2009 Yellow Jacket football schedule is out

My life is officially scheduled for 2009.


Sept. 5 vs. Jacksonville State
Sept. 10 vs. Clemson (ESPN)
Sept. 17 @ Miami (ESPN)
Sept. 26 vs. North Carolina
Oct. 3 @ Mississippi State
Oct. 10 @ Florida State
Oct. 17 vs. Virginia Tech
Oct. 24 @ Virginia
Oct. 31 @ Vanderbilt
Nov. 7 vs. Wake Forest
Nov. 14 @ Duke
Nov. 28 vs. Georgia


I don't give a damn if the Miami game is on a Thursday... I'm still going to make it.

Edit: I kind of wrinkled my nose at the idea of not playing Clemson closer to mid-season, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. We get a nice warm up game, then hit the ground running by playing people we love to hate and hate to love.

Edit: I just realized that October is going to be the least productive month of my life. Totally worth it.

Click here to see the rest of the ACC schedules.

Edit: Winfield already mentioned this in the comments, but Halloween shall be spent in Nashville. Oh yeah.

Who else is down for road trippin'?

Patrick Nix to AU

According to the AJC, Auburn interviewed the worst offensive coordinator in the history of the ACC. Congrats Auburn, I hope you hire him. I don't like Pat Nix or Auburn.

Whenever I think of Auburn fans, I envision all of them sounding like Conan O'Brien's character the Interrupter:

John: "I don't think..."
Auburn Fan: "...Pat Nix will pull us from mediocrity."
John: "Well, I didn't really want to..."
Auburn Fan: "...put it so harshly but really mean it on the inside."
John: "Auburn..."
Auburn Fan: "...will never be a perennial powerhouse and has an enormous inferiority complex towards Bear, Saban, and the burgundy elephant."

ACC football demands respect

I was driving to Atlanta on Wednesday through Columbia. Columbia is diehard Cock country and is one of the few metros that is 100% SEC. A particular radio host (who I don't remember the name) spoke about why the SEC > ACC. He simply said the ACC cannot win the big game and I tend to agree with him. We won the season series 6-4 but a battle (or small string of skirmishes) does not make a war.

Let's look back at BIG ACC-SEC matchups over the years that would've really solidified us as a premier conference and equalled the playing field against the SECers. And let's keep it restricted to the BCS Era:

1999 - UT defeats FSU (National Title)
2000 - LSU defeats GT (PB)
2002 - UF defeats MD (OB)
2003 - ugag defeats FSU (SB)
2005 - AU defeats VT (OB)
2006 - ugag defeats GT
2006 - UK defeats CU (MCB)
2006 - ugag defeats VT (PB)
2007 - AU defeats CU (PB)
2008 - Bamma defeats CU

The national stage and we fall flat on our faces. Not to mention our 1-9 mark in the BCS games. Now, why was it that we got beat in our game of the year ever since FSU's 2000 season? Coaching.

We haven't had premier coaches (besides Bowden) since the 90's. Bowden finally began to rust after his '03 Sugar Bowl debacle. That left us with a conference full of has been or never was coaches.

Expansion added Beamer. The Amato, Bunting, Roof, and Gailey departures improved the conference's coaching talent astronomically. And look what we have to show for it in 2008: a 6-4 record against our primary rival of a conference. I expect continued success against the SEC as we've shown in the NFL draft that we've had comparable talent all these years. Now, we have comprable if not superior coaching. What do you all think about the conference debate?

Looking Back

We are brilliant, so far.

Read this post, it's like we were looking into the future, and all it took was a brown paper bag and dollar store spraypaint.

BC/VT in the ACC Championship game (as we stated would happen in an early roundup, whilst others scoffed at the idea of Wake not going), and we called the rest of the OOC games (November 6th, another roundup).

BC beating VT was called. BC beating VT happened.

Also, Miami being scary against VT was called, and then it happened.

All hail Dane. Winfield can demand his own praise, even though I was the brains behind it.

(Winfield's Note: Whatever man. A team effort is a team effort. Besides, who wrote the majority of the draft roundtables? Me. Good job Legacy Crew)

-Ok, fine. I, Dane, was responsible for the 'zazz.

It's Dead Week. Done with the pats on the back for me. Back to work.

ACC Roundtable #3

We are hosting the ACC Roundtable this week, so look below for our very own questions and Dane's Responses. Later in the week (Thursday hopefully) Winfield will write the Roundtable Wrap-up.
Here are the blogs who have partken so far: Block-C, Gobbler Country, College Gameballs, BC Interruption, and From Old Virginia.
Comment below!

1. There is no question as to whether the ACC is one of the toughest conferences this year as far as its constituents are concerned. Currently, 4 teams are bowl eligible while 5 are within one game of reaching eligibility. Is it mediocrity, or is the ACC on its way to being the powerhouse that expansion was supposed to bring?

