A look around the ACC

RamblinWreck92

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I don't think Fuente is gone next year- buyout will be at ~12 mil. VPI are cheap boosters too.
so they're in the same spot as the Lamecocks. I think it'd cost something like $18 mill to buyout Muschump. 2 peas in a pod, 2 avg-at-best teams swirling the toilet.
 

pandajacket

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Did you watch the game Saturday? We struggled with the greatness that is South Florida. We'd struggle against Old Dominion. We will struggle in every game left on our schedule. Besides not having enough good athletes, we are making bonehead decisions, penalties, turnovers, did you see the field goal? We are also racking up injuries already. I am suggesting that the coaching staff has spent more time scouting and recruiting future players than they have on evaluating the players and their skill sets that are currently playing. I am not criticizing that strategy--it might be the right way to go right now. You can't coach a guy who is at 265 up to 325. You are not going to make Tobias Oliver into a Joe Hamilton.
Is a team allowed to get better as the season goes on or do we have to stay stagnant?
 

18in32

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Is a team allowed to get better as the season goes on or do we have to stay stagnant?
Yeah, some of the posts ITT make me wonder where the fans have gone. I mean, if you let past results and computer predictions determine the season, there'd really be no point to playing the games. You know, the fun part.

Right now I'd say only UVA looks 'out of our league' in the Coastal, and of course we don't play them till Nov. 9, so who knows what these teams will look like then.
 

00Burdell

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I'll say this much about how I think we line up with our conference brethren.

A really good defense and solid kicking game can keep you in a lot more games than a really good offense. We have shown in only two games that we know how to stop other teams, get turnovers and pin folks deep into their own territory. We will win 3 or 4 games this year just on that. So add that to the 3 or so we were already going to win and we are at 7 wins. I'm cool with that.
 

gtrower

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I don't think Fuente is gone next year- buyout will be at ~12 mil. VPI are cheap boosters too.
Hopefully not. Perfect scenario is they'll continue to win enough games through OOC scheduling that would make even Saban blush to keep him around. Because Fuente is our punching bag right now. He's 26-16 there which sounds pretty good until you consider that he's only 18-15 against P5 opponents and 2-6 against Top 20 teams (2 wins being #17 UNC in 2016 who finished 8-5 and #19 FSU in 2018 who finished 5-7).

They're losing fans left and right though. So maybe he does get blamed. Lost their hold on the 757 recruiting. About to sign the worst class in P5 for the 2020 cycle. Completely lost their home field advantage at Lane. Lost their sellout streak. And scheduling is probably a big component of that. Look at their home schedule this year.

UNC
Pitt
Duke
Wake Forest
ODU
Rhode Island
Furman

Can you imagine the uproar if that was our season ticket package? Dear lord. Wouldn't be able to sell it for more than $100.
 
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gtrower

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I'll say this much about how I think we line up with our conference brethren.

A really good defense and solid kicking game can keep you in a lot more games than a really good offense. We have shown in only two games that we know how to stop other teams, get turnovers and pin folks deep into their own territory. We will win 3 or 4 games this year just on that. So add that to the 3 or so we were already going to win and we are at 7 wins. I'm cool with that.
I'm thinking along the same lines. Our offense is the worst in the ACC right now and that will likely continue, but I'm not sure our defense won't be in the Top 4/5 by Week 6 when it starts to really matter. Couple that with a ST unit that should also be Top 4/5 and you might end up with a near middle of the pack overall team. If we beat Citadel/Temple we just need to finish 3-4 in conference to get to a bowl. Pitt/VT/Duke look very beatable for us right now. And Miami/UNC are no powerhouses. UVA/NCSU are the only two games I'd pencil in as Ls right now - and even they are teams we could hang with if a few plays go our way.
 

00Burdell

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Not sure why everybody is penciling a W for Temple. Temple is favored to beat Maryland who just did to Syracuse what Bevo was about to do to uga until they pulled him back.

I may go to the Temple game - but I'm not sure I like our chances.
 

Deke

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Look at their home schedule this year.

UNC
Pitt
Duke
Wake Forest
ODU
Rhode Island
Furman
Woof

Not sure why everybody is penciling a W for Temple. Temple is favored to beat Maryland who just did to Syracuse what Bevo was about to do to uga until they pulled him back.

I may go to the Temple game - but I'm not sure I like our chances.
Temple isn't favored to win. They just aren't favored to lose by that much (Maryland -6.5). Your point still stands though. They do appear to be a quality team that could certainly give us trouble.

