Easy Conference Wins: Due to unbalanced scheduling, these three
teams provide some of the contenders with easier conference wins than others.
Boston College Eagles, 4-8
Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 4-8
Virginia Cavaliers, 2-10
It
is due or die time for Mike London at Virginia, as he enters his fourth season
as the man at the helm on a disparaging downward trajectory. After a surprising 8-win season in his first
year, the Cavaliers have won just six games total and 2 conference games the
last two seasons, including an 0-fer in the ACC last year. The offense was anemic last year, finishing
111th in the nation and failed to score 28 points a single
time. It was no fault of RB Kevin
Parks who finished with 1,031 yards and 11 touchdowns behind an atrocious
offensive line and sporadic quarterback play.
He will really have to carry the load if London is to keep his job. On defense, Virginia returns the nation’s
leading interceptor Anthony Harris. The
Senior Safety had eight picks last year, which is quite remarkable since few
teams had to throw much on the Cavs in the second half.
Jim
Grobe is out as head coach at Wake Forest after 13 seasons and in is former
Bowling Green headman Dave Clawson. Also
out is four-year starter QB Tanner Price, replaced by sophomore Tyler Cameron
who threw three interceptions in just 24 attempts last season for a QBR of
1.0. The rushing attack will have to
improve if the Deacons are to win a conference game after finishing 119th
last year with just 94 yards a game. Wake’s
defense is actually quite strong considering the offense’s struggles. Only one team scored more than 28 against
them at that was the juggernaut Seminoles.
However the schedule does them no favors as they draw Duke and Virginia
Tech from the other division and have two sneaky-tough non-conference games at
Louisiana-Monroe and Utah State.
Boston
College will have to retool their offense with the nation’s leading rusher,
Andrew Williams, now playing for the New York Giants. The Eagles welcome Florida-transfer QB Tyler
Murphy who got extensive work last year after Jeff Driskell’s injury. In his last game as a Gator, Murphy did throw
for 305 yards against Vanderbilt, so I think the offense will shift towards a
little more balance. Sophomore Myles Willis
will take over at running back after averaged almost 6.0 yards per carry as a
freshman. The Eagles may have enough firepower
to surprise a contender or two, but a difficult non-conference game against USC
would still keep them out of a bowl.
Bowling for Cheap: Once again, due to only eight conference games
some of these teams will get an easy bowl invite by beating up lesser foes
non-conference and getting lucky with the dregs of the ACC.
Pittsburgh Panthers, 7-5
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 7-5
Syracuse Orange, 6-6
North Carolina State Wolfpack, 6-6
In
coach Dave Doeren’s first year, the Wolfpack started strong winning three of
their first four with a hard-fought loss to #3 Clemson. Then the wheels fell off in a loss at Wake
Forest, which kicked off a season-ending 8-game losing streak. North Carolina State loses its quarterback as
Pete Thomas chose to transfer to Louisiana-Monroe and another Florida-transfer
Jacoby Brissett looks to take over.
Honestly, it does not really matter, as this team is bad, just not as
bad as the previous group. They just get
the luck (or cowardice) of facing THREE non-FBS teams and South Florida in
their non-conference schedule, as well as getting both Wake Forest and Boston
College at home. They will be one of the
worst bowl teams in years.
Syracuse,
on the other hand, added some meat to its non-conference schedule with Maryland
(at least they are a big-5 conference team) and Notre Dame. The Orange will take on their second season
in the ACC with RB Tyson
Gulley fully healthy and ready to take on the bulk of the carries. Gulley has averaged over five yards a carry
over his career and received a fifth season of eligibility after an injury cut
his 2011 short. He will have likely
second-round pick Sean Hickey leading the way for him as a part of a retooled
offensive line. I think the Orange will
be able to at least make a bowl, due in part to receiving some actual
competition before getting into the heart of their conference schedule.
