ESPN published its post-spring practice ACC power rankings. Outside of ESPN's perception, this list doesn't matter much, but that sticking point is important.
1. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
2. Clemson Tigers
3. Florida State Seminoles
4. Virginia Tech Hokies
5. Louisville Cardinals
6. NC State Wolfpack
7. Duke Blue Devils
8. Pittsburgh Panthers
9. North Carolina Tar Heels
10. Miami Hurricanes
11. Virginia Cavaliers
11. Boston College Eagles
13. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
14. Syracuse Orange
What do you guys think about the complete list? Is Tech too high, too low, or just right?
http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/81743/post-spring-acc-power-rankin...
Virginia Tech ended spring with its offense ahead of its defense, with enough progress to make us feel optimistic about the Hokies' ability to compete for an ACC championship this season. Though the defense was without several starters, what we needed to see most out of this team was improvement from quarterback Michael Brewer, his offensive line and the players surrounding him. We did.
Comments
I agree with the sticking point that ESPN's perception of us (or any team) is important these days. its ridicuous, but its reality.
I like their summary, and that definetely makes me feel better heading into the fall. Our offense ahead of our defense? The cynic in me is hoping that doesn't mean that our offense is still medicore and our D took a big step back. But the Hokie in me says that maybe just maybe we will have the horses on that side of the ball to complement a D which we know will be good by the end of fall practice.
our best players on defense were not playing this spring (dadi was the best one still out there), so if the offense didn't look better it would be a bad sign of things to come.
.... I sure hope some defensive players (injured or not) see this and it lights a real fire under them. With the biggest regular-season OOC game that many of these guys will see (against defending national champs), we need our players to play bigger than B1G.
I disagree that the offense is ahead of the defense BUT I agree that our offense is coming along nicely. As long as Bud Foster is in charge of the defense and Tyrod Taylor isn't taking snaps, I don't know that I'll ever think our offense is ahead of our defense. I think it's a fair shake because outside the top 3, numbers 4-9 can be argued all day.
I don't trust this list becuase lolUVA is way to high.
There is no way LOLUVA should be ranked above BC. Even if BC is replacing the entire line and their QB.
Actually, I'm happy to see that. BC has man-handled us the last two years. And it doesn't matter if ESPN ranked UVA #1, we would still beat them.
Technically they are tied for 11th but I get your point.
We will see when everyone is back how much we have improved but at the moment I can't disagree with ESPN's thought process here, even though I really want to.
Obviously they have LOLUVa ranked too high.
I understand that GT ended the year on a roll, but they lost so many players from their offense. CPJ's system requires time for the QB to gel with the A-Backs, B-Backs and WRs. I'm not so sure they bounce back so quickly.
Clemson always has a ton of talent, but I am curious how they do without Chad Morris. Watson is a potential Heisman candidate if he stays healthy, though. I don't know how their defense will be without the starters they lost, but Venables seems to have their defense trending in the right direction.
FSU will reload. And unfortunatey we all know that they have some young guys on the D-line that should be ready to step up.
As for VT, I can see 4th being about right. It is just based on the Spring Game after all and our defense was missing quite a few pieces, which may or may not skew the perception of the offense. I cannot see anyone ranked below us having a good reason to be ranked higher.
right in the feels.
Seems about fair. Given our encouraging spring, I'd like to see us higher, but hard to argue with any of the teams above us (though I haven't followed their springs nearly as closely).
NO ITS NOT RIGHT! WE'RE FAR TO HIGH UNTIL FRANK BEAMER LEAVES. FIRW FRANK!! IM NOT INVESTING ANOTHER DIME INTO THE PROGRAM UNTIL CHANGES ARE MADE!! BAND GEEKS SUCK!!! /very heavy sarcastica
Hey now, there were some serious times last season where that complaining was warranted. I don't see anyone complaining right now because things are looking in the upswing, but let's see how they'll play come September. Things are looking good though!
optimistic for this season, but this recruiting class is going to be one of the weakest we've had in a long time. I know people will bring up the 10/11 classes, but those weren't awful when signed they became awful when you factored in all the attrition.
The one we signed 3 months ago or the one that's still 9 months from signing?
the one that we are recruiting now. The last 3 classes have been very solid on paper.
That's odd...I thought we still had 9 months to get recruits. Didn't realize the quality of the class was already decided.
we do and if you've followed recruiting as long as i'm assuming, based on the leg count, then you know this cycle we are in it for very few of the top 10 in our home state and not many out of the state. Tino, Wayne Davis, landon Dickerson appear to be the top recruits (as per the major services) that we have a legitimate shot at. Can revisit this on NSD though.
