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The beauty of college football is regardless of how much guys like me and many other pundits try to predict what is going to happen, anything can happen—the beauty of sports. As Chris Berman says, “That’s why they play the game, folks!”
Check out my column this week as I discuss the UNC upset over Virginia Tech, Oregon's throttling of the USC Trojans, Iowa's improbable run towards a BCS game, and much more!
UNC Stuns VT
The weekend got off to an interesting start as the unranked North Carolina Tar Heels shocked the 14th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg. UNC kicker Casey Barth nailed two field goals in the final three minutes of the contest to lift the Heels (5-3 overall) to the 20-17 victory.
Virginia Tech redshirt freshman running back Ryan Williams made one of the few mistakes of his dazzling freshman campaign thus far, fumbling the ball on his own 24-yard line with 2:09 left in the fourth quarter.
UNC recovered, and all they did was run the football, run the clock down, and take a shot at a field goal. They did just that, and sure enough, the Heels had pulled off one of the more improbable victories of this college football season thus far.
The Tar Heels have been plagued by a rather atrocious offensive line and young and inexperienced receivers that don’t run proper routes. Their senior quarterback, T.J. Yates , is one of the more talented signal callers in the ACC, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at his stats this season. He has simply had little or no protection from his offensive line all season long.
It’s definitely a big win for the Heels, but until that offensive line finally begins to gel and block effectively for Yates, they will likely struggle the rest of the way.
The freshman running back Williams was obviously very dejected at the end of the game, and despite numerous attempts by UNC players and Virginia Tech players alike to cheer him up, he still held his head buried in his hands.
It’s understandable why the guy would be so upset, feeling guilty for costing his team the football game, but Williams has done so much for the Hokies as a freshman. He’ll learn from this experience, and another star of a running back has already been born in Blacksburg—a place that seems to produce them year after year.
The Hokies were ranked as high as fourth in the country at one point this season, but have since dropped to 22nd in the AP poll and 24th in the Coaches’ Poll. They will likely need help from Georgia Tech and Duke if they wish to have a shot at the ACC title.
Speaking of Duke
I was thinking before this college football season that Duke would have an awfully good shot of going to a bowl game...yes, you read that correctly, Duke going to a bowl game! Well, sure enough the Blue Devils and their head coach David Cutcliffe have the folks believing down in Durham.
After wins this season against in-conference foes N.C. State, Maryland, and Virginia, the Blue Devils are 5-3 overall and only need two more wins to become bowl eligible.
I’m not gonna lie—I wasn't sure I would ever hear the words Duke football and bowl eligible in the same sentence in my lifetime, but you have to give Coach Cutcliffe all the credit in the world.
He has done what so many other coaches could not accomplish in Durham, and that’s turn the Blue Devils into a very solid football squad. He owes it all to his golden-armed gunslinger this season, as quarterback Thaddeus Lewis is truly one of the most underrated players in college football.
The super senior nearly led the Blue Devils to an upset victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies (they lost 34-26) when he torched the Hokie secondary for 359 passing yards while completing 22 of his 40 pass attempts, tossing two touchdowns and no interceptions.
This season, Lewis has put up gaudy statistics, but simply not enough college football fans could tell you, because it’s Duke. He’s second in the ACC in passing yards per game (289.4 ypg.). Lewis has completed 188 of his 296 (63.5 percent) passing attempts while firing 15 touchdown passes and just four interceptions.
Duke is not the Duke football of old, let me tell you, folks. They are a team to be reckoned with. While they won’t be making a BCS title run any time soon, the Blue Devils are a very solid football team that is tough to beat.
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