The first week is over, and the ACC's two top preseason teams were beat. Clemson was simply embarrassed, and Virginia Tech is still stunned.
NC State fared no better getting beat by 34 on Thursday night. Virginia was taken down by a powerful Southern Cal team. Even UNC and Maryland struggled against teams they should have beaten easily.
Miami plays Florida this week, but it may be too much to ask of the Canes for a win at this point in their program.
Thus, the eye of the conference will be in Winston-Salem on Saturday, hoping Wake Forest can win. If not, the pundits who say the conference is down are not correct. A better description would be abysmal.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Ole Miss has not won more than four games in any season since 2003. But this year could be different. The Rebels finally have a good coach in Houston Nutt.
There was never a lack of talent for the Mississippi school. Tyrone Nix, the defense coordinator, has nine starters to work with. The Rebels will see a misdirection offense that will take some getting used to. I expect Ole Miss to have some initial trouble with it and then adjust. It is one thing to simulate it in practice, but it's totally different in a game.
I look for Ole Miss to show both run and pass blitz packages against the Wake offensive line. Wake lost four starters last year and, while the replacements have experience, this is still just the second game of the season. If the offensive line for the Deacons does well, this game will get ugly for the Rebels.
Wake Forest returns nine starters from its defensvie squad last year. This is a very solid group, and the Rebels will see a strong defense, including a great secondary. If the Rebels are to have any success, they are going to have to run the ball. If not, Wake Forest will win huge.
Prediction: Wake Forest 27, Ole Miss 16
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3 months ago
Jay thank you for your wonderful opinion, we are truly thankful and blessed to have it.
from 3 months ago
LOL................ too funny... I had to write something about the conference that was positive. I mean Clemson and Virginia looked horrible and Va. Tech scored 16 points via defense.
You do realize that mid-way through the season it is going to be just you and me defending the conference don't you?
Circle the wagons my friend. I will be pulling for your beloved Canes this weekend. I know you have looked at it. What must Miami do to win?
from 3 months ago
Miami needs to have a winning attitude #1. Establish the run, not get down when the big play happens and Tackle well. People are so down on the Canes they probably don't realize that Miami is actually the faster team. It will be tough but the Gators historically have had a hard time when Miami punches it up the gut on them.Meyer's team is pretty deep, may be a better game than people think.
from 2 months ago
Mitch ... what's with the personal jab here? I've been reading a while and the two of you have gone from good-natured analytical disagreements on a few topics to personal jabs. I liked this site b/c I didn't see a lot of that (like I do on normal sports message boards). Seems like it started b/c Jay made some observations about Miami's future a while back in an article. I'm not sure I agree with all of them, but they were objective and empirical ... as opposed to what appeared to be a normative and emotional response on your part.
I got it you are a 'Cane fan. As a former Miami resident, I am too (although I followed baseball more when I was down there). But you're too good of writer to go that route. It seemed to go downhill from there. This comment seems way out of place since I don't see what prompted it, so I thought I'd comment.
Look, as a West Point grad, I admit I don't have the football knowledge you guys do. But, living in Atlanta I do follow ACC and SEC (more SEC ... UGA) football pretty closely. So this site was a great place to read good analytical disagreements and discussions. I hope it doesn't turn into another message board with morons lobbing mortars an one another. And frankly you guys have better insights than the guys with the Dr. Lou and ESPN crowd, so that would be a real loss for me.
Anyway, I got a little frustrated because I normally read both your articles (also Kris's and Lisa's) so I thought I'd just point it out and ask the two of you to put your weapons away. I'm hoping you can get back to good football analysis between the two of you. Both ACC fans obviously, so you're on the same side so to speak. And Jay tends to pull for your 'Canes from what I can tell. I'm not sure who his team is.
Oh, and I figured I'd go ahead and sign up. I saw one of you asking why the other hadn't signed up as a fan. So I'm adding both of you as of now.
By the way, if your comment was just good-natured ribbing then I apologize. But based on the recent discourse, I kind of doubt it.
- Rick
from 2 months ago
Thanks for the comment and the dose of reality. Basically it started because 3 weeks before the season started when the coaches poll came out I called Clemson over rated and called out Tommy Bowden as pretty much one of the worst coaches in D-1. Many here and around the net defended Tommy and I have been pounded here and on Tigernet. While Tommy Bowden hadn't given the angry mob a lot of ammo the play of the Canes the past 2 years had so that's what they used against me. So then it got into this whole the article isn't about Miami thing. I think at one point Jay and I really didn't get a long, now it truly is good natured ribbing. Of course now that my prediction came true so fast and now my opinion is mainstream (it was Baby Tate and I against just about the world on this one) thing shave gotten better.
Thanks for really bringing to to light. We're all just fans of the game.
Mitch
2 months ago
Cool. No worries at all and thanks a ton. Some questions for your and Jay (if he's catching this):
- (First for you. I know Jay's opinion on this I think). I don't have a dog in the Tommy drama, but I'm not sure he's as bad as everyone says. There are other coaches who have failed to get it done. I think you wrote an article on your web site comparing Richt and Bowden recently? Richt did win the SEC in 2005, but (frustratingly for me) he's blown the games he should win a few times that cost him a trip down the road to Atlanta (SC last year comes to mind). And what about Fulmer? He hasn't won the conference in nine years (I think), and we can't say they don't have the support/facilities/money, etc. I believe Tommy is an avereage coach (not a great one), but I did see someone post on this site that the media has overblown Clemson and set up expactations that can't be met (especailly in their fan base). For example, lots of journalists write about how they fail to meet pre-season expectations. As you probably know, that's not really true since they've not been picked to win the conference since 1990 or something. I also think I read on here somewhere that the first really big recruiting class they had (Top 15 or better) wasn't until two years ago. Point of all this verbage is I think to some extent Tommy (and Clemson by extension) is a victim of the sports MSM that create drama but don't really know sports. Right now Tommy is the storyline, but there will be a new target pretty soon. Do you see that in the MSM and who's likely up next on the stage to get hit with tomatos? I think its bad for football overall. Thoughts?
- (For both) Again, I think Tommy is average but may have gone as far as he can go. I kind of thought that a couple of years ago. He can recruit (or his staff can), build the program up, deal with donors, and minimize discipline problems. These are all important traits. But clearly they need to take the next step (as everyone says). I'm wondering then in your opinion who Clemson could/should get. Who's out there that would get the job done (in a reasonable timeframe). Also, how does the contract extension impact the timing of a new hire (I don't know the specifics).
- Finally, I've seen some talk about the problem with hiring new coach staffs. How bad is the transition really for a team? Is that not another overblown topic for the storyline?
- Last one ... I promise. Right now the SEC is up (way up!). But historically I don't remember that as being true. I'd be interested in seeing some historical comparison on the conferences, their relative strengths and ups/downs, and where you see it might go over the next few years. Seems to me the SEC wasn't that strong as recently as five years ago. If these things do go in cycles, then I'm a little worried. I can look at the ACC and see that the teams like VT, Clemson, BC and FSU need to improve and be consistent to better represent the conference. And the ACC really needs Miami to get back in the fight soon. If WF can stay on track, thats a good addition. But what about teams like Auburn, LSU, UGA going the way of Tenn ... average at best in my opinion. AL remains to be seen, but based on the Clemson game, they look to be on the rise. I know you got a lot of writing lined up, but the breakdown on this topic would great.
BTW. Are you actually in Miami. I assume yes. I used to hang out at the Taven in the Grove. Great little 'Cane beer joint!
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