I
just do not see Georgia Tech ever getting out of the 6-9 win range running the
triple option. Whenever the Yellow
Jackets play an athletic and disciplined team they will almost always
lose. Just take last season: against
their six most athletics defensive opponents (Virginia Tech, Miami, BYU,
Clemson, Georgia and Ole Miss) the Yellow Jackets went 0-6. Georgia Tech will also be replacing every
offensive back including QB Vad Lee who had orchestrated the offense the past
two seasons. Taking over under center
will be Justin Thomas who did average over 7.0 yards per carry as a
freshman. He will have to take better
care of the ball though, as he threw a couple of interceptions in just 17
attempts. Keep your eye out for DeAndre
Smelter as he looks to be the
next big-bodied (6’3’’, 228 lbs) Yellow Jacket receiver to get
drafted. Smelter gave up baseball and is
focusing completely on football for the first time and I think he will have a breakout
season.
Pittsburgh
lost three players to the first few rounds of the NFL draft, including QB Tom
Savage and WR Devin Street (who has looked blazing fast in Cowboys’ camp). Replacing the two are separate options that
are about as polar opposite as you can get: Chad Voytik (all of 2 career pass
attempts) will be throwing to Tyler Boyd (1,200 yards 7 TD’s). Boyd will be the focal point of the offense
and is a candidate to lead
the league in both yards and receptions.
The defense will sorely miss Aaron Donald, who was able to control the
line of scrimmage and mask some of the back-seven’s weakness. Even with Donald the Panthers were 70th
in points allowed and that number should only go up. While Pitt does get both Boston College and Syracuse
from the Atlantic Division, they also have a huge non-conference game against
sleeper-pick Iowa.
The Saturated Upper-Middle Class: I had to beat a dead horse, but
when you are barely playing half of the conference, end of season records can
be misleading.
Duke Blue Devils, 10-2
Clemson Tigers, 9-3
North Carolina Tar Heels, 9-3
Virginia Tech Hokies, 9-3
Louisville Cardinals, 9-3
Miami Hurricanes, 9-3
The
“U” is not what it used to be talent wise, but within the mediocrity of the
middle of the ACC, they still have enough talent to win 9 games. Redshirt Freshmen Kevin Olsen appears to be
the starter at quarterback. He will have
Duke Johnson to hand off to and his only fault is staying healthy (career 6.6
yards per carry). Olsen will also have
the second leading receiver returning in Stacy Coley who is a threat to score
every time he touches the ball. Coley
had a 73-yard touchdown
rush as well as an 81-yard
touchdown reception as a true freshman last season. The defense will be led by Denzel Perryman
who will be hearing his name called fairly early in the next draft. This may not be a contending year for the
Hurricanes, but if they can convince Johnson to come back for his senior year,
they would be a team to watch for 2015.
Louisville will
play their first season in the ACC after losing three first round draft picks
along with their head coach. Losing
Teddy Bridgewater will probably hurt the most, but sophomore Will Gardner will
have an easier transition with DeVante Parker out wide. Parker is the only returning player in the
nation to catch double-digit touchdowns the past two seasons. Then there is Bobby Petrino’s wide-open
attack coming back the Cardinals, which should provide Parker plenty of
opportunity. The defense loses a lot of
depth from a unit that was second in the nation in points allowed per game last
year and will have to retool quickly.
The schedule is not their friend either with trips to South Bend and
Clemson to go with home games against Florida State and Miami.
Virginia Tech had
a terrible offense last year and loses its quarterback to the NFL. This Hokie team will more look like the
traditional Frank Beamer squad relying on its defense and special teams. Defensive Tackle Luther Maddy (6.5 sacks,
most among returning DT’s) returns after helping Virginia Tech lead the
conference in rushing yards per game. The Hokies will have another Fuller as their
lock-down corner, as Kyle’s little brother Kendall who won the Defensive Newcomer of the
Year award last season. A difficult
second-week non-conference matchup at Ohio State might have gotten less
difficult with the Braxton Miller news today.
A win there could springboard the Hokies to a division title.