As much as I hate the terms "parity" and "top to bottom," the ACC, top to bottom, has more parity than any other conference in the nation. The SEC is a two-team conference this year - Ole Miss won an upset due to the reigning in of the Tebow, protecting him for the second half of the season. UF burned themselves that game - when compared to when they played LSU, you can see that the Gators were holding back. No other conference has been as back and forth with what you can actually describe as quality play than the ACC (that's a boldfaced lie, the Big 12 probably wins out, but this is an ACC blog so screw it).

However, I don't think you can say anything about where we are going as a conference, only look at where we have been. I honestly think that overall, the ACC is a better conference this year. We may lack a nationally dominant team as of right now, but I would bet on at least an even split with any other conference if we were to go top-down against them. Part of the reason for this increase production is coaching. the ACC has always had players that are as good as say, the SEC, but coaching has just been poor. Now that coaches like former Duke coach Ted Roof and Randy Shannon have had a little bit of time to start molding their programs, and the additions of Cutcliffe at Duke and Johnson at Tech (not to mention that the perenially underachieving Bowden is gone), I expect the conference to continue to utilize all of the talent it has, but only time will tell.

2. With a few notable exceptions, quarterback play in the ACC has been poor across the conference the past couple of seasons, contributing at least in some part to the lack of offensive potency in the conference. Where does the ACC stand today in terms of quarterback play, and do you think our offenses are improving?

(Winfield's Response: I don't have a lot of time to look into this but here is the gist of my belief)

ACC quarterback play is not as bad as the mainstream media wants you to think. Quality quarterback play along with improved offenses are on the rise because the number of quality head coaches have increased within the conference. The argument can be made the the historically bottom half of the conference has improved in their staffing of coaches. The willingness to get rid of the old and bring in something new is the reason for improved offenses and quarterbacks.

3. There are 5 out-of-conference games left for the ACC - BC/Notre Dame, Wake Forest/Vandy, Clemson/USC, GT/Georgia, and FSU/Florida. We went 3-2 in those games last year, and then 2-5 in bowl play (with the only wins coming over Michigan State and UConn). How do you feel we as a conference will compete against the rest of the NCAA in the final weeks of the season, and are you confident in our bowl play?

As far as the season games go BC should knock off Notre Dame this weekend with fairly little ease. The rest of the games came on Thanksgiving weekend last year and we split 2-2. FSU probably won't beat Florida, but the other three are toss-ups. Wake and Vandy are both very well coached teams, Georgia Tech is f***ing tired of losing, and so is USC. Also, coaching at Clemson and UGA are weaker than their opponents as of right now, so going 4-1 in the season OOC games wouldn't suprise me.

Looking at the Week 10 Bowl projections on ESPN, which really don't mean anything right now, I love our chances to dominate bowl season. Every projected matchup looks winnable. I am high on the ACC right now, what can I say? Every team (well, maybe not N.C. State) has proven that they can hang with or beat any reasonably good team, so why wouldn't I feel good about it.

4. As far as Tech fans are concernced, ACC officiating is absolutely atrocious, both in conference (helmet-to-helmet, lack of holding calls) and out of conference (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tobqLJlxDBs). Are you in agreement? List any specific, obvious grievances, or use this opportunity to verbally assault ACC refs.

Well, I've already listed the things I can't stand. I won't even mention the fact that our DE Derrick Morgan was held like a tilling bull when we had FSU pinned in the endzone this past weekend - I'll opt for the second.

F*** you you f***ing zebras. I hope you all wind up in the side circle of Hell reserved for people who are incompetent at jobs that other people rely on, like DMV workers and elected officials. When you have a blog that chronicles how bad you suck at your jobs (which has moved completely to YouTube, I think), like miscalling F***ING FIELD GOALS, you should probably seek a new line of work that you can succeed in. I would honestly rather have SEC officials ref our games whenever we play UGA, because you at least know you are going to get nailed on every close call. The only thing that pisses me off more than seeing people throw stuff onto Grant Field from the stands of Bobby Dodd Stadium is when I see them miss your f***ing faces with a full bottle of water. One time I want to see one of you assholes, especially one that calls a BS helmet-to-helmet call, get slammed in the face with something heavy.


5. Every college football fan has a favorite player not on their team. Who is that player for you in the ACC?

I'd have to go with whoever the hell was blocking for Cedric Peerman when UVA played us. I didn't get the numbers of the left tackle and left guard, but wow, they opened up the world for a hell of a runningback. I haven't seen someone lock it up as hard as they have all season.

UVA and Season Thoughts

An alumni friend told me something two years ago after a loss similar to Saturday. He said: "Winfield, I told my boys that if they want to be Tech fans they should just
expect their hearts to be broken at least once or twice a season."

Now, this may be a little dramatic, but the past 7 years has seen plenty of Tech fans (ourselves included) give their hopes up only to see their dreams crushed. The opportunity to take control of the ACC Coastal division was there for the taking on Saturday but it just didn't happen. As frustrating as it was, and still is, we must remain positive.

For the rest of the year we are playing with house money. No one expected us to be where we are today. We are gaining respect and our players are gaining experience. Remember, we are the youngest team in the ACC.

