The Good, the Ehh and the UGLY of ACC’s Football Weekend

You got the sense heading into this year, that the ACC might not have the standout “They are it” school…but you also felt that from top to bottom, teams had a chance. The opening weekend of ACC football was not ideal for the conference.

The Good

Boston College, NC State, Wake Forest, Pitt, UVA

First off, did these teams really play anyone? Nope. But did they beat the brakes off of them? Yep. The fact that NC State is “technically second” even after a 45-0 win is crazy. But when your opponents include Colgate, USF, Old Dominion, UMass, and William & Mary, you better show out. If you’re going to have a cupcake on the schedule, it’s best to give them the money and a huge L.

VA Tech

Let’s face it…You open up against a top-ten ACC team…cough cough bullsh*t cough cough… and win. THAT’S how you start a season right. At moments it was ugly, other times it was glorious, but a 17-10 win is all that matters and something you can 1000% build off of.

The Ehh

Syracuse

Maybe Ohio U will end up being a MAC champ this year, IDK, but it was a good win, not great. Extra points for being on the road, but not really sure what else you can say.

Clemson

This was an interesting one. Good news, Georgia’s defense is legit and will be causing some problems in the SEC. Bad news, Clemson definitely doesn’t have a generational talent at QB and the surrounding cast it’s had for the last decade. You could look at this game and think “rebuild, but they’ll be fine in the ACC” or you could say “finally ACC will have a chance to take them down.”

Florida State

What a weird game. For extended chunks there seemed no reason why the Seminoles should even be in it. And yet, at the end of regulation, they were heading to OT. Jordan Travis had a ROUGH night and now it seems FSU will put all the pressure on Milton to lead the team. An incredible story, but I don’t need to hear “catastrophic knee injury” talked about every 30 seconds.

The Ugly

UNC

OMG…how magical is Blacksburg?!?! It’s a tough place to play, but when you talk the talk ALL offseason and then leave with your tail between your legs (and three INTS), then it becomes something else. UNC will rebound, but this isn’t the start you expected. The bigger questions now are, can Howell refocus and does Mack Brown give out rings just for playing on a Friday night?

Duke

Will Healy is going to turn things around at Charlotte…and that first step was knocking off Duke to start the season. When they met last year, Duke smoked them 53-19…that ummmmmm didn’t happen this weekend. Duke wasn’t going to be world beaters, but losing to Charlotte was less than ideal.

Miami

People will say “yeah but it was Bama”…10000% true. The restocking that the Crimson Tide has each and every year is ridiculous.  But…if you are going to call yourself an ACC “contender” and then find yourself down 41-3 at any point, of any game…no bueno.

Louisville

It seemed at one point, Ole Miss had more targeting ejections than Louisville had points…so yeah, not great. Even with a solid second half they lost by 19.

Georgia Tech

Boring game…bad outcome…Georgia Tech is a basketball school now…loses to Northern Illinois.