Seriously, the ACC is maybe 7th in your conference power rankings right now.  They just look pathetic week in and week out.  Virginia Tech is the top team by default.  Miami looks like they can be slowed down.  Florida State is the perfect example of the ACC, they can defeat BYU on the road big, but nearly lose to Jacksonville State and then lose to South Florida without their star quarterback.  Georgia Tech looks like their option has been figured out.  Clemson is Clemson, Dabo Swinney or Bowden, it doesn't matter.  UNC has no offense and can't seem to get Greg Little the ball enough.  I don't know what to think of both Boston College and Wake Forest, neither are impressive.  NC State has yet to play a road game, but are 3-1.  I guess Russell Wilson is starting to play well, and South Carolina's defense shut down Ole Miss, so it is more impressive now.  Then there is Duke, Maryland and UVA, and so far only Duke has a win against an FBS school. 

This conference is mired in a stretch of mediocrity, and somehow Virginia Tech keeps rising to the top.  You can't honestly say Virginia Tech has looked great in any of their games (i'm not including the Marshall beatdown), but they found ways to win, and I guess that's all that matters.  The conference has had some ups and downs in recruiting since the season started.  Maryland has lost a lot of local talent to the likes of Penn State, Pittsburgh and Rutgers recently, but Virginia Tech did just get a big commitment from the #6 S Nick Dew. 

Early Weekend Preview:
Clemson at Maryland - Clemson comes to College Park, and should be the heavy favorite.
#6 Virginia Tech at Duke - Pretty brutal early schedule for the Hokies, Duke is a nice break.
Virginia at North Carolina - UVA will be 0-4, count on it.
Florida State at Boston College - Interesting to see if Boston College is for real this year.
NC State at Wake Forest - This features the #2 and 3 QB's in the ACC statistically, I'd take NCSU.
#25 Georgia Tech at Mississippi State - MSU has a great defense, not sure if it's ready for the Triple Option.
#8 Oklahoma at #17 Miami (Fl.) - Could be game of the week if Sam Bradford is back. 

Heismna Watch:
1. QB Colt McCoy, Texas - 71% Comp. 1145 yds, 9 TD/5 INT, 61 rush yd 1 TD
2. QB Case Keenum, Houston - 69.4% Comp, 1160 yds, 8 TD/2 INT, 43 rush yd 3 TD
3. QB Tim Tebow, Florida - 64.7% Comp, 643 yds, 6 TD/1 INT, 271 rush yd 5 TD
4. QB Tony Pike, Cincinnati - 70.5% Comp, 1223 yds, 11 TD/2 INT, 38 rush yd 2 TD
5. QB Jimmy Claussen, Notre Dame - 65.8% Comp, 1122 yds, 10 TD/1 INT

Jahvid Best, RB Cal, fell off the face of the planet this week against Oregon as he was completely shut down.  He still has to be in consideration, but he has some ground to make up.  Kansas QB Todd Reesing is quitely putting up great stats again in Lawrence.  Georgia WR A.J. Green has been impressive averaging 107 ypg and has 4 TD's so far.  So long Jonathan Dwyer, Max Hall and Jacory Harris, you have a ton of work to do to get back in the race

Another Terrible weekend for the ACC.  Clearly the ACC"s mediocrity was not exaggerated after week one, in fact, it might have been understated. 

The Good - Ryan Williams. David Wilson.  Torrey Smith.  Anthony Allen.  C.J. Spiller.  Russell Wilson.  The 1st Half for Georgia Tech.  The 2nd half for Clemson.  Scott Blair's 3 FG's and a TD Pass.  Riley Skinner's 2nd half.  NC State and VaTech bouncing back.  Boston College being 2-0.

The Bad - The 4th quarter comebacks by Maryland (vs. JMU), FSU (vs. Jacksonville State), Duke (vs. Army), and UNC (vs. UConn).  Boston College RB's taking a step back.  Christian Ponder not getting in the endzone.

The Ugly - UNC losing two starters for 4 weeks.  Nolan Carroll's broken leg.  Duke being outgained by 150 yards. Any and all things UVA.  The Maryland defense outside of Alex Wujciak and Adrian Moten.  Dustin Hopkins kicking game (0/1 FG's and 1/3 on XP's). 

Heisman Race (2009 Season Statistics) -

1. QB Colt McCoy, Texas - 67.1% Comp. % - 654 Yards - 5 TD/2 INT - 44 Rush Yards 1 TD
2. QB Tim Tebow, Florida - 64.1% Comp. % - 425 Yards - 5 TD - 72 Rush Yards 2 TD's
3. RB Jahvid Best, Cal - 27 Carries for 281 Yards 3 Td's - 4 Catches for 42 Yards 1 TD
4. QB Case Keenum, Houston - 72.4% Comp % - 725 Yards - 7 TD/1 INT - 16 Rush Yards 2 TD's
5. QB Max Hall, BYU - 71.4% Comp % - 638 Yards - 4 TD/3INT

Really, there are 2 candidates at the moment.  The next two are outside shots and Hall is just riding high off the Oklahoma win two weeks ago. 

Up Next in the ACC:

Middle Tennessee State at Maryland - A revenge game for Maryland.  "We owe them one" - Ralph Friedgen.
#19 Nebraska at #13 Virginia Tech - Virginia Tech needs a win to prove the ACC can compete with other power conferences.
Virginia at Southern Miss - Can UVA avoid starting 0-3? I think not.

So the first weekend of College Football has finally wrapped up and there were definitely some great games and performances.  There were also some embarrassing moments, some head-scratchers and some unfortunate losses. 

The ACC had a terrible weekend, but the Miami-FSU game was great.  It didn ’t make up for the pitiful weekend the ACC suffered, but it was classic nonetheless.  Both QB’s looked impressive, especially Jacory Harris from Miami. 

