The good, the bad and the ugly
The good: Basketball season starts in less than two months. That’s what the ACC has to hang its hat on now with N.C. State losing to Akron and Virginia and Florida State narrowly escaping teams that shouldn’t have been on the same field with them, this football season is officially a bust for the ACC after just two weeks.
We should give a couple of teams credit. I’m not sure what to make of Virginia Tech yet, but it’s managed to thrash both of its opponents so far, one on the road. There are still questions to be answered about the Hokies, but they’re undefeated through two games. That’s more than some teams can say.
Boston College probably also deserves a hand for surviving Clemson in double overtime. The Eagles even had to rally late in the game to send things to overtime. Nice job by BC.
Still, ACC fans may want to mark Tuesday, Nov. 7 on their calendar. That’s when Hampton visits Maryland and the ACC basketball season gets under way. It can’t get here soon enough.
The bad: Many moons ago, Virginia was ranked No. 1 in the country, albeit for a very short time. But that was back in the days of George Welsh. Everyone expected even bigger and better things when Al Groh took over. So his quote after Saturday’s game was a little confounding.
“That game right there is the kind of game we’ve been trying to get here for six years.”
He was speaking of his team’s defensive effort, although it is still a strange statement. Beating a lower-level Mountain West Conference team by a single-point in overtime on your home field is what Al Groh has been trying to do all these years? Then I guess congratulations are in order, although the Virginia fans probably will disagree.
And then there was this quote. This is when you know your program is in trouble. Groh was asked about the extra point that Wyoming missed in overtime to give UVa. the victory.
“I was lucky enough to be part of a team to win the Super Bowl on a kick (XXV as an assistant with the Giants) on the last play of the game that went wide right,” Groh said. “This one felt almost as good.”
Wow. Virginia fans must be thrilled. Beating Wyoming feels as good to Groh as winning a Super Bowl.
There’s work to be done in Charlottesville. And lots of it.
The ugly: At least Virginia won. The same can’t be said for NC State.
“Our kids are hurting,” Chuck Amato said after losing to Akron 20-17 on a last second touchdown. “But you know what? I think we have a good football team, I really do.”
He’s the only one. It has been a roller-coaster ride in Raleigh since arrived. State has won some very big games, but losses to teams like Akron continue to keep the Wolfpack from any kind of national recognition. Probably most disappointing for Amato was that the defense let the Wolfpack down against Akron. SI’s Stewart Mandel wrote that Amato is the worst college football coach in the nation. He didn’t do anything to disprove that Saturday.
- Patrick Hite