'Nole Your Opponents: Week 8

Give Boston College's defense a ton of credit.  Frank Spaziani and his staff elected to run a lot of new stuff they had not run this year.  FSU's coaches had not seen it before.  It's not difficult to run new stuff, but it is difficult to run it well.  The Eagles kept Jimbo Fisher off balance all day and he has to be very frustrated and feeling fortunate to escape with a win considering the circumstances.  I have seen Christian Ponder make poor throws before, but I have not seen him this confused in a long time.  It was reminiscent of the play-calling beating Fisher gave to Miami last week.  Boston College's defense does not have incredible talent, but it is physical and extremely disciplined.  If BC does fire Spaziani, some team is going to get one heckuva defensive coordinator in Spaziani (and McGovern as well). 

Now let's take a look at what FSU's opponents did this week.  How did NC State lose to East Carolina?  Is UNC really as good as its scores indicated?  Clemson crushed Maryland... or did they.  And Last week I told you that Florida deserved to lose by a larger margin to LSU and that Les Miles' bafoonery overshadowed a pretty thorough game for LSU.  This week UF out-played Mississippi State, but lost anyway.  Let's check it out

Please remember that these are all non-garbage time.  

NC State wasn't unlucky in losing this game.  The 'Pack deserved to lose.  Each team had 4 turnovers, but ECU out-gained NC State by 12%.  ECU has a nice little offense, but NC State's defense is not very good.  

Backing The Pack - For N.C. State Wolfpack Fans
Sweet Jesus I'm starting to feel like throwing cuddly, precious bunnies out of a window again.  Saturday was death by a thousand tiny cuts, the cuts in this case being all of those quick throws to the perimeter by East Carolina.  My comment: NC State is struggling with quick throws to the perimeter? Ponder likes.

UNC crushed Virgina:

Good golly.  Out-gaining the opponent by 118%!  That is sick.  UNC is really hitting its stride, as I noted last week.  Most of their good players are back.  If UNC had all of its guys back, it would be the best team in the conference.  But the Tar Heels are not getting back Little, Quinn, or Austin, and against an elite team that might hurt.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly Report: Virginia " Tar Heel Fan
Great work here by the best UNC site on the net.

Second Thoughts After Week Seven Jim Young
Instead, after an 0-2 start, UNC has ripped off four straight wins. The most recent may have been the most impressive. Yeah, UVa is in serious rebuilding mode, but the Tar Heels’ struggles in Charlottesville have been chronicled ad nauseam. And winning on the road in the ACC is still an achievement, regardless of the venue. The way UNC dropped the hammer down quickly on the Cavaliers and never let up in route to a 44-10 win was eye-opening. The Tar Heels are still short-handed, particularly at cornerback, but they now have to be considered a real threat in the Coastal Division.

The (Morning After the) Morning After: ACC Week 7 - D1scourse.com
North Carolina will severely miss tight end Zack Pianalto. Was there ever going to be a way the oft-injured Tar Heel tight end made it through a season without getting hurt? Pianalto suffered a broken right fibula in a 44-10 rout of Virginia. His departure takes away T.J. Yates' favorite target (team-highs with 30 receptions and 311 yards), and it comes with the toughest stretch of the Tar Heels' season (trips to Miami and Florida State, home dates with Virginia Tech and N.C. State) looming in the next five weeks. Yates found an affinity for Dwight Jones as a receiver on Saturday, and others have enjoyed strong days so far this season. But for a team that's used to playing without guys, the Tar Heels will struggle to adapt their offense to Pianalto's absence.

Clemson ended up wining 31-7, but were out-gained by 56% per play!  Clemson's offense is decidedly not anything special.  3.4 yards of offense per play is terrible.  Also, Maryland's defense under Don Brown isn't terrible.  Clemson scored off of two nice special teams players.  

Postgame Impressions: Special Teams saved the day for Clemson - Shakin The Southland
Postgame Impressions: Clemson's offense is a mess.

UNC Game Film Review - Shakin The Southland
UNC Game Film Review. Great breakdown of what is going on at CU

The (Morning After the) Morning After: ACC Week 7 - D1scourse.com
1. The discussion for ACC defensive player of the year begins and ends with Da'Quan Bowers. Up-close looks at players have a way of influencing someone's thinking more than hard data on paper --- even for analysts who love numbers. And so it is that Bowers' three-sack, four-TFL performance against Maryland was especially impressive. Yes, Bowers had a favorable matchup against Maryland's Pete DeSouza, who was making only his third career start. Bowers didn't do all of his damage against DeSouza, and he found ways to make particularly timely plays (all three sacks came on third down). He used smarts to create complete disruption, the kind of mayhem Mario Williams and Chris Long managed against the Terps in their final seasons. Since 1978, the best sacks total by an ACC player was Peter Boulware with 19 for Florida State in 1996. Bowers has a chance to get there. Hopefully for the rest of the conference, Bowers turns pro this year. 3. 

