown State – still finishing with 247 yards.

The most amazing aspect of that success is that his coach Pat Narduzzi spent the entire offseason pumping up incumbent starter Nate Yarnell. He even brought Yarnell with him to the ACC’s preseason media event in Charlotte. Either Narduzzi is an elite sandbagger or he saw something in Holstein in the days leading up to Pitt’s season opener against Kent State that convinced him to change his plans.

Either way, he’s hit on a winning formula.

UNC keeps finding new ways to lose

Give Mack Brown and his Tar Heels credit for at least one thing. They’re nothing if not creative about the way they’re flushing their season down the drain. Two weeks ago, they gave up 70 in a loss to James Madison. Last week they coughed up a 20-point lead in losing to arch-rival Duke.

Saturday, they were much more subtle in their self-destruction. The downward spiral of UNC’s season is encapsulated in one incredible sequence during the opening half of Saturday’s loss to Pitt.
Leading 7-3 midway through the 1st quarter, the Tar Heels took position at their own 10 after a Panthers punt. With running back Omarion Hampton doing the bulk of the work on the ground and as a receiver, they methodically began moving the ball downfield.

Eighteen plays and 9 minutes later, they found themselves facing a 4th-and-2 situation at the Pitt 9. Instead of kicking a field goal and taking the points or handing the ball to his workhorse back, Brown had quarterback Jacolby Criswell throw. Incomplete. It’s bad enough that the epic drive yielded no points. But UNC’s porous defense helped the situation go from bad to worse by allowing the Panthers to drive 91 yards in just 93 seconds for the tying touchdown.

While the Tar Heels didn’t turn the ball over per se, they did the next best thing by going just 2-for-6 on 4th downs, including a 4th-and-1 play from the Pitt 9 with 9 minutes remaining that all but sealed their fate.

Signs of life from the Seminoles

For the 6th time in as many games this season, Florida State failed to reach the 300-yard mark in total offense on Saturday. Its 250 yards against Clemson were its 2nd-lowest total to date. They were also held to 16 points or fewer for the 5th time since scoring a season-high 21 in its opening game against Georgia Tech in Week 0.

And yet, there were still some positives for Mike Norvell’s reeling team, even as it sank even further toward rock bottom. When you’re 1-5 and heading nowhere fast, you have to take your victories where you can find them.

The most encouraging sign was the play of quarterback Brock Glenn. The redshirt freshman, who struggled in his 2 starts at the end of last season, battled back from a shaky start and gained confidence as the game went on. Glenn completed 23-of-41 passes for 228 yards and 2 touchdowns and an interception in relief of starter DJ Uiagalelei, who missed the game with a broken finger on his throwing hand. Beyond the statistics, Glenn was much more poised than in his previous appearances, especially in converting all 4 of his 4th-down opportunities.

Defensively the Seminoles put pressure on the quarterback, tightened up in the red zone and forced Clemson to settle for 7 field goal attempts while their special teams blocked 2 of them to keep the score from getting out of hand after falling into an early 17-0 hole.

Turning the corner in Charlottesville

Times have been tough at Virginia. Both on and off the field. But finally, for the first time in Tony Elliott’s tumultuous 3-year tenure, there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Saturday’s 24-14 victory against Boston College wasn’t a transformative result for UVa’s program because of the opponent or even because it helped Elliott and his team surpass its win total from each of the past 2 seasons. It’s more because of the way it was achieved.

The Cavaliers forced 3 turnovers in the 4th quarter, leading to 18 points in the final period to complete a rally that saw them outscore the Eagles 24-0 after falling into an early 14-point hole. It was the 2nd time this season they’ve rallied from a 2-score deficit and the 2nd time they’ve won a game when trailing entering the 4th quarter.

It’s still too early to consider UVa an ACC contender. But at 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference for the first time since 2019 under former coach Bronco Mendenhall, it finally appears to be heading in the right direction.

The post Friedlander: Biggest takeaways from Week 6 around the ACC appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Yes, I know. It’s an oxymoron that will take awhile to get used to. But here we are with both Cal and Stanford hosting their first home games against ACC opponents.

The Cardinal play Virginia Tech in a 3:30 p.m. EDT start before the Bears face No. 7 Miami in the debut of ACC After Dark, kicking off at 10:30 pm for those in the league’s traditional geographic footprint. The game in Berkeley promises to be an especially memorable event with College GameDay coming to town to add to the atmosphere.

But that’s not the only game taking place out West. On Friday, Syracuse got Week 6 off to a winning start with a wild overtime win against a UNLV team more noted for being at the center of an NIL controversy than being 4-0 and ranked No. 25. It’s a shame, as ESPN’s David Hale suggested, that the folks in Sin City didn’t see fit to light The Vegas Sphere up as Otto the Orange to celebrate the Syracuse win.

While we lament that missed opportunity, here are 5 questions to think about and consider before kickoff of this week’s action in ACC football.

5. How ugly could the Clemson-Florida State matchup get?

A broken finger has spared DJ Uiagalelei the indignity of being benched before a showdown with his former team. But that only promises to turn what was once anticipated as the game of the year in the ACC into an even bigger mismatch. DJU’s replacement, Brock Glenn, looked like a deer in headlights when pressed into starts against Louisville and Georgia at the end of last season. He didn’t look any better in a mop-up role at SMU last week. That doesn’t bode well against an aggressive, athletic Clemson defense that will keep him under pressure.

