was the fact that Virginia won their crossover Atlantic foe for this year over Florida State Saturday night. They are now 2-0 in ACC play and if we have any hopes of repeating in the Coastal we are gonna have little margin for error in our remaining seven games and some help along the way since we would lose the tiebreaker with them .That opening night loss against a good but not great Virginia team may really haunt us as the season goes along.
Sort Of Unoticed ON This Board
- Thread starter poconopanther
- Start date
It wasn't unnoticed, but I'd rather not stumble into that game as Clemson's sacrificial lamb again anyway. If we can beat UCF and put together a 9-3 season or something, then fine. Otherwise, meh.
I don't think that's completely accurate, because it doesn't factor in things such as three-way-tie scenarios. For instance, if we beat Miami, Virginia loses to Miami, and all three teams finish 6-2. For all intents and purposes, however, we likely are not winning the Coastal this year. We just played Penn State tough, but we also beat a 1-2 MAC team by only 10 at home. I'm going to see a bigger sample size before I declare us as anything more than a 5 or 6-win team.
Virginia might go unchallenged for the division, I wouldn’t be surprised if they stumble either. They’re a good team, but their secondary might blow it for them.
Against Pitt, wide open receivers streaking down the field all night long. If Pickett connects on these throws, if the receivers make some other catches too, Pitt wins that game no question.
Then against FSU the other night, very late in the game UVA leads by 7 and FSU is driving. FSU WR blows by the D-back and is wide open at about the 10-15 yard line. Ball is thrown a few yards too far.
Now, are there really any good QBs in the division they need to worry about? Probably not. But they are clearly not a flawless team. They’ve been very, very lucky to win either of their first 2 conference games.
Against Pitt, wide open receivers streaking down the field all night long. If Pickett connects on these throws, if the receivers make some other catches too, Pitt wins that game no question.
Then against FSU the other night, very late in the game UVA leads by 7 and FSU is driving. FSU WR blows by the D-back and is wide open at about the 10-15 yard line. Ball is thrown a few yards too far.
Now, are there really any good QBs in the division they need to worry about? Probably not. But they are clearly not a flawless team. They’ve been very, very lucky to win either of their first 2 conference games.
Dude their secondary is really good and Bryce Hall is a first team all American. They are very good and Mendenhall is a damn good coach.
Did you even watch our game against them let alone their game Saturday? I realize they are a very good team, and yes Mendenhall is an excellent coach. And they may have a damn good cornerback in their secondary. If you’ve watched them in their 2 conference games though, all the evidence points to their secondary as a whole being the weak link.
You have 1 game where the other team had a wide open receiver literally almost once per drive. The next game while trying to keep the opposition from driving and scoring a TD very late in the game, somehow they let a receiver streak down the field with no defender anywhere to be found.
They’re very close to being 0-2 in the ACC. They’re not of course, they’ve found a way to win both times. It’s completely absurd to think they are content though and think everything is fine. I guarantee these constant breakdowns in the secondary are the first thing Mendenhall mentions at practice, you can’t expect to get lucky every time.
Virginia is a nice ball club this season. I really wish we played them with a game or two under our belts however, I think the outcome would be different.
They will lose 2 or possibly 3 ACC games. Their QB is a gamer and overall are a strong club.
There were receivers open all night against UVA when we played. We just lacked execution that evening (some accuracy issues, some drops).
They will lose 2 or possibly 3 ACC games. Their QB is a gamer and overall are a strong club.
There were receivers open all night against UVA when we played. We just lacked execution that evening (some accuracy issues, some drops).
