Fan's Weekend Guide - Week Fifteen

The Conference Title is on the Line Part I…
Ball St. Versus Buffalo (December 5, 8:00, ESPN2): Winners of the West Division, the Cardinals completed a perfect regular season last week and now they look to finish the job by winning their first MAC title since 1996. Standing in their way at Ford Field will be the East Division Champion Bills, who are looking to claim their first ever MAC Championship. Leading Ball St. is strong-armed signal caller Nate Davis (3,095 yards, 25 touchdowns, six interceptions), while MiQuale Lewis (1,570 yards, 20 touchdowns) has made the Cardinals’ offense more balanced this season. Buffalo counters with the combination of Drew Willy (2,885 yards, 22 touchdowns, five interceptions) and James Starks (1,226 yards, 14 touchdowns).

The Conference Title is on the Line Part II…
East Carolina Versus Tulsa (December 6, 12:00, ESPN2): Tulsa has the most balanced offense in Conference USA behind David Johnson (3,671 yards, 42 touchdowns, 13 interceptions) and Tarrion Adams (1,196 yards, nine touchdowns). ECU has the best defense in the conference led by defensive end C.J. Wilson who topped C-USA with 17 tackles for loss, nine of which were sacks.

The Conference Title is on the Line Part III…
Boston College Versus Virginia Tech (December 6, 1:00, ABC): Can you say rematch? A year ago Virginia Tech avenged their regular season loss by taking the ACC Championship – can they do it again? If you haven’t seen these schools play this year, they are far different teams. Matt Ryan has moved on to the NFL and the Hokies lost six of their top nine tacklers from a year ago. Impact freshmen include BC’s Dominique Davis (two touchdown passes in first start to clinch Atlantic Division), Montel Harris (798 yards) and Josh Haden (439 yards). Darren Evans (998 yards) leads Tech in rushing, Jarrett Boykin (407 yards) in receiving.

The Conference Title is on the Line Part IV… Oklahoma Plays Missouri (December 6, 8:00, ABC): There is no debating this – the winner of this game will be the Big 12 Conference Champ and if it’s the Sooners, they will advance to play the SEC Champ in the BCS Championship game. The Oklahoma offense has been nearly unstoppable. Whether it’s Sam Bradford (4,080 yards, 46 touchdowns, six interceptions) connecting with tight end Jermaine Gresham (50 receptions, 806 yards, 12 touchdowns) or handing off to one of his stellar backs – DeMarco Murray (1,002, 14 touchdowns) or Chris Brown (988, 17 touchdowns) – it’s a “pick your poison” scenario for the opposition. Mizzou has defenders in William Moore, Sean Weatherspoon and Ziggy Hood, but their best defense will be a good offense. Chase Daniel is completing a career high 75.1 percent of his passes, with his 34 touchdown passes also setting a new mark. He will look for wide out Jeremy Maclin (88 receptions, 1,175 yards, 11 touchdowns) and tight end Chase Coffman (79 receptions, 872 yards, nine touchdowns) to help him keep the Sooners’ offense off the field.

CFI RANKINGS: #25 VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES

2007 RECORD: 11-3; ACC: 7-1
Lost Orange Bowl vs. Kansas 24-21
LOCATION: Blacksburg, Virginia
STADIUM: Lane Stadium (66,233)
HEAD COACH: Frank Beamer
OVERALL: 209-108-4 (27 seasons)
AT TECH: 167-85-2 (21 seasons)

The Hokies are coming off a second ACC Title in four years since joining the conference—winning 42 games during that span. They have averaged 10 wins over the last nine years…so why does the 15th ranked team in the Coaches Poll barely crack our rankings? Tech had 11 players invited to the NFL Scouting Combine in March (only USC had more with 12) and eight of those players were drafted. That is a lot of talent to lose.

