The Blue Devils’ inability to push the ball downfield put the team behind the eight ball on second and third downs.
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Which begs the question: Which teams are in this conference’s second tier? Technically, everyone except Virginia, which has begun to circle the drain.
No play was bigger than Travin Dural’s 51-yard catch on a third-and-5 play in the fourth quarter after the Orange moved within a touchdown. The Yellow Jackets didn’t earn a permanent place in the AP Top 25 a year ago until Week 12. It’s not a Paul Johnson commentary, but a reflection of how this school – so steeped in football tradition thanks to men named John W. Heisman and Bobby Dodd – has just not been able to maintain a position of relative superiority over the rest of the ACC once it has tasted the view from the mountaintop in a given year. Urban Meyer gave the redshirt junior a vote of confidence earlier week by solidifying his status as the starter, and Saturday the Ohio native returned the favor.
Most of those plays came on third and fourth downs, where the Jackets (2-2, 0-1) converted 6-of-24, and Tech had serious Cash flow problems. It could be Duke. The Hurricanes are undefeated and can make a national statement with back-to-back road games at Cincinnati and No. 11 Florida State.
You can’t blame a coach too much if he’s done something that hasn’t been done over the course of roughly half a century. He has been a difference maker in both of Duke’s wins over Tech in the past two seasons and it’s little wonder he has earned All-America distinction the past two years.
But the Yellow Jackets will be shorthanded on the defensive line. “You’re not going to win the league this week, but it certainly puts you in a better shape if you can win the division games”, Johnson said.
Duke responded with a methodical drive down the field with Thomas Sirk completing 3 of 4 passes and finishing with seven consecutive runs by Shaquille Powell. With his stout D and unproven passers, Steve Addazio will simply saddle up backs Jon Hilliman, Jeff Smith and Tyler Rouse over the next two months.
The past weekend in the ACC saw three marquee matchups consisting of Clemson at Louisville on Thursday night, Florida St.at Boston College on Friday night and Georgia Tech at Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon. Over under has seen the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets go a 8-6 so far, while the Duke Blue Devils go 4-8. He’s not only struggling as a passer, but his ground production is sinking as well. If the quarterback isn’t fixed, there’s no way the Jackets repeat as division champs. They have each throttled a lesser opponent from the FCS ranks. Anyways, with a new rankings up and running, it’s time once again for three impact games in the ACC Coastal… The Wolfpack ripped and clawed past South Alabama 63-13 and continue to do what they need to do, and that’s win. “So it will be a big challenge especially considering the way we played last week”. State looks great on paper, but numbers can be deceptive, like scoring nine touchdowns, including seven rushing, on the Jaguars Saturday night. The Seminoles stay in conference play with a trip to Wake Forest. The next three-game stretch opens with Syracuse before traveling to Clemson and a home game with North Carolina State.
Does Delaware really pose a threat to the Heels?
Marquise Williams threw for three TDs and also ran for 105 yards on Saturday.
That actually does it for the Coastal as Miami and Pittsburgh enjoy byes this week. The Yellow Jackets offered up one of the worst performances Johnson has seen in his career.
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The Virginia Cavaliers are a scrappy team, playing up (and down) to competition. Powell punched the ball in to earn his second rushing touchdown of the game, bringing the score to 19-3. And speaking of coaching hot seats in that part of the country, Mike London’s Virginia team was just destroyed at home 56-14 by Boise State.
