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Clemson was picked to finish 2nd in the ACC’s preseason poll. NC State was picked to finish 4th. Both had early, high-profile matchups against SEC opponents. And both lost.
Badly.
The Tigers and Wolfpack were beaten by Georgia and Tennessee, respectively, by a combined margin of 85-13.
There are those who will inevitably use those lopsided results to prove their point that the ACC is a subpar conference.
It’s not. It’s just not in the same zip code as the SEC this year.
Both things can be true. They’re not mutually exclusive. But that’s not going to stop the haters from hating. It’s just what they do.
Their tired narrative is just 1 of the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 3 in and around the ACC.
10. Irish eyes would still be smiling in the ACC
Notre Dame made a lot of people happy by stubbing its toe against Northern Illinois on Saturday.
Nobody more so than Jim Phillips.
The ACC commissioner isn’t one of the legions of college football fans sick of the Irish’s sense of entitlement as they cling to their independent football status as if it were a rosary and continue to be overhyped based on ancient history. He’s actually a Notre Dame guy. But because of the structure of the new 12-team Playoff, the ACC stands to benefit from the Irish’s misfortune.
Why?
Notre Dame’s loss to NIU severely diminishes their chances of getting into the bracket as 1 of the 7 at-large selections. If they were a full-time member of the ACC, they’d still be a favorite to earn an (almost) automatic bid and first-round bye as a power conference champion. That stark reality should be enough incentive for them to realize that the time has come to give in and join.
Notre Dame already plays 5 ACC games per season, poaches ACC transfer quarterbacks and has made an ACC Championship Game appearance during COVID.
It’s time.
9. Thanks again, Scott Satterfield
Scott Satterfield did Louisville and the ACC a favor by deciding to make a lateral move and leave for Cincinnati 2 seasons ago. His departure opened the door for favorite son Jeff Brohm to return to his alma mater.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
The Cardinals were immediately transformed from an irrelevant middle-of-the-pack team to a championship contender by winning 10 games and earning a spot in the conference title game last season. And they’re off to another promising start after laying a 49-14 hurting on Jacksonville State.
Leaving Louisville, however, isn’t Satterfield’s only recent contribution to an ACC team. Saturday, his Bearcats helped Pitt get off to a 2-0 start by squandering a 3-touchdown lead in a last-second 31-30 loss to the Panthers.
8. Making new friends … for now
Cal hasn’t wasted any time endearing itself to its new conference cousins on the opposite coast. Off the field and on social media, its fans have fully embraced the move to the ACC. And on Saturday, Justin Wilcox’s team added to the popularity by going to Auburn and scoring a victory on the field against an SEC opponent.
The Bears’ success against the SEC wasn’t the main reason they were added to the league, along with Stanford and SMU. But it certainly hasn’t hurt. Saturday’s win was their 4th in its past 5 games against the nation’s top conference. They also beat Tennessee in 2007 and Ole Miss in 2017 and 18.
As much as the folks at Cal are enjoying the warm welcome they’ve been getting, they better enjoy it now while they can. Because the goodwill won’t last once their team begins conference play and starts beating some of their new friends.
RELATED: 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 2 in the SEC
7. Who did Georgia Tech tick off to get this schedule?
It’s bad enough that the ACC had the Yellow Jackets come right home from Ireland in Week 0, turn right around and jet lag be damned, play another game the following Saturday. Against a cross-town rival, no less.
But then the schedule-makers upped the degree of difficulty on Brent Key’s team by sending it back out onto the road for Week 2 for an ACC contest against Syracuse. At least its opening game opponent Florida State was given this week off to rest and get its legs back. Tech will have to wait until Week 5 to get the 1st of its 3 open dates.
There’s no way of knowing how much the grueling schedule played a part in the Yellow Jackets’ loss to the Orange. It might not have made a difference as well as Fran Brown’s up-and-coming team played.
But it certainly didn’t help.
6. Take Tony off the hot seat
Tony Elliott didn’t officially save his job with Virginia’s come-from-behind win at Wake Forest. He’ll need a few more of those for that to happen. But it’s just a matter of time based on the decisions he’s made and the performance of his team over the first 2 weeks.
The Cavaliers are 2-0 for the first time since Bronco Mendenhall’s final season in 2020 and are just 1 victory from matching their entire season total in each of Elliott’s first 2 campaigns. More important, they’ve shown tangible signs of growth along the way, especially in the way they rallied in the 4th quarter against the Deacons.
It was a game UVa would have lost a year ago. Five of its 9 defeats in 2023 were by a touchdown or less, with 4 coming by 3 or fewer points. This time they flipped the script by battling back from a 30-17 deficit to take the lead with just over 2 minutes remaining. They then sealed the victory by forcing a turnover on Wake’s final possession.
The win gives the Cavaliers a realistic shot at reaching the 6 wins needed for bowl eligibility. It also provided validation for the most pivotal personnel decision of Elliott’s tenure – choosing Anthony Colandrea as his starting quarterback after a hotly contested competition with Tony Muskett. Colandrea threw for 357 yards and 3 touchdowns and showed poised leadership in leading his team’s game-winning 12-play drive.
Elliott hasn’t had it easy in his first 2 seasons in Charlottesville. He’s had to endure an unthinkable tragedy, a rebuilt roster and a string of close losses. But his persistence is finally paying off. And the temperature under his office chair is a whole lot cooler because of it.
5. You’re not in the American anymore, SMU
Maybe we should have seen it coming.