WHEN THE HOKIES HAVE THE BALL

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Bryan Stinespring (7th Season/16th at Tech)
OFFENSIVE STARTERS RETURNING: 6
KEY LOSSES: Duane Brown, Eddie Royal, Josh Morgan, Justin Harper, Branden Ore (TRAN), Josh Hyman, Brandon Dillard (INJ)

Do they have two quarterbacks or no quarterback? That is the question. If Sean Glennon looked mediocre last year, how can he be expected to improve now that his top four pass catchers have used up their eligibility? He had three receivers good enough to get drafted, yet none of the trio reached even 50 receptions or 700 receiving yards. Super soph Tyrod Taylor is the heir apparent, but is he ready for fulltime duty? In addition to the losses at receiver, the Hokies must replace Branden Ore who was “asked to the leave the team” after leading them in rushing the past two seasons. On the line, they return four starters including tackle Ed Wang and guard Sergio Render. They should be better than the group that allowed 53 sacks last season, although left tackle Duane Brown, who was a first round selection by the Houston Texans, must be replaced.

TOP PROSPECTS: 1) OT Ed Wang (JR), 2) OT Sergio Render (JR)

WHEN THE OTHER TEAM HAS THE BALL

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Bud Foster (14th Season/22nd at Tech)
DEFENSIVE STARTERS RETURNING: 4
KEY LOSSES: Brandon Flowers, Xavier Adibi, Vince Hall. Chris Ellis, Carlton Powell, DJ Parker, Barry Booker

Despite the loss of second round pick Brandon Flowers, the Tech secondary should be just fine. In Victor “Macho” Harris and Kam Chancellor they have arguably the top corner and safety in the ACC. Harris, who put his name into the NFL Draft before deciding to return, is a playmaker who makes opposing quarterbacks look elsewhere when seeking an open receiver. Chancellor is a 6-3, 225-pound speedster and big things are expected from him as he moves from Rover to free safety. There could be problems with the front seven where only the Martin boys return—Orion at defensive end and Cam at outside linebacker. Do they have enough talent to make up for all the losses?

TOP PROSPECTS: 1) CB Macho Harris (SR), 2) FS Kam Chancellor (JR)

THE SCHEDULE

The Hokies start out with three straight at home and close with three of their last four in Blacksburg, but in between must play four of five away from home. Tech travels to Miami, Tallahassee and Chapel Hill, and while the ‘Noles and ‘Canes are marquee names, put a circle around their trip to Carolina—the Heels are the sleeper in the Coastal Division. Out of conference they make a trip to Lincoln, which is never easy. Overall, the schedule should help keep the Hokies ranked—none of their opponents are in the preseason Coaches Poll and they will avoid ACC favorite Clemson…unless they meet in the conference championship game.

PIVOTAL POINT

The Offensive Line: Tech must reestablish their running game and supply better protection for their quarterback—those 53 sacks were the third most in the nation. Wang makes the move to left tackle and the former tight end has the athleticism to protect the blind side, and Render gives them some powerful run blocking at right guard. Red-shirt freshman RT Blake DeChristopher could be a good one. The line needs to stay healthy and play better as a unit.

CFI FINAL ANALYSIS

Based on what they have coming back, the Hokies are a borderline ranked team. They have earned some benefit of the doubt, however, with their success under Coach Beamer and the stellar defense Bud Foster puts on the field, year-after-year. Tech will compete for the ACC Title and is the team to beat in the Coastal Division. This has as much to do with the sorry state of the ACC as anything else. The schedule is set up nicely and no one would be surprised if by the end of the season, Tech is among the top teams in the nation.

Va. Tech embraces opportunity; Virginia sees it as another game

By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Virginia coach Al Groh was meeting with the media Tuesday, talking about the No. 16 Cavaliers' game against No. 8 Virginia Tech, when two students who looked like they'd been in a rousing Cheetos fight walked in with an envelope.

``Hi, fellas,'' Groh said cheerily, taking the envelope from the orange-painted students and reading an appeal that Cavaliers fans wear orange for the big game.

Groh and his captains also penned a letter to the school newspaper making a similar request. But amid their own efforts and much other hype for the game, the coach and the Cavaliers tried all week to insist they can't afford to consider its magnitude.

``Obviously it's the biggest game of the year,'' tight end Tom Santi said with a wry smile, ``because it's the only one we have this week. We're excited about it.''

