The Confidential

The ACC Sports Blog

Archive for the category “Football”

15 Sep 2013
28 Comments

Texas to the ACC?

Here we go again… A few months ago, the Confidential wrote about a future between Texas and the ACC, and just recently wrote about Texas’ questionable decision to promote Greg Robinson from “football analyst” to Defensive Coordinator (a.k.a. – Brown’s next Fall Guy).

The total ineptitude in Texas has many Longhorn bloggers and fans speculating that Deloss Dodds’ future as the Athletic Director will be ending at year’s end, while others at this point are hoping that Mack Brown will man-up and call it quits after the season.

That kind of sea change could have dramatic effects on the future of a Texas program that is watching the Aggies capture the national love-and-attention (OK…maybe just attention) while the Longhorns are entering a slippery-slope of irrelevancy.

Factor in the rumblings that the B1G has performed their due diligence on Oklahoma and Kansas, and we could be in for another round of conference realignment opening the door for Texas to the ACC.

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Posted by Vinnie Saltine in ACC only, Conference Realignment, ESPN, Football
15 Sep 2013
2 Comments

Recap of the ACC Week 3

Believe it or not, the college football season is 25% complete for many teams.  One minute it is Labor Day, the next minute we are talking bowl eligibility.  Sigh.  Anyway, Week 3 provided some useful information for analyzing the ACC teams.  Such as…

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Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Game Review, Results and tagged ,
11 Sep 2013
1 Comment

The Confidential ACC Football Top 10 Poll: Week 2

With two weeks wrapped up, the Confidential correspondents generated a lot more similarity in their polls this week.  So how do the ACC teams stack up?  Well, here is the Confidential Correspondents Football top 10 Poll for Week 2.  Remember, we include Notre Dame and Louisville.  This year, we’ll start with team number 10 and work our way to #1.

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Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Correspondent Poll, Football, Opinion, Poll, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , ,
11 Sep 2013
1 Comment

Governors Cup Preview

The ACC is home to several marquee rivalries, both in and out of conference. N Carolina & Duke, Fla State & Florida, Clemson & S Carolina and now Louisville & Kentucky. This Saturday the Battle for the Governors Cup resumes in Lexington, Ky. The Cards are currently a 14.5 point favorite but the underdogs have faired well recently.

This is a big game for U of L as they need to finish 12-0 to have a chance at a national championship. The final score will be used for or against them as it will be compared to UK future SEC opponents final margin.

It is a big game for UK as new head coach Mark Stoops looks to make an impact and to erase their humilating season opening loss to Western Ky. UK has historically struggled against SEC competition so it is dire that they win their OOC games. Should they pull off the upset I could see their AD waiving a lifetime contract at Stoops during his post game interview.

The Cards will look to continue Teddy Bridgewaters Heisman campaign and to look for one of their three runningbacks to step forward and finally take control of the #1 spot. Max Smith will make his second start and look to deliver the “air raid” offense their fans were promised in the preseason.

U of L and UK first met 1912 in football and 1913 in basketball. UK leads the overall football series 14-11 after winning the first seven meetings (1912-15, 22, 24 and 1994). After UK dominated the first six games, holding U of L scoreless, they stopped playing. In 1994, after 70 years, they began the modern era of the series with U of L holding an 11-8 advantage. The Cards has won the last two meetings, includung 32-14 last year.

Louisvilles move to the ACC has already effected this rivalry. It was recently announced that starting next season this game will be moved to the last game of the year as part of the ACC/SEC challenge. Tradionally this has been the opening game of the year to help build the local hype during the offseason which has helped to improve the quality of football in the state. UK later moved it to the third game when in Lexington. I loved this as the opening game but this should help preserve the game when/if the SEC goes to nine games.

Finally my game prediction. Stoops has the Cats on the right path as reflected by his recruiting but he will need a couple of more years. Teddy and the AFROS should easily be able to pick apart the Cats thin secondary. The Cards has the advantage at nearly every position. If the Cards can jump out to an early lead and silence the Commonwealth Stadium crowd it will be a blow out, if not the Cards still win. The Cards win 38-14.