I may have North
Carolina slotted a game too high, but its because I love watching Ryan Switzer. The sophomore tied the all-time record for
punt return touchdowns in a season with 5 last year and he did it with 11 less
returns than the other record holder.
His final tally was over 20% of his punt returns ended in
touchdowns. That is just
ridiculous. Marquise Williams was the
team’s leading rusher after filling in for quarterback Brynn Renner when he got
hurt last year, so he will bring a dynamic dual-threat aspect to the
offense. The Tar Heels avoid the
Seminoles but do have to travel to Notre Dame, Clemson, Miami and Duke.
Clemson loses two
of its all-time greats in Sammy Watkins and Tajh Boyd so their strength this
season will be on the other side of the ball.
Cole Stoudt is a solid quarterback (80% completion, 5 TD/0 INT) but no
Tiger returning had 500 yards receiving last year or even 250 yards
rushing. Vic Beasley would have been a
likely first round pick last year had he left early, but he looks to build upon
his 13 sacks from a year ago as well as show his versatility in pass coverage. Joining Beasley on the defensive line is DT
Grady Jarrett who acts as a bowling ball (6’1’’, 300 lbs) clearing out
blockers. Linebacker Stephone Anthony is
the one that fills those gaps as he chipped in 15 tackles for a loss last
season. The schedule is absolutely
brutal though, with road games at Georgia and Florida State, along with their
season ending rivalry game against South Carolina. If the Tigers had taken the easy way out in
scheduling, they would probably be an FSU upset away from making the Playoff.
Who
would have ever thought that Duke would win 10 games in a football season? David Cutcliffe has really turned the program
around and they could be looking at a spot in the ACC Championship game this
year. Fifth-year senior Anthony Boone is
back under center and Cutcliffe has used his quarterback-whispering skills to
turn him into a legitimate NFL prospect.
Boone will have one of the best guards in the country protecting him in
Laken Tomlinson as well as Jamison
Crowder to throw to. Crowder needs
just 85 catches and 1,152 yards to become the all-time leader in both categories
in the ACC. On defense, MLB Kelby Brown
leads a trio of 100+ tacklers returning.
Jeremy Cash played safety but came up with 121 tackles and 4
interceptions last season. The real
factor for the Blue Devils will be the schedule. Duke avoids both Florida State and Clemson,
as well as getting North Carolina at home on a short week. Should the Blue Devils win on the road at
Miami, they could be a sneaky sleeper in the Playoff hunt.
The Undisputed and Odds-On Favorite: The Seminoles absolutely destroyed
the conference last year, and now see their Heisman-winning quarterback with a
year of experience and their chief rival lost its two stars (Clemson with Tajh
Boyd and Sammy Watkins).
Florida State Seminoles, 12-0
What else is there to say about this
team? The ACC Bloggers ranked the top 25
players in the league and Florida State had 10 of the top 23. Go to any mock draft for 2015 and you will
probably see 5 Seminoles in the first round.
They lost Devonta Freeman to the NFL and replace him with Karlos Williams who
averaged 8.0 yards per carry last year.
They lose Kelvin Benjamin to the Carolina Panthers but Rashad Greene is back
and he actually had more yards receiving last year. The offensive line has two likely NFL players
in Tre Jackson and Cameron Erving. Their
secondary is absolutely stacked. Jalen
Ramsey started all 14 games last year as a true freshman, the first to do so at
FSU since Deion Sanders. Ronald Darby is
the other corner and he had the lowest opponents’ completion percentage against
him last year in the league. Then there
is P.J. Williams who was the defensive MVP of the National Championship
game. Up front Mario Edwards will have
his chance to live up to
the hype as the main returning pass rusher.
Oh year, then there is that Jameis Winston guy who
threw for over 4,000 yards, 40 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions as a
freshman winning the Heisman. Crab legs
and baseball aside, I think he will show strides as a pocket passer and stake
his claim as the number pick leading the Seminoles to the Playoff.
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