Twelve Questions Facing The ACC This Year, Part 2
By petevolk
Pete Volk back here, of Terrapin Station. We won’t deal with the news in Coral Gables until next week, as the news continues to come out. Our preliminary comment? Miami could conceivably receive the death penalty, but most likely won’t due to the money involved and the current state of college football. Keep in mind the NCAA is ruled by drunk gophers, so you can never be quite sure what will happen.
Today, we’ll cover the biggest questions facing Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Maryland.
4. How will Georgia Tech’s secondary perform?
Last season, Georgia Tech took a major step back. After two straight first place finishes in the Coastal Division, they finished the year 6-7 (with a bowl loss), third in the division. It was easy to blame Tevin Washington, who went 1-3 as the starter at quarterback after the injury to Josh Nesbitt. But although the offense did suffer some drawback under the new quarterback (as expected), the issue was the defense. The Yellow Jackets had one of the worst defenses in the ACC last year, especially against the pass, ranking 85th in the country in S&P+ for total defense and 95th against the pass. Now, they lose four of their top six secondary players, crippling the depth of a pass defense that was pretty horrible in the first place. The success of these players will go a long way to determining the Yellow Jackets’ success this season. Also, remember when Georgia Tech was the ACC team in hot water with the NCAA? Ha!
5. Can E.J. Manuel and Florida State live up to the hype?
Florida State always has the talent to win the ACC. They’re kind of like Clemson, but with success. Problem is, in recent years the Seminoles haven’t been the most successful team in the conference (that honor going to Virginia Tech). They have been steadily improving, and that finally culminated last season when their defense’s production finally rose to an adequate level. The Seminoles’ offense has been top-of-the-line for some time now, but last season their defense put it together, especially in their ability not to allow big plays. Now, they’ve got a Heisman candidate based more off hype than previous production (but believe you me, that hype is warranted), a strong running game, an offensive line to counter anyone in the conference, and a defense that should only get stronger. Jimbo Fisher’s got quite the team in Tallahassee right now.
6. Maryland’s got the talent, but how will they react to a new system?
Maryland had a very good year last season – 8-4 in the regular season, a thrashing of East Carolina in the Military Bowl – and they return a good amount of their players. Danny O’Brien is one of the best quarterbacks in the conference, they return all but one of their starters on the offensive line, Kenny Tate is one of the best defensive players in the country, and Joe Vellano is a terror on the interior defensive line. Problem is, the Terps now have just two returning members of last year’s coaching staff. Randy Edsall was brought in from Connecticut (a change for the better, in the opinion of this blogger), and along with him brought new coordinators in Gary Crowton and Todd Bradford (changes for the worse, in the opinion of this blogger). It’s unknown at this point if the players will thrive in this new system, but what can be guaranteed is this – with one of the best quarterbacks in the conference and a great offensive line, Maryland’s offense should not be one to be taken lightly.