Posted by lenvillecards in Football, Game Review, Louisville Correspondent, Opinion, Predictions and tagged , , ,
10 Sep 2013
1 Comment

State of the Pack: The season so far

Pack fans! It’s football season again!  Time to shake off the rust and run over the naysayers!!

But what are your impressions of this team so far?  Really hard to tell after only two games, so here are two viewpoints…

The Glass is Half Empty:

The team did win their opener vs Louisiana Tech 40-14 but in the process lost starting QB Brandon Mitchell to a foot injury which will keep him out 4-6 weeks.  They followed this up with a nail-biter vs Richmond of the FCS 23-21, scraping by on a field goal by Niklas Sade within the final minute after trailing by 11 points at the half.

In relief of Mitchell, Pete Thomas achieved a QB rating of 128.7 on zero TDs and two picks.  Against an FCS defense.  Woe is the Pack!!

The Glass is Half Full:

Hey, Louisiana Tech is not just any old team.  They posted a 9-3 record in the WAC last year and defeated both Illinois and Virginia in the process. Sure, the Richmond game was closer than expected, but they are probably looking ahead a little as they will begin conference play following a bye next week.  This will be a Thursday night game against a conference – make that a national – powerhouse.  More on that at the end of the post.

So What Should We Take Away?:

Let’s face it.  The Wolfpack isn’t set up for a BCS bowl run.  But a decent bowl invite should be in the cards.  That’s not bad for a first-year coach teaching a whole new system with recruits that aren’t, for the most part, his own.Dave Doeren NC State.jpeg

Next year, with Jacoby Brissett eligible to play QB and more of Dave Doeren’s guys coming in, should be even better.

But that brings us to the other point of view, the one I didn’t want to mention but can’t leave out…

Who Broke That Glass???:

Remember that marquee game?  The one on Thursday night, Sept. 19?

Run!!  Clemson is coming!!

Seriously, have you seen those guys?  As much as we would all like to think another Pack upset is brewing, there is very little chance the Pack will be Textile Bowl champs this season.

Posted by mikemab2000 in ACC only, Football, NC State Correspondent, Results, Schedule and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,
09 Sep 2013

Syracuse Fans: Poll re: Doug Marrone

Posted by acaffrey in Football and tagged , , ,
08 Sep 2013
4 Comments

Losing to Clemson/Florida State–Good for Your School?

An interesting thought crossed the Confidential’s mind yesterday.  Suppose your team is not a football factory.  There are several in the ACC–Syracuse, Wake Forest, Boston College, Pitt, NC State, Virginia, and Duke come to mind.  Some of those schools have done a great job upsetting Clemson and Florida State in recent years.  In the small picture, that is a great win for your team.  In the big picture, is it bad for your school?  Think about it.

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Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Opinion and tagged , , , , ,
07 Sep 2013
1 Comment

Syracuse Fans: Get Off The Ledge

Syracuse looked rough tonight.  The 48-27 score was perhaps a bit misleading as it seemed as if Northwestern could have scored a lot more, had they chosen to keep throwing.  There is plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth by Syracuse fans tonight.  But the Confidential just wants to remind Syracuse fans that they need to come in off the ledge.  There are many reasons why.

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Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Opinion and tagged , , , ,
07 Sep 2013
2 Comments

Is Boston College Back?

9-3.  10-3.  11-3.  9-5.  8-5.  7-6.  Six straight bowl games after joining the ACC.  Two ACC Championship game appearances.  Are we talking about Miami or Boston College?  Actually, we are talking about Boston College.  Since that great start to joining the ACC, however, Boston College has fallen on hard times, with those hard times “peaking” last year with a 2-10 record.  But guess who is off to a 2-0 start this year?  Boston College!  Are they back?

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Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Game Review, Opinion and tagged , , ,
30 Aug 2013

Jadeveon Clowney and the ESPN Hype Machine

By now, we all know about ESPN’s hype machine. For the last few years, “no one” has been as good as the Big Ten in basketball (despite zero national championships in over 10 years). “No one” has been worse than Tim Tebow (despite him having a better playoff record than many current starters). It is what it is. As fans, we’re used to it. But last night, ESPN’s “excuse machine” was in full motion. I’ve never heard them try so hard.

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Posted by Mr. Tar Heel in ESPN, Football, Opinion, Rankings, Results, UNC Correspondent

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