Results on the field will speak for themselves and bring attention. Take down Ohio State in week 1 and all of a sudden, we start getting some more looks from that top talent. I'm assuming you also follow recruiting closely which means you should also know how often recruits change their mind and focus throughout the course of their recruitment. 9 months is a long time. Many of them will go through about 3-5 girlfriends during that time, or I guess now they are called "baes".
Sure if we win the national title we might sign a top 20 class as well....
we were in bad position for most of the top 10 coming into this cycle and it's not going to change based on how we play this season as the teams ahead of us are teams winning titles or competing for them regularly. Hopefully they'll find some guys like dadi/maddy that we can develop and go under the radar, but IMO we aren't going to get many blue chippers this year.
VT has never gotten many blue chippers ever.. and that won't change until we can continuously produce NFL talent offense and defense, be in top 10, and lower our academic standards for athletes. maybe not so much the last one but the first two for sure.
not talking about 5 stars just talking about 4 star types. this year, currently, seems like we are going to land the fewest of those types in a while is all I was suggesting.
agree, but we will see. Hopefully Searels and co can land some more linemen. If we can produce a decent O-line our offense will improve a ton and make VT football "fun" again.
A high 3 star position player who is a good system fit is a better recruit than a low 4 star athlete that bounces from position to position and struggles to see the field.
I mean, it is just about a full 9 months until signing day.
Yeah, I dunno... I'm just not buying the GT hype....
They were alright last year, but they had one of the most statistically significant fluke-like seasons in terms of both turnover margin and health. They were the most efficient offense of all time, and that is not a trend they can keep up. I have a feeling we'll see them falling back to their norm next year, which would put them around 5th or 6th in the ACC. I don't think they're the clear best team in the Coastal, and personally find it ridiculous to put them over both FSU and Clemson.
they had the perfect storm of seniors on offense and still needed a fluke to beat us this year. if PJ can get them to the top of the acc this year it will be a miracle.
Georgia Tech did an astoundingly good job of forcing turnovers when they needed it. They did it against us, Georgia Southern, Tulane, Miami, and Georgia, who turned the ball over inside the GT 5-yard line THREE TIMES. They won at least 3 games that way. It was a near miracle that they went 11-3 instead of 8-6. However, that's exactly what they did... I was utterly confounded.
You're right about the efficiency. FEI had them as the most efficient offense since they started doing rankings. GT was incredibly efficient on first and second down last year. Other teams weren't able to get them behind the sticks as much as in past years and so they tore defenses up. That's all pretty impossible to replicate without their top 4 (and 7 of their top 8) non-QB rushers and top 4 receivers... right? Right?
Oh yeah, I mean don't get me wrong, they had a great year last year. But last year for them was a statistical anomaly, where everything that could possibly go right for them went right. When they needed a turnover, they got it, and a lot of the time those were simply screw ups from the opponent. When they needed a big play, they hit it. And they did all of this while staying pretty darn healthy over the long haul.
Everything that could break right for them did, and even then they had to scratch and claw to win the Coastal. This will not keep up, and I would not be shocked if they take a fairly significant step back in ACC play this year.
Come on...I know are all homers here. But calling GT just alright is just wrong. You said yourself, they had a ridiculous offensively efficient season they deserve credit where credit is due. Yeah, we probably should have beaten them, but maybe that speaks more about us. Can they do it again next year? Probably not, I don't think that we should be taking anything away from their season this past year.
Justin Thomas is sick. That guy will run the option like gangbusters
He runs it the best since Nesbit which makes him dangerous and then to add the fact that he has a better throwing ability makes him a perfect fit for that scheme
I feel like GT bumbled and stumbled through the first half of the year, they started shaping later and peaked during the bowl game.
That is the ideal way for the season to go though.
Better than our season. Peak in week two, and then bumble and stumble through the rest of the season :(
to be fair, this power ranking is based on this spring and projected for next season. GT had a great season last year, but they're losing a bunch of those pieces. I think putting them at the top given that they're losing so much talent is wrong. They should definitely finish in the top two from last year, but this year is a new year with new faces. I just don't think GT is going to be the best team in the conference this year.
Yep. Has anyone looked at their schedule?
If they win the ACC, I'll eat my hat. They need to replicate last year's rabbit foot of a season to even win nine games.
I think 7-6 or worse is quite possible.
I'm watching a little bit of GT from last year and I've gotta say, it's too bad DeAndre Smelter didn't play in a more traditional offense. He absolutely dominated some very good corners last year. How does Paul Johnson keep finding these guys?