Combine that with a Tigers’ offense that has averaged 55 points in 3 wins since going without a touchdown in its opener against Georgia and all the elements are there for a rout of epic proportions. Maybe even as bad as the 59-10 hurting Clemson put on Willie Taggart’s Seminoles in Tallahassee in 2018. (DraftKings Sportsbook doesn’t quite see it that way; it favors the Tigers by 14.5 points.)

4. Duke and Pitt are unbeaten, but are they for real?

The Blue Devils are 5-0, off to their best start since 1994 in their debut season under Manny Diaz. The Panthers are 4-0 and have already surpassed their win total from their 2023 disaster. And yet the book is still out on how good either is.

We should get a better read on at least one Saturday when Duke plays at Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils’ strength is a defense that’s allowing only 16 ppg and has forced 9 turnovers with a resilience that has produced 3 4th-quarter rallies.

Pitt, by contrast, has gotten the job done with an offense rejuvenated by the arrival of transfer QB Eli Holstein, OC Cade Bell and the 3 playmakers he brought with him from Western Carolina. With this week’s opponent North Carolina struggling, it might take another game or 2 to accurately evaluate the Panthers.

3. Does the Louisville-SMU winner become the primary challenger to Miami and Clemson?

Both teams have a loss. But both their defeats are against ranked opponents in nonconference games. The Cardinals beat themselves almost as much as Notre Dame did in last week’s turnover-filled 34-27 setback while the Mustangs’ 3-point loss to BYU in Week 2 looks a lot better now than it did at the time. BYU is 5-0 and ranked No. 17 this week.

Louisville is a touchdown favorite in Saturday’s head-to-head matchup, according to ESPNBet sportsbook. The stat sheet, however, suggests a closer contest. The Cardinals are scoring at a 41.5 ppg clip while holding opponents to an average of 16.5 ppg. SMU’s numbers are nearly identical: 42.2 ppg for, 21.4 ppg against. This is a pivotal game for both teams, especially for Louisville, which still has to play Miami and Clemson. Whoever wins will be in the best position to sneak into ACC’s top 2 if either frontrunner slips.

2. What does Miami do with the mulligan it received last week?

It no longer matters if the ACC got the call right or wrong. The Hurricanes won. They’re still undefeated. They’re still ranked in the top 10 (No. 8). And they’re still on the inside track to the conference championship game. But to stay there, they’ll have to be better than they were Friday night. That shouldn’t be too difficult. They turned the ball over 3 times against Virginia Tech, had a touchdown nullified by penalty and gave up 206 rushing yards. On the plus side, they still found a way to win a game they almost certainly would have lost in previous seasons. At Cal on Saturday, Miami won’t just be facing another dangerous conference opponent. It will be playing a team and fan base inspired by the new lease on life given them by the ACC and energized by College GameDay coming to campus for the first time.

1. How does Virginia Tech bounce back from its heartbreak at Miami?

We’ve all heard the saying “Don’t let 1 loss beat you twice.” Saturday, the Hokies will attempt to put that philosophy into practice. They can believe they got hosed, but they’ll have to get over their disappointment quickly. Because not only will they have to travel cross-country to California, they’ll also be facing a Stanford defense that ranks No. 1 in the ACC against the run. The Cardinal also happen to be dead last against the pass, which means Brent Pry’s team will have to rely more heavily on quarterback Kyron Drones than Bhayshul Tuten and the ground attack. The good news for the Hokies is that they should finally have a little positive momentum coming off their most encouraging performance of the season. Despite the controversial outcome.

The post Friedlander: 5 questions to ponder before Week 6 kicks off in the ACC appeared first on Saturday Down South.

There is, however, at least one point still open for debate.

Was Friday night’s close call against the Hokies a wake-up call for the Hurricanes or a warning sign that perhaps they’re not as good as advertised? And that it’s only a matter of time before they do what Hurricanes teams have done for as long as they’ve been in the ACC.

Fall short of expectations.

It’s a natural reaction to treat the game and Miami’s performance in it as a measuring stick since it was the Hurricanes’ first conference game and most challenging test of the season.

But to do that would be a disservice to a Virginia Tech team that is much more talented than its 3-2 record. The Hokies have some of the best offensive talent in the ACC and the league’s sack leader. And for the first time this year, they finally played up to their expectations.

That had something to do with Miami’s struggle, along with the likelihood that Mario Cristobal’s 8th-ranked team got caught reading their press clippings and didn’t take Tech as seriously as it should have.

It also didn’t help that quarterback Cam Ward was his own worst enemy. The Heisman frontrunner turned the ball over 3 times, once with a fumble on the game’s opening possession and twice on interceptions.

The fumble led directly to a Hokies touchdown. The first of the 2 picks, late in the first half, was even more damaging.

One play earlier, Ward hit Xavier Restrepo for an apparent touchdown that would have given the Hurricanes a 21-7 lead and put them firmly in control of the game. It was nullified by a holding call, which set the stage for Mose Phillips’ momentum-swinging interception.

It should be noted that Ward still ended up throwing for 343 yards and 4 touchdowns while making several winning plays on the clutch 4th quarter drive that finally put his team ahead – proving yet again that the Washington State transfer is the difference-maker Miami has lacked for the past 2 decades.