Many of you know that I tend to be too optimistic for my own good and maybe I am still doing that, but we have to take this season for what it's worth.

It's no consolation, but look at these ACC facts:

-Two teams are bowl eligible (UNC and Maryland).

-Six teams are one win away from bowl eligibility (Miami,
VT, FSU, GT, UVa, BC).Every team in the Coastal Division has a winning record, and there are a few circumstances under which they can ALL go bowling.

It's not as bad as it looks. Yeah, I said it.

Right now the ACC is the laughingstock of the college football world, and rightly so. The only team from the ACC that is ranked right now is Wake Forest. Now, I don't mean any insult to the Deacs, but that would basically be like Vanderbilt becoming a top team in the SEC in 5 years from now. No one would give them their full credit, everyone in the SEC would still say "whatever, they are just Vandy," and everyone outside of the SEC would make fun of the conference for having Vandy as their best team.

It's true, as I posted before... the ACC, for now, blows. It is ridiculous. There is no respect for the conference anymore. FSU now also applies to Fresno State. Gone is Miami - Miami(FL) now takes its place. Georgia Tech plays second fiddle to uga. Now Clemson, in the year it is supposed to be in the MNC hunt, has gone and dropped the ball.

Brace yourself. You will be shocked to read that I don't think it is as bad as it sounded on Sunday. In fact, on second glance, it seems like the ship is finally righting itself. Expansion may be finally happening, 3 years after it actually happened. Hear me out on this one.

Georgia Tech, who malaised through the past six seasons with spurts of brilliance and dregs of just plain badness, finally has a coach that, well, acts like a coach should. Paul Johnson is a proven winner, who is expected by basically everyone (apart only a few Bulldog fans and other uneducated nobodies) to be very, very successful. FSU actually kind of had a decent season last year, toppling the ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, losing by a field goal to Wake Forest, and knocking off Boston College from the #2 spot. Honestly, they would have beaten Kentucky in their bowl game if it weren't for the trouble they found a few dozen of their players in, resulting in a depleted squad and a touchdown margin loss for the New Year's Eve game.

Clemson will always be solid (except for 2 games out of the year where they get embarrassed), and even though VPI lost to ECU, they will be back. Miami is on the upswing - GT fans like to think Randy Shannon is a moron because he kept a moron (Pat Nix) around for more than a year. Say what you will - they have the talent to win some big games, and as of right now, in my view, look to be Tech's biggest ACC opponent this year. Apparently Shannon has cleaned house (which, at Miami, would obviously take a looooong damn time) and has the program running like it isn't made up of a bunch of drug slingers and criminals - the first step to becoming competitive year after year. I'm not calling Miami to win this weekend against Florida; however, I will make it known that Miami hasn't lost to Florida during my lifetime, and they damn sure don't want to start now. It won't surprise me one bit if that game surprises everyone else, especially the Gators.

As I said already, BC grabbed the #2 spot last year, and even though a few dozen other teams seemed to do the same thing, it was still impressive. I think the team as a whole will continue to get better, and eventually be better over all without relying on Matt Ryan to make it rain like a true baller.

The jury is still out on UNC, and Duke can suck it until they go 3-5 (this year marks a decade of them not doing so) in the ACC and win a decent OOC game. And, even though I've already kind of talked smack about Wake, they are a good damn team (it's weird, it's almost like I'm turning into a Wake fan...).

So, what exactly is happening? In the Atlantic, Wake is great, BC is good, and FSU has the chance to become good to great again (even if it takes Bobby Bowden finally leaving to do so). Clemson will remain very solid, Maryland can play ball, and NC State will continue to embarrass the state of North Carolina in everything it does. In the Coastal, GT and Miami are both going to be damn good teams, and will easily challenge if not surpass Virginia Tech every year for the Coastal Title, starting this season (these two teamse will also very successfully carry the banner for the ACC in OOC games, mark my words). Not saying VPI won't compete, but I think everyone else is growing up around them very, very quickly. North Carolina will hopefully shape into a solid team, but I am not sold on the predictions that they will start winning conference or even division championships. Virginia - well, screw UVa. Duke will have at least 1 conference victory this season, and that will be against UVa, who is really, really at risk of having a 1 win season. More like the Cavalqueers. (Anyone who is a UVa fan, go ahead, bookmark this entry, mark October 25^th on your calendar, and remember to email me at EffinDane at gmaildotcom. I always manage to eat my own words.)

That's right, BC, Miami, and VT will be strong, strong teams, in addition to GT, Wake, Clemson, and hopefully FSU. All of these teams will get better, very, very soon, and as much as any commentator wants to bring up this season, these teams will be competitive with anyone in the country. (Except for USC, because Jesus is to humanity what Pete Carroll is to Trojans football).

This whole post may be completely wrong, and sorry if it is. However, I do think I have made some pretty valid points. The ACC blows, at least for now. Soon though, the mega-conference will finally arrive.