Also, for all of his athleticism and how adept he was at running the option, Justin Thomas was a terrible passer at times. He over or under threw Smelter on at least 4 sure touchdown passes.
This always boggles my mind. Somehow they find some huge great reciever. I don't understand their recruiting pitch for recievers. "Hey come to GT, sure we run the ball 90% of the plays but the other 10% we'll throw it to you or the other guy. So what do you say??"
And they get drafted!
That is because so many teams are selling out on the run, that when they do pass the ball they get big yards and their numbers are padded.
While this is part of it, I think you are under-selling a benefit of Paul Johnson's system for WR prospects. NFL GMs really like big, fast WRs that also have been taught to block and do so unselfishly. The combination of measurables (size and speed) and well-developed blocking skills is a sure-fire ticket to get drafted.
Now, it is also a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. Since they have started the trend of getting WRs drafted, better WRs will come to the system and flash enough to get NFL attention. Look at Stephen "Feet for Hands" Hill. With a fast 40 time and good blocking, he was drafted by the Jets despite his inability to catch a football. All it takes is to convince a bad GM (again, he was drafted by the Jets) that you have some good qualities and potential to round out your game. Not having to spend time teaching a WR to run-block is positive on Draft Day.
Smelter, for his part, wasn't just beating guys on play action. He used his size and athleticism to get open against nearly every CB I saw try to cover him man-to-man, even on clear passing downs.
Didn't play a down of receiver until the past two seasons. Was recruited as a db, which speaks to his ability to go up and fight for the ball.
PJ really lucked into getting Smelter. He was originally there playing baseball until he messed his elbow up. The sad thing is he hadn't played football since his junior year of high school.
So when you break it down, they're saying the Atlantic will come down to Florida State and Clemson, and the Coastal will come down to Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.
That's some insightful sports journalism right there.
I thought it was valuable. I didn't realize that Miami and UNC were so 'down.' Nor that NCSU was as highly regarded as they are.
I think you can make the argument that there are 4 teams a notch ahead of everyone else.
I think the coastal will have 4 teams that are pretty even between gt, vt, unc and Miami.
I seriously doubt UNC is ever in the hunt next year in the Coastal. When have they ever played up to their capabilities? And this could apply for both football and basketball. They have talent, but they rarely expand upon it.
replace unc with duke and i might agree with you
NC state is very underrated. Don't be surprised if they take a run at the Atlantic next year
Things are not looking good down in Coral Gables. The inmates are growing restless of the head coach, and the incoming talent isn't addressing many, if any of their needs. Oh, and they lost their best player who was the only person able to keep them in games last year...
The Fedora experiment is failing, and TBH I don't think it's possible to have success in Miami with their structure and lack of athletic commitment post-Shalala.
I'm reserving judgement on UNC until I see the impact Chizik has.
I think the point is though, that year in and year out GT v VT compete for the coastal. FSU v Clemson compete for the atlantic. Sure not every year it goes that way and sometimes a team comes out of nowhere to win it. But for the most part year in and year out it's been those four teams. I mean GT VT has the even stronger argument in that since we have been in the ACC Duke it the only team to have gotten to the ACCCG besides GT or VT.
NCST may be good this year but are they a program that is capable of sustaining that competitiveness year in and year out.
GT has a really difficult schedule on their hands. They play at Notre Dame, at Clemson, and home vs FSU before they play VT, Miami and UGA... that's not even talking about the other coastal teams on their schedule.
I'm more worried about the tarheels. UNC returns 10 starters on offense and now have a legitimate DC as well. Their schedule shapes up nicely with only 3 games out of the state of North Carolina and they don't leave the state until October.
This. UNC is definitely who I'm most worried about this year. They're returning the most starters in the ACC and supposedly they're defense (given it's UNC's so it's relative) is one of the best they've had in the Fedora era.
They brought in Chizik in the offseason so I would expect their D to be much improved. That being said Fedora hates defense so my guess is that his game management will still put they in bad spots and lead them to lose more games than they should.
If only we had beat GT down like we should have. Up by 6 when Brewer threw that pick 6. Still, went up 7 after the fumble recovery-run for a TD with 8 mins to play.
We held them to 375 yards. We had 424 yards on offense (our 4th highest output on the year).
And I didn't even mention the 4th and 15 with 2:37 left up by 7 to a team who can't pass. Damnit, I mentioned it.
