A bad anti-playoff argument

Ron Morris is a friend, and I agree with a lot of his takes.

The ACC living (at) large

Probably too early to start discussing this, but something tells me Clemson fans will dust off their conspiracy theories if an undefeated Tigers team meets Virginia Tech in the ACC championship.

Rivalry revelry

There was some heartburn over the title of the upcoming "State of Disunion" book because it has "Carolina-Clemson" instead of "Clemson-Carolina."

Ten thoughts from the weekend

1. The same people who are calling Clemson overrated right now are probably the same people who were calling Auburn overrated this time a year ago.

Catching up with Devin Booker

Had a chance to catch up with Devin Booker last week. Here's our Q&A with the big man:

Catching up with Milton Jennings

Had a chance to sit down with Milton Jennings last week for a one-on-one interview.

Watkins and the "H" word

Tweet from ESPN's Tom Luginbill on Saturday night:

Ten thoughts from the weekend

1. Remember that image? That's Richard Jackson missing another field goal in a 2009 loss at Maryland.

Beating a mediocre horse ... and stats

A house divided? How about a house imploded?

Steve Superior

I guess this dispatch needs to begin with an explanation of why I'm writing it.

ESPN: College football's supreme being

(Photo caption: ESPN executives take a break after a recent meeting in Bristol, Conn.)

Ten thoughts from the weekend

1. So we're halfway through the season in some cases, including Clemson's, and there's a bit of depression with that reality.

We spend so long looking forward to the season, the offseason often seems interminable, and then ... poof!

Part of what makes college football great is the magnitude of every game. I'm certainly not advocating a 16- or 18-game schedule or anything like that, because college basketball has shown us what meaninglessness looks like with its long pre-conference slog in November and December.

Just saying it's hard to believe we're halfway through this thing. Time flies when you're having fun.

2. So who out there thought Clemson would be 6-0 and Florida State 2-3 at this point?

I'll never forget some of the hyperventilating that followed news that some AP voters had the audacity to vote Florida State somewhere between 15 and 20 in the preseason poll.

First of all, who cares about preseason polls? Second, and most important: What had Florida State done to show it was a Top 5 team?

Granted, I thought they'd be much better than this. But there was zero reason for anyone to get red-faced in reaction to some voters not being sold on the Seminoles in the preseason.

3. And you thought Clemson had quarterback questions heading into preparations for this week's game at Maryland?

Check out the Terps' situation: Danny O'Brien, considered preseason ACC player of the year by some folks, was yanked from Saturday's loss at Georgia Tech after starting 1-for-6 passing for 17 yards and a pick. Reserve C.J. Brown came in and wasn't much better.

Through three quarters, the pair was a combined 1-for-15 for 17 yards and two picks – a passer efficiency rating of minus-10.48.

And all of this against Georgia Tech's highly questionable defense. Yikes.

4. Speaking of passing, Georgia Tech's aerial assault appears to be coming back down to earth.

After looking really good earlier this season and creating the impression that defensive coordinators would have to deal with yet another element in Paul Johnson's offense, the Yellow Jackets have completed 10 passes on 33 attempts in the past two games.

That's 30.3 percent. Joshua Nesbitt would be proud.

5. Put me among the surprised that Georgia Tech produced just 21 points Saturday at home against the Terrapins.

The Yellow Jackets didn't have a long scoring drive after the first possession. Their 272 rushing yards were more than 100 below their average, and their point total was 30 points shy of their average.

Heck, Temple had more rushing yards (285) against Maryland.

And the Terps' defense doesn't look all that imposing, either. They started four freshmen Saturday with linebacker Kenny Tate sidelined with an injury. A fifth freshman, linebacker Alex Twine, played much of the second half after Demetrius Hartsfield’s departure.

Georgia Tech had just 154 yards and seven points after halftime.

6. Kudos to Steve Spurrier for finally realizing that Connor Shaw couldn't be worse than Stephen Garcia.

It's been said that Spurrier's approach with Garcia was to stick with him until Garcia lost a game.

If this is indeed the case ... huh?

Georgia is gaining momentum and barreling toward the SEC East title. If the Bulldogs end up in Atlanta instead of the Gamecocks, it's on Visor Boy for inexplicably riding Garcia.

With all that talent on offense, the quarterback doesn't have to be great for them to be productive. That was plainly apparent Saturday, when Shaw effectively distributed the ball to different guys.

7. If you're a Clemson fan, you probably looked at the ACC schedule when it was released and said: "Gee, thanks."

The Tigers' open date was after Georgia Tech and before Wake Forest. Didn't seem to be much of a favor then, but it actually works out kinda good given the Demon Deacons' unexpected ascent.

As much is made on the value of having an open date to prepare for Georgia Tech's offense, it's also hard to recover from playing the Yellow Jackets. So if the game against Wake become an Atlantic Division showdown -- and gosh does it feel weird writing "Wake Forest" and "showdown" in the same sentence after last year's Deacon meltdown -- the week off is gonna come in handy.

8. I saw Logan Thomas' passing numbers from the Miami game and simply cannot believe them.

23 for 25, 310 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions

There was someone else in that No. 3 jersey last week in Blacksburg. That's the only explanation.

9. Local radio personality Mark Sturgis was on the Boston College sideline for Saturday's game and reported some thuggish behavior on the part of the visitors from up North.

He said the team chaplain was hurling obscenities after the personal-foul penalty that negated a long Eagles touchdown.

He said some of the fans were celebrating when Boyd went down with the injury.

He said a number of fans were holding up one finger when Clemson fans were holding up four fingers heading into the fourth quarter. We'll let your imagination figure out which finger.

Obviously these louts weren't representative of all Boston College fans. But sheesh... leave that stuff in Southie, ya heah?

10. As Clemson's offense was motoring up and down the field early against Boston College, I couldn't help but think:

Goodness, imagine this thing with Germone Hopper and Zac Brooks in the mix.

The offensive line will be a huge question mark next season, but even with that as a potential trouble spot it's hard to imagine this offense suddenly choking and sputtering.

If Morris has the best collection of skill players in the ACC right now -- and it's abundantly apparent he does -- what's going to happen with two more elite skill players in the mix?



LW

ACC power(less) rankings, Week 6

So now's probably a good time to renew the esteemed, long-standing tradition of weekly ACC power rankings.

ACC fever, and stats and stuff

Weekends like this are made for Mike Hogewood.

Substance over style

Tommy Bowden never really preoccupied himself with what people said about his style.