Don’t let that controversial Hail Mary ending distract you from the fact that Cam Ward turned a disappointing loss into a HEISMAN MOMENT performance. Cam Ward has BROUGHT THE U Back. Wow.
Smartest thing he ever did was come back for another year. His draft stock is SOARING. pic.twitter.com/Fp34SHxm2q

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) September 28, 2024

This was a game the Hurricanes would have lost in previous years. The fact that they didn’t, albeit with a little bit of luck – OK, a lot of luck – is reason enough not to dismiss them as a fraud.

But it’s not the only reason.

Let’s start with Ward. His history suggests that the turnovers are an anomaly, not the norm. He had only 7 interceptions in 12 games last season while playing for a bad team. He’ll bounce back.

One thing that will help him rebound is the return of starting left tackle Jalen Rivers, who has missed the past 3 games with a lower body injury. Tech star Antwaun Powell-Ryland dominated Rivers’ replacement, Markel Bell, forcing Ward to operate under pressure most of the night.

Cristobal said earlier this week that Rivers will be a game-time decision at Cal on Saturday. His return won’t just help Ward in the passing game, it will also have a positive impact on a ground attack that was also less effective against the Hokies.

On the other side of the ball, the Hurricanes’ pass rush will also get a significant upgrade with the return of last year’s ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year Rueben Bain, who has been sidelined with an injury since the opening possession of the season.

Even with all that going for it, there are still reasons for concern as the season progresses.

The biggest is the way Tech quarterback Kyron Drones exposed a Miami secondary, which was considered to be its most glaring weakness coming into the season. While his numbers weren’t as gaudy as those of his cousin Ward – 19-of-33, 189 yards and 2 touchdowns – he made the Hurricanes pay when they left receivers wide open.

Which happened often. Usually on 3rd down.

Miami’s defense also had trouble tackling, a factor that contributed to the 206 yards the Hokies piled up on the ground.

Then there’s the Mario factor.

Cristobal is notorious for his questionable in-game decisions and clock management skills. But on Friday, it was his counterpart Brent Pry who gave the master class on how not to win a winnable game.
Chances are the Hurricanes won’t be that fortunate again, especially if Mario decides to Mario at some point in the season.

So was Virginia Tech a wake-up call or a warning sign?

If it’s a wake-up call, the Hurricanes would be wise to heed it on Saturday. Because with College GameDay coming to town and a Cal program on the upswing thanks to its entry into the ACC and an early upset of Auburn, the folks in Berkeley have set their alarms and will be wide awake and ready to go long before the sun rises.

The post Friedlander: Was Virginia Tech a wake-up call or a warning sign for ACC frontrunner Miami? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It’s a great idea in theory. Not so much in practice.

Because inevitably there will be one greedy kid, usually accompanied by a loyal toady, who fills up his bag leaving only a few unwanted Almond Joys for everyone else to fight over.

That, in simplistic terms, is what the SEC and Big Ten have in mind once the College Football Playoff’s current television contract expires and they get to go Trick or Treating for a new deal.

According to published reports, representatives from the 2 conferences will meet next week in Nashville to discuss a range of topics related to the continuing goal of turning college football into their own private fiefdom.

Among the topics on the agenda is a plan to scoop up most of the candy in the bowl – or in this case the even further expanded Playoff – by granting the SEC and Big Ten 4 automatic spots each in a proposed 14-team bracket while leaving everyone else to fight over the scraps that are left.

A note on our story from last Thursday on the SEC-Big Ten joint meeting: There was already a proposal from the leagues in the spring for those conferences to each have three or four AQs into the CFP.

It is expected, as written below, to be a big discussion topic in Nashville: https://t.co/Q8VoQIVwwm

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) September 30, 2024

It’s a power play that has a good chance of succeeding thanks to the concessions the ACC, Notre Dame and other conferences made last spring in order to get the Playoff expanded to its current 12-team format.

The agreement gave the SEC and Big Ten a significantly larger share of the $7.8 billion generated from the ESPN contract that runs through 2032. It also ceded greater control to the 2 dominant leagues over decisions involving the Playoff’s future direction.

But not total control.

Which is why the ACC and its recently galvanized commissioner Jim Phillips must start using whatever leverage it has left to push back on any proposal that would further diminish its place on the football food chain.

Starting now, before it’s too late.

The question is, what can be done?

As we’ve all been told, money talks and everything else walks. And the SEC and Big Ten have combined to accumulate a lot more of it than everybody else in college athletics.

But it’s also true that there’s strength in numbers. So if the ACC is willing to do everything it takes to keep its seat at the adults’ table, it can’t go it alone.

The conference already has at least one powerful ally in Notre Dame, an entity that still holds considerable clout among the television networks even though its recent performance on the field hasn’t lived up to its name or tradition.

That’s a good start.

The next step is creating a voice loud enough to be heard over the din of the SEC/Big Ten conglomerate. That means enlisting the Big 12 and the Group of 5 conferences to join the cause and forming a mutually beneficial alliance of their own.

Not the kind of alliance the Big Ten used as a smokescreen to dupe the ACC and the dearly departed Pac-12 into a false sense of security before carrying out its West Coast expansion plan. We’re talking about an actual partnership in which everyone involved is invested in accomplishing a common goal.