Sure, SMU won 11 games and the American Athletic Conference championship last season, But it was 0-3 against power conference opponents, including a loss to now-ACC rival Boston College in the Fenway Bowl. And the Mustangs picked up right where they left off on Friday in their 1st power conference test of 2024.
It’s bad enough that Rhett Lashlee’s team lost to BYU. At home. But the way it lost was even more troubling. The Mustangs couldn’t block anyone, either in the pass or run game. Neither of its quarterbacks, starter Preston Stone and backup Kevin Jennings, distinguished himself in combining to produce an anemic 261 yards of offense. All 15 of their points came on 5 Collin Rogers field goals. Two of which were more than 50 yards. Five red zone trips produced only 6 points.
And that’s against a Big 12 bottom feeder.
As overmatched as the Mustangs looked against BYU, it’s only going to get tougher from here on out. Their final 9 games are all against power conference teams. It’s no gimme that they’re going to get the 4 more wins they need for bowl eligibility.
4. Ohio State did Syracuse a huge favor by running Kyle McCord out of town
McCord completed 66% of his passes for 3,170 yards and 24 touchdowns with only 6 interceptions while going 11-1 in his only season as the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback last year. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough for the folks in Columbus.
Although coach Ryan Day claimed to want McCord back, he essentially ran him out of town by failing to commit to him as his starter for 2024. It’s hard to understand why, other than the fact that he wasn’t CJ Stroud and he had the audacity to lose to Michigan. A result that cost his team a spot in the College Football Playoff. Ohio State’s loss has been Syracuse’s gain.
McCord is off to a flying start in new coach Fran Brown’s offense. After throwing for 354 yards and 4 touchdowns in an opening-week win against Ohio, he made an even louder statement on Saturday. He lit up Georgia Tech’s improved defense for 381 yards and 4 more scores, spreading the ball around to 8 receivers in a statement victory for himself and his team.
If McCord was still with the Buckeyes, he’d already be front-and-center in the Heisman Trophy conversation. Based on his first 2 performances at Syracuse, it’s time for the college football mainstream to look beyond the usual suspects and start talking about him now.
3. Let’s pump the brakes on those Clemson obituaries
With apologies to the great Mark Twain, reports of the Tigers’ demise have been greatly exaggerated. Written off by many after an opening week humiliation at the hands of Georgia, Dabo Swinney’s team showed a different set of stripes with an impressive show of firepower against Appalachian State.
Clemson needed to do more than just win Saturday. It needed to do it convincingly enough to dismiss last week’s loss as being more about Georgia than them. Its list of objectives started with a more aggressive offensive game plan. One that took downfield shots and got other receivers besides Antonio Williams involved. It needed to be more physical at the line of scrimmage and run the ball more effectively.
And it succeeded in all of those areas.
Cade Klubnik connected with prized freshman receiver Bryant Wesco for a 76-yard touchdown on the 3rd play of the game, sparking an offensive explosion that blew the game open before most of the crowd had time to settle into its seats at Death Valley. The Tigers’ 35 points were the most they’ve ever scored in a first quarter. Klubnik finished 24-of-26 for 378 yards and 5 touchdowns in an attack that rolled up 712 yards and 66 points and re-established Clemson as an ACC favorite and Playoff threat.
2. Grayson McCall is quickly becoming Brennan Armstrong 2.0
He arrived at NC State with 3 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year awards and a reputation for being an accurate passer who didn’t make mistakes. McCall was immediately hailed as the perfect trigger man to fuel Dave Doeren’s newly revamped offense and carry the Wolfpack over their elusive 10-win hump.
But 2 games into his career in Raleigh, he’s looked more like the reincarnation of last year’s transfer quarterback Brennan Armstrong. Only without the running ability.
While Armstrong wasn’t exactly a bust, he didn’t come close to living up to his advance billing as the ACC’s all-time passing leader for left-handed quarterbacks.
McCall has been just as big a letdown so far. It’s not just that his timing and touch have been off. Or that he’s already thrown a pair of costly interceptions. He’s also had trouble doing what he was brought in to do – spread the ball around to the Wolfpack’s newly assembled cache of offensive talent.
More than half of his completions through 2 games, 23-of-41 to be exact, have gone to either star wide receiver KC Concepcion or tight end Justin Joly. Top transfer receivers Noah Rogers and Wesley Grimes have combined for only 6 catches between them.
The 6th-year senior was hardly the only NC State player who struggled against the Volunteers on Saturday. But as the quarterback and the face of the franchise, he’s the one being counted on to set the tone. The Wolfpack will only go as far as he takes them the rest of the way.
1. NC State: Still not ready for prime-time players
Dave Doeren can’t blame the media for setting such high expectations for his team this season. He can’t blame it on the fans. He set the bar himself at the ACC’s preseason media event in Charlotte this summer when he proclaimed “We don’t want to be good, we want to be the best at what we do. We want to be elite.”
Saturday, a few blocks away at Bank of America Stadium, Doeren and his Wolfpack had an opportunity to accomplish their goal against Tennessee – a blue-blood SEC opponent in prime time on network television.
And they failed miserably.
State didn’t just wilt on the big stage. It was outclassed physically by the faster, more physical Volunteers. Tennessee dominated it in every phase of the game, especially in the trenches while holding the Wolfpack to only 39 yards on 28 rushing attempts, 143 yards in all, and forcing 3 turnovers.
If there’s any consolation to the disappointing beatdown it’s that Doeren and his team won’t see anyone nearly as physically imposing as Tennessee for the rest of the regular season. Clemson in 2 weeks is the only one that comes close. That gives them the opportunity to bounce back and put together another successful season of 8, 9, maybe even 10 wins.
Good. Just not elite.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
