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The difference between good teams and bad teams is that the good teams find ways to win close games while the bad teams find ways to play just well enough to lose.
Say hello to Miami and Cal.
The book is still out on how good the 6th-ranked Hurricanes really are. But as long as they have Cam Ward playing quarterback, they’re good enough to still be undefeated and in the thick of the ACC championship and College Football Playoff conversation.
The Heisman Trophy frontrunner didn’t need any come-from-behind heroics Saturday at Louisville, as he and his team did in 2 previous wins against Virginia Tech and Cal. But with the score tied and the game on the line, Ward led a pair of 80-yard 4th quarter touchdown drives to will Miami to a 52-45 victory.
The Hurricanes are now 7-0 overall, with the past 3 wins – all against conference opponents – coming by a combined total of 12 points.
Cal, by contrast, checks in at the extreme opposite end of the close game spectrum. Its 4 straight losses, including Saturday’s 1-point heartbreak against NC State, have come by a grand total of 9 points. With the past 2 decided by missed field goals in the final 2 minutes.
Last week against Pitt, Ryan Coe missed a 41-yarder that would have turned a 17-15 loss into an 18-17 win. This time, it was Coe’s replacement Derek Morris who turned Oct. 19 into Groundhog Day by shanking an even more makeable 28-yard attempt.
“We’ve got to find ways to win, obviously,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said afterward. “I’ve got to do a better job coaching the team so we can get another point or 2 points. We’ve got to do a better job.”
If misery loves company, then Wilcox and his Bears can take solace that they’re not alone in that they’re not the only ACC team that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory this weekend. Florida State, whose only win came against Cal, found a way to lose to Duke for the first time ever on Friday despite outgaining the Blue Devils 291-180.
Defining the thin line between good and bad, winning and losing is only 1 of the things we learned about the ACC in Week 8.
Here are some of the other big takeaways:
NC State’s new offensive catalyst
No, we’re not talking about CJ Bailey, although the freshman quarterback continued to show growth and signs of his unlimited potential by rallying the Wolfpack from a 13-point, 4th-quarter deficit to victory at Cal on Saturday. And it’s not star receiver KC Concepcion, even though he continues to find ways to contribute, including a rushing touchdown and a completed pass. Or sure-handed tight end Justin Joly, who caught 4 passes for 95 yards.
The offensive playmaker with the ability to make the biggest impact on State’s effort to finish strong and salvage its season is running back Hollywood Smothers. The transfer from Oklahoma has the skill set to match his nickname and be a threat to take it to the house on each touch.
https://twitter.com/theACCDN/status/1847792500188041447
He was a difference-maker against the Bears, despite getting only 13 touches in the game. Seven runs and 6 receptions. Two of those catches were front-and-center in the Wolfpack’s winning comeback. A 28-yard reception on a trick play from Concepcion set up the 1st touchdown. He then accounted for the winning score himself by turning a 3rd-and-7 screen pass into a 41-yard sprint down the far sideline to the end zone.
Smothers’ role in both the running and passing game has already increased since returning from a 2-game injury absence. And it only promises to grow after Saturday’s performance.
Hokies are hitting their stride
We’re all aware of the impact that controversial reversed call in Miami 3 weeks ago had on the Hurricanes’ ACC championship and College Football Playoff chances. That’s only distracted us from its repercussions on the other team involved.
We all wrote Virginia Tech off after its early losses to Vanderbilt and Rutgers. But those were both nonconference games. Had Kryon Drones’ last-play Hail Mary remained a game-winning touchdown, as it was originally ruled on the field, the Hokies – not Miami – would be in the driver’s seat for a trip to the conference championship game.
That’s become particularly important now that Brent Pry’s team has finally begun playing up to its lofty preseason expectations. Since the Miami game, Tech has outscored its 2 opponents by a 73-28 margin. That includes a 42-21 blowout of Boston College on Thursday in which all its stars shined brightly.
Drones completed 14-of-18 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 2 scores. Running back Bhayshul Tuten ran for 266 yards, breaking Darren Evans’ single-game school record, while accounting for 4 scores – 3 on the ground and 1 through the air while on defense, edge rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland recorded 4 sacks to tie his own school mark and increase his ACC lead.
With a date against Clemson in Blacksburg coming up in 2 weeks, there’s still a chance for the Hokies to play their way back into the race for the top 2 spots in the conference. But even with a win, they’ll still need some help to get to Charlotte on Dec. 7.
Florida State’s quarterback situation is an absolute mess
DJ Uiagalelei was awful and was well on the way to being benched before a hand injury saved coach Mike Norvell from the trouble of sitting him down. But his replacement Brock Glenn has been just as bad.
If not worse.
Yes, he showed flashes of promise during the 2nd half of his first start against Clemson 3 weeks ago and Friday night against Duke. But in between, he’s been just as erratic and mistake-prone as his predecessor.
In one disastrous sequence midway through the first half against the Blue Devils, Glenn committed 3 turnovers on 3 consecutive offensive snaps – a pick-6, a fumble and another interception that resulted in 17 Duke points. Things got so bad that Norvell ended up pulling him in favor of true freshman Luke Kromenhoek.
Kromenhoek answered the call. But he was clearly unprepared and Norvell went back to Glenn in the 2nd half. He finished 9-of-19 for 110 yards and didn’t get his team into the end zone. FSU’s only touchdown came on a 95-yard return of the second half kickoff.
If there’s a bright side to the Seminoles’ dark quarterback situation, it’s that it’s helping Norvell decide on what he’ll have to do this offseason to avoid a repeat performance. If Glenn isn’t the guy moving forward and Kromenhoek doesn’t impress in the 3 games he has left before losing his redshirt, Norvell will have to try his luck with the portal again.
And hope he doesn’t whiff as badly as he did with DJU.
Not-so-friendly reunion at Death Valley
Dabo Swinney was Tony Elliott’s position coach when he was a player at Clemson. He went to become Swinney’s offensive coordinator and a trusted friend who helped him get his current job at Virginia. While Saturday’s game between their teams at Death Valley was a bit uncomfortable for both, their reunion was cordial.
Punctuated by a pregame hug.
Their players also had a “moment” during the game. Only it wasn’t nearly as cordial. Early in the fourth quarter of the Tigers’ 48-31 victory, UVa defensive end Ben Smiley III was ejected for a “flagrant personal foul” resulting from an altercation that led to players from both teams leaving the sidelines and congregating on the field before order was restored.
Kick to the helmet isn’t an ejection? pic.twitter.com/anxmojAZda
— Matt Anderson (@Matt_Anderson34) October 19, 2024
Smiley was flagged for going after Clemson offensive lineman Tristan Leigh at the end of a play. It’s likely that his aggression was an attempt at sticking up for teammate Bryce Carter for an earlier incident. Replays posted on social media showed Leigh doing his best Christian Laettner impression on Carter’s helmet while Carter was down on the ground.
Leigh wasn’t penalized for the foot stomp. But you can bet the video will be sent to the ACC office for further review.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