Before that can happen, the ACC and Big 12 need to stop bickering over who’s the nation’s 3rd best conference and plotting to poach each other’s most valuable properties and realize that the only way either is going to survive long-term is to learn how to work and play nice together.

Cooperating won’t stop the SEC and Big Ten from dominating the negotiations when the Playoff format is revisited in 2026. But with the added juice of Notre Dame and the numbers of the G5, it can at least prevent the ACC and Big 12 from making any more concessions just to remain on the fringes of relevance.

There’s a chance the proposal to give the SEC and Big Ten 4 automatic bids is little more than a bluff designed to force the other conferences into agreeing to a previously announced 14-team plan they’ve already rejected. One that would give the 2 power brokers 3 spots each, with the Big 12 and ACC getting 2 apiece to go along with 1 for the top G5 team and 3 at-large selections.

But it’s a risky bluff to call.

It’s anybody’s guess why the SEC and Big Ten are so adamant about ensuring so many of their teams get into the Playoff every year. If they’re as dominant as they say they are and that much better than anybody else, they shouldn’t need automatic bids to get 4 or more teams into the field.

They should be able to do it on their own merits.

Then again, some kids just feel the need to take as much candy as they can out of the bowl. Even if it means leaving little or nothing for everybody else.

The post Friedlander: The SEC and B1G want to monopolize the Playoff. Can the ACC stop them? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Clemson at Florida State. The perennial conference champion against the defending champ. Two programs seemingly headed in the opposite direction.

Saturday’s showdown in Tallahassee is still the marquee matchup on this week’s ACC schedule.

Just not in the way anyone expected.

While the Tigers and Seminoles are, in fact, programs heading in dramatically different directions, the roles have been reversed since the season began 5-plus weeks ago.

Instead of dominating the ACC the way it did a year ago, preseason favorite FSU is 1-4 and on a downward spiral even its team of high-priced lawyers can’t sue their way out of. Clemson, on the other hand, has quieted the criticism over coach Dabo Swinney’s archaic recruiting philosophy by stringing together 3 consecutive impressive victories since an opening loss to Georgia and rising back to No. 15 in this week’s rankings.

The contrast between them will be on vivid display Saturday. With quarterbacks Cade Klubnik and DJ Uiagalelei taking center stage in the captivating melodrama.

They once were teammates. Both 5-star prospects with the weight of the college football world on their shoulders and expectations higher than the top row of seats at Clemson’s Death Valley.

Their careers have taken divergent paths, in part because DJU isn’t Trevor Lawrence – the No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick in 2021 and the quarterback he was recruited to replace – and because Klubnik isn’t DJU. Now that they’ll be back together at the same place at the same time, they’ll once again be judged against one another.

With a familiar conclusion all but guaranteed.

Klubnik as the hero because he’s still not DJU.

DJU the villain because he’s not Jordan Travis.

Their numbers, on the stat sheet and the scoreboard, add to the contrast.

Klubnik is completing 66.4% of his passes with 12 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions as the trigger man of an explosive offense averaging 42 points per game even after going without a touchdown in its opening game.

Over his last three games, Cade Klubnik:
16 TD to 1 TO
10.4 yards per attempt
9.5 yards per carry

pic.twitter.com/0r7QHeYgUt

— Marc Whiteman (@MarcWYFFNews4) September 29, 2024

Uiagalelei’s 53.8 completion percentage is the worst among the ACC’s 17 starting quarterbacks. His 4 touchdown passes are 2 fewer than the number of interceptions he’s thrown while leading a unit that has scored more than 16 points only once in 5 games.

That’s not even close to his level of production at Oregon State, where he resurrected his career last season. Or even his previous life at Clemson, where despite bouts of inconsistency, he still was good enough to help the Tigers to a pair of double-digit win seasons and a conference championship.

And it’s certainly not what Seminoles coach Mike Norvell had in mind when he brought the graduate transfer in to replace Travis in an offense that led the ACC in scoring a year ago.

Wanted to let yall know that during the hubbub of the Alabama Georgia game, DJU sucked at football again pic.twitter.com/Kbd3G25zi7

— Old Row Sports (@OldRowSports) September 29, 2024

DJU has been roundly booed by FSU fans at Doak Campbell Stadium and has shouldered the brunt of the blame for his team’s unexpected meltdown. Though as his former coach Dabo Swinney is quick to point out, it’s easy to scapegoat a quarterback when he’s playing behind an offensive line that’s already allowed 12 sacks with a ground game that has basically ground to a halt.

“Everything can go on the quarterback. But it’s not all on him,” Swinney said during his teleconference with the media on Sunday. “(FSU has) had a couple of close games and close losses, missed opportunities, drops. We all know what (DJU is) capable of doing.”

Swinney was remarkably gentle in his remarks toward his former quarterback. And not just because he’s being careful not to wake the sleeping giant by providing the reeling Seminoles with any bulletin board motivation.

He said that the 2 parted amicably and because DJU has earned a diploma from Clemson, he’ll always be part of the Tigers family.

“DJ … I love that kid,” Swinney said.

Because they represent opposing teams, the Clemson coach hasn’t been able to express those feelings to the FSU quarterback. He’ll finally get the chance to give him a hug and tell him in person on the field before or after Saturday’s game.

Whether DJU will play in the game is still uncertain.

