Week 12 was one of those watershed moments for the ACC. In order to maintain a high profile, the conference as a whole needed to move forward with its eyes firmly on getting two teams into the lucrative New Year’s Six bowl games. Their prize fighter, Florida State, continued to find some second half magic and remain undefeated. Meanwhile the poster boy for everything orange, Clemson, laid an egg at the door of the Yellow Jackets. Duke learned a valuable lesson about wounded Hokies and NC State has six wins and is bowl eligible. Let’s take a look at what transpired in week 12 to get us to this conclusion.
ACC Week 12 Analysis
Game Of The Week:
Florida State 30, Miami 26
Florida State reminds me of the champion prize fighter who continues to find ways to win. The challenger, pick a team, this week it was Miami, throws some of their best punches and yet come the second half, it’s counter punch time for the champ. Six times in 2014, Florida State has been behind at the break, and yet makes terrific adjustments, and opportunistic plays to defeat the foe. Miami was one missed P.A.T. and a missed field goal away from at least a tie. The Seminoles forced mistakes and the Hurricanes just couldn’t put points up on the board in the second half. Quarterback Brad Kaaya actually had a brilliant first half throwing for 240 yards and accentuating the middle of the field as his playground. In the second half it was a much different affair as Kaaya added only 76 yards through the air and no scores to his repertoire.
That is what gave Jamies Winston another window of opportunity and he made good, scoring the go ahead score with just minutes remaining. That was the first lead of the game for the Seminoles and they clamped down on the Hurricanes and finished off with the victory. You realize of course that this kind of mentality can’t continue. The playoff contenders will be much tougher and more resilient, and Winston and company will have their hands full. Duke Johnson continued to amaze, amassing another 130 yards from 27 carries to pass the century mark six weeks in a row. Dalvin Cook had even gaudier numbers with two touchdowns on seven carries for 92 yards, as the Seminoles proved the theory that each game is 60 minutes and nothing is final until that last whistle blows. This keeps FSU in the conversation for a top four spot and relegates Miami to a mid tier bowl game.
Georgia Tech 28, Clemson 6
It was not a good day to be a Clemson fan. The Tigers were primed to take down the Yellow Jackets and were rolling along in the first quarter, when Deshaun Watson went down. Never have I seen a team sag so bad after an injury to a player, however important. Cole Stoudt was a perfect three and three, meaning three completions and three terrible interceptions. Georgia Tech scored two long touchdowns off interceptions and shut down the Clemson offense to virtually nothing.
Clemson accumulated a meager 190 yards from its high powered offense. The Tigers defense did their part holding the Yellow Jackets to a measly 14 points and a total of 354 yards. Quarterback Justin Thomas was efficient on 8-11 passing for 102 yards and did just enough to keep the Tigers anemic offense off of the field. The final conclusion is that Clemson will not be playing in a major New Year’s Bowl, and must win out just to get into the mid-tier conversation. However nothing but good news for the Ramblin’ Wreck as they could go as high as the Orange Bowl and are primed to capture the Coastal Division with a date in Charlotte against the vaunted Seminoles. Two weeks ago it looked like Duke was in prime position, but we’ll discuss the Blue Devils next.
Virginia Tech 17, Duke 16
Duke needed to run the table to stay relevant in the ACC Coastal. The fact that they were playing a waning Virginia Tech squad that was an unimpressive 1-4 in conference play, didn’t stop the fact that the Hokies are still a formidable team. It might be said that Duke gave this game away as their three turnovers accounted for all of the Hokie points. Michael Brewer provided two touchdown passes, one in the fourth quarter in an otherwise pretty average day.
Once again Bud Foster created a little magic on defense intercepting two and forcing Anthony Boone into several bad decisions. It was a close contest from the start, but came down to two key possessions for the Blue Devils in the closing minutes. A missed 40-yard field goal and an intentional grounding closed out the affair at Wallace Wade Stadium and coupled with the Georgia Tech victory forces Duke to win out and create a tie for the Coastal Division. This week’s Thursday night game with North Carolina now becomes the culmination of a whole season rounded out into one football game. Virginia Tech meanwhile has two shots at becoming bowl eligible if it can get by Wake Forest and it’s in-state rival Virginia to cap off the season.
NC State 43, Wake Forest 13
Many have heard of running the gauntlet. Last week Georgia Tech did just that running up 465 yards against the Wolfpack. So coach Dave Doeren decided what works for them might work for us. NC State ran roughshod over Wake Forest and star quarterback Jacoby Brissett threw just 19 times. The ground pounding started early as the Wolfpack raced out to an early 7-0 lead and never looked back. Shadrach Thornton rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown. Bryan Underwood rambled 76 yards on only two carries with a score and Matt Dayes scored 3 times on 66 yards rushing and another 47 yards through the air for the lone touchdown pass.
This continued the Demon Deacons tough season with an 0-6 conference record and a 2-8 campaign with two conference games to go. For the Wolfpack it is a culmination of coach Dave Doeren changing the culture and willing this young team to set higher goals for themselves. They do not have a stellar conference record at 2-5, but overall they are a lofty 6-5 and bowl eligible. This was unthinkable at the start of the season so congratulations to NC State for their fine effort.
North Carolina 40, Pittsburgh 35
Never was so much expected of two teams at the beginning of the season, with such disappointment as week twelve approached. Pittsburgh looked like it had an easy swing through the first six games and didn’t have to face Clemson or Florida State in their crossover games. A horrible defeat at the hands of the Akron Zips unglued the Panthers season and they now sit at 4-6 and 2-4 in conference. North Carolina was expected to win the Coastal Division and was ranked 25th in the preseason polls. They met their Waterloo so to speak against a spirited East Carolina squad who embarrassed them and exposed a porous defense.
Saturday afternoon these two hopefuls met and quarterback Marquise Williams finally lived up to some of the hype we had heard all season. Williams had a great day passing 23-40 and 276 yards, while adding another 122 on the ground rushing. The Tar Heels would need everyone of those yards as James Connor lugged the pigskin 30 times for a game high 220 yards and four touchdowns. The game finally came down to rushing touchdowns as North Carolina got five touchdowns on the ground compared to the four from James Connor. Looking ahead Pittsburgh must win out to go 6-6 and become bowl eligible. The Tar Heels will have two chances, traveling to Durham for a road contest with hated rival Duke, and then hosting the other state rival, NC State at home.
The final synopsis is that Georgia Tech is riding high and Clemson is now looking in from the outside. Duke can still salvage something if it wins out and Florida State continues to be the banner waver for the ACC and its hopes of getting in the College Football Playoff.
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