I'm writing this at halftime in the NC State game, in which MSU already has 31 points and 322 yards.
These numbers aren't pretty: In the first five games, opponents of the ACC have averaged 41.2 ppg and 592.6 ypg!
Here is a breakdown of yards...
Wash State - 382
Indiana - 667
Tulsa -563
Navy - 590
Baylor - 756
YIKES...
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Really not the greatest year for the ACC. I hope next year sees us get back in the ballpark of what we expect to see out of our defense.
Amazingly, the Hokies are doing second best in terms of yards allowed!
The best statistical defensive game came in a loss, so I'm cool with giving up almost 600 yards with a W attached
Miami pulled a Miami, and lost one where they were the better team by playing without discipline. Duke pulled Duke, and played to their talent level, without their best player. VT pulled a VT and got stupid on O when they got a lead to give the D a chance to win it. Pitt? Pitt sucks because I hate them. UNC has never played D against an O with a pulse. #GOACC happens.
I'm still amazed by what Baylor did to UNC. Baylor had no QB, their star RB out and star WR out. What do they do? They go into a Single Wing formation and bludgeon UNC to death like it's the 1940s. That had to be demoralizing for the Tar Heels.
Chizik's defense was setup to not allow any big plays. I'm surprised this was the first time a team has run this type of offensive scheme against them this season.
Yet UNC held GT to 249 yards rushing, and won.
GT has been on crutches almost all season.
Even with a lot of key pieces missing, Baylor is a lot better than GT this season.
And I still think Art Briles is one of the most underrated coaches in college football...
I just don't think people remember how terrible Baylor was before he got there.
We still got the W at least, that is all that matters...
Exactly. A few people will care how poorly the defense played. I, and many others, will only care that we won in Beamer's last bowl game (and of course that we won his last loluva game).
FTFY
Overall, I agree with this sentiment. However, I am looking forward to French's writeup on the LB play and gap fits to better understand where things went wrong and have an idea of how easily corrected these issues are.
Shows the ACC is filled with a bunch of paper tiger defenses that are bolstered by playing in a conference that can't play offense.
Fuente must be loving this.
That is what I was saying all year about Clemson's defense... They might look better tonight because they've had all this rest, but if they don't get pressure with the front 4, look for Baker to carve them up.
Great call...
They played well, but they dodged a few bullets with penalties and injuries to the backs. Also, Baker did carve them up in the first half before he had to throw on every single play.
Let's hope that Fuente sets us up with a Scissors Lizard offense. We should also be solid with a Rock Lobster defense. The sheer power should cause those Paper Tiger defenses to fold, while we can take defense for granite.
OH. MY. GOSH....THOSE PUNS!!!!!
I think Louisville did a solid job vs Texas A&M's air raid. UL, unlike UNC, was able to stop a team down to its 3rd QB.
Well, their DC, Todd Grantham, is a Hokie
We do not have many hurry up spread teams in the conference to use to prepare for them (Fuente!). We also had some teams get in over their heads in bowl games by padding their schedule with east OOC's. Finally, teams have extra time to prepare for a bowl, so you often see an extra score. The Pitt game shocked me. If you watched the other teams this season you would not have expected many of these teams to play good defense. I agree teams like BC, Syracuse, and Wake really padded some defensive stats. Middle of the ACC defense has not been great, but feels like it is still similar to the middle of the pack for other conferences. All teams are scoring more, like the rules committee wanted them to when they changed the rules.
So far Miami has been the only ACC team to hold an opponent below their season average in a bowl. Pitt and Miami were the only ACC teams held below their average. Includes Lvlle and NCState. The bowl season has been offensive so far.