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I will not overreact to Week 1 of the new season.
I will not overreact to Week 1 of the new season.
Ah, what the heck. That’s no fun.
There’s no better time for overreaction than Week 1 of a new season. And given the events of the past few days in the ACC, with 1 game still left to play, there’s plenty to overreact about.
So here goes.
These are the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 1 in and around the ACC:
10. Time to stop talking and start winning
Commissioner Jim Phillips can talk until he’s blue in the face about being “proactive and aggressive” in changing the ACC’s national perception. And the league’s television network can keep searching for its version of Paul Finebaum to unabashedly shill for the conference.
But neither thing is going to change the narrative that the ACC is a second-tier league. The only way that’s going to happen is by having its best teams be its best teams. And by winning head-to-head matchups against power conference opponents. Especially the SEC. And that’s not happening.
Clemson and Florida State, brand-name programs picked to finish 1-2 in the ACC preseason poll, both lost their openers. The Seminole got beat by a Georgia Tech team picked to finish 9th with the entire world watching in Week 0. The Tigers lost in lopsided fashion to Georgia. Even worse, popular dark-horse pick Virginia Tech got humbled by perennial SEC bottom-feeder Vanderbilt.
Here’s a word of advice, ACC. Instead of begging for respect, start earning it.
9. What’s up with the slow starts?
You’ve had an entire offseason and camp to prepare. You’re excited to be back on the field with a stadium full of fans and the promise of a new season. There should be no reason for a team to come out flat in Week 1.
Right? So how do you explain the epidemic of slow starts by ACC teams against teams they had no business struggling against?
No. 24 NC State, a 32.5-point favorite according to ESPNBet sportsbook, trailed Western Carolina 21-17 after 3 quarters on Thursday before scoring 3 touchdowns in the 4th to pull out the victory. Wake Forest eventually pulled away from North Carolina A&T for a 45-13 win. But it might have been able to cover the 33.5-point had it not taken them until the final 5 minutes of the half to recover from a 10-7 deficit.
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Friday it was Duke’s turn to struggle out of the gate against an FCS team, mustering only a field goal through the opening 29 minutes against Elon. Then Saturday, Cal slept through 2 quarters of its ACC debut against Cal Davis, leading only 14-13 before getting its wakeup call. The good news for all those teams is they finally got their act together in time to avoid becoming upset victims. They might not be as lucky if they try it again next week against power conference opponents.
8. They’re just not that into you, Nate
You have to feel bad for Nate Yarnell. The kid has been a good soldier and done everything he’s asked as a backup quarterback. He’s resisted the lure of the transfer portal to wait for his turn to be Pitt’s starter. And he’s played well when given a shot.
In 2022, he stepped in because of injuries to the 2 players ahead of him on the depth chart and led a win against Western Michigan. Last season, he took over out of desperation, produced one of his team’s 3 wins and played well enough in the final 2 games for Pat Narduzzi to finally name him the Panthers’ 2024 starter. Narduzzi reaffirmed that decision after spring practice and even brought Yarnell to the ACC’s preseason media event in Charlotte.
But when Saturday’s opener against Kent State finally arrived, Yarnell was back in his familiar spot on the sideline while Alabama transfer Eli Holstein was on the field running the offense. It’s hard to argue with the choice. Holstein threw for 333 yards and 3 touchdowns while putting up 52 points in an easy win. It was a performance that should prompt Yarnell to do his best Noah Lyles imitation toward the transfer portal. Because if he hadn’t already figured it out, they’re just not that into him at Pitt.
7. KC calls his shot
Being cocky is making pregame boasts about scoring 3 touchdowns. Being special is backing up the boast and doing it. As KC Concepcion did Thursday night.
NC State posted a video of its sophomore receiver making the prediction to a trainer as he was getting his ankles taped before the opener against Western Carolina. He then went out and completed his end zone hat trick by catching 3 touchdown passes from Grayson McCall in the Wolfpack’s 38-21 win.
https://twitter.com/PackFootball/status/1829913353067626546
Concepcion was State’s only consistent offensive threat last season. Even though coach Dave Doeren has surrounded him with plenty more firepower off the portal, it doesn’t appear that his role will be diminished. He had a career night against the Catamounts with 9 catches for 121 yards and those 3 scores.
The explosive playmaker earned Freshman All-American honors last season. But he’s still flying under the radar nationally. If he played for Florida State, Clemson, Ohio State or anyone in the SEC, they’d be showing his highlights on College GameDay every week.
6. Next Tar Heel up? Or the one after him?
Fate decided what Mack Brown couldn’t when quarterback Max Johnson had his season ended by a broken leg suffered during the 2nd half of Thursday’s opener at Minnesota. Johnson may have started the game. But he didn’t exactly win the job over Conner Harrell – leading to speculation that neither quarterback had distinguished himself in the battle to replace No. 3 overall NFL Draft pick Drake Maye.
Those suspicions were confirmed against the Gophers. The Tar Heels won 19-17. But that had much more to do with kicker Noah Burnette, running back Omarion Hampton and a vastly improved defense than either quarterback. Johnson, the Texas A&M/LSU transfer, might have been replaced even if he hadn’t gotten hurt. He averaged only 3.7 yards on his 12 completions and had a minuscule quarterback rating of 37.0 while leading the Tar Heels to only 13 points.