Thinking back on that game makes me sick, more than ecu or even wake. If we beat gt I think we have a pretty different season. Sure ecu brought us back down to earth, but losing to gt was such a kick to the groin that took away a young teams confidence. Which was difficult to find the rest of the year
Yep... very much like the VT-Miami game in 2013... Everything that could have gone right for us in that game did. We won comfortably in a game where without some fairly fluky plays, things would have been a lot different. I wouldn't doubt things evening out this year in the VT-GT game like they did last year in the VT-Miami disaster.
agree on that one. Although I loved the win you have to admit that we had a TON of plays go our way. Two kickoff/punt returns that got returned to at least midfield before the guy fumbles and we recover both. Coale (I think) fumbles on his way to the endzone only to have Roberts (I think) jump on the lose ball in the endzone. Stanfords ridiculous million broken tackles catch and run for a score. Not to lessen the impact of normal plays as Edmunds ran like a beast in that game but there were a lot of plays that went our way that prevents Miami from scoring or at least having the ball.
I think it was Willie Byrn who fumbled and Knowles who recoverd
I feel the same way about the GT game. I remember being up 7 with about 6 minutes to go and at that point we had outgained them something like 425 to 277 - not total domination, but close to it. We had 2nd and 4 around midfield, threw the quick screen that got completely blown up (when our last 4 runs had all gone for 5+ yds I think) and then threw incomplete on 3rd down and from there it all went downhill. They outgained us 100-0 from there on because our only other offensive play was Brewer's last pick. I truly think it sent both teams' seasons going in opposite directions.
It was a bit of a "WTF just happened!?!" ending, wasn't it?
To their credit, they did have a long TD run by their QB called back for (from what I remember) unhelpful holding penalty. We had a tough time with him all day, but we were on top of everything else.
Still, 4th and 15. Lock it down.
It was an illegal block below the waist (cut block coming from the outside in, IIRC), just BTW.
On a related note, the two teams combined for TWENTY PENALTIES last year, including 12 by VT. Certainly didn't help things.
VT is better as the hunter than the hunted anyway, leave us in the middle of the pack, let the hunt begin.
Outside of Kaaya and Yearby, Miami lost everyone who played legitimately well for them last year. I think they might even take a step back this year.
As for UNC, I'll believe it when I see it. There's a reason they had a losing record last year. Their defense should be a little better this year, but they still don't really have much in the way of talent or production on that side of the ball. They struggled running the ball at times last year as well. Also, Fedora needs to stop being a terrible decision maker and be a better coach...
I think that NC State and Pitt are being underrated right now. Both of those teams improved a lot over the course of the year, were close to being good, and return a lot this year.
If Miami takes another step "bak" will we see the last of the Golden Era?
The Gilded Age is ending
I liked the part where UVA sucks again.
I agree with many of the above statements, so I will briefly give my 2 cents.
1. GT is grossly overrated. It was just one year ago that their fan base was calling for Johnson's head.
2. Clemson has recruited so well that I don't see a huge drop-off, BUT--I do believe they will struggle at times without Chad Morris--this is where Dabo will have to prove his prowess. I think Chad was the driving force in that entire engine. Reminds me a lot of when the OC left Auburn after their NC run...the head coach (now the DC at UNC) was exposed and couldnt muster anything close to the production he had the year prior.
3. As always, we will struggle with someone we shouldn't--and I think it will be Miami. I know, it sounds silly to say that. But they absolutely blasted us on a Thursday night in Blacksburg, WHILE WE WERE WEARING ALL MAROON. Regardless of graduation, they still bring in top-tier talent that can run like cheetahs. I am a little concerned about that game...especially in the doldrums of Miami's empty stadium.
I think our team is going to be great boys, I really do. In the words of backup QB Andrew Ford, "The stars are aligning".
"Regardless of graduation"
Wait so, Miami football players graduate?
No, they leave for the NFL as soon as they can.
FTFY
I think this was true until Venables got his defense installed. Now I think they only need an efficient offense to have success. They might actually look a lot like us this year.
Georgia Tech does not belong in that number 1 spot. I don't know who does (the homer in me wants to say we do), but it sure as hell ain't them.
If Watson is healthy I think Clemson gets the nod. We are lucky to be in 4th with the question marks we have IMO.
Lots of questions marks out there this year for the top 4. Not sure there is a #1 team.
Clemson's first year without Chad Morris.
FSU's without Jameis and a lot of other talent.
GT's tough schedule, replacing a lot on offense, a lot of luck last year on defense.
VT waiting to see what Brewer can do, depth issues at a few critical spots, Loeffler.