The Good News After 3 Games

[Techster]

We are 3-0. As some have stated, you can't get any better than that after 3 games.

However, we are an imperfect perfect team (if that makes sense). We have some really good pieces in terms of individual talent. As a whole, there are too many areas where we can get exploited if we don't play our best. Especially against good teams.

The good news is, after 3 games in the college football season, I'm not sure there's a really good team in the Coastal Division. Everyone in our division is beatable.

VT: Capable of beating pretty much any team (see Ohio State), but they're also capable of losing to any team (see ECU).

Miami: Throttled by Louisville, and wins against Arkansas State and Florida A&M. Louisville lost to Virginia. Miami could be a lot better by the time they play us as their true frosh QB looks to be a good one.

Duke: Handled business against Elon and Troy, and had an impressive victory against Kansas. They could very well beat us this year if we play inconsistently like we have been. CPJ is 6-0 versus Duke, and Cutcliffe for all his offensive genius has yet to solve our offense. May be a shootout.

Pitt: Probably the favorite to win the Coastal right now in my opinion. Their win against BC looks a lot better now that BC beat USC. Struggled a little against a bad S.FL team. Their freshmen back is a stud and I"m not sure our front 7 is up to the task of their running game right now. Expect a shootout but this is a winnable game.

UNC: Lots of talent, still not a very good team. Their two wins against Liberty and San Diego State have been less than impressive. Very winnable game.

UVA: Don't sleep on this team this year. VERY good defense that kept them in the game against UCLA, and beat Petrino's Louisville. Their offense isn't so hot.

There's not a team on that list we can't beat if we clean up a few things, and find a way to shore up our weaknesses. None of those teams are in FSU's category (talented and clearly on an elite level). As always, the VT-Miami-Clemson games will probably decide our conference fate.

 

[Eric]

We are 3-0. As some have stated, you can't get any better than that after 3 games.

However, we are an imperfect perfect team (if that makes sense). We have some really good pieces in terms of individual talent. As a whole, there are too many areas where we can get exploited if we don't play our best. Especially against good teams.

The good news is, after 3 games in the college football season, I'm not sure there's a really good team in the Coastal Division. Everyone in our division is beatable.

VT: Capable of beating pretty much any team (see Ohio State), but they're also capable of losing to any team (see ECU).

Miami: Throttled by Louisville, and wins against Arkansas State and Florida A&M. Louisville lost to Virginia. Miami could be a lot better by the time they play us as their true frosh QB looks to be a good one.

Duke: Handled business against Elon and Troy, and had an impressive victory against Kansas. They could very well beat us this year if we play inconsistently like we have been. CPJ is 6-0 versus Duke, and Cutcliffe for all his offensive genius has yet to solve our offense. May be a shootout.

Pitt: Probably the favorite to win the Coastal right now in my opinion. Their win against BC looks a lot better now that BC beat USC. Struggled a little against a bad S.FL team. Their freshmen back is a stud and I"m not sure our front 7 is up to the task of their running game right now. Expect a shootout but this is a winnable game.

UNC: Lots of talent, still not a very good team. Their two wins against Liberty and San Diego State have been less than impressive. Very winnable game.

UVA: Don't sleep on this team this year. VERY good defense that kept them in the game against UCLA, and beat Petrino's Louisville. Their offense isn't so hot.

There's not a team on that list we can't beat if we clean up a few things, and find a way to shore up our weaknesses. None of those teams are in FSU's category (talented and clearly on an elite level). As always, the VT-Miami-Clemson games will probably decide our conference fate.

Fwiw, he is a Sophomore.

 

[Longestday]

I agree with it all Eric. Pitt does look like the favorite, at this point, for the coastal. Keep in mind ECU is a very good team and perhaps VT was practicing the option last week.

My hope is that the D gels a little more and the O continues to get smoother, pun intended, to take us up a notch and keep us competitive.