Although Norvell has stayed with him throughout his struggles and he’s still listed atop the depth chart released by the Seminoles on Monday, the “OR” next to backup Brock Glenn’s name suggests that a change might be in the works. Glenn replaced DJU late in last week’s 42-16 loss at SMU — but went 0-for-4 passing on the final 2 drives, which netted 5 yards.

“We’re going to evaluate it through the week and see where it goes from there,” Norvell said at his weekly press conference on Monday.

Norvell’s noncommital statement might just be a smoke screen. Unconfirmed published reports suggest that DJU suffered a broken finger against SMU and won’t be available for the game. Even if he’s healthy enough to play, Norvell would be better served by turning the page, starting Glenn and evaluating the redshirt freshman with an eye toward the future.

Doing so would at least give the Seminoles an opportunity to take something positive from an already lost season. While saving DJU the further indignity of a nationally televised head-to-head comparison to the quarterback he was supposed to be.

The post Friedlander: QBs Cade Klubnik and DJU embody the contrast between rising Clemson and plummeting FSU appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Honestly, I have no clue.

I’m not sure any of the players involved in the mass of humanity fighting over the ball on the final play of the Miami-Va. Tech game have any idea, either.

Of this much, however, I am certain.

If a middle-of-the-pack SEC team had taken Georgia, Alabama or Texas down to the wire only to lose on a controversial call that was reversed upon review, everyone from the guys on College GameDay to the trolls on the platform formerly known as Twitter would be using as proof of the conference’s depth and quality.

Same with the Big Ten if Ohio State or Michigan was involved.

But because it’s the ACC, the close call and the way the game ended have taken on a distinctly different spin. Somehow it’s a sign that the 7th-ranked Hurricanes are a fraud, the conference isn’t any good and that the reversal of the final call was part of a conspiracy to protect one of the league’s few nationally relevant teams.

I admit the reversal did look suspect, especially since the ref involved is the same guy whose crew was suspended in 2015 for gifting Miami a win in the infamous “Lateral Game” against Duke. And because, as mentioned, even the replay didn’t produce any conclusive answers.

For what it’s worth, here’s the ACC’s official explanation: “It was determined that the loose ball was touched by a Miami player while he was out of bounds which makes it an incomplete pass and immediately ends the play.”

Here’s the ACC reason for the overturn: “During the review process of the last play of the Virginia Tech at Miami game, it was determined that the loose ball was touched by a Miami player while he was out of bounds which makes it an incomplete pass and immediately ends the play.” https://t.co/EluE00Gp1F

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 28, 2024

But while the motivation behind the decision is a subject for debate, the other 2 points shouldn’t be.

It’s easy to forget that just a few weeks ago, Virginia Tech was viewed as a potential ACC title and Playoff contender, with an offense loaded with playmakers and a defense anchored by one of the nation’s best pass rushers. The Hokies are arguably 3 plays and coach Brent Pry’s questionable decision-making away from being 5-0 and right in the middle of that conversation.

The fact that the Hurricanes were able to beat them and stay in the conversation is a testament to quarterback Cam Ward. The Heisman Trophy frontrunner didn’t have his best game. But he made winning plays when his team needed them and pulled Miami through in a game it would have and has lost many times in the past.

That’s not the only thing we learned about the ACC in Week 5. Here are some of the other big takeaways:

Maalik Murphy gets better as the game goes on

Duke’s sophomore quarterback is still in the process of learning to harness his elite arm skill. And he has the inconsistency to prove it. To his credit, the Texas transfer already has the confidence and personality to overcome his slow starts and improve as the game progresses.

That resilience was on full display against rival North Carolina on Saturday when he bounced back from a dismal first half to lead the Blue Devils to their biggest comeback in 62 years and a win in the battle for the Victory Bell.

Murphy was just 7-of-19 for 60 yards before halftime as Duke was shut out against a Tar Heels defense that surrendered 70 points a week earlier against James Madison. But he was a different quarterback after the break. He hit on 8-of-15 passes for 149 yards in leading his team to 3 touchdowns and a 21-20 win that improved the Blue Devils to 5-0 for the first time since 1994.

The 2nd-half turnaround has become something of a trademark for Murphy. He’s completed 64% of his passes for 655 yards over the final 2 periods this season, compared to just 56% and 447 yards in his 1st halves.

UNC’s season is circling the bowl …

For a little over a half Saturday, it appeared as though North Carolina had successfully flushed last week’s 70-50 disaster at the hands of James Madison and was well on the way toward salvaging its season. Its defense was shutting Duke out. Its offense wasn’t self-destructing and was finding ways of moving the ball and putting points on the board other than handing it to Omarion Hampton.

Then, just like that, it all went sour.

The meltdown began with a holding penalty on a 4th down conversion inside the 10-yard line midway through the 3rd quarter. Instead of scoring a potential clinching touchdown, the Tar Heels settled for a field goal that left the door open for an epic Blue Devils comeback.

Even though UNC still has a winning record at 3-2, it has issues beyond the obvious on defense and at quarterback that don’t appear fixable. With a challenging schedule still ahead and another soul-crushing loss to recover from, the Tar Heels are clearly on life support.

FSU’s season is already down the drain

Whatever hope was bred from the Seminoles’ anything-but-impressive victory against Cal last week went flying out the window in Dallas on Saturday. Mike Norvell’s team didn’t just lose. It got embarrassed 42-16 by an SMU team it voted to keep out of the ACC.