The Hokies, meanwhile, take an entirely different approach, even celebrating the fact that an improved Virginia program could give them a stiff test after Virginia Tech has dominated the series in recent years.

``That's the whole point of having an in-state rivalry,'' Hokies linebacker Vince Hall said. ``The whole rivalry thing doesn't really go good if only one team wins the whole time and the other team's not winning.''

The Hokies have won three in a row in the series and seven of the last eight. But the rivals are playing for much more than bragging rights. The winner moves on to face Boston College for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and a BCS bowl berth.

The Cavaliers still insist that the game has no special meaning.

``We're not even thinking about what's at stake,'' right guard Ian-Yates Cunningham said. ``We're just thinking about winning a game. It's just one extra game. It was on our schedule at the beginning of the season.''

Groh noted that coaches and players aren't the ones who tailgate and cheer.

``We're the ones who play, and ... this is a different event for the participants than the other people. ... Everybody's got a role to play, and ours is to prepare to play and to play well, so if something helps us, then we embrace it,'' he said. ``If it doesn't, then we try to keep it at arm's length.''

Virginia Tech was an overwhelming favorite to win the ACC's Coastal Division and has three straight victories to put it in position to do so after a stunning loss to Boston College. In that game, the Eagles scored two touchdowns in the final 2:11 to win 14-10.

Now the Hokies can force a rematch with Boston College.

``We've been talking about it since (a 27-3 victory against) Georgia Tech,'' Hokies left tackle Duane Brown said. ``Since that game, we've gone out and practiced our tails off, went out and executed and now we're at this point. Our last game of the season, our in-state rival. It doesn't get any better than this, really.''

Source: ncaafootball; Photo Credit: Virginia Tech Athletics Communications

CFI: DEFENDING ACC CHAMP STILL IN THE MIX

BY ARTHUR DiCESARE
ACC ATLANTIC INSIDER

After Wake Forest’s dream season last year, which saw them win their first ACC championship since 1970 (second overall) and earn the schools first BCS birth, this season began slowly at 0-2. After getting starting quarterback and one of last year’s heroes Riley Skinner back after an early season injury, they have rattled off six straight wins. Wake currently sits in second place in the Atlantic division at 4-1, behind Boston College who beat Wake the first week of the season.

Wake Forest, who is ranked for the first time this season at No. 21, would need help to be able to defend their conference championship. Either way, Wake has proved that last year was no fluke. The Deacons have shown character and the ability to shake defeat and continue to play winning football.

This week, Wake travels to Charlottesville, Virginia to take on the 23rd ranked and ACC Costal division leaders. If Wake wants to hang around in the ACC race they will have to prove themselves over the next couple of weeks on the road: this week at Virginia, and then next week at No. 25 Clemson. This might cause the Deacons a problem considering Wake has not had a notable road game since their week one lose at Boston College.

"We felt that way for a while now,” head coach Jim Grobe said of his schedule. “We know that our schedule for this whole season was going to be a tough one. We felt like Maryland was tough. They were healthy back when we played them; I think they're a little beat up right now. Florida State, Navy, North Carolina. It's just a brutal stretch and we've got four really tough ones left."

Wake has been lead offensively by versatile senior wideout Kenneth Moore, a converted running back and the best kept secret on offense in the ACC. Moore is on pace for 900-plus receiving yards, 350-plus yards rushing and 10-plus touchdowns. Moore, who also returns punts and kicks, is a dangerous player when the ball is in his hands; he is blessed with great open field moves and tremendous vision. Moore plays better against quality opponents as well. Case in point, his 15 catches and a touchdown against BC and touchdowns against Nebraska and Florida State.

Regardless of the difficult schedule Grobe has proven under his guidance Wake Forest has staying power in the ACC. Wake probably doesn’t have enough to make a repeat trip to Jacksonville but with 60 percent of Wake’s rosters consisting of freshman and sophomores, another trip could be in line shortly.

PHOTO CREDIT: Gene Galil; LINK: accfootballphotos.com