Last week I told you that Florida deserved to lose by a larger margin to LSU and that Les Miles' bafoonery overshadowed a pretty thorough game for LSU.  This week UF out-played Mississippi State by a small margin, but lost anyway.

Gator Bytes : University of Florida | The Palm Beach Post " Blog Archive " Comprehensive Florida Gators injury report
This is a ton of injuries. If UF gets healthy, look out.

Re-evaluating the 2010 UF class – The Scout Leader - Gator Sports - Gainesville, FL - Archive
It's been a disappointment due to some injuries and some under achievement.

Florida State 24, Boston College 19: Tomahawk Chops and Tomahawk Flops – Chopping Block – Seminoles Blog – Orlando Sentinel
Chops Brandon Jenkins The sophomore defensive end continued to add to his breakout season on Saturday. He finished second on the team with 9 tackles and led the Seminoles with 3.5 tackles for loss. Two of those were sacks. Jenkins was a menace throughout the game and even when he wasn’t adding to his stat sheet, he was making a difference with his disruptive presence.

TOMAHAWK FLOPS Christian Ponder He said it best after the game: I did everything I could to give this game away. I’m paraphrasing, but that was the gist of it. When Ponder makes mistakes, he’s the first one to admit it. Even when he doesn’t make mistakes, he says he does to shield his teammates from blame. So it’s not surprising that he was so conciliatory on Saturday. But what was surprising was how Ponder played. He threw three interceptions – one of which was returned for a touchdown – and then fumbled away another drive. Ponder came into the postgame interview room with his right arm in a sling and revealed that he was suffering from a swollen bursa sac – an uncomfortable injury that caused him discomfort. He is used to playing with pain. Beyond physical ailments, though, Ponder didn’t seem to be the same player on Saturday.

ACC Power Rankings Week 8- The Race to Charlotte! - Blogger So Dear
1. Florida State Seminoles (6-1, 4-0 in the ACC)*** After I heaped praise on Florida State last week, they came out with a pretty mediocre performance against Boston College. Christian Ponder had all sorts of trouble against Boston College's stingy defense and it almost cost the Seminoles the game. I still think they are a clear-cut number one, but Virginia Tech is gaining ground on them quickly. FSU travels to Raleigh on Thursday night in a crucial ACC Atlantic matchup. If they come away from State with a victory, they have all but wrapped up their spot in Charlotte in December.

ACC conference race update - ACC Blog - ESPN
On paper, the ACC race is still wide open – seven teams have one conference loss or remain unbeaten. Florida State has separated itself in the Atlantic Division with its 4-0 league record, and Virginia Tech has done the same in the Coastal Division with a 3-0 ACC record. They’re the only two teams remaining unbeaten in conference play. Florida State’s remaining schedule isn’t easy, but it’s more conducive to a potential season-ending winning streak than Virginia Tech’s. The Coastal Division is proving to be deeper again this year, and Miami, Georgia Tech and North Carolina are equally in contention – and still on the Hokies’ schedule.

ACC Football Power Rankings, Oct. 18 Articles  Just a reminder: Seminoles have never failed to win ACC when starting 4-0 in league play. 

Second Thoughts After Week Seven Jim Young
Instead, after an 0-2 start, UNC has ripped off four straight wins. The most recent may have been the most impressive. Yeah, UVa is in serious rebuilding mode, but the Tar Heels’ struggles in Charlottesville have been chronicled ad nauseam. And winning on the road in the ACC is still an achievement, regardless of the venue. The way UNC dropped the hammer down quickly on the Cavaliers and never let up in route to a 44-10 win was eye-opening. The Tar Heels are still short-handed, particularly at cornerback, but they now have to be considered a real threat in the Coastal Division.

ACC Power Rankings: Week 8 - ACC Blog - ESPN
1. Florida State (6-1, 4-0 ACC; LW: No. 1) – It wasn’t pretty, but the Seminoles won, and that’s what counts. Florida State probably wouldn’t have won that game a year ago. This year, they had the defense to make the stops in the red zone and Florida State became the ACC’s first bowl-eligible team of the season.

Tony Steward impressed by Noles progress  "It’s a little bit of a different feeling. Jimbo is doing a really good job getting the program in the right direction. He’s bringing back the old Florida State." "The defense is playing real good right now, everyone seems to be pulling together and playing as one. Coach Stoops has those guys playing hard." Steward didn’t have a chance to watch the Miami game and for good reason, he was out fishing. "When I heard the score it blew my mind! I thought it would be a real close game cause it always is. They played a good team and won big." 

Florida State 24, Boston College 19: The Thin Line Between Winning And Losing - BC Interruption
Sometimes the line is very thin between winning and losing, as the Eagles found out on Saturday against the Florida State Seminoles. Boston College lost 24-19.

College football trend: multiple offense and defense  | ajc.com
Used to be in college football the coach of one team would sneer at the other team’s defense and declare, "Here’s our offense, stop it. No more. FSU has an extremely multiple offense and this is a good read.

CaneSport.com - Four-star signee likely won't be a Cane
I can't read the article because it is subscription but this means Miami won't be getting a very talented player back from JUCO