It took 3 more interceptions, the last of which was taken back for an 82-yard touchdown, for Mike Norvell to decide he’s seen enough of DJ Uiagalelei. But at this point, it really doesn’t matter anymore. With Clemson coming to town next week and a trip to Notre Dame coming after that, FSU would realistically have to win all 5 of the other remaining games just to eke out bowl eligibility.

Given the way the Seminoles have played and the direction they’re going, they’ll be lucky to win any of those.

NC State can still play a little defense

OK, so Northern Illinois isn’t in the same class as Tennessee and Clemson, both of which rolled over the Wolfpack’s once-proud defense as though it was the Coyote standing in the path of an oncoming boulder in an old Roadrunner cartoon.

But the Huskies did beat Notre Dame in South Bend and spent a couple of weeks in the national rankings. So there’s reason to believe that, unlike rivals UNC and FSU, NC State might not be as bad as it has looked in its only 2 games to date against power conference opponents.

State recorded 4 sacks against an opponent that came into the game as 1 of only 5 in the FBS that had yet to allow any this season. It also had 12 TFLs, 2 interceptions and forced 4 fumbles while holding the Huskies to 279 total yards while contributing directly to 2 of the 3 touchdowns its team scored – one on a strip-sack by safety DK Kaufman for a score and another on a fumble recovery at the 1-yard line by Brandon Cleveland.

It’s only fitting that the game ended on an interception in the end zone by Tamarcus Cooley to clinch a 24-17 victory that puts the Wolfpack back on the right track heading into next week’s game against reeling Wake Forest.

Louisville’s missed opportunity

Last year, the Cardinals used a win against Notre Dame as the springboard to their breakthrough 10-win season. They had their chances to do the same in Saturday’s rematch in South Bend with an almost totally rebuilt lineup. But they let the opportunity slip away, literally, with a 24-17 loss that was as much their own doing as the Irish’s.

After going the first 3 games without a turnover, Jeff Brohm’s team coughed it up 3 times – twice on fumbles and once on a Tyler Shough interception – to help turn an early 7-0 lead into a 21-7 deficit. It’s a hole from which Shough and his offense nearly climbed out once they finally got rolling. But one final mistake –a late delay-of-game penalty on a 4th-and-1 play from near midfield ended up costing Louisville a shot at a touchdown that would have sent the game into overtime.

The loss won’t hurt the Cardinals’ chance of returning to the ACC Championship Game for the 2nd straight year. But it did create an air of vulnerability around them as they head into a difficult stretch starting next week against SMU and includes both ACC frontrunners Miami and Clemson.

The post Friedlander: Biggest takeaways from Week 5 in the ACC appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Simple as that. No gray area.

It doesn’t matter if you give up 70 points and get dominated by what is universally considered a lesser opponent or surrender a late touchdown to fall to a rival by the slimmest of margins. A loss is a loss regardless of the circumstances.

North Carolina’s Mack Brown said as much on Saturday.

Technically, he’s right.

When it comes to the Tar Heels’ won-loss record, which now stands at 3-2, there’s no distinction between last week’s embarrassment at the hands of James Madison that had Brown openly pondering his coaching future and the field-storming 21-20 loss to Duke that cost them possession of the Victory Bell.

But that’s the only thing the 2 defeats have in common.

Don’t let the less downcast tone of the postgame comments fool you. While the beatdown against the Dukes was bad, soul-crushingly bad, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and losing to Duke for the 1st time in 6 years was exponentially worse.

You could hear the hurt in quarterback Jacolby Criswell’s voice, even as he vowed to “keep moving forward and finding a way” to regroup.

“This is my 4th year here and never lost to them,” he said. “My mindset was to dominate. I’ve seen Sam (Howell) and Drake (Maye), and they’ve been in games like this. Obviously, it’s tough to be on the short end of the stick.”

Criswell had an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the 2 previous UNC quarterbacks he mentioned, both of whom are currently in the NFL. But instead of leading his team on a dramatic game-winning drive in the final minute the way Maye did in the Tar Heels’ previous trip up US Highway 15-150 to Wallace Wade Stadium 2 seasons ago, his final pass was intercepted by the Blue Devils’ Tre Freeman.

Hear the crowd reaction to the interception from Tre Freeman

Duke beats UNC for the first time in six years, 21-20 pic.twitter.com/XjMFX03Afd

— Duke Wisdom (@Duke_Wisdom) September 28, 2024

In Criswell’s defense, he was hit as he let go of the ball, altering its trajectory. Then again, the game should never have come down to that in the 1st place.

UNC was in complete control, leading 20-0 midway through the 3rd quarter and seemingly cruising toward an emphatic victory that would have gone a long way toward erasing the memory of the previous week’s disaster. And the drama that followed it.

Instead, the Tar Heels regressed to the mean.

The defense that held Duke to only 97 1st half yards and shut the Blue Devils out for the better part of 3 quarters suddenly began giving up big plays both through the air and on the ground.

Tackles missed.

Receivers left open.

All of which were exploited by running back Star Thomas, who amassed 122 of his 166 rushing yards and all 45 of his receiving yards in the 2nd half, and quarterback Maalik Murphy, who led the Blue Devils to their biggest comeback since rallying from a similar 20-point deficit to Florida in 1962.

When the 73-year-old Brown was still only 11.

UNC’s offense was just as complicit in the meltdown as the defense.

