We are now through Week 4 of the college football season. The Atlantic Coast Conference had a few upsets this weekend. Lets recap the football week in the ACC and see who earned my player of the week honors.
Samford (2-2) 3-45 Louisville (1-3): The Cardinals finally got their first victory this season. Head Coach Bobby Petrino has also decided on who will be the staring quarterback. Freshman Lamar Jackson broke a school record for rushing yards by a QB with 184 yards. He also ran for two touchdowns and threw for one more. It may have been Samford, but Louisville will take any win they can get. The Cardinals finished the game with over 500 yards of offense and limited their opponent to just 200. Jackson will need to get back to work right away, as Louisville will travel to North Carolina State this Saturday.
Northern Illinois (2-2) 14-17 Boston College (3-1): The Golden Eagles played their first game without starting quarterback Darius Wade, and they barely escaped. Troy Flutie, the nephew of 1984 Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie, helped lead his team to a close victory over Northern Illinois. Boston College only managed 92 yards of passing in the air and relied heavily on their running game. Up next is a trip to Duke. Steve Addazio will need an amazing effort by his defense to stand a chance in the ACC this season.
Virginia Tech (2-2) 28-35 East Carolina (2-2): The Hokies lost to East Carolina for the second season in a row. Virginia Tech looked like they were going to win easily after jumping out to a 14-0 lead. Unfortunately they allowed the Pirates to come back and score 28 unanswered points. Frank Beamer and his team made a valiant effort to get back in the game, but fell just short. The defense was absolutely horrible. East Carolina backup quarterback James Summers, came in and torched the Hokies for over 250 yards of total offense and accounted for three touchdowns. Brenden Motley played very well and seems to get more and more comfortable under center each week. Motley had over 300 total yards of offense, ran for a score, and threw for another.
Indiana (4-0) 31-24 Wake Forest (2-2) The Demon Deacons played Indiana without starting quarterback John Wofford. The sophomore missed his first start ever under center since he has arrived at school. Backup quarterback Kendall Hinton was given the nod and played well. The true freshman threw the ball 46 times and had over 300 yards of total offense. He also ran for two touchdowns and passed for another. Wake Forest didn't get clicking on offense until late in the fourth. They will need to play with more consistency next week against FSU.
Delaware (1-3) 14-41 North Carolina (3-1): The Tar Heels handled their business against lowly Delaware, but not without a little controversy. After only being up 13-7 at half, head coach Larry Fedora decided to bench starting quarterback Marquise Williams in favor of backup Mitch Trubisky. Fedora did not like the way the offense was executing with Williams in the game and that's why he was benched. Trubisky came in and went 17-20 for 312 yards and 4 touchdowns. Not bad for 2 quarters of work. Fedora has already came out and said that Williams will remain the starter, but we will see about that next week when they travel to Georgia Tech.
No. 20 Georgia Tech 20-34 Duke (3-1): This game was proof that preseason rankings don't mean a thing. Georgia Tech came into this matchup heavy favorites, but never stood a chance. Duke was in control most of the game and sent Paul Johnson and his Yellow Jackets to their second straight loss. The Blue Devils didn't do anything too impressive, but played good enough to win. Georgia Tech hurt themselves by fumbling the ball four times, and were lucky to lose it only once. The coastal division looks as wide open as ever.
No. 8 LSU (3-0) 34-24 Syracuse (3-1): What more could Syracuse fans ask for? LSU was expected to blow the doors off and win the game with no problems at all. However the Orangemen were only down one score early in the fourth quarter. Syracuse had to trot out former walk-on Zach Mahoney and were able to hang around for most of the game. Mahoney threw for three scores on the day and played fairly well for all things considered. Syracuse will have a tough time putting up points this season, but they are much improved. Six or seven wins is my projection for Scott Shafer and his team.
Boise State (3-1) 56-14 Virginia (1-3): This game was over from the start. Within 17 minutes Boise State was up 17-0. Since their heartbreaking loss to Notre Dame, Mike London and his team have not been impressive. The Cavaliers finished the game with a total of five turnovers. London's seat is getting hotter and hotter as each week passes. The Bye week could not have come at a better time for Virginia.
North Carolina State (4-0) 63-13 South Alabama (2-2): North Carolina did exactly would they should have done. They are undefeated on the season and will get somewhat of a test when they face Louisville this weekend. The Wolfpack have played less inferior teams to start the year. North Carolina State was clicking on ally cylinders in this game and racked up over 500 yards of offense. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett threw for over 200 yards and two touchdowns. They also had two players rush over 100 yards each. If North Carolina State ever wanted to win the ACC this years seems like the one to do it.
Most Impressive ACC Win: Duke over Georgia Tech: As I said above Georgia Tech came into this game heavy favorites. They also were the preseason favorite to run away with the coastal division. Paul Johnson and his squad are failing to live up to all the hype. David Cutcliffe is one heck of a coach, and he has turned the Blue Devils into a very competitive team. Duke avoids Clemson and Florida State this season on their schedule and could be the new favorite in their division.
Least Impressive ACC Team: Tie between Virginia and Virginia Tech: Virginia looked like they didn't want to play football and Virginia Tech looked like a team that forgot how to defend a running quarterback. I wanted to choose just one team, but it was too difficult. Virginia was picked by some analyst during the week to pull off the upset over Boise State. The Hokies had a double digit lead and gave it away. Frank Beamer and his staff have suffered a lot of adversity this season and we are only four games in. The Cavaliers look like they will be competing for the worse team in the conference and Virginia Tech seems to be on its way to another 7, maybe 8 win year.
MY ACC Player of the Week: Duke Safety Jeremy Cash: It isn't the sexiest pick in the world, but if you go back and watch that game, Cash played a big part in containing Georgia Tech's offense. The safety finished Saturday with 12 tackles, 3 for loss, one sack, and two forced fumbles. Not a bad day at the office at all.