One thing is for sure... This game stopped the domino effect of losing games in the last minutes. So many games lost in the last moments or in overtime. We won in the last minutes, yes we won in the last minutes of the game.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

If we improve on defense we can beat anyone on our schedule. After watching BC beat USCw, I have learned anyone can be beat anybody on any given Saturday. It appears Duke and Pitt are the frontrunners, but don't count out anyone at this point, even Virginia.

 

[Animal02]

If we improve on defense we can beat anyone on our schedule. After watching BC beat USCw, I have learned anyone can be beat anybody on any given Saturday. It appears Duke and Pitt are the frontrunners, but don't count out anyone at this point, even Virginia.

I do not think anyone can be called a "frontrunner" yet. No one has really played anyone. After the next two weeks, there will be a very clear picture of how the coastal will likely shake out.

 

[AE 87]

Thanks @Techster I like the idea of a Division watch thread. Maybe, if you want, you can get a mod to change the tread title to Coastal Division Watch. I pretty much agree with your observations, and will just add the following points.

FWIW, I agree that Pitt has had the most attractive wins. I like shiny things, and their wins have been shiny, especially, as you say their win over BC in light of yesterday. Their other inter-divisional game is Syracuse, so they avoid L'llvul, CU and FSU. As tight as the Coastal is this year, they've got some advantage there.

On the same token, VPI's loss to ECU is not necessarily a loss to "anybody" imo. In light of the SC's game yesterday vs u[sic]ga, ECU's tight late loss to them suggests ECU might have a pretty good team.

And just to add an exclamation point to your comment about UVA, they held UCLA and L'llvul to an average of about 2.95 yds/carry. That's a stout rush defense against two ranked teams.

 

[Animal02]

Thanks @Techster I like the idea of a Division watch thread. Maybe, if you want, you can get a mod to change the tread title to Coastal Division Watch. I pretty much agree with your observations, and will just add the following points.

FWIW, I agree that Pitt has had the most attractive wins. I like shiny things, and their wins have been shiny, especially, as you say their win over BC in light of yesterday. Their other inter-divisional game is Syracuse, so they avoid L'llvul, CU and FSU. As tight as the Coastal is this year, they've got some advantage there.

On the same token, VPI's loss to ECU is not necessarily a loss to "anybody" imo. In light of the SC's game yesterday vs u[sic]ga, ECU's tight late loss to them suggests ECU might have a pretty good team.

And just to add an exclamation point to your comment about UVA, they held UCLA and L'llvul to an average of about 2.95 yds/carry. That's a stout rush defense against two ranked teams.

As time goes on, the more apparent then need to eliminate the "cross over rival" game.....Just rotate through the other division and let the chips fall where they may. Clemp/ Tech and UM / FSU every year while VT gets BC and Duke gets WF.

 

[AE 87]

As time goes on, the more apparent then need to eliminate the "cross over rival" game.....Just rotate through the other division and let the chips fall where they may. Clemp/ Tech and UM / FSU every year while VT gets BC and Duke gets WF.

I'm actually for a slightly different solution. Currently, Division champs are decided by 1. Conference Record, 2. Head to Head, 3. Division Record, etc.
I'd be in favor of swapping 1 and 3, but I haven't really thought about it that deeply.

 

[Animal02]

I'm actually for a slightly different solution. Currently, Division champs are decided by 1. Conference Record, 2. Head to Head, 3. Division Record, etc.
I'd be in favor of swapping 1 and 3, but I haven't really thought about it that deeply.

I think with the play off system, and what likely will be a need for the conference champion to be undefeated........it is silly for the ACC to match up it cross division upper tier teams on an annual basis. It only increases the odds of the conference champions having one or two losses.

 

[AE 87]

I think with the play off system, and what likely will be a need for the conference champion to be undefeated........it is silly for the ACC to match up it cross division upper tier teams on an annual basis. It only increases the odds of the conference champions having one or two losses.

Well, if the selection committee operates rationally, then three highest ranked conf champs will go to the four team playoff. If a highly rated team loses in the ACC CG to a team not ranked highly enough that this win propels them to the 4team playoff, then neither team deserves to go, imo.