Harrell, Maye’s former understudy, wasn’t even that good. He helped produce 2 field goals, including the game-winner, but he completed only 2-of-4 passes for 34 yards. At least he’ll have a soft schedule to try and work his way into a rhythm with upcoming games against Charlotte, NC Central and James Madison. It’s just as likely that 3rd-stringer Jacolby Criswell will be the starter by the time UNC plays its ACC opener against Duke on Sept. 28.
5. What happened, Hokies?
There’s a college football version of the old baseball adage that momentum is only as good as the next day’s starting pitcher. It’s that momentum doesn’t carry over from one season to the next. You have to start over fresh every time. And the only way to get the snowball rolling again is by winning. Virginia Tech learned that harsh lesson on Saturday at Vanderbilt.
The Hokies finished last season on a high note, capping their first winning season since 2019 with an impressive win against Tulane in the Military Bowl. And they returned the highest percentage of returning production among FBS programs at 95% on offense and 86% back on defense. But none of that mattered when they rolled into Nashville as a 13.5-point favorite and promptly laid an egg.
They spotted the Commodores a 17-0 head start, rallied to take a late lead, then let it slip away in an overtime loss that ends all conversation about them being a dark horse ACC contender.
4. Cardinals are still flying high
Louisville isn’t exactly the afterthought it was at the start of last season when it was picked to finish 8th but won 10 games and reached the ACC Championship in Jeff Brohm’s rookie season. But it’s close.
This year’s Cardinals were picked to finish 5th, primarily because most of its key players – especially those on offense – are gone. Saturday’s demolition of Austin Peay, however, is a rude awakening that Brohm has put together another strong team capable of making another run to Charlotte.
A number of the stars of the 62-0 win were members of Louisville’s massive 32-member transfer class. Seventh-year quarterback Tyler Shough from Texas Tech threw for 232 yards and 4 touchdowns before giving way to his backups. Former Alabama wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks caught 7 passes for 83 yards and a score while on defense, Tamarion McDonald – formerly of Tennessee – and Tramel Logan – formerly of USF – led the way with 2 sacks each.
Don’t let the competition fool you. Austin Peay might be an FCS program, but regardless of who you play, you have to have some serious firepower to put up 62 against anyone. And Louisville does.
3. Maybe this really is Miami’s year
There’s every reason to be skeptical about the hype that preceded Miami into Saturday’s opener against Florida. We’ve heard it before. And the Hurricanes always fail to deliver. But this team had a different look and feel about it Saturday. It didn’t just go into Gainesville and beat Florida at The Swamp. It dominated the Gators in every phase of the game, especially in the trenches.
Granted, Florida is the SEC’s version of Clemson. A once-elite program that has since lost its mojo. But it doesn’t matter who they played. It’s obvious from watching their surgical 41-17 rout of their in-state rival that these Hurricanes are loaded on both sides of the ball. And they have an X-factor they’ve been lacking since joining the ACC in quarterback Cam Ward.
With a deep, talented supporting cast and a favorable schedule, it’s not out of the question to believe that Miami has the potential to run the table in the regular season. Or at the very least, finally win that elusive first ACC title.
2. New York state of mind
Speaking of Ward, it might be a little too early to start etching his name onto the Heisman Trophy. But it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to go ahead and make a reservation at the Waldorf Astoria.
Because based on the seamless transition the Washington State transfer made into offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson’s Air Raid attack at Miami, the odds are in his favor that – barring injury – he’ll at least be among the 3-4 finalists invited to New York in December for the Heisman ceremony.
Ward threw for 3,735 yards and 25 touchdowns with only 7 interceptions last season. He has the potential to put up even bigger numbers in an offense stocked with big-play receivers Xavier Restrepo, Jacolby George and Houston transfer Samuel Brown. Ward got his Heisman campaign off to a flying start Saturday by completing 26-of-35 passes for 385 yards and 3 touchdowns in the win at Florida.
1. Something has to change at Clemson
It would be easy to write off the Tigers’ 34-3 drubbing at the hands of Georgia on Saturday as simply the product of Georgia’s dominance over everyone in college football. And the opponent did have something to do with it.
But that would absolve Dabo Swinney, Garrett Riley, Cade Klubnik and just about everyone else in orange from any responsibility for what is happening to the ACC’s signature program. Clemson is 3 years removed from its most recent Playoff appearance and is coming off a year in which it failed to reach double-digit victories for the first time since 2010, Swinney’s 2nd full season as a head coach. Based on Saturday’s performance, things don’t appear to have gotten better.
The Tigers still have some studs on defense. And they were good enough to hold Carson Beck and the Bulldogs in check until wearing down. But the offense, which was supposed to be improved thanks to Klubnik’s growth in his 2nd season with coordinator Riley and the addition of some talented freshmen receivers, looked hauntingly similar to the one that held Clemson back in 2023. Maybe if Swinney had embraced the transfer portal like everyone else around the country, his program would still be at the top of the mountain rather than struggling to fall off a cliff.
In an interview on College GameDay before Saturday’s game, the Clemson coach sounded as though he was already resigned to what was about to happen to his team. “It’s not about the scoreboard today,” he said. “It’s about how you play.” Dabo won’t need Tyler from Spartanburg to know that by either standard, his team came up a loser on Saturday.
The time has come for the Tigers coach to either reassess his philosophy and enter the 21st Century or follow Nick Saban’s lead and walk away. Either way, something has to change.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