It had an opportunity to effectively put the game away when Omarion Hampton appeared to pick up a 1st down on a 4th-and-1 run inside the Duke 10. But tight end Bryson Nesbit was called for holding on the play, nullifying the run.

Instead of punching the ball into the end zone for the kill shot. The Tar Heels settled for a chip-shot field goal.

And they never recovered.

Four of their final 5 possessions ended in punts after gaining fewer than 35 yards before the interception sealed the deal in the final 30 seconds.

“It felt like we got stronger as the game went on,” said Duke coach Manny Diaz, whose team has won its 1st 5 games for its best start since 1994. “And it felt like they, from my vantage point, went the other direction.”

Whether Diaz meant to say that the Tar Heels quit or even stopped playing as hard when faced with adversity is a matter for interpretation. But it sure sounds like it.

It’s tough enough having to rebound from a public embarrassment. Now UNC is faced with the double whammy of having to bounce back from an even more painful fate.
Having its collective heart ripped out in a rivalry game. With only a few days to regroup and undergo a transplant.

So now what? Where does UNC go from here?

Pragmatically, it heads back to Chapel Hill to play Pittsburgh and its suddenly explosive offense next week, followed by another home date against long-time nemesis Georgia Tech before getting to the 1st of its 2 open dates.

By that time its season on the brink could be in full meltdown mode. And Brown will be doing more than just pondering his coaching future.

The post Friedlander: Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse for Mack Brown and UNC, it did appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Basketball season is right around the corner.

The ACC released its schedule earlier this week and practice has already begun. In about a month or so, those partial to the Tar Heels and Wolfpack can put their disappointment behind them and turn their attention to the hardwood.

Just as the league’s founders intended.

Until then, here are 5 questions to think about and consider before kickoff of Week 5 action in ACC football:

5. Can Stanford’s defense frustrate Cade Klubnik the way it did Kyle McCord last week?

Star receiver Elic Ayomanor and kicker Emmet Kenny got most of the headlines from last week’s win at Syracuse in the Cardinal’s inaugural ACC game. But the real revelation was the performance of Stanford’s defense, which entered ranked 14th out of 17 ACC teams in defensive efficiency. It limited the Orange to only 26 net yards on the ground, sacked McCord 4 times and intercepted him twice, including 1 for a touchdown. It’s going to take a similar effort against Klubnik,who also has a history of making bad decisions when under pressure, for Stanford to have any shot at hanging with the 17th-ranked Clemson and an offense that has rung up 125 points in its the past 2 games.

4. Did Saturday’s win get Florida State back on track?

The Seminoles finally got off the schneid with a win against Cal. But they’re still a long way away from being “back.” It took a pair of missed field goals by the Bears and 7 sacks by a defense that recorded only 6 in the first 3 games combined for FSU to escape with 14-9 victory. Even with those sacks, the Noles were still outgained 412-289 and have yet to reach the 300-yard mark in total offense or score more than 21 points in any game this season. That’s not likely to be good enough on Saturday against an SMU team that hung 66 on rival TCU last week and seems to have found its groove with dual-threat Kevin Jennings taking over for Preston Stone at quarterback and Miami transfer Brashard Smith getting comfortable with the transition from wide receiver to running back.

3. Can Louisville take down Notre Dame again?

The Cardinals burst onto the national scene last season by upsetting the Irish in Louisville for the first signature win of the Jeff Brohm era. Despite that success, they’re flying under the radar again. That could change after Saturday’s rematch in South Bend. While the stakes for No. 15 Louisville are remarkably similar, the team that faces the 16th-ranked Irish is almost completely different. Different, but just as explosive. And as last week’s win against Georgia Tech proved, the Cardinals can also win with defense and special teams. It’s a defense, by the way, that limited current Irish quarterback Riley Leonard to just 9-of-23 passing when he was with Duke in a shutout win last year.

2. Will Dave Doeren fare any better against his old team than Mike Norville did against his?

Like UNC, NC State also needs to regroup from a lopsided loss last week – a 59-35 beatdown by Clemson. And like the Tar Heels, the Wolfpack will have to do it against a familiar opponent. At least it is for coach Dave Doeren, who led Northern Illinois to an Orange Bowl bid before leaving for Raleigh in 2013. Doeren can only hope his reunion game goes better than the one Florida State’s Norvell had against his old team, Memphis, 2 weeks ago. The Seminoles lost 20-12. As for Doeren’s Wolfpack, priority No. 1 is fixing a defense that ranks dead last in the ACC in scoring, giving up 37.8 ppg, and is next-to-last in total defense with an average of 417 yards allowed.

State has been especially bad against the 2 power conference opponents it has faced, losing to Tennessee and Clemson by a combined margin of 110-45. The good news is that Northern Illinois doesn’t play in a power conference and doesn’t have the size, speed or depth of the Volunteers and Tigers. But the Huskies have already upset Notre Dame in South Bend and were ranked for 2 weeks before losing last week. And the Wolfpack wasn’t exactly impressive in either of its wins against Western Carolina and Louisiana Tech. Even though State is a 6.5-point favorite, according to ESPNBet sportsbook, his is anything but a slam dunk.

