This Week in the ACC - 11/19

This Week in the ACC 11/19-11/24

This column is a weekly wrap-up and preview of games and stories involving ACC teams. All correspondence can be sent to [e-mail]

Worst loss of the week: Clemson letting their ACC title hopes slip away to BC

Before I get to this game, I have to digress for a moment. I was lucky enough to make the trip down to Death Valley to see this game in person, and I have to rank the visit as my best college football experience of all time. As a native of Massachusetts, I had never experienced real “Southern Hospitality” before, but I can now vouch that it does certainly exist. My group must have been offered by 10 different people to come visit their tailgate parties on Saturday. In the end, we decided on settling down at the tailgate of Mr. Jimmy Rogers, who gave us a 1^st class tailgating experience. With the help of his chef Earnest, Rogers hosted us to a feast of ribs, beef brisket, and more.

The tailgating and game day atmosphere was off the charts spectacular, even standing par in my memory with a few of the bartenders at the Esso Club, which is a bar located near the stadium. Guys trust me on this one; some of the girls (particularly the girl who rocks the James Davis jersey) could convince you to move to Clemson.

As for the actual game, I’m still not sure how Clemson lost this game. The easy blame could be put on Aaron Kelly for dropping a perfect pass from Cullen Harper at the BC 1-yard line with just seconds remaining on the clock.

Or you could blame the entire defense and coaching staff for letting Andre Callender rail off 167 combined yards rushing and receiving. Callender seemed to roam free the entire night. I thought eventually Clemson would stick a guy on him, especially when DE Phillip Merling was turning around BC OL Anthony Castonzo like a turn-style the entire night. Merling was single-handedly getting a pass rush on Ryan and forcing him to throw early.

Runner-Up: The “U” laying down in Blacksburg….again

It’s time for me to step into the confessional booth for a moment --- Forgive me, because a few weeks ago I thought that the ‘Canes has a legit chance of competing with Virginia Tech for the Coastal Division title….yikes!

After lying down for two consecutive weeks, Miami will need an upset win over BC this weekend just to avoid having a losing record this year. Something just doesn’t sound right about Miami being just .500 this year.

Best win of the week: BC taking the ACC Atlantic Division in Death Valley

BC can thank their DC Frank Spaziani and his defense for their huge win on Saturday. Coach Spaz drew up the perfect game plan for stopping Clemson--- Slow down James Davis and C.J. Spiller, and force the Clemson passing game to beat you. Davis and Spiller ran a combined 62 yards on 23 carries and neither back was much of a factor all night.

Overall, the most impressive feat of the BC defense comes from the fact that they only allowed 17 points all night. The reason I say that is because the Eagles continually were squib-kicking the ball to Clemson on kickoffs, and setting the Tigers up at no worse than their own 42-yard line after every kickoff, with exception for the last kickoff of the night when BC performed a “normal” kickoff.

Runner-Up: Gator Bowl

With Clemson out of the ACC Title game now, the Gator Bowl has a very good chance of landing the Tigers for their New Year’s Day bowl game, or maybe even Virginia Tech if the Hokies lose along the way.

ACC Power Rankings

1. Boston College

2. Virginia Tech

3. Clemson

4. Virginia

5. Florida State

6. Wake Forest

7. Maryland

8. Georgia Tech

9. North Carolina

10. Miami

11. NC State

12. Duke

ACC Player of the Year Rankings

1. Matt Ryan- BC
2. Chris Long- Virginia
3. Cullen Harper- Clemson

Game of the Week: Virginia Tech @ Virginia

Normally, you don’t need there to be anything on the line in a rivalry like this. However, everything is on the line in this game as the winner goes to the ACC Championship to face BC.

Virginia has won with smoke and mirrors all season, and I think I’ve picked them to lose almost every game. If I was a gambling man I’d probably be living out of my car right now….if I even still owned my car at this point. It seems like they almost every week the Cavaliers have put themselves in position to lose the game, and somehow find a way to pull it out.

Meanwhile, VT is on a roll and playing their best football if the year. I’m calling for a Hokies double digit victory on Saturday.

Runner-Up: Clemson @ South Carolina

Some Clemson fans told me that, given the choice, they’d rather have Clemson beat USC rather than BC. So basically, those fans were saying that they’d give up a shot at the ACC Championship for a chance to beat USC. That was enough to tell me how big of a rivalry that this game is.