The second season of the 12-team ACC is off to a less than auspicious start.
In Week Two:
Florida State could not escape Troy until the final few minutes-at home.
Clemson lost to a Boston College team that barely beat Central Michigan.
Virginia needed two overtimes to beat Wyoming-and by the way, neithe team scored in the first overtime.
N.C. State did lose to Akron.
Week Two came on the heels of an underachieving Week One, where Virginia was blasted by Pittsburgh and North Carolina lost to Rutgers. Also Florida State and Miami made each other's offenses look inept on national television. In fact, not one ACC team has shown much offensively.
Now Week Three has begun with Maryland getting blown out at West Virginia. The Mountaineers have exceptional speed in their backfield, and a scheme that is difficult to prepare for. That said, it is shocking to see an ACC defense give up runs of 38, 37, 15 and 52 yards -- in the first quarter. West Virginia made Maryland seem slow and tentative on defense. The Terps made matters worse with poor special teams play. They gave up a touchdown on a kickoff return. And handed the Mountaineers another score with a bungled reverse on a West Virginia kickoff. The ensuing fumble gave WVA possession on the Maryland 11.
Maryland's preparation for West Virginia consisted of games against William & Mary and Middle Tennessee. The Terps are not alone in downsizing the degree of difficulty of their non-conference schedule. Maybe they would have been better prepared for had they faced a Rutgers or a Navy first.
No one can argue that the new 12-team ACC makes it harder for the teams in the middle to secure a winning season. Maybe schools are justified in scheduling one or two breathers. But for the league to grow in stature, its teams must schedule and defeat the top teams in the country. By that measurement, only Georgia Tech's first half against Notre Dame ranks as anything resembling an impressive performance.
The ACC did have an outstanding NFL draft following the 2005 season. In that campaign, its defenses put up better numbers than did any other conference.
But after watching West Virginia and Maryland, we're wondering if the ACC's defensive numbers are over-hyped. After all, they have been compiled largely against ACC offenses-and weak non-conference opponents.