5. How does North Carolina bounce back from Saturday’s JMU debacle?

The Tar Heels have their work cut out for them at Duke. They have to clean up the mess from a 70-50 disaster that included a blocked punt for a touchdown, 5 turnovers including a pick-6 and 611 yards of total offense to an opponent that managed only 13 points against Gardner-Webb in its previous game. They also have to regroup from a postgame drama that forced coach Mack Brown to walk back rumors that he’s ready to retire. And here’s the toughest part of their assignment Saturday: They have to accomplish all that on the road against an arch-rival that has improved with each game under its new coach.

Duke’s 45-17 win at Middle Tennessee State last week was its best performance to date. The Blue Devils combined an already solid defense with an offense that featured a 200-yard passer (Maalik Murphy), a 100-yard rusher (Star Thomas) and a 100-yard receiver (Nicky Dalmolin). Brown has won all 5 meetings with the Blue Devils since returning to UNC. But after barely squeaking out wins in the past 2 battles for the Victory Bell, including a double-overtime victory in Chapel Hill last year, that streak is in serious jeopardy.

The post Friedlander: 5 questions to ponder before kickoff of Week 5 in ACC football appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It’s what we old-timers used to call an “intangible.”

And only the elite few have it.

It’s more than just the ability to throw the ball far, run fast or make those around you better. It’s the knack for knowing when your team needs you to carry it by making just the right play at just the right time.

Mario Cristobal saw that quality in Cam Ward right away and knew he had to do whatever it took to get the transfer quarterback to come play for him.

“I use the word Alpha, because I like that word,” the Miami coach said during the ACC’s preseason media event in Charlotte this summer. “His level of drive, determination, leadership, detail, accountability … there’s no flinch in him. We’re beyond blessed to have him with us.”

They should be.

The Hurricanes have never been wanting for talent. It’s why they’ve been picked to finish at or near the top of the league virtually every year since joining the ACC in 2004. And why it’s such a disappointment when they predictably fall short of those high expectations.

A big reason for their failure has been the absence of a difference-maker to pull the trigger on offense.

Miami hasn’t had a quarterback taken in the 1st 4 rounds of the NFL Draft since Craig Erickson went to Tampa Bay in the 4th round in 1992. And only one, Brad Kaaya in the 6th in 2017, has been drafted in any round during the school’s ACC tenure.

It’s taken 2 decades and 6 head coaches, but in Ward, the Hurricanes finally appear to have found the missing piece to the puzzle that will end their never-ending quest to regain the championship swagger that was once their trademark.

The Washington State transfer leads the nation with 14 touchdown passes and is 2nd only to Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart with 1,439 yards through 4 games. His completion percentage of .724 is the best in the ACC and is a big reason the Hurricanes are averaging an ACC-best 52.3 points per game.

Those impressive numbers have jumped him to the head of the class as the early Heisman Trophy frontrunner. But they’re not even close to being his most important contribution to his 7th-ranked team.

That would be the confidence, the attitude – the chutzpah – to come to the line of scrimmage and tell the defense where the next play will be run. Just as he did Saturday at South Florida. And then run it there for a touchdown.

https://twitter.com/NMDgrant/status/1837678769403822277

Was it disrespectful? Sure it was.

Was it necessary? Of course not.

But it sent a clear signal, both to his teammates and the opposition, that Ward and the Hurricanes know exactly where they’re going. Good luck stopping them.

“He plays quarterback like a linebacker. He’s aggressive,” Cristobal said of his quarterback. “He’s been hyped up and pumped up because it’s real. But he doesn’t care about that. He wants to go play ball and win.”

Cristobal has described the relationship between Ward and Miami as “the perfect marriage.” The reality is that it’s more a marriage of convenience.

For all the talk about fit and culture and opportunity, the bottom line in Ward’s decision to pull his name out of the NFL Draft and come to Coral Gables for his final season of college eligibility was, in fact, the bottom line.

It’s an opportunity he worked hard to earn by climbing from the absolute bottom of the college football food chain as a no-star recruit at FCS Incarnate Word, to a legitimate star at Washington State to the plum of this year’s transfer portal crop with more than 15,000 passing yards to his credit.

Ward’s status as the top-rated free agent quarterback gave him the luxury of selling himself to the highest name, image and likeness bidder. And the bidding was intense. Especially since it came down to a competition between Miami and in-state ACC rival Florida State.

Ward went to the Hurricanes and has them on the fast track to an ACC championship and the College Football Playoff. The Seminoles settled on Oregon State transfer DJ Uiagalelei and are headed nowhere fast after a 1-3 start.

Exact figures of Ward’s NIL deals aren’t available, but he’s been worth every penny regardless of how much he’s getting.

Money, however, isn’t Ward’s primary motivation. Neither is the Heisman.

While he admits that it would be nice to be on the podium in New York to receive the college football’s most prestigious honor, the only trophies he’s focused on raising are the ones that will be handed out after the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte on Dec. 7 and the Playoff final in in Atlanta a month after that.

“That would mean a lot to me because of how bad I want to win,” Ward said. “I haven’t won anything tremendous at the power conference level. That’s something I want to do, win a championship.”

It’s the same goal Miami has been chasing for the past 20 years.

One they’re in a position to accomplish together now that Ward has found a talent-rich program in which he can flourish and the Hurricanes have finally found the difference-maker they’ve lacked for as long as they’ve been in the ACC.

The post Friedlander: Miami has finally found its difference-maker in Heisman frontrunner Cam Ward appeared first on Saturday Down South.