Sidenote: I just realized that Maryland's QB, Josh Jackson, is the same Josh Jackson that played at Virginia Tech a few years back.
 
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77GTFan

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We should beat The Citadel. After that there is one game we have no business winning against Georgia. There are eight other games that while we may not be favored to win, we have a fighting chance to come out on top. From the easiest, in my opinion, to the hardest, those eight games are: Pitt, Temple, Duke, Virginia Tech, NC State, UNC, Miami and Virginia. This team can end up anywhere from 2-10 to 10-2. Five to seven wins is the most likely outcome.
 

johncu

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Honestly, the ACC is pretty rough right now, and Clemson's dominance makes the rest of the league look even worse. UVA may be the only other Top 25 caliber team in the bunch, and I'm not even fully sold on them yet. I think making a bowl is a pretty reasonable and attainable goal this year.
 

ramblin57

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I'm wondering if we may not see 1 to 3 kids from cgcs scout team bunch that may wind-up contributing before the year is out, enough so for us to eke out 2 to 3 conference wins. That's just my guess as to the best we can do, but if we could win Citadel and Temple that might get us in a bowl game. Nice to go to a bowl game but don't think it's necessary this year for turning our program around, might be more important for the coaches spending that time recruiting.
 

Yukonwreck

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Honestly, the ACC is pretty rough right now, and Clemson's dominance makes the rest of the league look even worse. UVA may be the only other Top 25 caliber team in the bunch, and I'm not even fully sold on them yet. I think making a bowl is a pretty reasonable and attainable goal this year.
Making a bowl game has certain advantages, not the least of which is more practice time and preparation for next season. However, if we didn't get bowl eligible this year, our recruiting machine would roll on without the distraction of bowl prep. That might be a better situation for us heading into 2020. Say goodbye to those departing after the 2019 season, and work on signing the next edition.
 

gtrower

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Honestly, the ACC is pretty rough right now, and Clemson's dominance makes the rest of the league look even worse. UVA may be the only other Top 25 caliber team in the bunch, and I'm not even fully sold on them yet. I think making a bowl is a pretty reasonable and attainable goal this year.
ACC ripping through the OOC schedule like butter and you’re still drinking the SECSPN koolaid.
 

johncu

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ACC ripping through the OOC schedule like butter and you’re still drinking the SECSPN koolaid.
I'll back off what I said a little bit. The ACC is decent across the board in the sense that there are really no awful teams, but there is no clear Top 25 challenger to Clemson. There are a few teams that you could make an argument for 2nd best, but IMO they're all borderline Top 25, rather than borderline Top 10. Am I forgetting someone? UVA looks to be the best team in the Coastal, but we beat them last year without even playing well so I see no reason to be afraid this year.
 

FullMetalBuzz

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ACC ripping through the OOC schedule like butter and you’re still drinking the SECSPN koolaid.
Was that sarcastic? UNC has a good win against USCe, but otherwise it’s been very much wheel of destiny stuff. Tech barely beat South Florida and FSU was taken to overtime by Louisiana-Monroe. Syracuse was beaten up and left for dead in an alley by Maryland. Alabama rolled over Duke.
 

gtrower

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Was that sarcastic? UNC has a good win against USCe, but otherwise it’s been very much wheel of destiny stuff. Tech barely beat South Florida and FSU was taken to overtime by Louisiana-Monroe. Syracuse was beaten up and left for dead in an alley by Maryland. Alabama rolled over Duke.
ACC has 5 OOC losses right now. Those losses are to Bama (2), Notre Dame (7), Florida (9), Maryland (21), and Boise State (22).

Tennessee lost to BYU
Tennessee lost to Georgia State
Ole Miss lost to Memphis
Missouri lost to Wyoming

MSU had to hold off Louisianna
Arkansas had to hold off Portland St
Auburn was up 1 score on Tulane entering the 4Q
Top 10 Florida needed to Miami to implode to beat them

USCe lost to UNC
Vandy lost to Purdue

What you're forgetting is Clemson just ragdolled Bama 8 months ago. Yeah Clemson is way ahead of the rest of the ACC, but they're also way ahead of the whole country right now. UNC looked better against Miami than Florida did. Yet UF is Top 10 and UNC is an afterthought. The only thing separating the two teams right now is preseason marketing.
 
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