 

[thwgjacket]

We are 3-0. As some have stated, you can't get any better than that after 3 games.

However, we are an imperfect perfect team (if that makes sense). We have some really good pieces in terms of individual talent. As a whole, there are too many areas where we can get exploited if we don't play our best. Especially against good teams.

The good news is, after 3 games in the college football season, I'm not sure there's a really good team in the Coastal Division. Everyone in our division is beatable.

VT: Capable of beating pretty much any team (see Ohio State), but they're also capable of losing to any team (see ECU).

Miami: Throttled by Louisville, and wins against Arkansas State and Florida A&M. Louisville lost to Virginia. Miami could be a lot better by the time they play us as their true frosh QB looks to be a good one.

Duke: Handled business against Elon and Troy, and had an impressive victory against Kansas. They could very well beat us this year if we play inconsistently like we have been. CPJ is 6-0 versus Duke, and Cutcliffe for all his offensive genius has yet to solve our offense. May be a shootout.

Pitt: Probably the favorite to win the Coastal right now in my opinion. Their win against BC looks a lot better now that BC beat USC. Struggled a little against a bad S.FL team. Their freshmen back is a stud and I"m not sure our front 7 is up to the task of their running game right now. Expect a shootout but this is a winnable game.

UNC: Lots of talent, still not a very good team. Their two wins against Liberty and San Diego State have been less than impressive. Very winnable game.

UVA: Don't sleep on this team this year. VERY good defense that kept them in the game against UCLA, and beat Petrino's Louisville. Their offense isn't so hot.

There's not a team on that list we can't beat if we clean up a few things, and find a way to shore up our weaknesses. None of those teams are in FSU's category (talented and clearly on an elite level). As always, the VT-Miami-Clemson games will probably decide our conference fate.

Not sold on UVA. UCLA has looked bad in every game thus far.

 

[Madison Grant]

East Carolina is actually a pretty good team. Their QB Carden is very good.

 

[Dave.S]

D

If we improve on defense we can beat anyone on our schedule. After watching BC beat USCw, I have learned anyone can be beat anybody on any given Saturday. It appears Duke and Pitt are the frontrunners, but don't count out anyone at this point, even Virginia.

Do you really think we are going to improve on defense? Just don't see it, to thin on DL and at LB and what scares me even more is we only have 6 commits so far in the upcoming recruiting class slated for DE,LB,DL. I know we have more scholorships to give but this should be more of a focus.

 

[awbuzz]

I am worried about each team on the schedule. With our Jimmies and Joes (not knocking any player on our team), we will have a hard time over coming poor execution.
Definitely have to give UVA props for what they did this weekend. BC too (yes, I know we don't play them this year).

 

[swampsting]

ECU has a veteran QB who is pretty good and they always have had athletes. Even the friends I've had who have gone there called "EZU." For a couple of reasons. So their win over Va Tech isn't that startling.
A lot of winnable games - and a lot of games that can be lost, too. Maybe Rece Davis can spin the ACC wheel of torture in our favor.

 

[GT Man]

I do not think anyone can be called a "frontrunner" yet. No one has really played anyone. After the next two weeks, there will be a very clear picture of how the coastal will likely shake out.

Agree. way to early to tell who is good and who isn't. Gotta wait until conference games start in earnest before you can accurately assess who is the real deal. I have a good feeling about Tech this year, and I think that feeling has a lot to do with our QB. Whoever we play better be ready to play a full game, because this Georgia Tech team is scrappy and hangs in there til the end.

 

[AE 87]

Just noticed that Marcus Allen and Rodney Peete were at the BC game. That's a long way from Southern Cal. I hope Rodney didn't let Marcus drive.

... you know, because Marcus Allen drives slow

... you know, in his white Ford Bronco

 

[OldJacketFan]

Just noticed that Marcus Allen and Rodney Peete were at the BC game. That's a long way from Southern Cal. I hope Rodney didn't let Marcus drive.

... you know, because Marcus Allen drives slow

... you know, in his white Ford Bronco

Sorry it was Al Cowlings in the infamous white bronco