CFB Week 7: Terribleness across the Commonwealth continues

The crushing of the Commonwealth’s football teams continues! At least ODU is undefeated?

October 11, 2012; 8:21 AM • by Ross Catrow

The big news this week for Hokie and Hoo fans alike (other than both teams getting absolutely dominated on Saturday) was the mid-season firing of Al Groh. Last week I wondered how long it would take before the ACC was rid of that guy, turns out not too long! Here’s Yellow Jacket head coach, Paul Johnson, on the matter:

“What’s inside his head, he’s very knowledgeable,” Johnson said. “There’s no questioning that. The problem was becoming, what’s in there, we weren’t seeing on the field.”

Maybe Johnson is an offensive genius, but who wants to work for a coach that fires coordinators in October? Also, doesn’t that sound like a perfect description of VT offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring?

And, because I love when kickers get to tackle, watch Vandy’s kicker throw a huge hit on kickoff coverage against Missouri:

Here’s a couple notables from this past weekend that you may have missed:

West Virginia over Texas, 48-45. The Big 12 offensive show continues! Somehow the O/U for this game was only 75! Fools!¹

South Carolina over Georgia, 35-7. Is it time to start talking about South Carolina? I’m not sure. In the past they’ve really stunk it up after hitting the meat of their SEC schedule, and they’ve played inferior competition thus far in 2012. That said they’ve won their last ten games.

Notre Dame over Miami, 41-3. How long until I reluctantly accept that Notre Dame is a good team? UNTIL FOREVER. We’ll know more about the Irish after this weekend’s showdown with Stanford, but you (unfortunately) have to like their chances. Fear not though, Notre Dame still has to travel to Oklahoma and USC and could pick up a loss or two.

Upset: NC State over Florida State, 17-16. This was one of my Stupid Predictions from the Heart last week! I can totally empathize with what Seminole fans are feeling. They got Matt Ryan’d by Sean Glennon’s brother. It puts my stomach in knots just thinking about it.

Upset: Florida over LSU 14-6. Let it be written, let it be done. I thought the Tigers were going to prove me wrong when they held the Gators scoreless in the first half, but RB Mike Gillislee’s two second half touchdowns handed LSU their first regular season loss since 2010.

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Virginia Tech vs. Duke

Saturday, 12:30 PM; FOX

Well the terribleness continues–and don’t expect it to stop anytime soon.

In your heart, you want to give the defense a pass, considering that over the last decade, Bud Foster’s stop unit has consistently been top ten in the nation. But this year, they’re middle of the road at best. Lack of pressure from the defensive line has allowed opposing QBs and RBs to execute at will. The D gave up 533 yards against UNC. In fact, against BCS opponents, Tech is allowing, 463 yards per game. That’s good for 104th nationally (one spot worse than Army).

At least the offense, QB Logan Thomas and WR Demitri Knowles in particular, looked better. Sure they only picked up 40 yards on the ground, but the Hokies played catch up almost the entire game. If the interior of the offensive line could get their acts together, maybe we’d have something? Who knows.

This week Duke comes to town hot off their annual thumping of UVA. Did you know that the Blue Devils are 4-1 over the Cavs in the last five years? That’s crazy! Duke is just half a game behind Miami in the Coastal division of the ACC (which is also crazy!), with one more win they’ll be bowl eligible for the first time in forever. They’ll bring their best game to Lane Stadium on Saturday, and it’ll be enough to beat the Hokies. If this game were in Durham I’d pick the Hokies to lose, but it’s at home and it’s homecoming.

From this point forward every game is critical if Tech wants to make a bowl game.

Virginia vs. Maryland

Saturday, 3:00 PM; ESPN3

The terribleness also continues for UVA.

Duke QB Anthony Boone started in place of injured Sean Renfree (who’s pretty dang good himself) and threw for four touchdowns en route to the Blue Devil’s absolute drubbing of Virginia. WR Vernon Connor made his 233rd reception (he ended the day with 239), breaking the all-time ACC record for career receptions.

Wahoo QB Phillip Sims, who I was excited to see get the start, seems to have caught a case of the turnovers from Rocco, the previous QB. Sims ended the day with two INTs and no TDs. Yikes.

Next up for the Cavs are the Terps of Maryland, whose best win is a close loss to West Virginia. The Terps held the Mountaineers to their fewest points thus far: 31. I’m going with my gut on this one and predicting a Wahoo victory but, really, who knows at this point.

Games worth watching

Thursday, 9:00 PM, ESPN; Arizona State at Colorado — All the attention in the Pac-12 seems to be on USC, Oregon, and Stanford. Heck, Arizona State’s not even ranked! Ignore at your own risk, the three previously mentioned teams, ASU’s currently sporting the nation’s 10th best defense.

12:00 PM, ABC; #15 Texas vs. #13 Oklahoma — The Red River Rivalry! Is this the biggest / best rivalry game in college football? Discuss amongst yourselves.

12:30 PM, FOX/ESPN3; Duke at Virginia Tech — Go Hokies!

3:00 PM, ESPN3; Maryland at Virginia — Go Hoos!

3:30 PM, NBC; #17 Stanford at #7 Notre Dame — OK Stanford. I’ve been hyping you continually for the past several weeks, and now it’s time to do a thing. Preferably that thing will be knocking Notre Dame out of the National Championship conversation.

8:00 PM, ESPN; #3 South Carolina at #9 LSU — I mean, it’s #3 vs. #9; you kinda have to watch it, right? I think both of these teams are over ranked, and while LSU has the talent to win this, it’ll depend on how they bounce back after last week’s loss to Florida. PS. the Texas A&M-Louisiana Tech game starts at 9:00 PM, if you’re looking for something different.

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Etc

• Game of the Week — I guess the South Carolina-LSU game? I’ll probably end up watching Texas A&M take on Louisiana Tech, though (the O/U for that game is currently 80.5).
• Stupid Predictions From the Heart — I’m 1-1 in my Stupid Predictions From the Heart! This week I’m going with Stanford over Notre Dame and Iowa State over Kansas State. I’m so ambivalent about the later! I love Bill Snyder and the resurgent Wildcats, but the Cyclones are fresh off a win over a ranked TCU and the game is in Iowa.
• Gus Johnson Watch — #11 USC at Washington
• Last week’s bad uniform decision — Notre Dame! Augh, did you see those helmets?

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October 11, 2012 8:21 AM 0