Melina Vastola – USPRESSWIRE
Two weeks down, fourteen to go. The college football landscape is off to a raucous start. Here’s a smattering of what we learned about ACC football in Week 2.
1. Nothing to see here. The top three teams in the ACC — Florida State, Virginia Tech, Clemson — won by a combined score of 154-34 over the trio of Savannah State-Austin Peay-Ball State. Considering that FSU played with a running clock in the second half and Clemson was once again without the talents of suspended WR Sammy Watkins, things could have been even uglier.
2. Georgia Tech responds in a loud way. An opening week loss at Virginia Tech was heartbreaking, but these Yellow Jackets found a quick and simple way to get over: 712 yards. That’s how much offense they racked up on the over matched Presbyterian squad on Saturday.
3. Virginia would rather be lucky than good. The 17-16 win over Penn State was one of the most exciting games of the early slate on Saturday. While the Cavaliers didn’t play a great game against a mediocre Penn State team, they rode four missed Nittany Lion field goals to a victory.
4. N.C. State is 1-1, but hasn’t played a good game yet. The Wolfpack probably should be 2-0 with losses against SEC and Big East opponents. Their offense was inconsistent, only tallying 10 points on the road Saturday. If not for an inexperience and sloppy UConn team, things would be getting hairy in N.C. State.
5. Wake Forest bounced back. These Demon Deacons are making believers out of the “a win is a win” mentality after winning their ACC opener against North Carolina. A week after struggling with Liberty, Wake outscored the high flying Larry Fedora attack.
6. Miami was physically dominated by a legitimate Top 25 team in Kansas State. Considering the kind of offensive effort that Boston College put on them in Week 1, Miami’s defense has to be worried about their ability to stop anyone at this point.
7. Duke must find balance. Throwing the ball around the field is fun, but only four rushing yards in the first half is an easy way to tire out a defense, become one dimensional, and get blown out in a road game.
8. Boston College and Maryland were able to beat Maine and Temple, respectively, but not many fans feel better about their chances moving forward. While BC did win convincingly, Maryland escaped Temple with their first W.
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Joe Giglio is the ACC and Big East football writer for Rant Sports. You can follow him on Twitter or check out his Facebook page.