The Good: Miami vs. Florida State was an instant classic.  Randy Shannon made the right decision to stick with Jacory Harris over Robert Marve.  Florida State’s young defense made some plays. Paul Johnson's Triple Option looks better in year 2.  Demaryius Thomas is the best receiver no one has ever heard of.  Boston College has 3 good running backs.  Thaddeus Lewis the only bright spot from Duke, as was Ryan Williams for VT.  CJ Spiller returning the opening kick-off for a TD.

The Bad: Middle Tennessee State was the biggest win of the weekend.  North Carolina starting slow against the Citadel.  Jacoby Ford dropping 2 passes.  Spiller running for 12 yards.

The Ugly: Everything else.  Maryland dominated by Cal.  Don Brown's defense couldn't stop anyone.  Virginia lost to William & Mary by 12 after being up at the half.  Duke lost to Richmond, despite Lewis throwing for 350 yards. Richmond is the #1 team in the FCS , to be fair.  Virginia Tech can't rely only on Tyrod Taylor.  Riley Skinner, a senior, throwing 3 picks.  NC State only totaling 133 yards of offense.

Heisman Race

1.  QB Colt McCoy, Texas - 21/29 317 yds 2 TD's and 1 INT.
2.  QB Tim Tebow , Florida - 10/15 188 yds   2 TD's (1 Rush).
3.  RB Jahvid Best, Cal - 10 carries for 137 yds 2 TD's and 2 catches for 23 yds .
4.  QB Jimmy Clausen , Notre Dame – 15/18 315 yds 4 TD’s
5.  QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma – 10/14 96 yds 1 TD

Bradford will be out 2-4 weeks, but if he returns on the short end and can put up big stats upon returning, he’ll be right back on the board.  The only two defensive players ever in the running Safties Taylor Mays (USC ) and Eric Berry (Tennessee) didn ’t play the whole game so they couldn ’t accumulate the stats.  The player off the radar is QB Case Keenum from Houston.  Keenum went 23/30 for 359 yards and 5 TD’s (1 rush). 

With Virginia Tech not releasing a summer depth chart (yet), the wait is on.  Other sites have "predicted depth charts" but seeing as how they have conflicts with actual depth charts, I'll wait until it's official.

For Starters, let's look at the local players on the All-ACC Preseason Team.

    * TE Greg Boone, Virginia Tech - One of the top returning TE's in the country.  HS QB who will see time in a modified wildcat formation.
    * OG Sergio Render, Virginia Tech - Was 2nd team All-ACC last season. 40 career starts headed into his senior season.
    * DE Jason Worlids, Virginia Tech - Top returning sack leader from last season.
    * LB Alex Wujciak, Maryland - ACC's second leading tackler last season.
    * CB Ras-I Dowling, Virginia - One of the best players in the country at CB, needs to turn pass breakups into picks.
    * S Kam Chancellor, Virginia Tech - Feared safety, can play in the box (2 Forced Fumbels) or out (2 INT's).
    * P Travis Baltz, Maryland - Led ACC in Punting Average, one of the top punters in the country.
    
Local Players up for Post-season Awards:

Davey O'Brien Award (Nation's Top Quarterback)
    * Tyrod Taylor, Virginia Tech

Doak Walker Award (Nation's Top Running Back)
    * Darren Evans, Virginia Tech
    * Da'Rel Scott, Maryland

John Mackey Award (Nation's Top Tight End)
    * Greg Boone, Virginia Tech

Jim Thorpe Award (Nation's Top Defensive Back)
    * Kam Chancellor, Virginia Tech
    * Ras-I Dowling, Virginia
    * Stephen Virgil, Virginia Tech

Ray Guy Award (Nation's Top Punter)
    * Travis Baltz, Maryland

The Next Five National Awards will be announced this week.  I would expect Sergio Render to possibly be nominated for the Outland Trophy (Best Interior Lineman).  As for the Chuck Bednarik Award (Best Defensive Player) I think Alex Wujciak will be the lone local representive on the list.  The Maxwell Award (Best All-Around Player) might have Tyrod Taylor on the list. 

You may recognize my name; I began as an intern for the Big O and Dukes Show and eventually became a part-time producer for the show on the old WJFK .  I've have past experience covering local college sports, primarily Maryland.  Covering college sports for the the new 106.7 The Fan is the perfect opportunity for me. My blog will cover mostly local college sports: Maryland, Virginia Tech, Georgetown and George Mason.  You may see some Navy and Virginia coverage from time to time as well.  

I'll give you a little background knowledge on me:  I'm a Senior at Maryland and I've lived in DC my entire life, except a year spent in Bowling Green, Ohio for college, which is a terrible place.  The Skins, Wizards and Capitals are the only teams I've ever rooted for.  I jumped on the bandwagon once the Nationals came to town because I was tired of Angelos .  I used to have season tickets to Navy Football and Maryland Football in the same season, and still support both teams, strongly.  I'd rather watch the Triple Option than the Spread Offense.  There is no better time of year than the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.  I always root for the underdog, unless Maryland is the favorite.  I couldn't give you one answer if you asked me who the greatest college football team of all-time is, but I could give you two.  I think the BCS system is totally flawed.  The coaches poll was the single worst idea adopted by college sports.  The college basketball eligibility debate should be settled the same way football decided upon.  I haven't owned Madden since 2004, but I've had every copy of NCAA Football.  It must be nice being this guy .

I love action movies and comedies, so you should expect me to drop some quotes from my favorite movies.  I'll let you, The Fan, figure out what they are.  Speaking of you, The Fan, I'd love to get your input on what you'd like to see in this blog.  I can only hope you enjoy reading this blog, as much as I enjoy writing it. 

-BA

This message has been removed by the administrator.